Chapter Six

Amaryllis Lexington

•••••

The day of the party finally rolled around. Not too long after the phone call with my mum, the stylist came and with the help of Maya, I was able to pick a drop dead gorgeous light blue shimmery gown, which stopped at the knee. When I saw the gown, I nearly passed out from excitement.

"All done." The make up artist said after applying some sort of spray to my face, and I opened my eyes to stare at my reflection in the mirror. I was blown away by the mastery I saw on my face. I had never had a full make over before, and for a first time, this was really amazing.

"I really love what you did with my hair." I complimented, my gaze lingering on my blonde hair. She had made it into an updo and curled the end to fall like ringlets on my head.

"I had to do something befitting. You have very beautiful hair. I would have let it down, then I saw the amazing tattoo on your neck and I knew I shouldn't hide the beauty. It's a very beautiful tattoo." I smiled wryly, remembering the angel wings I got inked to the back of my neck.

I got it a week before leaving Halloway. I knew I was no angel, but I wanted wings so I could fly anywhere and everywhere I wanted. I wanted wings so I could escape Lakeview and fly to Halloway without anyone knowing about it, but after that conversation with mum, I knew I couldn't do that anymore. Besides, the wings were just ink anyway, and if I dared to fly, I would definitely fall flat on my face and break my nose.

"You have about thirty minutes before dinner starts. I'll take your leave now, ma'am." The make up artist said and walked away. I haven't gotten used to the formalities and reverence people used whenever they spoke to me. Like I held some power that could either make or mar them. I had to plead with one of the maids who was around my age to stop using ma'am for me.

"Wow. The wonders of make up, huh." I turned to the doorway and the sight I met made me do a double take. Allison was in a red mermaid gown and you would think she was the one having the debut party. I suddenly felt extremely inferior. Come on, Amari. This isn't you!

"You actually look the part, Amaryllis, but you can never fit in. No matter how hard you try, you'll always be the girl from the slums and our parents will soon realize they made the biggest mistake accepting you into their lives." Someone sounds really tortured by my presence. That realization gave me some measure of power.

"Okay. Thanks for the compliment by the way." Her eyes narrowed into slits and I smiled faintly. Of course, anyone would be mad to realize they weren't even worth fighting with anyway. I had quite a number of things to say to her but because of the respect for my parents, I decided to shut my mouth.

"You are a disgusting little piece, Amaryllis, and I am going to show the world that. I promise you a time of pure torture. You will be packing your bags and running out of here before you even realize it. I won't watch you take away everything I have built for years. Mum and Dad love me very much. I am the ideal daughter. You and Maya are just leeches trying to feed off of the crumbs that fall from our table of grace." Is this girl even hearing herself? Or is she like in a kind of parallel universe where our roles are switched?

"Allison, I honestly do sympathize with you over your loss, but I don't need this negativity right now. Today's a big day for me." I got up from the chair and smoothened the non existent wrinkles on my dress. It was either that or my hands will smoothen the non existent wrinkles on her face.

She stared me for a while then flipped her hair and walked away. Good riddance.

"Get out of my way." I heard her say and I turned to see who she was talking to, and there stood Maya with a smirk on her face. She looked really pretty in her off white dress. It was simple yet very elegant.

"Hey you." I greeted with a smile. At least, someone whose face I didn't want to bash in. Only God knows how there's always someone like Carmel in every facet of my life. I thought I was rid of her until a prettier, snobbier, and meaner version of her appeared in live form.

"Hey. Guessing from the sour expression on Queen Ali's face, I would say you dragged her off her high horse and straight into the mud?" I laughed at the idiomatic expression she used. Maya had a way with words that I found really cool.

"Oh no. I haven't gotten around to doing that yet, but I promise you it will come very soon if she continues with this attitude." I responded with a wink.

"You look really pretty." I wasn't expecting a compliment from her, so I didn't have the time to conceal the gasp that escaped me. She shook her head at me and chuckled slightly.

"I'm sorry I gasped. I just wasn't expecting that. Thank you very much, Maya. You look really beautiful too." She smiled, but I could bet my life on it that it wasn't genuine. The twinkle in her eyes whenever she laughed or smiled wasn't there in this smile.

"You don't believe me?" Her ocean blue eyes widened a bit and she shook her head frantically. Lies.

"No. Why would I not?" She lied and chuckled nervously. I didn't want to intrude, but she was far too kind to me for me to leave her with whatever was boggling her. So I went over to her and pushed her to a sitting position on the bed, then took my seat beside her.

"Come on, Maya. Talk to me. I know we might not be very close, seeing as we've only known each other for a week, but I already take you as a friend. I mean, I expected you to dislike me and all, but instead you chose to hang out with me." She smiled and this time, you could see that twinkle in her eyes. This one was very genuine.

"It's nothing, Amaryllis. It's not a big deal. It's just....I've never actually had anyone call me beautiful asides mum and dad. And the only time someone ever made me feel beautiful, it turned out it was all a lie." My mouth formed an O.

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it, but I'll have you know that your beauty doesn't come from anyone's definition. I have no reason to lie to you, neither do I have any reason to butter you up with compliments so I would get in your good books, so best believe I'm not kidding you when I tell you that you are one very beautiful lady. Damn, I stared at you this afternoon and I thought to myself 'how come everyone here is so pretty?'" She stared at me with tears in her eyes, and then like a sun peeking from underneath the blankets of the cloud and gracing the earth with its glow and warmth, her smile appeared.

"Now that's the smile I've been waiting for." I smiled at her, and I wasn't expecting the hug she engulfed me in. Aww.

"Thank you,  Amari. I have to admit I didn't like you very much when you came. Not because of anything you did, but it was all in my head. I know how much our parents love you and adore you. Did you know your room was left untouched? Seventeen years and everything is still the same way you left it. Mum would always go there and sometimes she would sleep there, crying her eyes out because she lost her baby. Allison tried so hard to fill that void, and she almost succeeded. Mum and Dad poured all the love they had brimming inside them all on her, and by the time they adopted me, they didn't know how to balance things." My eyes widened as the information sank in.

"Don't get me wrong, they really love me and they take extremely good care of me. I am very grateful to them for taking me away from my nightmare and giving me a family to call my own, but I could never help but feel unwanted, then when I was told they found you, I felt bad because I knew I would be a castaway again. They would focus on you, their biological child, and on Allison, their ideal daughter. I didn't like you because I felt you would remind me of just how unimportant I was." The tears slid down her face and my heart broke for her. If only she knew I was jealous of her just yesterday in the music room.

"I was wrong about you, Amari, and I am very sorry. You have been nothing but nice to me ever since we met. The day that changed my mind about you was the first dinner we had as a family. You said hi to me first. People don't say hi to me," she chuckled sadly and continued "It was surprising to know that someone noticed me even before I was pointed out. I'm sorry I judged you." This time, I was the one who initiated the hug and we stayed like that for a while.

"Okay, sappy moment's over. Let's go show you to the world!" She screamed, jumping up like a child handed a basket full of candy. The transition scared me a bit.

"Slow down, alligator." I chuckled and grabbed my clutch. Together, we walked down to the ballroom where the event would be taking place. My nerves were acting up, but I felt at ease because I had Maya beside me. At least I could just sit with her all through the dinner while having conversations about anything.

When I entered into the ballroom, every conversation hushed and soon enough, I had every eyes on me. I had imagined this scenario a billion times, heck, I had even practiced my walking steps and my smiles, but nothing prepared me for the reality. Everyone was dressed like they were attending the BET awards, and I felt underdressed! Imagine! Imagine being underdressed in a thirty thousand, five hundred dollar dress. Yes, I saw the price tag and I was hit with a wave of nausea.

Maya walked with me to the table mum and dad were, unfortunately Allison was there too. When they saw me, they stood up and hugged me like they were just seeing me for the first time. I almost scolded myself for ever thinking they didn't love me enough. Damn, they loved me too much, so I decided to take a step towards greatness.

"Thanks mum, thanks dad. This is really beautiful." Everyone on the table had their eyes widened. Mum and Dad had happy shocks on their faces, Maya looked proudly shocked. Need I tell you Allison was burning holes through my cranium? I could swear I was beginning to have a headache.

"Oh! Oh my baby." Mum cried and hugged me again. This time, I felt the lack of oxygen strongly and I had to inform her that if she didn't let me go, she might ended up killing me for real this time. She didn't take that joke lightly and I reminded myself never to talk without thinking it through again. However, Maya found my joke very hilarious.

Just as I took my seat, my eyes went over to a table which consisted of four boys that looked damnably hot and familiar. I kept staring at them, trying to figure out where I knew them from and then it clicked. The booklet mum and dad gave me.

"Don't get swayed by their good looks, Amari. They are horrible people." Maya whispered beside me, and my gaze flickered over to her. Her eyes were filled with disgust and hatred. Woah. I never wanted to be at the receiving end of that.

"Wow. You don't look friendly at all. Who are they? I know I've read about them in a booklet but I can't really place names to the faces." I whispered back and she shuddered.

"The one in the maroon bow tie is Alexander Loutherberg, the one to his right is David Ville, the blonde one is Jayden McCurtney, and the last one is Lee Han Jung. They might look like they have angelic faces but I bet you they are demonic." If she were a cartoon character, I swear there would be darts coming out of her eyes and hitting those guys right in their heart till they drop dead.

"So they are like the demonic four. Hmm, interesting." I tried to lighten the mood, but she wasn't having it. Whoever these boys were and whatever they did, it definitely wasn't something Maya was planning to forgive anytime soon.

"They are not four. They are five and the fifth of them is the worst of all. Carlson Hawthorne." She spat his name with spite. I remembered the name clearly and soon enough, I could place a face to it. The same face I studied every nook and cranny of.

"He's the most despicable person on earth. He has no regards for people's emotions and would not care less if his actions hurt you if it was benefiting him. No wonder he's dating Allison." The moment she said the last line, my mouth dropped and I found myself disliking him. Call me judgmental, but whoever could stand being in the same room with Allison, asides my parents, was capable of murder.

"Wow. Someone would actually date her?" That actually seemed to lift her mood, because she totally forgot about the fact we were having a secret conversation about the unsuspecting Allison and she laughed out loud, which caused everyone at the table to look at us. Our parents smiled while Allison sneered. Witch.

"I know right! They actually deserve each other. They use people for whatever seems good to them. Carlson is much worse though. He would make you feel like the most beautiful person in the world and would make you feel special, like you actually matter only for you to realize he was just messing around because it was fun." Venom laced her voice and I knew she was once at the receiving end of such despicable act. Guess I already know the kind of crowd to avoid when I get to Newark High.

The party soon moved to full swing, and before I knew it, I had walked round the ballroom for a total of seventeen times, greeting various people and being asked to dance by other heirs of the high class families. According to dad, it was networking.

Maya was whisked off by someone who needed her help in doing something I didn't quite catch. I was tired of the party already and the noise was hurting my head. The evil glares from Allison and the smirk on the faces of the despicable four didn't do anything to lessen my headache. I had no idea why they were smirking at me, but I knew it had something to do with whatever nonsense Allison probably told them about me.

When I realized no one was actively searching for me or stuff, I quietly slipped out of the party. The cold air that kissed my body when I got out made me shiver slightly, but it was a welcome disturbance. I never noticed how hot it was inside, even with the AC, until I actually stepped outside. Nothing could beat nature, indeed.

I decided to explore the surrounding of the house, and I turned in the first direction that came to my mind. I caught glimpse of what looked like a garden after walking for a short while. With a smile on my face, I headed in the direction. I've always wanted to live in a house with a garden.

When I got closer to the garden, with my shoes crushing some dried leaves, I realized I wasn't alone. Someone stood before me, with his back turned to me. Just as I was about to take retreating steps, he turned around with his phone in hand, and my eyes widened.

Carlson Hawthorne!

The light from the moon made his face very obvious, and I almost cursed the picture I saw of him. Nothing, not even that picture I spent ten minutes studying, prepared me for the gorgeousness standing in front of me. His disheveled black hair totally added to his appeal, and don't even get my started on his face. Under the moonlight, his eyes looked grey and when they ran over me, I found warmth pooling at the pit of my stomach. He was looking at me like he couldn't believe I was real, and boy, did that wreck my nerves!

"Carlson is much worse though. He would make you feel like the most beautiful person in the world and would make you feel special, like you actually matter only for you to realize he was just messing around because it was fun." Maya's words rang in my head and that was the bucket of ice I needed to jolt me back to reality. I turned immediately and started making my way out of the garden. If he thinks I would be another pawn in his stupid game, he had another thing coming.

But even that realization didn't stop me from the shiver that coursed through me as I remembered the way he looked at me.

Oh boy!