Snippet #2332183

In retrospect, maybe Valerie should've taken a pair of scissors to her dress and ruined it beyond repair so that she would've have a legitimate excuse to skip out on the masquerade tonight. She really didn't want to go, and it wasn't because she hated her dress either. In fact, Val quite liked the turquoise piece she'd bought but it left her arms bare, whicht was a huge problem because her arm was still wounded and everyone would notice the stitches.

Valerie stood in front of her full length mirror and bit her lip. She'd already tried using concealer on the stitches to hide them, but this was an academy of elite fighters with keen vision and they'd spot the surface wound a mile off. Her gut told her to keep the incident to herself so she couldn't confide in Katie. Umbrase had probably been compromised, and as much as she hated to think of her friends being one of the culprits, Valerie's training demanded that she take no chances.

Val exhaled loudly, turning away from the mirror. No, she had to attend; her absence would raise more suspicions than if she made an appearance, even a short one. She checked her make up for the last time, added another layer of foundation to her arm, and picked up the mask from the layers of tissue it had been wrapped in. Holding it gingerly, Val ran her fingers over the delicate peacock feather contemplatively. It would be a shame to waste it...

Alright, that was it. She was going to attend, wound or not, date or not (okay, that last bit was an exaggeration; Valerie had been going stag for as long as she could remember so that bit didn't apply). Grabbing her clutch, she closed the door behind her and headed for Katie's room down the hallway. She knocked on the door, glancing around her nervously; she hoped no one saw her, because her wound was still visible at the moment. "Katie, can I borrow a shawl?" She asked softly, leaning closer to the door so that her voice could be heard.