Mrs March comes into my room.
"Fantastic, you managed to put it on" She says. She sits me down onto a chair a does my hair for me. It's nothing too extra, just a plain ponytail with a few braided pieces. Then Ramona comes in.
"You look beautiful Letty" She says smiling at me.
"Thank you" I say smiling back at her "For everything, truly. I can't thank you enough"
"Oh, nonsense" She steps closer "This is what family is for." I don't think I've ever heard a more comforting sentence.
"Here, put these on" Ramona says handing me a pair of earrings and two armlets. The armlets are both plain silver and the earrings are diamond. I look at Ramona and before even getting a chance to say anything she quickly puts the armlets on me.
"I can't wait for you to meet our people" She says while looking at me in the mirror.
✧ ˚ · ☾
We arrive the celebration ball. I look out the carriage window and see an enormous estate. A bunch of people have arrived already and there are lights everywhere. We step out of the carriage.
"So how does this go?" I ask
"There's a seating chart so you three will probably sit with your schoolmates" Says my uncle looking at me "Other than that it's just a nice evening party, you'll enjoy it" He pats my back while smiling.
As we approach the huge archway I spot a few people I saw at school today. We each get our seat numbers and walk further in. The ballroom is filled with round tables and there's even a grand staircase that leads upward where there are more tables. The ceilings are beautifully painted with mythological creatures and there are huge chandeliers shining down on the room. People are talking and laughing while a band of weird-looking creatures play.
Tori, Finn, and me walk through the crowd to find our table. It's 6:57 and they start serving food at 7:00
"Ugh, I'm starving" Tori says tilting her head back and holding onto her stomach while we walk.
"When are you not?" Finn asks with an annoyed voice.
"Hey, I'm a developing individual" Says Tori with an offended voice, looking at her brother.
"Yeah, you've been developing for the past seventeen years" Finn says chuckling "I was born two pounds underweight, wonder why that was" He says looking at me. Tori widens her eyes and laughs while looking at her brother. Tori grabs my hand "You're my new sister-brother i guess then" She says while side-eyeing Finn. We all laugh and keep joking around while still looking for our table.
"Oh hell no" Finn says suddenly.
"What?" me and Tori ask in union.
"We're sitting with fucking Aiden" He says. I remember his name from earlier.
"What's his deal?" I ask
"Finn and him used to be best friends" Tori answers "Up until he turned into his true self and hooked up with Finn's ex then they started dating, and he kicked him off the tiroball team.
"He's a real treat" Finn says shaking his head.
"Tori, Finn!" Says Wes, who also happened to be at the table.
"Come on" Tori says dragging Finn along.
We walk to the table and take seats. We were the last ones to get there so there wasn't much of a seat option. Tori sat next to me and Wes while Finn sat down between two girls. Guess who I sat next to. Of course, It's Aiden.
"Hey guys" Says one of the girls sitting next to Finn.
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"Who's your friend? I haven't seen her around school" Says the other one.
"She just moved here" Aiden says quickly before I could even open my mouth to speak.
"Oh, from where?" The girl says looking at me.
"She's our cousin" Tori says quickly while eating a breadstick. The girl gives her a weird look
"I'm Letitia" I say smiling, finally getting the chance to speak.I look at Aiden, he's wearing a simple white shirt with a tie, he has a gold shimmer in his hair along with gold rings on his fingers, his lips look as if he had just eaten a dozen cherries. He doesn't even acknowledge me, I don't expect a welcome wagon but come on, you'd think that people in Elsher have some manners. I can't wait to spend my night sitting next to the crypt keeper.
✧ ˚ · ☾
As the night goes on we run out of topics we can pretend to be interested in and the occasional two minute awkward silence starts. Aiden still hasn't even said a word to me, though the others have been nice. I learned that Wes and Tori have been dating for about two years and Wes is living on campus because his parents are serving in Averill. The two girls sitting beside Finn are sisters named Amanda and Alison Whitlock, Amanda graduated last year from Clearmorth and now she's studying medicine in the mortal world, she just came to visit for harvest. Alison is our age and she's all about uncovering secrets, she's the editor of the school paper as well.
Suddenly someone appears between me and Aiden.
"I'm bored, let's go" an unfamiliar voice says. "Where?" Aiden asks. I turn to look at who it is. It's a guy, I can't help but make a weird face, he's wearing a purple tux.
"I know a much more... entertaining place" the guy says. He pauses "Who the hell are you?" he asks looking at me.
"Letitia" I say, almost like it's a question "Who the hell are you?" I return the energy.
"Lyle Gasper" He says with a weird tone. "Anyway, so you wanna come or not?"
"You're not gonna invite us?" Finn says "It's rude making plans in front of people who aren't invited" He says sipping his champagne.
Lyle rolls his eyes "While I appreciate your lesson on manners Grifinn, I'm afraid I'll have to decline" he says with a half smile. He's still leaning into Aiden's face waiting for his answer.
"Come on Gasper, I'm bored shitless here" Alison says. I take a sip of my champagne finishing the entire glass. I can see Aiden looking at me from my peripheral. Lyle is getting more annoyed by the second.
"Are you coming or not?" He asks again. "I don't know, who's there?" Aiden asks Lyle
"Your girlfriend happens to be" Lyle says. I wonder if it's the same girl that cheated on Finn with him. "Oops, sorry is it still a painful topic Grifinn?" Lyle says with a sarcastic voice.
Finn puts his arms around Alison "Not at all" he says. "On second thought, maybe you should come. Make the night a bit more interesting" Lyle says.
Alison stands up "Shall we then?" she says grabbing Finn's hand and looking at Lyle. Amanda left the table about thirty minutes ago to catch up with some old friends while she's back, so it's just the six of us now. We're all standing already but Aiden looks like he's still contemplating whether he should go or not.
"Aiden, come on you can't avoid her forever" Lyle says dragging him up from his seat.
"I'm not avoiding her just so you know" Aiden says. We start walking out.
"Oh okay, what do you think Lydia about not saying a word to your girlfriend for a week and making sure you avoid eye contact with her in the hallway?" Lyle asks me
"It's Letitia" I say while we're walking
"That's what I said" He says while basically pushing Aiden in front of him.
"What did you say your last name was?" Lyle asks me
"I didn't" I answer
"You know, I think you'd really like my friend Aiden over here, he also gives the longest most interesting answers as well" he says pointing at Aiden
I chuckle "It's Vespertine"
"Are you like the lost twin or something?" He says
"Cousin" Finn answers "You should be familiar with them, if I remember correctly you were actually hooking up with one last year" he says
"I see no shame in that" Lyle says "And just so you know, I'm always open for business I don't discriminate between my own or other people's cousins" he says looking at me.
I let out a disgusted sound while he laughs, looking like he's proud of himself.
"Ugh, gross Lyle. Just shut your mouth until we get there" Tori says.We walk out of the estate and into the garden. Through there, we walk into the woods, I can see a few lights in the distance and I hear music playing. We're going to a party. Even better, I think it's a Clearmorth party, just what I was hoping for.
"Enjoy" Lyle says before dragging Aiden with him and leaving us. We are next to a lake so there's a boathouse as well. This party must have been really planned, there's a bonfire and tables full of alcohol. Wixxes are so much like mortals, I don't understand all the hatred they have towards Spades. Wixxes could pass as mortals better than some Spades in my opinion.
Suddenly I'm standing alone. Tori left with Wes to find something to drink and Alison dragged Finn into the boathouse, I have a few guesses about how they plan to spend their time. I spot Amanda, she's talking to a few friends so I don't want to bother her either. A girl comes up to me."You can't wear a dress this long here, it'll get muddy" she says with a concerned look, then with a snap of her fingers she transforms my dress. It reaches just above my knees along with the scarf now, my red bottoms have also turned into knee-high boots. Before I could even thank her or introduce myself, she was gone. I'm once again left alone. 'Shut up and drive' plays as I wander through the crowd looking for Tori and Wes.