AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Though I barely know this girl, I can’t help myself. I step forward, and she wraps me in her arms and squeezes me tight. I hug her back.
She releases me. “There. Feel any better?”
Surprisingly, I do. “Thanks for that.”
“You look like you could use some cheering up. What are you doing tonight?”
“Err, sitting in my room. Reading.”
“No, you’re not. You’re coming to the campus bar. Bring your ID, though it’s mostly for show. They aren’t that bothered, obviously, but they need to make it look like they’re sticking to the rules in case anyone from outside is hanging around.”
Why aren’t they bothered about carding? I’m about to ask when another thought hits me. “It’s Monday night,” I point out. Seems an odd night to go out and get your party on.
She shrugs. “So? Every day is much the same as the other around here. Why wait until Friday when you can have fun Monday to Friday, and then again on the weekend?”
I don’t want to be sociable, but I need to fit in. I have to figure out how I’m going to build a life for myself in this hellhole, and going out with a friend seems like a good place to start. I remember how Camile warned me off Dom and his friends, how she’d called them the Devils. Did that include Valentino? Tino was nice to me earlier, stood up for me against Dom, and I didn’t want to lump him in the same category as my asshole soon-to-be-stepbrother. I am about to ask her, but the bell goes for class, and I check my schedule.
“Dress up,” Camile tells me. “Hotter the better.”
I force a grin. “Got it.”
That evening, standing in front of the full-length mirror in my room, I turn, craning my neck, to check out how my ass looks in this silver sequined dress. It’s far shorter than I’d normally wear, and it’s strapless, too, so my shoulders are bare. I must admit, though, I look good.
It’s one of the multitude of items of clothing I found in my closet, clearly provided by the staff here on Nataniele’s orders. The amount of sexy clothing is somewhat disconcerting. It makes the stuff I brought from home look like I’ve been dumpster diving for something to wear, though, quality wise. I pair the dress with some strappy heels. Maybe dressing the part will make me less hated around here.
The afternoon had passed without event. I’d gone to my classes and kept my head down. When dinnertime had arrived, I’d once more grabbed a couple of pizza slices to go and hide in my room.
A light knock comes at my door, and I glance around just as it opens.
“You look nice,” Mom says from the gap in the doorway.
I hold my hands out on either side of me, as though to display my outfit further. “Thanks. I’m going out with a friend.”
A genuine smile spreads from cheek to cheek, and her eyes light up. “I’m so happy you have a friend already.”
“Thanks.” I beckon her fully into the room, and she shuts the door behind herself. “How are you doing, Mom?” I ask. “I wish you had a friend, too.”
She flaps a hand at me. “Me? Oh, I’m fine. As long as you’re doing okay, I can handle anything.”
I take her hand and give her fingers a squeeze. “I want you to be doing okay, too, though.”
“I will be, soon,” she tells me. “Oh, actually, while I’m thinking about it, Nataniele wants us all to have a chat tomorrow about the wedding.”
I swallow. “The wedding? Already?”
“Yes, he says there’s no point in waiting.” Her voice lowers. “It makes us safer, the sooner it happens, darling. We’ll have whole new identities.” She pauses and adds, “I’d like you to be my maid of honor, if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t mind.”
“Domenic is going to be Nataniele’s best man, so it makes sense to have the two of you together.”
I inwardly shudder at the idea of standing at an altar with Domenic, even if it isn’t the two of us who are getting married. I’ll do it, though, for Mom. I wonder how Dom is going to act at his father’s wedding. I can’t imagine he’s going to be too happy about us all standing there, playing happy families.
“Where is the service taking place?” I ask.
“There’s a chapel on the grounds.”
“What? Here? At Verona Falls?”
