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And what was worse was that everyone was staring at us, atme. The news of the Prince’s engagement—our engagement—had traveled like fire.
Vallie shrieked as she spotted a group of Advenians in the kitchen of the home. Grabbing my hand, with Miles tagging along behind us, she navigated us through the crowded room.
Miles whispered in my ear, “We could make it a drinking game, one sip for every girl that gives you the death stare.”
I whirled on him, giving him that same death stare, and he laughed.
Vallie released my hand once we reached the group. She spoke in a rushed state with a girl I didn’t recognize. Vallie was friends with everyone and I usually couldn’t keep up with all their names, but this girl was beautiful. Her black coiled hair was tied in an updo revealing the chocolate, silky skin of her face. Her smile was dazzling and almost as infectious as Vallie’s, I could see why they were friends. I couldn’t make out anything the two of them were saying over the roar of the music.
One of Vallie’s friends grabbed my hand and slipped the smallest cup I’d ever seen into my palm.
“A shot!” Vallie screamed over the music as everyone around us gathered in a semicircle, each holding a similar glass. “Let’s toast to Scottie landing the hottest male ever!”
I wished Vallie hadn’t said that because everyone in the group turned their attention to where I stood. There was a pause, long enough to make me think no one would agree to the toast, but then, slowly, everyone raised their small cups to meet their lips.
I internally groaned as I realized Yuri was among them. She gave me a nasty glare before throwing down the contents of her own drink and then turned her attention to the male next to her. I looked up at Miles. His jaw was clenched as he tipped his head back and drained his.
Vallie rotated, noticing my still full shot. “Come on, Scottie-cat, take it!” she said as she lifted the glass up to my lips.
“Okay, okay.” I swatted her hand away, but took the shot. It was just as disgusting as the bottle we had in our room. I needed Vallie’s drink-making skills to mask the bitter, gross taste of it.
I was about to tell her just that when a male I didn’t recognize came up to Vallie and consumed her attention. She was laughing and smiling as she leaned heavily into his chest. I realized I wouldn’t be hanging out with her tonight. My friend had a different life outside of our dorm room. Everywhere she went she became the life of the party. It suited her.
I took in my friend, her hair and makeup was still the same from the banquet, but she’d changed out of her long, pink dress and now wore a red one. It was simpler, more casual than the banquet attire, but she still looked absolutely stunning. I looked down at myself and huffed.
I anxiously pulled at the top of the black strapless dress Vallie had forced me into, which didn’t take nearly as much convincing after all the drinks. Since I didn’t have money, all I owned were Lakewood’s required clothing—my school uniforms and my guard outfit—which Vallie protested over and over that I couldn’t go to a party in them.
The more Advenians that filled the room, dancing against one another, the more claustrophobic I became. One person became two, and the floor was rising up. I couldn’t tell if someone was casting their illusion projection ability on me or if it was a result of the drinks. Either way, I had to get out of there. I started to make my way through the house, each room just as crowded as the last.
Once outside, I let out a small, almost inaudible sigh of relief. The music still played, but it was softer and no longer pounded against my chest. I stretched my arms, rejoicing in the fact that I didn’t hit another person.
Outside was much better. I looked around at where I was. I recognized the backyard through my foggy memory. I’d been here before. It had a beautiful high white fence, surrounding the vibrant, green grass and an artificial hot spring where steam constantly stirred above the surface. I imagined they paid a fortune to have a Luxian fire user heat the water to the perfect, non-scalding boil.
The spring was filled with people, most of them sitting and talking while sipping on their drinks, but there were a few couples who melted into one another. Sitting on each other’s laps with their tongues shoved down the other’s throat. I didn’t know where one body stopped and the other started. Realizing I was staring, I quickly looked away.
Even if my friends didn’t tell me beforehand that this was Yuri’s house, I would have known. I recognized that spring from the first time I met her. During year nine, Vallie told me she made a new friend and wanted me to tag along to go to her home. It started Yuri’s feud with me when I refused to get into the water and swim with all the other girls. I had a panic attack when she tried to push me into the steamy liquid, which ended with a punch to Yuri’s face. A broken nose later, I couldn’t really blame her for hating me. It also caused a rift in Vallie’s friendship with her, because ever since that night, Yuri loathed me with all her being. As much as Vallie loved gossip and knew everything about everyone—partly because her ability of knowledge absorption never let her forget any meticulous detail—she hated drama and couldn’t stand when someone spoke ill of someone else.
Most of the students at our school lived in the dorms. However, if someone was lucky enough to come from wealth like Yuri, they usually opted to reside at their parents’ home.
Most wealthy Advenians found it difficult to adjust to the lack of electricity on campus. The residents of this side of the village were associated with the school in some way. It was a smaller section, but the richest in LakeWood, which explained the excessive access to electricity.
I was looking around the yard for so long that I didn’t see Miles making his way toward me. I turned toward his sharpening figure and found him already staring at me, watching.
“So you’re going to go through with it?” he questioned once he closed the gap between us.
“Go through with what?” I asked as I took the drink he offered me.
“Marrying him. You’re going to marry that asshole.”
I coughed, choking on the liquid as he openly called the Prince an asshole in public. “Miles, what do you expect me to do? I have no choice in the matter. This wasn’t my decision.”
“Well, I just thought you were the only one that wasn’t obsessed with him. When I found out it was you, I thought you would have found it difficult.”
“And what makes you think I’m not struggling with this? What gives you the delusion that this is the best thing that has happened to me? Because it’s not. I don’t want this,” I seethed, my voice growing louder. A few people turned to stare at us.
“It didn’t seem like that earlier when Vallie told me. You didn’t have anything to say except that you wanted to have fun tonight.”
“I don’t want this, Miles. I don’t want to marry him. I just don’t know what I can do about it,” I whispered, fully aware of the attention we were amassing. I turned my back to the growing crowd and faced the wall as a tear slid down my cheek.
