The Gala

"Cheer up, buttercup" Carolina says with a smile as she tries to tickle me. I glare at her as I run away from her.

I hate it when people tickle me.

Carolina and I are currently shopping for our dresses to the gala tonight.

Last minute? Yeah, I know.

School was very boring today.

Kayden is still sick so I can't see him. Plus, Charlotte left way earlier than planned.

I personally feel like I have the right to pout at my day.

"If you stop pouting, I'll buy your lunch" she tries to negotiate which causes me to raise an eyebrow at her in interest

"How does pizza sound?" She asks as I tap my chin in thought

"I'm kind of in the mood for Chinese food" I say which causes her to smirk and laugh at my answer

"That's fair. Do we have a deal?" She asks and holds out her hand

"Yes" I say as I shake her outstretched hand which causes her to laugh as we continue to shop for gowns.

-

"I think I found the perfect dress" Carolina exclaims in excitement which causes a few shoppers to stare at up before going back to their searching

I look at the long silky green material that she's holding up and smile.

"You should go try it on" I say as she squeals and runs towards the dressing room

I continue to look through the black dresses since I already have black heels.

-

"How does it look?" She asks nervously as she turns

I eye the thin forest green straps before moving down to the top which hugs her chest in all the right places. It flows out around her hips and pools at her feet. There's a slit on the left side that starts at her hip and ends around her feet.

She looks absolutely gorgeous in this dress.

"I think it's safe to say that dark green is definitely your color" I say with a laugh as she chuckles at my response

"Thank you, that means a lot coming from you" she says which causes me to give her a confused look

"What do you mean by 'coming from me'?" I ask as she raises her eyebrow

"You're one of the most fashionable people that I know" she states as if it's obvious which makes my cheeks turn red from embarrassment

"Charlotte is kind of fashionable" I say which causes her to scoff

"You're not serious, are you?" She asks with a smile that immediately falls when she sees my facial expression

"Okay, You didn't hear this from me" she says as she lifts her gown and walks towards me

"But Charlotte will wear the same oversized shirt and sweatpants for three days straight if she's not meeting up with you" Carolina says in a whisper

"You're kidding, right?" I say with a lighthearted laugh since that sounds like something that Charlotte would do on her lazy days

"Nope" She says with a wide smile as I burst into laughter.

"Anyways, I'm going to buy this dress but I think you should hurry up since the party starts in three hours" she says which causes my eyes to widen

"Shit. My parents will kill me if I'm late" I say as I run to the section I was previously looking at.

I hear Carolina laughing behind me before she walks into the dressing room to put in her clothes.

-

"That's the dress," Carolina says proudly as she blatantly checks me out

"You need to buy it, now" she says as she continues to check me out which causes me to blush

"Stop checking me out" I say as I wrap my arms around my stomach

"I'm pretty sure everyone is going to be checking you out all night" she says with a laugh as I groan

"But seriously, buy the dress" she says as she looks me in the eye with a serious expression

"Okay" I say as I raise my hands in surrender before turning around to walk back into the dressing room.

Before I close the dressing room door I heard Carolina mutter something along the line of 'a special someone is going to have a heart attack when they see you.'

I wonder who the special someone will be?

-

"Come on, Aspen" I hear Carolina groan in an impatient tone as she continues to pace the floor of my room

"Stand still, you're creating a draft" I say teasing only to have her stop an glare at me

Bad crowd, I see.

Carolina has on her gorgeous dark green dress which she paired with a pair of nude heels. Her hair is curled into a half-up-half-down, which suits her facial features.

She's wearing natural makeup with a nude lipstick.

"Done" my makeup artist says which makes me smile as I stand up and face Carolina

My parents ordered me a makeup artist without any context or warning.

"I'm done, calm your horses" I say with a smirk as she glares at me.

I'm wearing a long low cut black gown that has a feather design on the chest area and a slit from my thigh to my feet. I pair it with my black pumps.

My hair is straightened. I have a black smokey eye with nude liquid lipstick on.

"Ha ha ha, very funny" she says sarcastically with an eye roll

"Where are our masks?" She asks as we walk out of my room and descend down the stairs

"Near the door" I say as I step onto the wooden floor and walk to the table which is currently holding our basic black masks.

I hand her, her mask before I pick up mine and gently place it over my eyes.

"Are you ready?" She asks me as I turn to look at her now masked face

"Definitely not" I say with a laugh as we walk out the door

This is going to be a long night.

-

As we arrive at my dad's mansion we get out of the limo and hook our arms around each other. We silently walk past security and into the house.

I'm met with the sound of elegant music and decor. Everyone is crowded in the giant foyer with a snack table not that far away.

There's a chandelier hanging a couple of feet above them as some dance and some converse.

"Oh, wow" Carolina says with a shocked tone

"If you see a man in an all white suit, alert me immediately" I say with a serious tone as I release her arm and guide us towards the dance floor

"Why? Is there someone after you?" She asks with a curious tone

"No, he's just bad news" I say as we stop in the middle of the dance floor

She loosely wraps her arms around my waist as I reach up and wrap mine around her neck.

We slowly sway side to side as the beat of the music guides us.

-

After dancing for a couple of minutes we decide to take a break.

"Come on, let's go outside" I say as I lead her through the living room, where some adults were playing poker.

We walk through the double doors and I smile at the sight I'm met with.

There's a stone walkway that leads towards an underground pool. To the far right there's a garden maze that's lit up with fairy lights.

"Wow" I hear Carolina gasp as we stand there and observe the view

"Yeah," I agree as I lead her towards a bench

"I used to come here a lot as a child" I say as we sit and admire our surroundings

"What happened?" She asks as I look down at my hands and nervously fiddle with them

"My mom thought that he was a bad influence on me," I say before I take a deep breath

"He bought me whatever I wanted with no hesitation," I continue with a smile as I remember the memories

"She was afraid that I was going to turn into a spoiled brat" I say with a shrug which causes Carolina to frown

"You're the furthest thing from a brat, Aspen" she says which causes me to smile

"I don't blame her. At the time I would throw a tantrum whenever they said no to me" I say as I turn to face an emotionless Carolina

"What happened?" She asks curiously

"I met Charlotte," I say with a smile

"She explained to me why they were saying no and told me that I would be thankful for it later in life" I say with a wide smile on my face

We continued to talk about random things and got to know each other better.

We were talking about our favorite movies when we got interrupted by my mom.

"Aspen, come inside. It's freezing out here" she scolded me which causes me to roll my eyes but I oblige

-

As we enter the house I follow Carolina to the snack table.

We get stopped by the one and only.

"Did you miss me?" My dad asks with a smirk

"Was I suppose to?" I ask as I place my hands on my hips and walk in front of him

"Did your mother feed you more lies about me?" He asks with an amused expression

My mom told me everything that I needed to know about my dad when she reached her breaking point. Shortly after that they got a divorce.

"If you don't mind I would like to get a snack" I say effectively changing the subject as I go to walk around him only to have him grip my upper arm tightly

"We will talk later" he says putting the emphasis on the word 'will'

"I'm looking forward to it" I say sarcastically before I rip my arm from his grip and continue my journey towards the snack table

"You weren't kidding when you said he was bad news" Carolina whispered as we picked up a finger sandwich

"He's a drunk," I say before I can stop myself.

Carolina looks at me with wide eyes.

"He started when my mom banned me from ever visiting him again" I say quietly before I take another bite of my sandwich

"I tried to visit him in secret, it was a mistake" I say as I stare into oblivion

"You don't have to explain it if you're uncomfortable" Carolina says but I shake my head

"He blamed me for their divorce then threw three glass bottle at me, I still have the scars" I say before I turn to her with an emotionless look

"I don't hate him, but I know he needs help" I finish as I wipe my hands on a napkin and look around at all the dancing bodies

"I'm so sorry, Aspen" Carolina says with a sympathetic tone

"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault" I say in a monotone voice before I see someone walk through the front door

Oh my fucking god.

It's a girl. She's wearing a simple black mask that's paired with a black textured tuxedo. Instead of a tie she has a ribbon. Her shoes are similar to mine and her hair is messily parted to the side.

She looked gorgeous.

"Who is that?" I ask with curiosity clear in my voice

"Shit," I hear Carolina curse beside me which causes me to snap out of my gawking and look at her frazzled state

"What's wrong?" I ask

"I think I left my phone outside near the bench" she says with obvious stress in her facial features

"I'll go find it for you, what color is it?" I ask

"Yellow, thank you so much" she says before she hugs me and sends me on my way

Well that was random.

I quickly make my way through the living room and out the double doors, again.

I carefully search the bench for a yellow phone only to be met with nothing.

Did someone take it?!

"Hello miss" I hear a voice behind me which causes me to freeze before I slowly turn around and meet the face of the gorgeous mystery woman.

Sweet baby Jesus.

"I could help but notice that you seem a little hurried" She asks with a voice as smooth as butter which causes a shiver to go up my spine

Even her voice is sexy.

But it's kind of familiar.

"I know this may sound weird, but have we met before?" I ask her as I try to gauge her facial features under the mask

"I think I would've remembered a beauty like yourself" she says as she lightly grips my hand and brings it up before placing her soft on my knuckle

I blush as she looks up at me before removing my hand from her hold.

"Thank you" I say as I look down

She uses her pointer finger to lift my chin up before she tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.

She caresses my cheek with her thumb while holding eye contact with me.

Her long blonde hair and bright green eyes seem so familiar.

Wait a minute.

She could possibly be-?

I carefully untie her mask and pull it off only to be met with Charlotte's face.

What?!

She said that she wasn't coming?

"But- you- I- we- huh?" I ask in confusion which causes her to smirk at my confused expression

"It ended early so I decided to surprise you" she says as she trails her hands down to firmly hold my hips

"How did you know it was me?" I ask which makes her smile

"I may or may not have had help from Carolina" she says with a shrug

"Let me guess, she didn't actually lose her phone?" I ask

"Nope, she's had it with her the whole time" she says

"Of course she has" I say as I shake my head

"Are you happy to see me?" She asks with a curious tone. I place my hand on my chin in a thinking motion which causes Charlotte to scoff as I smile.

"Of course I'm happy to see you" I say as I wrap my hands around her neck and give her a hug

We stay in this position for a couple of minutes until we're interrupted.

"I hate to break up this moment, but Aspen your mom is looking for you" I hear Carolina say

"It's okay" I say with a smile as I make my way towards the house

"Could your timing be any worse?" I hear Charlotte groan in annoyance behind me which causes me to laugh

"Come on, you big baby" I tease her as I stop and hold my hand out for her

She just pouts at my joke as she laces our fingers together.

"Not so big and bad now, huh?" Carolina teases which causes Charlotte to glare at her before we make our way into the house