The end of the first term was just around the corner and with it the annual Winter Formal.

Almost every girl at the academy had been waiting for this day since the first day of school and it was finally here. Sahra had been thinking about this year's winter formal since last year, thinking about what outfit to wear to out-shine every other girl in that ballroom, or at least feel pretty for one night. As for Charlotte, it was even more special since it was her first ever dance and had been building up the excitement along the other first years. One of the general favorite aspects of the dances had always been the special exception for those three nights a year that allowed the girls to bring a date that wasn't a student at the academy. These events were three yearly formal dances; the Winter Formal, the Spring Formal and the Prom.

Although she didn't have a date, Charlotte was excited as one can be for the dance, after all, they say a girl never forgets her first dance, but our girl was also more excited about some other aspects of the event, she had heard rumors from the girls in her year about there being slow dancing involved and, even if she wasn't conscious of these thoughts, her subconscious was imagining her looking directly at a special someone's eyes while slow dancing in the middle of the ballroom with no one else there but them, enjoying a beautiful intimate moment that looked directly taken from a movie. 

Charlotte's aunt owned a dress shop down the street where some of the girls had been spending their afternoons in search for the perfect dress. Charlotte and Kayla went down to the shop every afternoon and stayed there until it was time to go back to the academy, they had tried on almost all the dresses and were close to giving up when Charlotte's aunt called them.

- Charlotte my dear, come over I have something special for you - Said the gray-haired lady as she signaled with her hand

Charlotte and Kayla looked confused at each other and walked over to the door leading to the back room. Before they could even ask, Charlotte's aunt pulled out a short, light blue dress from a box and handed it to Charlotte. 

- I just got this one and I thought you'd like it - Said Charlotte's aunt as she handed the dress to the girl 

-It's beautiful - Charlotte said as she looked at herself holding the dress in front of her in the mirror

She tried it on and walked over to the mirror, the dress fit perfectly, it made her feel the most beautiful she had ever felt, almost like a princess, like it was made for her. 

The day of the dance arrived, no classes were held that day as was tradition, this helped the dance feel even more special than it already felt and all the girls were running around from one dorm to another, sharing hair styling tools, makeup. offering dress fitting help...

The clock striked 9 pm, which for the schoolgirls and their dates meant dance time, the gates of the school opened and all the girls peeked their heads through the windows to see all the cars arrive before running downstairs to greet their guests.

The doors of the ballroom opened and a crowd of teenagers barged in, loud music playing and everyone started serving themselves punch and other appetizers. Charlotte was about to serve herself some punch when a view caught her eye, it was Sahra, she was wearing a pink dress, tight around her waist and reached just before her knees. Charlotte felt something but just couldn't explain what, her heart raced, she felt breathless standing in place. Charlotte was caught by the view of her friend when someone else walked in, she was wearing a red dress and clearly was there with Sahra. 

Charlotte was taken out of her trance by Kayla waving her hand in front of her face.

- Uuuuuh looks like someone's got a thing for Sahra's friend -Kayla commented with a playful smirk on her face

- Stop being weird- Charlotte laughed and pushed away Kayla's hand 

Charlotte and Kayla went over to Sarah to greet her and her friend.

- Hey guys, this is Ava - Sahra introduced her friend 

- Hi, I'm Charlotte -Charlotte said with a reassuring smile

- Hi - Ava addressed both girls charmingly

- Ava wanted to start school here next year but she wanted to check out the school first so I invited her - Sahra explained 

- Well I've been here for just a few months so I really can't say yet but I think you'll really like it here - Kayla says reassuringly 

The four girls continued chatting for a couple minutes before Charlotte's phone rang in her purse and she excused herself to go pick it up.

- Mom? What's up - Charlotte said confused, her mom was supposed to pick her up the next day and she knew about the dance so if she had anything important to say she could say it when picking her up the next morning, right? 

- Hey honey, I'm so sorry but you're gonna have to stay at the academy for the holidays, I know I promised we were gonna have a family Christmas together but a work thing came up, I hope you understand I didn't mean for this to happen but I can't ignore work

Charlotte felt her heart drop and couldn't find the words or the strength to respond to her mom at that moment. 

- Honey? 

- Yeah, sorry. It's okay mom, don't worry about it. - Charlotte said, but in reality, she was heartbroken, feeling the tears forming in her eyes already

- I'm so sorry- Charlotte's mom said, not having time to finish before Charlotte hang up 

Charlotte stood there, staring at nothing while processing the news she had just gotten. In complete shock, she sat down on the floor and started crying to the muffled out sound of the music coming from the ballroom. 

Sahra had noticed Charlotte's prolonged absence and excused herself to go check on her, that's when she found Charlotte sitting outside the ballroom crying. Sahra's first instinct was to sit next to her and wrap her arms around her before even asking any questions.

- What happened?- Sahra said with a look of genuine concern on her face

- Just my mom, she promised me we would have a family christmas but she just told me she's gonna be working and I'm gonna have to stay in the academy during during christmas- Charlotte said, barely being able to get the words out in between sobs.

- That must feel horrible- Sahra replied, trying her best to empathyse with Charlotte

After a moment of sitting in silence together Sahra came up with an idea

-Hey, it's your first dance, how about you forget about everything else and have fun, you can be sad after but you can't have another dance tomorrow

Charlotte laughed, which Sahra saw as a good sign, before admitting her friend was right and getting up to go back to the ballroom together. Sahra grabbed Charlotte's hand and took her to the center of the dance floor, "Everytime We Touch" was playing and the girls started jumping up and down together, laughing and twirling around. At that moment, Charlotte forgot all her worries and could only focus on Sahra's eyes shining, her hair moving, her lips curling as she smiled and every little detail about her that was driving her crazy. They spent the whole night dancing and having fun together on a night they would go on to remember the rest of their lives.