CHAPTER ONE

My mother had always tried her best to make herself fit into the social circles of the rich people.

She liked to do something I call "keeping up with the appearance" and she was very good at it.

She occasionally visits the wives of CEOs and other rich people, to rub elbows with them.

The person she most frequently visited was the wife of the CEO and owner of Jones Corp, one of the largest companies in the world of America the reason was because they were childhood friends and today she decided to take me along with her.

"Oh, Ms Keith, It's been a while."

A beautiful woman in pink walked up to us. There was a little boy hiding behind her.

"Yes, it has, is that Axel?" my mother asked, referring to the little boy with glasses behind the woman.

"Oh my, Axel has grown up quickly, he was so small the last time I saw him."

"Yes, he has grown up a bit, he'll be nine next week, so I'll like to invite your kids to the party, I'll send the invitation tomorrow." The woman is pink said with a smile.

"Why thank you Ms Jones, I hope it's not too much trouble?" my mother asked.

"No, of course not Ms Keith, I would love for you and your kids to attend." Ms Jones replied.

"Oh by the way, this is my daughter, Velvet, you know, the one I always talk about."my mother said proudly.

"Ah, so this is the Velvet you are always talking about, I must say she is quite beautiful." Ms Jones said, staring at me curiously.

"T-thank you." I replied shyly.

"Oh she's quite shy, just as you mentioned."Ms Jones said before giggling.

"Oh, Ms Keith, why don't we let the kids get along while we chat for a bit, we have a lot to catch up on." Ms Jones said, literally dragging my mother along with her.

I was left in the room alone with the boy who was named Axel. I decided to approach him.

"Hi Axel, I'm Velvet, but you can call me Vee can you say that, Vee" I said, trying to be friendly.

"Vee..."he said shyly.

"Yeah, so how about we find something to do, like maybe playing games?"

He didn't reply, he just stared out of the window.

"Do you want to play outside?" I asked.

"N,no I-I don't want to." he said.

"Awww, you're just so cute!"

"Cute?" he asked tilting his head, making him even cuter. "But I'm not a little kid anymore, how can I be cute?" he asked.

I didn't know how to answer the question so I just kept quiet.

"I-I'm sorry you don't have to be quiet, you can call me cute if you want, I didn't mean to..." he said.

He looked even cuter when he was apologising.

"You don't need to apologise if you've done nothing wrong." I replied. "Now let's go play, you have toys right?"

"Um, yes?" he replied.

'Let's play!' I said

"Aren't you going to ask?" he said.

"Ask what?" I said curiously.

"No,it's nothing." he said.

"Um, Okay."

"Vee! It's time to go!" my mother shouted."

"I'm coming!" I replied.

"Bye Axel!" I said as I turned to leave.

"Wait! Will you come to my birthday party next week?" he asked.

'Of course, okay bye!' I replied.

#####################

The day of Axel's birthday arrived.

I didn't visit Axel's house until the day of the birthday, but my mother went almost every day to help in the birthday preparations.

It was hard to find a gift for him so I decided to make one myself.

I decided to wear a velvet dress.

Axel's house was huge!

I hadn't noticed the first time I was there.

I kept my head down the first time because I was shy.

The house was beautifully decorated with blue and green ribbons and balloons.

"Vee! You came!" Axel said before hugging me very tightly.

He was dressed in blue and green.

"I told you I would! Happy birthday!" I said before hugging him back.

"Let's go inside." I said.

He released me from the hug and held my hand.

"Okay."

There were a lot of rich kids and celebrities at the party.

My mother dressed elegantly and used the party as an opportunity to frolic.

"Let's sit together!" Axel said pointing to the birthday boy throne that was decorated for him.

"We can't both sit there, it's for you and no one else." I said.

"But I want to sit with you." he said looking sad.

He started sniffing.

"Oh, no, no, no of course I'll sit with you, just not there okay?" I said dragging him away before someone noticed I made the birthday boy cry.

I took him to a gazebo near the pool.

He had stopped sniffing.

"Hey, I didn't mean to make you cry, it's just that I can't ___"

"It's okay, it's my fault." he said.

"So birthday boy, you are a year older now, or should I say birthday 'man'?" I said trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes that's right, I am a year older, but Vee I want to ask, how old are you?"

"I'm twelve, why do you ask?"

"Thank goodness, if you were older I might faint." he said relieved. "Wait that means you are only three years older than I am."

" Hm, I guess, but why'd you want to know?"

"Because I like you and I don't want Ashton to get close to you." he said.

"Who?" I asked.

"I'm not telling." he said with a mischievous smile.

"You seem to have overcome your shyness, wait here, I'll go get drinks." I said.

"Let me follow you!" he said clinging on to me.

"Okay!" I said.

Axel and I sampled most of the drinks except for the adult drinks.

"Vee, I need to go pee!" Axel said.

" Do you want me to tag along?" I said teasingly.

"N,no, I don't need you to." He replied shyly.

" Okay, I meet you back at the gazebo." I said.

"Okay!" He replied before running off.

" Hey! You, girl in the Velvet dress!" I heard someone say as I headed back to the gazebo.

I turned around only to be face to face with a blonde girl in a green dress.

She looked older than I was.

" Me?" I asked curiously.

"Yes you, no one else is wearing a velvet dress!" She replied furiously.

"Um, who are you?" I asked.

"You don't need to know that! All you need to know is stay away from Axel, we all know what you're up to." She said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Are you acting or are you just dumb! I said stay away from Axel, no, you should just stay away from the Jones family!" She said.

"You didn't tell me who you are, so I don't think your threats mean anything to me." I replied before walking towards the gazebo near the pool.

"We both know that you are just getting close to Axel so Ashton will notice you!"

She said furiously, it looked like steam would start coming out of her head any moment.

"Okay, but who is Ashton." I asked.

"What?!" she shouted. "You really like playing games don't you!" she said.

"I seriously don't know who Ashton is." I said.

"Well then let me refresh your memory!"

She said before pushing me into the pool.

SPLASH!!!