Part Twenty

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“Hey, could you hand me the tape dispenser?” asked Bluebell from where she stood at the top of the stepladder. Alice obliged, and Bluebell secured the fairy lights to the wall.

After the CBers had split off into their respective groups, Goldie had given Bluebell, Alice, and Holly the box of decorations for the ballroom, along with some tape and a stepladder. She’d then left them to put up decorations however they wanted.

“You know, the ladder says not to stand on the top step,” Alice pointed out, looking nervously at where Bluebell perched precariously.

Bluebell shrugged, reaching up to hang more lights. “I won’t fall that far. Unravel the lights a little.” Alice was assisting Bluebell in hanging up the fairy lights all around the ballroom.

Nearby, Hollyshock was blowing up the silver and gold balloons that Goldie had given them. “How many of these do you think I should make?” she asked the other two.

“All of them?” Bluebell suggested. “One can never have too many balloons.”

“When do you think the others will be back with the flowers?” Alice wondered. “Then we can start making arrangements for the tables.”

The group out in the gardens- Gracia, Dusk, and Jubilee- were nearly finished. After setting up the ballroom decorators, Goldie had given them each a very large wicker basket and instructions to pick as many flowers as they could carry. Apparently, things in the garden grew back quickly. Soon, their baskets were nearly full. They’d picked a variety of pretty flowers, moving from one end of the garden to the other.

“Oh, look at these!” Jubilee gushed, picking an elegant white rose from a bush bursting with them. “They’d look amazing with the rest of the decorations.”

Dusk nodded agreement and began adding some of the blooms to her basket. “Good find! I think these were on the list for that scavenger hunt we did a while ago.”

“I remember that!” Gracia said, piling roses into her own basket. “Can you believe that was only six days ago? It feels like so much longer…” She was lost in thought as she began to walk in the direction of the palace, which was why she didn’t see and subsequently tripped over the large rock in her path. She hit the ground hard, and flowers flew out of her basket in all directions. The impact with the ground shook pollen loose from some of the white roses, and a light breeze carried it into the CBers’ faces.

“Gracia! Are you oka- achoo!” Jubilee sneezed as she inhaled the rose pollen.

Dusk helped Gracia up, then sneezed as well. “It’s the pollen!” she exclaimed with a sniff.

Gracia nodded, holding back her own sneeze. She knelt to pick up the flowers she’d dropped, leaving the white roses on the ground.

“Should we not bring the roses to the ballroom?” Jubilee asked.

“I think we should be fine, as long as we don’t drop any more,” Dusk said. “Let’s head back up to the castle.”

When Strawberri, Winter, and Evergreen got to the kitchen, they found a recipe book waiting for them on the counter. After flipping through it for a few minutes, they decided to make a lemon blueberry cake, which sounded delicious. After getting out all the ingredients, Ever took the lead.

“Alright,” she said, “let’s get started! We should divide and conquer- Strawberri, why don’t you make the frosting while Winter and I tackle the cake itself?”

“Sounds good to me!” Strawberri agreed cheerfully.

They decided to double the recipe, so they would end up with a four-tier cake. Strawberri got started on the frosting, choosing to dye it pale pink. Win and Ever carefully followed the recipe for the cake, mixing some of the dry ingredients, then some of the wet ingredients, then the eggs one at a time. While Win greased their cake pans, Ever added the last of four cups of sugar. They added the blueberries, then slid all the pans into the oven and set the timer, settling back to wait.

Half an hour later, the four cake layers were out of the oven and cooled. Win took them out of the pans while Strawberri and Ever prepared piping bags. Stacking and covering the cake was efficient work, with all three of the CBers pitching in. Strawberri added the final touches, arranging some fresh blueberries on top of the cake and lightly dusting it with powdered sugar. Once it was done, they stood back to admire their handiwork.

“We did a pretty good job,” Winter remarked, looking over the cake.

“Let’s just hope it tastes good,” Ever joked. “Here, help me get it into the fridge.”

Once the cake was safely inside the refrigerator, the three CBers left the kitchen and made their way back to the ballroom. There, they found both of the other groups waiting, with Goldie in the center of the room.

“There you are!” she exclaimed excitedly. “The cake’s done?” They nodded affirmation. “Fantastic! That means everything’s done and ready for tomorrow. Good work, you guys! Now, how about we go get some dinner? I’m sure you’re all hungry.” The CBers realized just how hungry they were, and followed Goldie out of the ballroom to the banquet hall.

After dinner, the CBers trooped upstairs and collapsed into their respective beds, tired from the day’s excitement. Each of them quickly drifted off to sleep, thinking of the day to come.

~~~

We've finally made it to the ball, and to part twenty! Thanks for sticking with me, can you believe it's been just about five months? You guys are the best!

Oh, thank you!

Are you PygmyOwl?

Also TOOOOPPPPPPPPPP 

Part Twenty-One

~

The CBers woke early the next morning, much to their disappointment. The ball wasn’t until later that evening, which left them all with a lot of time to fill. Down in the banquet hall, they ate a lengthy breakfast consisting of pancakes (made by Goldie herself) and bacon, discussing the upcoming event with excitement.

As the CBers ate and talked, Goldie stood at the front of the room and waved her arms to get everyone’s attention. “Hey guys! Guys!” The CBers gradually went silent and looked at her. “Thanks! I just wanted to make a quick announcement. Lunch today will be served in the banquet hall per usual, but dinner tonight will be served during the ball! Speaking of, the ball will begin at six pm, so make sure to leave yourself with enough time to get ready. Other than that, the day is yours!”

With that in mind, the CBers finished their breakfast and left the banquet hall. They returned to their rooms, where they kept to themselves for the better part of the morning. Thus far, their vacation had been quite hectic, and it had been quite a while since any of them had gotten any time to relax. The CBers read, drew, listened to music, whatever struck their fancy.

Around noon, however, the CBers grew bored and restless. They split up into a few groups and went to do various activities around the palace. One group elected to stay in the rooms, another decided to go for a walk, and the third headed down to the movie room, intent on continuing their Harry Potter marathon.

The CBers kept busy until four o’clock, when they all returned to their rooms. At long last, it was time to get ready for the ball. They donned their evening wear and began fussing over the smaller details, each trying hard to contain their excitement.

“I don’t know, should I wear the gloves?” Winter asked, looking down at her black dress.

Gracia paused zipping up the back of Dusk’s dress and glanced over. “Yes, definitely,” she said decidedly. Win slipped the gloves on. The CBers had chosen to all get ready in the Amethyst Room, due to the fact that the Tanzanite Room was beginning to run low on occupants.

Across the room, Evergreen was trying to decide what to do with her hair. She considered asking someone else to braid it, then thought it might be easier to just leave it down. She forgot about her dilemma, however, when Jubilee bounced over and asked for help with her yellow scarf.

At almost six pm precisely, the CBers were ready for the ball. Leaving the Amethyst Room, they walked downstairs (Strawberri had wanted to take the slide, but she was outvoted on account of the ballgowns). They soon reached the ballroom, and Bluebell pushed open the doors. The CBers all gasped, even those who had been in charge of decorating the room.

The palace’s ballroom had been transformed from a large, dusty, unused room to a lavish and beautiful space. The chandelier’s soft glow and the twinkling fairy lights lit up the room, and round tables had been arranged surrounding the dance floor, in addition to the long table on the other wall that boasted snacks and a large pink cake. These tables were all covered in white tablecloths, and the round tables each boasted a stunning floral arrangement as a centerpiece. Silver and gold balloons were also scattered about.

In the center of the ballroom stood Goldie, who was beaming. “You all look absolutely lovely!” she gushed. The host had also dressed up for the occasion- in place of her standard attire, she wore a light yellow gown that reached the floor and had gold roses around the waist and on the straps.

“You look great too!” Holly told her.

Upbeat music started playing from somewhere, and Win dragged an enthusiastic Gracia and a slightly reluctant Dusk out onto the dance floor. Holly and Alice began a conversation and found seats at a nearby table. Ever, Bluebell, Strawberri, and Jubilee made a beeline for the snack table. While Bluebell poured out a cup of soda and Ever scooped herself and Berri some ice cream, Jubilee cut herself a piece of the large cake.

“That looks good,” Bluebell remarked.

“Sure does!” Jubilee agreed, then forked a large bite into her mouth. She chewed for a moment, an odd expression on her face. Without warning, her eyes widened, and she began choking and retching.

Bluebell shouted, and the rest of the CBers noticed what was going on. They all hurried over to the snack table, horrible visions of poison and funerals in their minds. Bluebell was hysterical, not sure what to do.

Jubilee took in a long, deep breath, and rasped, “So… salty…”

It took a moment for any of the CBers to comprehend her words. Winter was the first to do so, and breathed a sigh of relief. “Guys! It’s not poison. We messed up the cake.” The others slowly began nodding. Strawberri passed Jubilee a glass of water.

“Oh!” Evergreen realized. “Oh gosh, I must have added four cups of salt instead of sugar. Wow.”

“No worries,” Jubilee said, having drunk the water and recovered from her bout of dehydration. “That’s pretty funny.”

“Four cups of salt?” Gracia giggled.

“At least it wasn’t poison,” Alice said, ever the realist.

Jubilee set down her plate of cake. “In honor of me being not-dead, let’s dance!”

~~~

Thank you so much for your patience, and thank you to whoever topped this!

I’m still reading! This is very good!