InsaneJournal

Valentine's Day Party
The elementary students had had a low key party with punch and cookies and large amounts of glitter earlier in the day. That had all been cleaned up before dinner, though, and now the assembly hall in the main building had been...well, transformed would have been over-stating it, but it was definitely festive. Crepe paper streamers in red and pink and white had been strung from the chandeliers and along the walls, and tables down one side of the room were covered in actual fabric table cloths in matching colors, the surfaces littered with paper hearts and glitter and, almost incongruously, tasteful arrangements of red and pink roses with baby's breath. There was the obligatory punch bowl flanked by trays of elaborately decorated cookies and cupcakes, as well as platters of finger foods of varying degrees of sophistication and complexity. The chandeliers overhead had been dimmed to create a suitably 'romantic' atmosphere, while not making it too dark for the comfort of the few chaperones scattered about the room keeping a tolerant eye on the middle and high school students as they milled about, some dancing to the DJ provided music while others lingered in corners or slipped out into the lobby beyond the great double doors or the moonlit garden just outside.

In the lobby the music was muted, and clashed only slightly with the music escaping from the ballroom on the other side, where the college students were having their own event. The lobby was a large space, with thick rugs in the school colors covering the hardwood floors, and portraits of the founders looking down from the walls on a few groupings of heavy leather armchairs and tables scattered with informational brochures as well as a few free range decorations. The restrooms occupied opposite corners, and small groups of students of all ages lingered in the room, on their way in or out or simply escaping one event or the other for a while.

In the ballroom beyond, the streamers were absent there (though not the glitter), and the decorations ran to a more sophisticated black and red, with circular tables and chairs scattered around the edges of the dance floor in addition to the refreshment tables. The lights were lower as well, and there was a decided lack of chaperones monitoring the festivities as the older students enjoyed an event blissfully free from the restrictions of uniforms and dress codes.