The ballroom was a flurry of swirling skirts, white gloved hands, and black suits. Music swelled, filling the entire room up to its high-arched ceiling with its beauty.
It was lace and corsets.
Hor'dourves and bubbly wine.
Cellos and violins. This was the very height of civilization, yet Amelie felt she had no place in any of it.
She sat in a secluded corner, watching the couples waltz in perfect syncopation, yearning for that very same grace. That evening she stepped on a total of twenty-two unfortunate toes, and she wasn't keen on stepping on any others. Her dancing card was next to empty.
One young gentleman edged towards Amelie, and offered his hand,
'Care to dance, miss?' he asked hopefully.
'Not if you value your precious toes,' replied Amelie, not caring if she offended the young man. He walked away without another word, but she caught the disapproving look he cast her before walking away. Amelie sighed, sitting in a most unladylike fashion with her head propped in her hands. She began to do what she always did in this sort of situation.
She daydreamed.

The young man strode purposefully to the place Amelie sat, and pulled her up before she had a chance to object.

'Dance with me, Miss Augustine, and I will not take no for an answer,' he said, leading her to the dance floor. He was very handsome, with red-blonde curls and the palest blue eyes. Amelie found that she could dance with absolute grace, never once stepping on any of the gentleman's toes. He twirled her and held her almost scandalously close. The crowd of dancers broke apart, staring in awe.

Who was this lucky, beautiful girl who danced so effortlessly? they wondered.

Amelie was twirled one final time, before the gentleman pulled her close, close enough to kiss. Amelie began to close her eyes, drawing closer...

'You're drooling.'

Amelie snapped her eyes open.

She wasn't in the arms of a handsome gentleman, about to be kissed. No, she was looking at her brother. Her eyes narrowed, and she wiped her face. Her brother was grinning from ear to ear.
'Don't look at me,' Amelie snapped, looking away. He sat down beside her,
'Daydreaming again? Did a handsome young man sweep you off your feet, and did your dancing skills suddenly become extraordinary?' he teased. Amelie didn't answer; she didn't have to.

Amelie's things were packed, and waited neatly by the front door. She wore a sensible traveling gown of dark gray flannel, and her hair was pulled up and covered by a beret.
Sensible and dreadful, thought Amelie bitterly, cursing her mother for picking out such awful clothes. She feared her corset's laces were pulled too tight as well, for she could barely breathe.

'Ready to go, pet?' Amelie's father asked, gesturing for a maid to grab her suitcases. 'Yes Papa,' Amelie replied tonelessly.

The carriage ride to the train station was eventless, to say the least, and Amelie was sore by the time she and her father arrived. Goodbyes were short and awkward. A quick hug, before she boarded the train. She didn't even bother waving her white handkerchief out the window like the rest of the ladies on the train.

The girls sharing Amelie's seat immediately introduced themselves.
'I'm Emme Gray,' said the first. She was a fair-skinned blonde with a smiling face and hazel eyes. The second, who introduced herself as 'Miss Lelani Abbott' was by far one of the prettiest girls Amelie had ever met, with raven black curls and deep blue eyes, framed by dark, curling lashes. Her dress mirrored her eyes, except for the pure white lace around her neck and hands.

'I'm Amelie Augustine.'
'Oooh, bonjour, a French lady!' said Emme. Lelani rolled her eyes, 'Oh, Emme, you're so silly. You don't know a word of French.' She turned to Amelie, 'Vous êtes vraiment français, oui ?' She spoke French effortlessly. Amelie was blown away, for she knew very little herself. She understood, though, that Lelani was asking if she was truly French.
'Er, oui.' she replied, rather embarrassed. Lelani and Emme both giggled, and Amelie felt herself blush.
'So, where are you headed to?' Lelani asked, after their giggling subsided.
'A boarding school. Lady Eve's School for Ladies,' Amelie replied.

Going to Lady Eve's had been set in stone for Amelie since she was a child. She would attend for two years, before making her debut in society as a proper young woman. She dreaded it, feeling as though she had no control over her own destiny. Even so, she was still on that train, headed for the very place she feared. Her mother insisted that attending the school was an honor. Only heiresses and well-to-do girls went there, not to mention almost every woman in the Augustine family for the last hundred years. Amelie didn't care about that, though. She just wanted to go home.

'Oh! Lelani and I are going there ourselves!' Emme gasped. She took Amelie's hand in hers, 'We're going to be best friends, Amelie, I can already tell!' she said.
Amelie wasn't so sure.

After about an hour or so, Amelie didn't keep track, the train slowed until they were stopped at a small train station. Dozens of excited girls spilled out of their train, fighting to be the first in one of the five carriages that waited for them. Amelie lagged behind, anxiety pooling in her stomach. 'This is it, Amelie...you're almost to Lady Eve's where you'll spend the next two years drinking bitter tea and learning to dance,' Amelie thought bitterly.

Amelie ended up in a carriage along with Lelani, Emme, and a set of nervous looking twins. They were identical, with flaming red hair, earth brown eyes, and pale, thin faces with small upturned noses. The twins introduced themselves as Liza and Marie, and didn't speak to Lelani, Emme, or Amelie the rest of the ride to the school. They whispered among themselves, though, which Amelie found rather rude.
'I'm so excited. We're taking French, and Politics, and Astronomy, and Ettiquette and...' Emme trailed off, staring dreamily out of the carriage window. Lelani shrugged, 'I've already studied those subjects thoroughly, but I'm just going to Lady Eve's for the prestige,' she announced boastfully. Amelie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't contribute much to the conversation. She knew if she said what was really on her mind- that she was being forced against her free will to attend the dreadful school- they'd think her a snob. So she kept her mouth shut and stared forlornly out the window.

The carriage stopped suddenly. They had arrived.
Lady Eve's School for Ladies was perched on a grassy hill, overlooking fields of wildflowers, and a sparkling lake. Amelie couldn't deny that it was a lovely school, either. The school was made up of two brick buildings; one for classes, and the other for dormitories. They were both large, with balconies at each floor, flowers in the windows, and many chimneys that promised warm, cheerful fires in the evening. A tall, iron fence surrounded the entire hill, and it was at the iron gate that the carriages stopped. The girls swarmed around the gate, speaking in excited whispers to one another. Lelani looped her arms through Amelie's and Emme's, and they stood apart from the crowd of giggling younger girls. The twins, Liza and Marie, also stood apart, still only speaking to one another.

'Isn't it just a picture of loveliness?' Emme sighed, staring longingly up at their future home. Amelie stared at the school, and to her, the buildings stood ominously upon the hill, and the windows might as well of had bars. She wanted desperately to get back into the carriage and go back home, but she knew she could not.
'Why, Amelie! You look as if you've seen the devil himself,' Lelani commented. Amelie plastered a fake smile on her face, 'No, no. I'm just homesick is all,' she assured her.

Less than a moment later, a woman strode down the hill and opened the school's iron gate. 'Welcome, girls,' she said, but her welcome sounded rather hollow, as if she was already bored at the prospect of new students. Her name was Miss Gertrude Hamilton, and she taught literature at Lady Eve's. She was nearing forty, but still unmarried, with dark brown hair with just a hint of gray around her forehead and ears. She stood perfectly straight, as if there were a board under her corset, and did not smile.
'Good day, Miss Hamilton,' the girls said in unison. Miss Hamilton gestured for the girls to follow, and eagerly they did, with Amelie, Lelani, Emme, and the twins following in the back. As they grew closer to the school, its shadow covered Amelie completely, until not even an ounce of sunlight was visiable beyond its rooftop. Shivering, Amelie tried not to think of it as an omen.