Mena was thankful for the magic gauze. Overnight, it had managed to absorb the cut on her foot, thus making it impossible to know of her escapade last night. She kept the bottle of Mone Cologne well-hidden too. And when the little doctor asked her how she was feeling, she told him that her seeing Fabias was part of some “pre-death delirium” and that she was feeling much better this morning. Thankfully, the doctor agreed to release her, and she ran straight for her room.

On her way there, she ran into Caligari with a large amount of desperation in her eyes. “Mena!” she exclaimed. “You’ve got to help me!”

“With what?” Mena asked.

“Gemini is coming, I need your guidance. You know a lot more about romance than me.”

“Uh, sure,” Mena said, and Caligari quickly draped her in shadows. “I want you to let me know if I’m doing things right. Nod your head if I am, shake it if I’m not.”

“Ok,” Mena said, feeling a bit cold and light.

Hiding in the silhouette of a large vase on a table stand, Mena watched Caligari as she stood nervously like a giddy schoolgirl about to go on her first date. Gemini turned the corner, his head was slumped over and his feet dragged as they walked. Mena figured it was a combination of Stellaris saying no and the stained-glass portrait of Violet being smashed. Poor guy, she thought.

“Hey, uh…Gemini,” Caligari peeped quietly as he walked by.

“If this has to do with students failing your class, Caligari,” the Clown Prince said, “It can wait an eternity and a half…”

“I um…uh…” Caligari said, but the objection of was slowly walking off. Mena quickly got behind Caligari’s shadow and whispered, “I would gladly wait an eternity and a half to ask you this question.”

Caligari perked up and in a much more confident voice asked, “Gemini, I would gladly wait an eternity and a half to ask you this question.”

Suddenly, the Clown Prince turned around and eyed Caligari suspiciously. “What did you say?”

Next, Mena whispered in a dramatic voice, “The passing and failing of students means nothing in the grand scheme of things when compared with what I’m about to ask you,” and Caligari repeated it.

“Wow,” Gemini said, “What’s more important than academics for you Caligari? That’s all you seem to care about.”

“Well,” Mena started. “There’s one thing I care about more than academics…”

But Caligari quickly finished Mena’s sentence. “Will you go to the homecoming with me tonight!”

The hallway was draped in utter silence. The tension was so thick, it would take a butcher’s knife to slice it. Mena watched quietly as the Clown Prince sized up his decision. “Why not? I’d love to go with a friend.”

Caligari was still, a tempest of mixed emotions on her face. But at last, she uttered, “Great. I’ll see you in the evening.”

“See you there,” Gemini said, pointing his fingers at her before walking off.

Mena quickly emerged from the shadows, but it looked like Caligari wished she could return to them. “Thank you for helping me,” Caligari said, bowing her head. “But I guess our best, just wasn’t good enough for an actual date.”

Mena reached her arm out and patted Caligari on the back. “I’ve read about all kind of galas and parties in romance novels, and sometimes, people go together as friends, but”—Mena’s eyes glinted with fascination—“They end up leaving as so much more!”

“Really?!” Caligari said, hope returning to her eyes. “Oh Mena, you really are the most knowledgeable person when it comes to romance.”

“Let me give you a hint,” Mena said, a sly look still on her face. “There is a perfect moment to reveal your true feelings to Gemini. Two words: Slow-dance. Take that clown in your arms, look wistfully into his eyes and when the lighting and music is just right, plant a big kiss on his lips.”

Mena could detect a hint of drool on Caligari’s lips as she fantasized about it. “Let me recommend something to you: Melina Penwell’s Love in The Days of Magic series. They’ll teach you how to be a master of L-U-V even if you’ve never spoken to a boy before.”

“Do they really do that?” Caligari asked, timidly. “I spend all my time reading combat manuals.”

“No wonder you aren’t prepared to take the world of love by storm,” Mena said. “Subscribe yourself immediately!”

“I will, Mena,” Caligari said with another head bow. “Thanks again. I’ll be sure to go a bit easier on you in class, from now on.”

Mena flicked her hand and gave a wink. “Just count it as extra credit!”

***

Mena reached the dining hall and took a cloud lift to May and Janus, who were still enjoying their breakfast. “Hey,” Mena said with a wave. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing yet,” May said, “Supposedly, Gemini is going to talk to us about what we’re going to wear to the prom.”

“More importantly,” Janus said, “What did we miss?”

“I’ve got plenty to tell you guys,” Mena said, “But it’s best we do it discreetly. You never know who is listening.”

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“Sounds like a plan,” May and Janus both said as Gemini rose on his cloud to make the morning announcements.

“Today, is the most important day ever…” Gemini declared. “At least that’s how it feels in your pretty, little heads. You will have a glamorous, glorious party inside an age-old ballroom where you will cavort for a few hours with a neighboring school.”

Electra stood up next to him and interrupted him. “And more importantly, you will befriend a fine young member of the opposite sex and dance with him in the sky.”

“Of course,” Gemini said, speaking up again. “What matters most is the friendships you give and cherish until old age.”

“You kidding me?” Electra added. “It’s about the cheap thrills and love and embarrassments that will haunt you ‘til old age!”

“Wow,” Janus responded in a deadpan fashion. “Speaking of old age, those two are like a bickering, elderly couple.”

“Well regardless,” Gemini said, glaring at Electra. “We will need to make the final preparations for both the ballroom and you. Now I know most of you from the ground were saved with only the clothes on your backs, and you must be like”—Gemini talked in a high-pitched falsetto voice—"‘where in Dula am I going to find a pretty little outfit for homecoming?’”

Mena looked around, and indeed, there was a look of nervousness on a lot of the Groundborns. Like them, Mena had only come in her hand-stitched witch outfit from her auntie.

“Fortunately for you, we started a “Hand-Me-Down Homecoming Gowns” drive for this very reason.”

“Oi, hand-me-downs?” Laetitia laughed from a neighboring table. “I’m sure zee boys with be dazzled by their bargain bin boutique.”

Marie chortled too, though Ashlan sat with a look of uncertainty on her face, debating whether she should laugh or not. Much to Mena’s relief, she chose not to.

“Groundborns…” Gemini said, and with a sly wink, he added, “And Mena, can report to the fourth floor after breakfast. There they’ll find a nice surprise waiting for them.”

“Fortunately for me,” May said softly. “My mummy packed me a hand-me-down dress already…Sadly, it smells like moth balls.”

The Tessellations snickered loudly, and Mena sunk her head low to the cloud table.

***

Mena and a group of Groundborns arrived at the fourth floor, where a tiny, old member of the Lollypop Clothing Drive greeted them. She was an elderly little woman with her silver hair balled up in a bun; she squinted through large pearly glasses that magnified her eyes. “I’m so glad every one of you is here today. While the dresses you may find are not the most glamorous, they are quite ‘historically relevant’ so to speak.”

Mena sighed and rolled her eyes. What good was a dress if it couldn’t dazzle a boy and make him fall in love at first sight.

The little old woman glared at Mena and her pouting behavior, “I’ve heard about you, Miss Willow,” she said, the glasses magnified the anger in her eyes. “I think you will be the first person I’ll make an example of.”

“Be my guest,” Mena responded, coldly.

The little old lady beckoned Mena to come in with her, leading her inside a room full of racks of dusty old clothing. None of the clothing looked contemporary and seemed to come from an antiquated age. There was a smell of mothballs lingering in the room along with the dust. Mena wondered how wearing old women’s clothing was going to woo anyone except for maybe a 75-year-old man from a nursing home. The lady stopped at a rack of dresses, many of them with delicate frills and bright colors of yellow and pink.

“Ah, here it is,” the old lady said and pointed to her head, removing a dress from the top rack with her mind. The dress was a lovely shade of lavender and had a silvery crystal in the center of it. Mena had to admit it looked a lot prettier than the other dresses, even with bits of patchwork in the stitching. “This dress,” the old lady told Mena, “Was worn by Arabella Willow at her first homecoming.”

“Miraculous Magicaps!” Mena said, her eyes sparkling like the crystal. “This was worn by my mom?!”

“Let’s try it on!” the old lady said and snapped her fingers. Mena spun around faster and faster until the dress wrapped itself around her body and when she stopped after shaking off a moment of dizziness, she found herself in her mother’s dress with her hair tied up. The little lady snapped her fingers and a mirror appeared in front of her.

“Oh my,” the old lady said. “You are the spitting image of your mother.”

In the reflection, Mena recalled the image of her mother with her father at Sunset Lake. She indeed looked like her, but with her father’s thick eyebrows and braces. “Wowie zowie,” Mena exclaimed. “You were right. So right.”

Tears trickled down her eyes and the little old lady snapped her fingers and a tissue appeared. “Of course, I am,” the little old lady said. “Many mothers of these Groundborns have left behind their own dresses, and while they aren’t the most glamorous, they make up for it in memories.“

“You’re telling me,” Mena said, realizing she had a bigger treasure than any cutting edge clothing the Tessellations could wear.

***

“You look fine, Mena,” Janus said with a fond smile as Mena walked back into her room.

Both Janus and May had been getting ready. Janus, of course, chose a purple and black corset, and an enormous black dress laced with pink ribbons. Her dark hair towered high on her head and was with filled with even more ribbons. Her skull-white face was powdered heavily and her eyes were draped in thick racoon-like eye shadow.

May, on the other hand, wore a dress so white, Mena could swear it was a wedding dress. She had a lily in her hair (as per her mummy’s suggestion) and her hair was also neatly tied into a stringy bun.

“So do you guys!” Mena said, and she put on a brave face. “But now it’s time to get down to business. Professor Gaia is planning to search for the castle for the gilded door during something called Castle Alignment.”

“Castle Alignment?” Mena’s friends asked.

“Yeah, Gaia bribed Electra to tell him about a hidden secret about this Dream Castle. It interacts with the other one and opens up doors and passageways we couldn’t find otherwise.”

“All the staff will probably be distracted too,” Janus remarked. “With the festivities.”

“Exactly,” Mena responded. “It will be the perfect time for Gaia to explore the castle. That’s why we gotta keep tabs on him at the Homecoming.”

“I can do that,” Janus said with a wink. “For the most part, these kinds of parties bore me. Back home, my dad throws parties that could wake the dead…literally!”

“Perfect!” Mena exclaimed. “Now do either of you know anything about this? I found it in the ballroom last night.”

Mena produced the can of cologne and Janus shook her head, but for once, May’s dull eyes glowed brightly.

“Oh wow,” May exclaimed. “I can’t believe I know something you don’t. My mummy has a magical convenience store in the city of Wormwood that sells Mone Cologne. Apparently, it’s suppose to transform men into the object that women desire.”

“Thanks May!” Mena said, her eyes glowing with enlightenment. “That’s so useful to know and very suspicious.”

May’s cheeks shaded red. “I feel so useful, finally.”

Mena winked at her friend and patted her on the back. “You’re on your way to becoming my number 2.”

“I am?” May gasped, holding her hands to her cheeks.

“You are.”

“What about me?” Janus asked sweetly.

“Well, Janus,” Mena said cordially. “You’re obviously my 666.”

“Ooh” Janus responded, clearly enthralled. “Where’d you get that number?”

“It just came to mind when I thought of you,” Mena said with a smile. “It’s pretty catchy!”

“Anyway girls,” Mena said at last. “Let’s focus. We have a very big night tonight. I have no idea how things are going to go down, but I know one thing.”

“What?” her friends both asked.

“Something smells funny,” Mena said narrowing her eyes, “and believe me, it’s not just the body spray!”