Have you ever had one of those terrible yet annoyingly pivotal moments? You know, that monumental fragment of time that flips everything you have ever known. That plot twist second that completely takes you by surprise. The one just before the sto...
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"So? Can I look now?" I ask exasperated and annoyed that this is the result of me losing a Rock Paper Scissors battle against Harley. "Not yet. In five minutes." Nina says with a grin I don't need to see to know she's wearing. I sigh but give in. This is the price I agreed to pay if I lost. Harley gets to put my make up and Nina gets to decide what I wear. If I won Harley was actually going to study for midterms and tests. I shouldn't have trusted my luck so sincerely but I know I'll get her to study somehow. However I somehow feel I got the worse end of the bargain. Nina and Harley wouldn't let me open my eyes at all through the process so I nearly died trying to put on the dress until Kimberly helped me into it properly. It feels comfortable and of a long length which I'm always grateful for. From what I can tell it's a loose yet flowy fabric that composes the skirt. The bodice feels like...like... satin? Silk? Velvet? Ugh I don't know, but one of those soft expensive materials. I hope it's not silk. I hate silk since I happen to find the concept of boiling silk worms just to harvest their cocoons way too murderous to get something as materialistic as a fabric. However Nina mentioned that this particular dress is one she asked my dad to get for me especially and they both know I hate silk so I'm sure it's not. However when I hear the click of whatever cosmetic product Harley was using on me and she says, "Okay — now you can look." I realize poor silk worms are the least of my problems. My eyes flutter open and I see on either side of me, Harley and Nina and next to each of them Kimberly and Jaya — all smiling at my expression as my eyes land first on my make up, then shoot to my dress and then, last but definitely not least on the jewelry they deemed a necessity to wear. I open my mouth but no words come out. Even though my thoughts are racing it seems I can't verbalize any of them. But to be fair, if you were in my position, seeing what I'm seeing you'd probably be speechless too.
"So... what do you think?" I hear Nina say as she takes a timid step back, almost hiding behind Kimberly and I know why she's doing that. It's because she knows my speechlessness only lasts so long and now, now I have a tornado of words for her. "I think..." I say slowly, softly, my smile only matching my tone right up into I say, "I'm going to kill you." My eyes narrow and she gulps, squeaking as I reach forward to grab her. She bolts out of my grasp and hides behind Harley once more. Harley holds out her arms up to stop me from getting to Nina.
"Oh come on Lexi. You're an idiot if you were expecting anything else."
"You," I point my finger up at Harley, "you are an accomplice so you can't say anything. All of you are guilty." I glare at Kimberly who looks down like an abandoned puppy and Jaya who shrugs, "I personally think it suits you." She gestures to the dress and make up and I scoff, but just as I'm about to reply I hear my father call "Girls, your coach is here. You don't want to be late." My eyes widen because that means I have no time to change. I look back to my supposed friends. "You guys so planned this!" "Guilty," Nina grins in a way that looks so innocent that if I wasn't wearing the results of her scheming mind I would never believe she is capable of such flawlessly executed mayhem. "I—" "Girls." I hear Caroline's on the other end of my closed door and I almost want to ask her if there's any way I could get out of going tonight. But I know there isn't. Besides, I still have to apologize to Kade today. And I have to give him his present which my dad said I had to organize as soon as he heard Nina mention his birthday. Which she did — several times, very loudly until he heard and thus made me get a present. Which is why I arrived back at the palace late. Since I went to the local market to get Kade's present personally as I remembered something I had previously seen that reminds me of him. I went to go check if it was still there and it was. Good luck to make up for the bad luck of losing the Rock Paper Scissors game to Harley when I got back. I was already late and clearly was too taken aback by Harley's offer and the fact that if I won, she'd actually study to worry about what would happen if I lost. I should've though. I catch my reflection in the mirror and cringe. Clearly. "We're coming Caroline. Come on, it's too late to run Lex." Harley grabs my hands and starts pulling my towards the door and I know there's no point fighting her. She's right. It's too late to run so I decide to just pretend that my dress, make up and jewelry aren't the two main colours they are. Pretend I don't at all have a certain y with those colors. Pretend my heart isn't beating as fast as it. Pretend that I'm not worried about seeing Kade tonight or rather about Kade seeing me. But that's the thing about pretending, I pass Caroline and give a smile as all of us descend the stairs and walk outside, into the dusky haze coating the garden. The thing about tricking and lying and fooling everyone else. I thank Fred, the other coachman that's on duty tonight, and step inside the carriage. If you put so much effort into hiding what you're feeling then that means that it's important enough to hide, strong enough that you have to pretend, dangerous enough that you have to even fool the people closest to you. I purse my lips and look out the window again as the everyone else climbs in and we start off in the direction of the Central Hall, where the Gala Event will be held. That's the problem about pretending, about putting up a façade — it's so fragile yet if it works properly, people can think you're being completely transparent. A façade is so easy to break yet so hard to create. Like glass. Tonight I feel like I'm coated in a layer glass lies and that layer is the only thing keeping the truth enclosed. I know that when I see Kade I'm either going to shine and shimmer with fake transparency or I'm going to crack and shatter and all the lies will fall in pieces to the floor and all that will be left is the truth. A truth I don't think anyone, including myself, is ready to know. *** I awake with a jolt as I hear someone calling my name. "Great you're up. We're here." I turn to see Harley who had sweetly let me use her shoulder as a pillow but unfortunately the triggers the memory of when Kade let me use his. I shake my head, clearing both the remnants of sleep and of that dangerous flashback. "Thank you." I smile at her and she grins, "You kept saying stuff in your sleep." My eyes widen but before she can say anything else I quickly jump out the carriage but someone pulls my hand to stop me from walking straight into the hall in order not to talk to Harley about what I might've said because there's no way from her smile that information could be good. I turn back to see Nina who quickly pulls me aside and flicks out her lipstick like it's her favourite weapon and brushes it over my lips. "There. Just a touch up from the nap." "Thank you." I smile and she grins. "So you're not mad at me anymore?" I shake my head, "I'm still mad but it's not your fault. I actually really like the dress to be honest. Thank you for it by the way." She smiles brightly, "Of course. Also you left Kade's gift in the carriage." I nod, "Yeah I'll give it to him later." She nods and interlocks her arm through mine and we walk towards the entrance of the Hall, Harley, Kimber and Jaya joining us as we climb the steps and the guards at the door open them for us. The arc of the entrance is so wide we can all stand in a line yet step through all at once. So we do and not even a second later do all eyes turn to us. But it's better than before because this time I'm with my friends and even though we are two minutes or so late, we're late together and like I told the girls earlier from the way they look, we could most definitely pass as fashionably late. Harley is wearing violet, the exact shade as her eyes, Kimberly her signature candy floss pink, Jaya a pure white cocktail dress and Nina a baby blue evening gown. We walk down the stairs and to the bottom of the platform but Nina suddenly stops. So I do too. I turn to her. "What's wrong?" She doesn't speak though, just smiles and grabs my arm tighter, striding forward in the direction of a destination I don't know. She halts suddenly and I turn to her, about to ask what she's doing but she just points to something that I think she expects me to look at so I oblige and turn. And all at once I feel the wind being knocked out of me. Red hair. Green eyes. Bright smile. There he stands in his black tux and accompanying red and green pocket square. One that matches the colors of my dress and his eyes and his hair. "Close your mouth, that's how you catch flies — not boys. " I hear Harley's teasing voice on the other side of me and jolt slightly. I shake my head. "I'm not trying to catch a boy." "That may be true but let's see if he'll catch you." I look to Nina about to tell her that I'd rather not see that but it's too late. I feel her tiny yet ridiculously strong hand on the base of my back. And before I can even give one last plea for her to reconsider this terrible idea, she pushes me forward. Straight toward Kade. However, just then a couple steps in front of me and I manage to grab onto the closest pillar to steady myself just before I crash into them. Relief flows through me when I see that I missed just them and I quickly duck behind a more distant pillar. I turn back to glare at Nina but she is nowhere to be seen. She probably fled the scene to escape my wrath. I sigh and roll my eyes but my attention is grabbed as I see the couple approach Kade. Even from behind the pillar, I notice his immediate tense shoulders, forced smile and downcast eyes and suddenly my attention has no better place to be than right here, right now and on what'swrong with him. That's when I indirectly get my answer. He looks at the girl of the couple I nearly crashed into for a brief second and I see the light in his green eyes dim when they land on her partner's arm which is currently around her waist. I move a little closer to observe both her and their conversation. I figured Kade has eavesdropped more than enough of my conversations so I can return the favor. Focusing first on the girl in question, I observe her closely and I can't deny her ethereal beauty. She's stunning in her black elegant dress that shows off her gorgeous figure. Her ebony hair falls in long flowy wisps down to her waist. Her cheekbones mimic the peaks of mountains as I see her smile, pure white in contrast to her black dress, hair and eyes. Those tear shaped eyes are that same startling dark brown, just like her hair, so brown it looks black. And those eyes are just filled with heart break, even from afar.( or about the six meters away I'm standing) Then I listen in, moving about two meters closer but trying to be inconspicuous by hiding behind another couple. That's when I hear it, just a name but a name that kickstarts my body, making me do something I normally never would. A name that the girl's partner had called so affectionately I can understand now exactly why seeing her is so hard for Kade. The name is Jasmine. Jasmine as in the girl who broke his heart so utterly. The girl who left him like he was nothing. The girl he loved. The girl whose arm is currently around the torso of another guy, and is looking at him the way she probably used to look at Kade. And to top it all off, it's on his birthday. My body jumps into motion as the realization dawns on me. I walk up to them, oozing a confidence I don't feel, the dark red crystal heels Nina made me wear making me stand up straighter, making every step I take seem graceful and poised. I notice people stop their conversations to turn and stare, but they aren't staring at me, not really. They're staring at the one of a kind crimson satin bodice and pastel green flower lace hand sewn onto it, imported from who knows where. They're looking at my 100 000 zen earrings which catch the light and flicker as if a flame has been trapped inside the red and green tinted crystal. And I know for a fact those polite enough not to openly gawk at my beyond pricey outfit and unique earrings can't help do so when their eyes land on my neck, or more accurately, the Talpa necklace. The rarest and most sought after piece of jewelry to exist in this world. I see it flicker under the lights, much like the earrings, that same red and green sparkle trapped within... but it's brighter, the colours more fluid, mixing together and interchanging positions with each step I take. That's the thing about the Talpa, it's beautiful and commands attention, it's meant to be in a glass case, not around the neck of a girl who had it for years but hadn't even touched it until tonight. Well. I'm glad Nina made me wear it now — I'm going to need all the bling I've got to pull off What I'm about to try.
