Ball at the manor.

[Keller Valentine]

Keller sighed softly to herself, after what had happened yesterday, she couldn't believe she was going through with the ball. Her adopted family had only just told her that they were coming to stay for a while. Aden, her adopted brother, was okay, they got along really well and had similar taste in things so he was easily accomindated for but her parents and younger brother Arcadian were a totally different matter. For today she would wear a smile and act as if nothing was on her mind, she'd give herself today to think about arrangements then tomorrow she'd phone the people she called and always would call her family.

Maria Timeroth was the head house keeper of the Valentine household, she looked after the house and kept the others in line so Keller's job would be simpleir. Right now Maria was brushing Keller's hair, it had just been washed so it was really silky to touch. Keller closed her eyes as layers of her hair were tied back to make it easier to straighten. About ten minutes later, her hair was poker straight and looking beautiful, she opened her eyes, a look of worry was clear in them. She smiled to herself as she felt Maria's hand rest on her shoulder. " You'll be fine Keller," she said very softly.

" I hope your right Maria.....I couldn't bare the thought of this going all so wrong. I need to be able to socialise with everyone even if I don't want to be this, even if I don't want to be the girl with the title. I want to be the girl who fits in and gets along with everyone I please instead of having to get along with certain people, people of the same class as me aren't always like me.............."

" Keller, you will never have to worry about that. Your one of a kind and anyone who seeks to change will soon find out their gonna lose the fight. It's time for you to let them see who you really are, make them look past the title and see the girl who see's the middle and lower class as her equals," Maria smiled, looking at Keller who managed a smile.

Keller smiled as she looked in the mirror infront of her, thinking to herself as she drew her hair over her shoulder as she gently ran her fingers through her hair.

" Isn't that lad coming? The one you have liked since you first met him?"

" Jackson?" a smile played on Keller's lips as she said his name. Her eyes lit up as she saw his image in her mind, his handsome smile, the cheeky way he spoke to her.

" I get the feeling you haven't told me the whole story," Maria said with a smile. " Have you found out if he likes you yet?" she asked as she sorted Keller's hair, Maria was still blissfully unaware of what had happened in her two day absence. Unaware of the night Keller and Jackson had spent together, unaware of the fact Keller was no longer ' pure '.

Keller slipped off her silk house coat and stood up, her black silk nightdress hung lightly on her frame. It was an hour until the ball and she'd only just gotten out of her bed. " I should hope so," Keller said with smile that made her look like she'd never been hurt by love. She looked around as if looking for something and indeed she was, she was looking for the dress that she'd hoped would somehow be lost but now knew unfailingly would have to wear it.

Maria smiled warmly, handing Keller a red dress. Keller smiled, though inside screaming about the fact she would have to put it on, she gently took the dress out of Maria's arms and vanished behind a screen to change out of her nightdress. " Shall we be seeing your young man at the ball?" Maria asked as she sat diwn on the bed.

Keller walked gracefully out from behind the screen, her dress felt silky against her skin, it brushed the floor softly as she walked; her hair remained down and around her shoulders. " Maria tell me truefully on pain of death, how do I look?" Keller said as she looked down.

Maria smiled at Keller, she'd always looked upon Keller as a daughter even when Kellers' parents had sent Maria to spy on their daught, even if they didn't want their daughter to know that they cared about her and where too afraid to face her. Maria was the only person who'd had contact with Keller before her move here. She was so proud of Keller, she'd came on leaps and bounds from the shy girl she'd first met to the elegant young lady who stood before her now. " I'll take that as a yes."

" That wasn't the answer I was looking for."

" You look stunning," Maria turned as she heard a knock at the door. She opened the door slightly as a maid spoke very quietly to her. She turned to Keller. " Your guests are waiting down stairs," she said as she watched Keller slip on her high heeled, red satin shoes.

" Well, let's not keep them waiting, that would be rude of me," Keller smiled as she walked towards the doors, Maria softly touched Keller's arm. Gesturing for her to stop.

" Wait a second," Maria said. Keller turned to look at Maria as she slipped a silver locket in the shape of a heart around her neck. It looked lovely against the pale skin of her chest.

" Happy now?" Keller smiled and walked through the doorway, heading toward the Ballroom. As Keller walked through the double doors of the Ballroom, dozens of eyes fell upon her all at once. Keller smiled as a young man took her hand and softly kissed her knuckles. He led her into a large group of people, they quickly surrounded her; telling her how beautiful she looked.

Keller looked around, looking for Jackson. Her heart pulsing against her skin, she closed her eyes slowly.

" He'll be here, who would leave such a pretty lass all these guys around?" a soft male voice came from behind her causing her to turn. He softly took her hand and started to dance with her. He drew her in closer to him so that their bodies were touching. " Allow me to keep you company until her comes," he said softly in her ear, her eyes never stopping there search for Jackson in the crowd.

[Jackson Davis]

Jackson was so mad, he could have shouted. In fact, he did. Multiple times. Jackson's parents had finally decided to act like Jackson existed, making him do absolutely everything in the house. He was so mad at them, they knew about Keller's ball, and still, they were making him do everything around the house. He might not have ever made it out of the house, if it wasn't for Rosie, who helped Jackson out big time. "Go have fun with her Jackson, I'll take care of your parents." Rosie whispered into Jackson's ear, as he was dusting the piano. "Thank you so much Rosie." Jackson replied graciously, as he ran off to change, while Rosie smiled fondly, watching him rush off.

Dressed up in his tuxedo, Jackson flew out of the house, and into his car. He checked his watch, and saw he was a few minutes late. He swore to his steering wheel and began speeding to the manor, not willing to miss this for the world. He owed Rosie, big time for what she did for him. Yeah, thats probably why she was his favorite adult person alive today.

He had everything planned out, had his suit laid out, made sure not to sleep in, ate the night before all to make sure that he would be there on time, and now this. How could his parents have done this to him? Jackson scampered up the steps of the manor after parking his car, and slowing down at the door, not to make himself look like a fool when entering. He was about 10 to 15 minutes late, which was 10 to 15 minutes later than he wanted to be.

Just by the looks of the place, Jackson could tell, he was so out of place here. As soon as he entered, he scanned the room for Keller, finally seeing her...dancing with somebody. With an agressive force, Jackson nudged his way to the front of the crowd, just to let Keller see him, to know he was there. Even though she didn't really have the personality for a dress, Jackson's jaw dropped at how amazing Keller looked in her red dress, she was absolutely gorgeous.

[Keller Valentine]

Keller bowed to her partner as the music stopped, he bowed in return. She smiled, she hated every second of that but forced herself to smile, to hide the fact she'd hated that. She turned from him and seen Jackson and smiled, a sigh of relief left her lips. " Go on," Maria said, Keller hadn't noticed her standing by her side. She nodded and walked over to him.

" I was starting to think you'd stood me up," she said shyly as she looked down at the floor before looking up at him. She could hear a guy on her right asking her to dance but she merely raised a hand to silence him. " I'm busy at the moment," she looked at the guy then looked back at Jackson as the guy walked away.

She smiled at Jackson as she slipped her arms around his waist, drawing him in close to her, feeling his body against her's. She looked into his eyes then leaned forward and kissed him but pulled away when she heard, " AAAWWW," from behind her, she looked at Maria and Arius and merely smiled at them before turning back to Jackson.

[Jackson Davis]

Jackson smiled when Keller finally saw him, stepping up to meet her. "Hey, I told you. I wouldn't miss this for the world." Jackson said with a small smile. "I would have been here sooner, but I hate my parents. I'll explain later." He replied, wrapping his arms around her, and softly began to dance when the music struck up again, after the kiss being broken up by the collective 'Aaawww', and the smile from the servants. Noone said dating a Lady would be easy, but Jackson really, really didn't care.

[Keller Valentine]

" I'm sorry about them, they aren't usually this bad but I think Maria has the hots for you," she said softly as she looked up at him. She smiled at him, resting her head against his chest, she pulled back for a second and raised a hand to her hair, pulling the band that held it back, freeing her hair from it. It fell around her shoulders, she'd put it up for dancing so she could see what she was doing but now let it down, feeling more like herself by doing so. She looked at Jackson, she didn't want him to feel awkward here. She looked at him, then kissed him softly. " Jackson, if you feel awkward just say and we can leave. I love you so I'm willing to leave if you want to," she said very softly in his ear.

[Jackson Davis]

"Well, who could blame her? Just look at me." Jackson teased lovingly, watching her let down her hair. He thought she looked so much better when she put her hair down, of course, she always looked great. "I don't know what you were so worried about, you look awesome in your dress." He spoke softly, returning the kiss, not caring they were surrounded by a bunch of people. "Hey, don't worry about me. This is your night, I'm here for you. Besides, I've got to get used to this, my parents have been trying to get me to come to big fancy things for years, but somehow I manage to get away." He said with a smile, it was true. The family was rich, even though Jackson tended to act like a middle class person, that was just how he liked to live.

[Keller Valentine]

" Thank you," she said very softly in his ear. " And your cute but not cute enough to get away with those sort of comments," she of course was teasing. Her hair fell to cover a small mark on her cheek which suited her fine. She smiled as him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, she drew him in close then softly kissed his neck. " I love you so much.....I'm really glad your here," she said very softly.

[Jackson Davis]

"Your welcome." Jackson said, smiling to noone in particular, as they came together, their bodies now pressing against each other. Jackson leaned his head down, resting the side of his cheek against Keller's head. "I love you too, and like I said earlier, I wouldn't have missed this for the world." "You are way too important to me." He added, and it was true. He loved her so much, he would have put the world on hold to be with her.

[Keller Valentine]

Her fringe fell to cover her right eye, she knew Maria would want to move it but Keller didn't care. His words made her blush a pale shade of pink as she looked up at him and into his eyes. A small smile played on her lips. She found herself soon lost in his eyes, her eyes longed to stay looking into them as if searching for a way to see his soul. She smiled as she looked away, knowing all too well that her skin still held a hint of pink in her cheeks. Maria was watching Keller.

" So do you know him?" Maria asked Arius.

" Yeah, he seems like a nice lad, looks after our Keller," Aruis said and watched as Maria smiled.

[Jackson Davis]

Keller's blushing made Jackson smile a little more, almost everything she did made him smile more. Jackson loved looking into her eyes, she had just beautiful eyes, and he found himself getting lost in them for lengths of time. Behind them, Jackson could hear the faint sound of the servants, and struggled his ears to make out what they were saying. He managed to figure it out, and whispered to Keller, "They are talking about us." With a little smile, and it wasn't a bad thing at all.

[Keller Valentine]

" What else are they going to be talking about? Maria will be asking if Arius knows who you are as she always does and he'll say you seem like a nice lad," she said with a smile. She leaned forward and kissed his softly on the lips, she could see a few girls glaring at her. She softly pulled back and looked at him. " It looks like you've got yourself a fan club," she said with a smile. She once again rested her head on his chest, she closed her eyes, wanting to block everything out a part from her and Jackson. She smiled to herself as she can up with an idea that she would tell him later.

[Jackson Davis]

"Wow, you really do know them well." Jackson said with a small laugh. "I love it when you do that." Jackson said with another small smile after the kiss, and then saw the glaring girls, and tried not to laugh. "You know, I could say something, but I really don't want to get slapped." Jackson teased as he rested his cheek against her head again, thinking back to the discussion about Maria.

[Keller Valentine]

" And what were you going to say? I promise I won't slap you," she said softly as she cuddled into his chest. He made her feel safer than she did even around Arius who acted as her bodyguard most of the time. She closed her eyes, she looked as if she could fall asleep in his arms and she probally could, she felt that safe around him plus she trusted him. She opened her eyes slightly as she heard someone say her name, a small boy was standing infront of her, she looked down and smiled as he held up a rose for her. " Oh thank you," she said sweetly as she smiled at the boy. He handed her the rose then ran off.

[Jackson Davis]

"Okay, I really didn't have anything to say, I just made it up. I'm weird like that." Jackson said with a small smile, holding her against him as she cuddled up to him. Man, he owed Rosie for this, big time.
An amused smile worked its way onto Jackson's face as the young boy appeared at their side, and handed Keller the rose, before taking off quickly. "Oh, now I'm jealous." Jackson said, putting on an upset face. "I saw the way you looked at him." He finished, unable to keep from grinning, and giving out a short laugh.

[Keller Valentine]

" Jackson, he was barely a quarter my age," she said with a smile laugh. " If you want I'll make it up to you later," she said with a cheeky smile. Maria looked at Keller and smiled, glad to see Keller happy. Keller smiled at Jackson. " You really don't have to worry, you've got no competion," she said as she softly kissed his lips, she gently brushed their lips together but didn't allow them to meet, just like she had that night on the beach.