ten dancing in the dark

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          DIANA REACHED FOR ANOTHER PORTION OF EVANORA'S HAIR, WRAPPING IT AROUND THE STRAIGHTNER TO CURL THE SECTION. The other girl had already finished her hair with the help of the Evanora and now it was time for Evanora to get ready for the dance.

For the night had finally arrived; the Christmas dance. It was her first school dance at Hilltown, though it wasn't like she had a lot to look forward to. It was this and then Prom, that was it. Nothing else. But it meant a lot because Evanora always loved to party back in her hometown, and going to dances with her friends had been some of her favorite memories. Now, she didn't have those friends, but she had new ones who she knew were ready to impress her.

When Diana invited her over to get ready together, Evanora didn't hesitate before agreeing. She used to do this with Jane for every dance, back when she still thought of Jane as a friend and a mentee and not a backstabbing bitch who cut her out the moment she moved away. But whatever, Diana was nice and had a great music taste, blasting Lorde's Melodrama album loud for the two to dance around with.

She had also invited Maggie, but the girl politely declined because her mom and sister were helping her get ready, which was totally fine even though she would have liked an extra excuse to spend time with the girl. God, her crush was getting way out of hand, especially seeing that when she heard Maggie had told Brian she couldn't go to the dance with him after all she almost jumped with joy and erected a fucking tsunami just because she was so fucking happy about something so simple.

But she was a teenager with a crush, and Maggie was fucking worth creating a tsunami for even if Colleen would ground her for life if she did that.

"God, I remember when my hair was this long," Diana ran her hand through the fresh curls, "It was beautiful but it would never curl like that. It's too fucking straight."

Evanora laughed, "Oh, yeah? When did you cut your hair short?"

"Hmm, sophomore year? I think, at least. I was such a stereotypical Asian girl before then, like long hair and glasses and a nerd. But then this guy said something about how girls shouldn't have short hair because that was masculine of them so I chopped all my hair off that day just to spite him," Diana smiled at her previous self, "It's not like it mattered, he didn't know me, but I guess I also just tired of long hair – I mean, before then I never had my short."

"You didn't let it grow up," Evanora noted, turning a little to better have a look at her friend.

Diana nodded. "Yeah, I ended up really liking it short. I don't know, it just seemed more me. I look more grown up and bitchy, which is always a plus when you need people to listen to you, and it suits my facial structure more."

"I like it," Evanora complimented her even though she was sure that Diana didn't need the reassurance. The girl had enough self-confidence already, but it was worth it when Diana brightened.

"Thanks," the Kemper girl accepted the compliment, "God, I'm so fucking hungry already."

"Well, we're meeting them at Natalia's in, like, forty-five minutes so I think you'll live," she looked at the clock on her phone, blinking when she realized that she had been at Diana's house for an hour already. Really, it felt like it had been less than that, but time flies when you're having a good time, right?

"Thank God," Diana said, "Also, thanks for coming over. I hate getting ready for these dances alone, especially because my mom's working today and couldn't help."

"No problem. I used to do this every time in my hometown with my friends. My mom was always working too so it wasn't like she could help me, and there's no way in hell that Colleen ever would," maybe she was a bit too judgy when mentioning her whitelighter because Diana hummed.

"You and Colleen don't really get along?" she asked, finishing off the curls.

"Not really," Evanora admitted, a small shrug to accompany the statement, "I mean, we didn't really know each other before she took me in. We clash but it's whatever."

"Damn. Sorry," Diana gave Evanora her sympathies. She looked back at Evanora's hair, "You're done. Let me put some hairspray on it and then it'll look fabulous."

Evanora smiled at her for a second before closing her mouth and scrunching up her nose as Diana sprayed the terrible smelling spray all over her hair. She waited a few moments before coming up for air, coughing a little when it went into her hair. Then, she touched her hair, fixing it and making a face in the mirror causing Diana to snicker at her.

"Time to get our dresses on," Evanora stood up and Diana gave her a bright smile. She couldn't help but feel happy herself, a little bit of just teenage fun and innocence untouched by the wizarding world (witching world, really) and untouched by whatever demon was trying to latch onto her.

This wasn't ruined by that and by Colleen's protective streak to make sure that stayed safe, also ruining her fun in the process. It was her – Evanora the simple teenager – getting dressed with her human friend for a school dance where they were laugh the night away. No witchy nonsense to go along with it.

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THEY WERE THIRTY MINUTES INTO THE DANCE WHEN EVANORA NEEDED TO USE THE BATHROOM. So, she bid her friends goodbye and went in search for it since she had never been to this location before because unlike dances at her other school, this one wasn't located in the gym but at another location far away from the school.

She found it easily enough, using it before going out and washing her hands before touching up her makeup to make sure that she still looked positively perfect. Glittering and shimming into the limelight, even though it was dark and a little smudge wouldn't matter, Evanora strove for perfection.

"I love your lipstick," she heard someone beside her compliment her.

She found herself involuntarily smiling at the compliment, unable to stop herself. "Thank you," she turned to see who said it, blinking in surprise, "Prue?"

"The one and only," the shady girl she met in the park giggled, "Miss me?"

Blinking, she put down her lipstick and frowned, "I didn't know you went to school here."

Prue shrugged. "It's a large school, so I'll try not to be offended, but yeah. Surprised to see you here, this place is really different from the woods."

"Well, I don't live in the woods, so I can go other places. Like the Christmas dance," Evanora motioned around herself and Prue chuckled.

"Funny. Guess I deserved it. So, you come here to blend in with the humans, pretend that you're not a witch?" Prue asked, her tone casual as she checked herself out in the mirror.

Evanora felt fear grip at her. This was much more direct than last time, and it filled her with fear in case something bad happened. "I don't know what you're talking about," she lied, "I thought we established before that I'm not a witch."

Prue grinned at her, moving a step forward. "Oh, come on, Nora. We both know that's a lie. You don't have to be scared; I'm a witch, too."

All the faucets turned on immediately, no one touching them to make them do so. "So what? You're a witch and you know that I am, why does it matter?" Evanora dropped her act, a little safer in the knowledge that Prue was a witch but still uneasy with her.

"Because I can help you," Prue told her, "There's a group of witches in Hilltown called the Sisters of the Arcana. We want to help witches like you and take revenge on the Elders who have done nothing but wrong us. When I saw you for the first time, I knew you'd fit in just perfectly. We protect each other, and we can protect you if you join."

Evanora looked her up and down. "What do you mean take revenge on the Elders?"

"That's something I can't tell you. Insiders only knowledge, in case you want to go saying something to them," Prue shook her head.

"Yeah, right. Like I would willingly talk to one of them," Evanora scoffed, but still her opinion on Prue didn't change even though the girl looked happy at her response, "Whatever, it doesn't matter. You're crazy if you think I'll join."

She went to move past Prue but the girl caught her. "Come on, Nora, we can help you more than the Elders can and we can keep you safe. We look out for our own, unlike the Council."

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna join," Evanora shook her head, mind spinning with new knowledge of some rebel group who wanted her to join without telling her anything more about them and their cause, "My friends are waiting for me. I need to get back to them."

Prue stared at her. "I'll be around if you change your mind," she said.

Evanora didn't say anything else, just shook her head and left the restroom. She needed to get away from that, from all that witchy business. Tonight was supposed to be normal; tonight it was supposed to be Evanora the simple teenager not Evanora the Teenage Witch that Colleen wanted her to be.

God, why did every witch think that she wanted to be one just because she accepted her powers? She wanted to be a normal teenager who also had magic, not just a witch. She was more than her magic, she was a person first and for most, and she was not about to pledge her loyalty to a cause she knew nothing about and concrete her status as a witch first and nothing else.

This stupid Halloweentown was just getting worse for her, right when she was starting to think of it as just Hilltown instead.

She entered back into the main ballroom, finding it too dark to see any of her friends – or anyone's face at all, for that matter – so she stepped in further. She walked around trying to find someone when she heard.

"Brian, we didn't come here together – you're not my date," Maggie. That was unmistakably Maggie's voice and her heart skip a beat.

She started walking closer to where she heard the voice, hearing Brian say, "I know, but that doesn't mean we can't share a dance together."

"I really don't think that's a good idea," Maggie shook her head, and Evanora's face tightened when she saw that Brian had stepped in front of Maggie when she was trying to walk away.

Oh no, that was not allowed. She walked up to the two, trying to appear as calm as ever, a smile on her face. "Hey, Maggie, I'm back and you promised me a dance. Ready?"

Maggie's eyes were full of gratitude as she nodded. "Yeah," she said, sparing another look at Brian, "I promised her a dance, so I have to go."

"Sorry, Brian," Evanora shrugged in his direction, not sorry at all and her tone told that much because she didn't even try to sound legitimately apologetic.

"Thank you so much," Maggie told her when they were far enough away, "He just kept asking to dance and I really – that's not a good idea, is it?"

"If you wanna tell him that there's still a chance between you two, then saying no wasn't good. But, if you still don't wanna get back with him, then it is absolutely the correct thing to do," Evanora told her, "And Brian should respect that you don't wanna dance with him or be his date or date him ever again."

Maggie chuckled at her. She held out her hand toward Evanora, "Ready to dance?"

Her brain went blank when Maggie asked. "What?" was all that she could manage to get out.

"Well, you saved me and even if I don't wanna dance with Brian doesn't mean that I don't wanna dance at all. So come on, dance with me. It'll be fun," Maggie laughed and Evanora didn't hesitate again before taking Maggie's hand and letting herself be led into the dance crowd.

This was the Christmas dance experience that she wanted. Dancing with her crush, laughing with her crush, and being Evanora the simple teenager. Her mind away from Prue and that Sisters of the Arcana nonsense, only thinking about the fact that Maggie wanted to dance with her and dance with her and be with her. Maybe not in the sense that she wanted, but it was good enough.

And it was better than any other dance she had attended beforehand because she was dancing with someone that she actually liked, close to someone she wanted to kiss, and having to stop herself before she did so and ruined everything. It was positively perfect.