Snippet #2274847

The lights below her bedroom window danced past her, reflected in the window glass, reflected in her laptop screen, but Ella paid little to no attention to them. She was too immersed in watching "My Fair Lady" to care. She was giggling at the ridiculousness of the scene when Eliza and the professor go to the races, and all of the pompous, ridiculous hats that defined the high society there.

She heard knocking on the door, finally audible through her headphones. She tried to block out the noise, but grew annoyed with it and took out her earbuds. "Will you please just come inside. The door is unlocked."

"But that would be rude of me," said her maid as she entered. As if knocking insistently when she obviously didn't want to be disturbed wasn't. Her maid stood in her doorway and folded her hands in front of her as she spoke. "The Lady told me to remind you about the plans to attend the manor tonight." She looked Ella up and down before saying, "I think you best start getting ready."

Ella sighed. Yes, she best. She forgot that she was a part of this high society that she was giggling at earlier after all. Ella loved glitz and glamour and the high life as much as the next girl, but what she cherished even more was individuality. The Masquerade did not. It was a common practice among members of The Masquerade to try and control the lives of every single individual that was a part of it. Therefore... well they were a bunch of control freaks.

Ella's parents long since discovered that she could not and would not be moved when it came to having her own choice in her life. Her room was decorated as she pleased, in tones of gold and bronze and beige. It was a large room, with only her queen sized canopy bed, a vanity table, a dresser, a hope chest, and an upright mirror taking up the majority of the space. As well as her favorite spot, her window seat, beside a large window framed by lace curtains and looking out across Italy. The rest of the space in the room was dedicated to her dancing, as she need a lot of space. Decorations were simple and leaning towards modern, as were a lot of things during Ella's favorite decade, the 20's.

As it was her favorite Era, it was also how Ella usually chose to dress. If her parents insisted otherwise then she'd just disappear once arriving at whatever event she was asked to attend. Which was actually quite saddening. Ella loved to socialize. She just liked to socialize in her own way.

She got up from her window seat and sat down at her vanity table. She started doing her own bright-red hair, loosely worn up in a braided wrap and simple with a white feather tucked inside. She did her makeup simple as well, exaggerated cat-eye liner around her dark brown eyes and bright red lipstick was all she needed. When it was time to dress, Ella chose one of her favorites. It was a 20's inspired wedding gown. Of course, Ella wasn't going to a wedding, and she definitely wasn't getting married, but that wasn't going to stop her from wearing something so beautiful. She finished off her look with her golden mask.

When it was time for her to leave she was saddened to discover that she wasn't going to be arriving with her parents, as they had already left without her. A separate vehicle, a black 2012 Bentley, had already arrived to pick her up.

She rode to the manor in silence, alone except for her quiet driver, and arrived with no interruptions.

Inside she found that many had already arrived, punctual as usual. The entrance was pretty crowded, and from there she looked around to see if she could find anyone that she would usually socialize with at such gatherings. She would talk about art with them, or perhaps what plays they had been to recently, or what musical artists they had recently discovered. She also kept a careful eye out for her parents, so that perhaps she could stay within their radar, and so that perhaps they might choose to associate themselves with her, as they were usually embarrassed by her attire, and embarrassed to be seen with her in public.

She couldn't see well over the heads of some of the youngsters gathered near the doorway, and was growing rather annoyed with their inability to move out of the way, to a less congested area. Nonetheless, it was no problem for Ella. She just closed her eyes and one second she was standing on one side of them and in the next on the other. She continued looking over the crowd, like she had only blinked her eyes.

It would probably be best if she got out of the way too, so she moved towards a less crowded area, gliding past shoulders gracefully as she made her way, so that at least if she couldn't find anyone, she could be found.