The first anxious moments of the ball were over. She was officially out in society, one of them. No longer was she a student lingering at the edges of a world she wasn't a part of, instead she was part of that world. It glittered and beckoned and truthfully Sisse was enjoying herself. She had been smiling and chatting and dancing the entire evening. It wasn't the students complaining in etiquette or friends offering to dance with her for no reason, but actual gentlemen expressing interest in her. Her nerves had faded into oblivion, lost to the easy give and take of conversation. For her first official ball Sisse felt almost as if she were glowing.

She was taking a break from the dance floor for a moment when her eyes spotted Alvin - no, Mr. Bixby, she reminded herself. Had he seen her? She had intended to find him this evening, to try and make up for how thoughtless she had been, to try to help him if she could. Although she doubted he wanted her help, she would have been disappointed in herself if she didn't at least check in on him. His eyes met her's and for a moment she forgot everything. She almost walked over to him, but instead he smiled and made his way to her.

His tone was playful gentle and Sisse matched it, trying to let the lightness of the evening buoy her until she could approach the words her heart longed to say. To thank him for his bravery, to let him know she knew this was hard. "It appears so." Although in truth Henry was her next dance partner and she was pretty sure he was trying to give her a moment to catch her breathe. She'd yet to sit a dance out all evening. "He's most unreliable." She lowered her voice to playfully admit.