Ball Planning Committee: Meeting 1! on Library

Katey Willow

July 29, 2023 2:34 PM

Ball Planning Committee: Meeting 1! by Katey Willow

She felt a bit embarrassed to admit it, but Katey had never actually attended a school dance. At least, not as a student - she had chaperoned some here, but that wasn’t quite the same. Katey had skipped grades, so she was a bit too young to really feel inclined to go when she had been in secondary school, and when she got to post-secondary education, she had been a bit too busy studying (and picking up the pieces of Ethan that kept shattering around her) to have the time.

But at the risk of sounding lame - especially in a wizarding school - Katey couldn’t help but find them incredibly magical. There was something so exciting about an evening spent dancing with friends and looking your best. She thought it might be fun this year to let the students have a more active role in the preparations to add an extra special pride on top of those other wonderful feelings, and so with school support, the medic had volunteered to run a planning committee.

She had posted announcements in the library and provided copies for the Head of Houses to pin to their respective notice boards, so she was hoping for a productive turn out. All the notices had sparkly pink and blue fonts that instructed potentially interested parties to arrive at the library on a particular Friday evening after dinner. As with everything, Katey had done her research on the topic and trends, but she was ultimately excited to see what new and creative conclusions the students could reach.

When it was about three minutes past the assigned time, she assumed everyone who intended to arrive had done so, and began speaking. “Welcome, everyone, to the first meeting of Sonora’s ball planning committee!” she beamed. “Make sure you get the sign in sheet - it will double as a breakdown of task assignments so we keep track of who’s working on what for the next meeting.”

“If you don’t know me, that’s terrific because it means you’ve been in good health. My name is Katey Willow, and I am Sonora’s on-site medic. You can call me Miss Katey.” That was what the pink font on the wall of the Infirmary said, anyway - Miss Katey’s Infirmary.. “So all of you are here because you want to help plan our wonderful end-of-the-year ball. That’s great! The first thing we will need to decide as a group is a theme. Does anyone have any ideas off the bat that they wanted to share? No need to raise hands - this can be pretty informal - but do go ahead and say your name so we all know who we’re working with.”

12 Katey Willow Ball Planning Committee: Meeting 1! 1505 1 5

Piper Wilson

July 30, 2023 10:00 AM

Here! by Piper Wilson

While Piper would certainly be attending many balls in her lifetime, she only got to have one at Sonora, with her friends and she wanted the night to be amazing . True, she knew she would probably not have a date and they might but hopefully, well, they could just integrate dates in with the group of them like they had Chris and Yarielis at the Bonfire last year.

Although it might kind of suck if her friends all had dates and she didn’t. Being a seventh wheel did not exactly sound like a good time even if they all hung out as a group. Still, Piper would not want to begrudge her friends dates, especially as they, being that they were also fourth years and not purebloods, probably wouldn’t have a chance to attend another ball. She was sure that if that was the case, she’d hopefully be able to find someone to talk to. Or she’d just deal with it.

However, it was very possible that might not be the case. None of them were in romantic relationships with anyone to begin with and it might be a challenge for Lenny in particular to find a date. The other Teppenpaw was a wonderful person with many great qualities who had a lot to offer but that said, well…he would basically need someone who was bisexual because he was a boy who looked like a girl, so if someone was attracted to one or the other, he wouldn’t be someone they wanted to go to the ball with romantically. And Piper didn’t know who was of the right orientation in the very limited pool of available dates

Not to mention things like whether or not they’d get on as people. If someone was mean and awful, they’d obviously make a poor date in general.For anyone. Unless they were both mean and awful. Every pot had a lid. It was just that the pots and lids might not be in the same cabinet at this time. Piper knew hers wasn’t because she was a pureblood and basically…most of the pureblood boys here were her cousins. Sonora was a very small cabinet indeed and probably neither she nor Lenny had their match here. Most of her relatives hadn’t and it was a rare and special thing for it to happen at this time in someone’s life.

Still, she hoped that everything worked out and they all had a good time. Perhaps there was a person interested in going to the ball with Lenny, it wasn't as if she went around asking people about their sexual orientations, since that was up to them to be willing to tell people and perhaps someone would ask her as a friend. That was why Piper had decided to join the ball planning committee. So she could help make it nice for everyone. Most people would not go on to attend balls when they left school so would only ever go to two at the most, and only one for most of her classmates. They deserved to have it be as special as possible. Plus, ball planning was likely a valuable skill for a pureblood girl like Piper to have.

Once it seemed like everyone who was going to show up for ball planning had done so, Miss Katey, the school medic who was running the committee began, introducing herself first. The fourth year was in good health but still knew who the medic was as Sonora was small enough that most people should know who was who, especially with regards to staff members, even if they had not spent a lot of time with them. Also, it was just a good idea to know who the medic was, generally speaking. It was probably a good thing that Piper had previously not spent much time with her though since, as Miss Katey had said, it meant they were in good health.

The Teppenpaw went next and introduced herself. “I’m Piper Wilson, a fourth year Teppenpaw. I don’t know what specifically to do for themes and whatnot, but we need decorations, food and entertainment for sure. Something really special that people will remember.” Hopefully for the right reasons. Piper knew that there was a lot of drama around balls for some people and she hoped most would find this one fun rather than traumatic. “It’s in the spring so maybe a garden theme. Or like a different time period?”

11 Piper Wilson Here! 1556 0 5

Lenny Pierce

August 01, 2023 9:56 PM

So am I! by Lenny Pierce

Lenny was very excited about the ball at the end of the year. He was having a bit of trouble securing a date, but even without one, he thought he'd have a great time! He was sure Piper and Leviosa would at least agree to dance to some of the more upbeat songs with him as friends and maybe he could convince a boy or two to twirl him around just for fun.

When the invitation to join in on a planning session was posted, Lenny was all over it. Other than the LGBTQ+ cafe, he wasn't really in any clubs, but this was definitely something he could get into! Even better, Piper was there, too!

They hadn't specifically talked about it, but there she was at the right spot in the library at the right time. Lenny plopped down into the seat next to hers, grinning cheerfully and greeted her. Soon after, Miss Katey kicked things off with a short introduction and a call for ideas.

With Teppenpaw literally just half a stairwell away from the Infirmary, Lenny had dropped in on Miss Katey from time to time, sometimes just to say hi, sometimes to report he was still on the hormone blockers and all was fine. The only time he'd really visited her because he needed her was in that first moment of puberty induced terror that NO HE DID NOT WANT TO BE A MAN AND STOP THIS RIGHT NOW! and got a temporary hold on that whole thing until it could be handled properly by the doctors and therapists at home over the course of the summer.

While Piper piped in with her introduction and thoughts, Lenny got hold of the sign-in sheet and put his name on it before passing it on to someone else who hadn't signed in yet.

"I'm Lenny Pierce," he added when Piper was done. "Also fourth year Tepp. My pronouns are He and Him," he added for anyone who hadn't met him already, because with the pink sparkly shirt, floral purple skirt, the cute updo in his long hair, the shiny lip gloss, and the light lavendar nail polish he was wearing, 'boy' wasn't really the gender that Lenny projected. "I like the garden idea. If we want to do Renaissance era, either in combination with the garden or on its own, I've got a ton of connections to rennfaires all over California. I can get us period recipes, music, costumes . . . Also, on the topic of music, we should definitely have a good mix of slow romantic songs for the people there on dates, and faster fun songs for the people who don't have one."

1 Lenny Pierce So am I! 1547 0 5

Nausicaa Scapetello

August 03, 2023 9:40 PM

Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. by Nausicaa Scapetello

Nausicaa was suddenly having second thoughts about this. It just hadn't occurred to her at the time that attending the planning meeting for the school's ball would be a bad idea. Why would it? The school certainly needed all of the help it could get in creating a proper ball. Who was better suited than her to make sure everything went correctly? No one. So, she was here.

Honestly, she hadn't exactly been sure what she had been expecting, but so far this wasn't it. She was well aware of the people at the school, and should have figured out who else would have shown up to help, and she had come anyway. The thing that actually caught her off guard the most was the fact that of all people, the school's medic was running the planning committee. The medic. She had apparently incorrectly assumed that it would be the Deputy-Headmistress, or perhaps the Charms teacher. Someone who had experience and authority to do the radical changes necessary to the school to make it a suitable venue. At least, she thought, it wasn't the groundskeeper.

Nausicaa didn't know the medic (thankfully), as the slightly older woman pointed out the general situation where one would get to know her. Not that she needed the woman to point this out. It was absurd to think that Nausicaa would call her 'Miss Katey' like some child who needed coaxing to take some medicine. If it came down to it, she would do the proper thing and call her by her proper title and name, 'Medic Willow'. At least she got to the point, and started at the correct place, the theme would dictate every other decision that needed to be made. While Nausicaa considered the possibilities, others began to speak up.

Piper said quite a bit of obvious things, and Nausicaa did her best to refrain from rolling he eyes. Fortunately she did offer two suggestions that were relevant to the discussion at hand. She found the sign-in sheet pushed in front of her as Lenny began talking. Nausicaa still didn't know what to make of Lenny, so she continued to do the logical thing and did her best to may him no mind. That was difficult at times, as fading into the background did not seem to be in his skill set.

She did have to admit that a Renaissance era garden party would make for an acceptable theme. It would allow for proper attire and music, while not being to 'stuffy' of an affair. "I am Nausicaa Scapetello of the Ravenna Scapetellos, a third year Aladren." She opened formally, because if one must introduce themselves, one may as well do it correctly. "A Renaissance era garden party theme sounds like a good idea to me," she agreed with the others. There was not doubt in her mind that she could come up with a better one, but as important as 'theme' was, getting hung up on making that decision would delay the actual work that needed to be done. She signed the paper and passed it onto the next person.

2 Nausicaa Scapetello Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. 1561 0 5

Robyn Lundstrom

August 05, 2023 1:07 PM

There's worse ideas by Robyn Lundstrom

Joining the planning committee for the ball had felt like a good idea when Robyn had first seen the posters. She wanted to be involved and make friends, and be more than the-sister-of-that-guy-who-had-that-Incident.

It was a little hard to step out of the shadow of that when it was Miss Katey running things. Robyn looked down at her knees when Miss Katey joked about not knowing her well being an indicator of good health. Robyn hadn't been sick any more than the average student but she had seen Miss Katey plenty at the end of last year, as the guardian of the gate, either letting Robyn in or turning her away with 'your brother is sleeping/in an appointment/not up to receiving visitors right now.' That last one, Robyn was pretty sure was a euphemism for him crying and being so angry at the universe that he hadn't wanted company.

The first point of discussion was a theme. Robyn could think of a few things... Under the sea, enchanted forest, a night at the Oscars... Though 'enchanted' might be confusing, and not everyone here knew what the Oscars were. She had happy memories of going to Ren Faires though, and even Nausicaa seemed to agree that it was a good idea, which was a massive, bonus surprise. Nausicaa was rarely mean, but she was... Particular about things. Robyn was hesititant to be the one to throw spanners in when everyone was agreeing. But they were meant to be brainstorming...

"I like Ren Faires," she said. "My only worry is that if people already have their outfits picked out, they might not want to change them. I mean, I know not everyone has to dress up, but they might feel weird about not doing so. I like the garden idea. I was thinking about forests." She decided to leave off the 'enchanted' for fear it would sound weird, though to her it sounded weirder without. Just 'forest' wasn't much of a theme. "Or a particular colour scheme, but the only way to make that go with everyone's outfits is to choose rainbow," she said, mostly looking at Lenny because he seemed the most likely to greet that with a smile, and Miss Katey because Robyn couldn't imagine her shooting down anyone's ideas.

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