The Taste of Silver | Fortune's Fool #2

08 | villain of ethereal

[ v i l l a i n of e t h e r e a l ]

♥ talisa ♥

YESTERDAY I HAD spent so long looking at Pinterest boards that I had been tempted to hit my head upon a brick. No joke. And currently, the fact that the three of us had spent four hours shopping around the exclusive boutiques and I still hadn't found a dress from the Spring Ball didn't make me feel any better.

"This is a joke. Why have none of the shops got a single dress in bottle green?" I muttered under my breath, cross my slim arms over my chest tightly. Strands of hair had begun to stick to my long neck and collarbone, a key sign that I was getting more and more irritated by the minute.

Ashlei however, looked like she was having the time of your life. Her pearly white teeth that I was certain were veneers sparkled as her blonde ponytail swished side to side as she walked with a spring in her step as if she were a princess going to pick some damn apples.

Hopefully poisonous too.

"Quit looking so happy. It's annoying," I said, causing the white-haired boy beside me to look down at me with a scarce and very rare hint of mirth. Ashlei took the opportunity to twirl in her flared dress before she tried - and failed - to pull me along with her.

"Come on! Isn't this so much fun? You, me and Arlo on a shopping spree together. The highlight of May, of course!"

I was milliseconds away from asking her if she's been taking some of my pills when a cold hand wrapped around my arm gently, causing me to stop. I looked left and met Arlo's cornflour blue eyes which darted behind me in a signal.

"What about there?"

I followed his gaze.

It was a small boutique shop that we'd somehow missed with a simplistic elegant style. That wasn't what I was looking at though. It was the satin gold dress that I could see just through the window.

Frankly, it was damn breathtaking. It wasn't the bottle green that I'd visioned but it was even better.

"Arlo. Did I ever tell you how amazing you are?" I breathed out in relief after a pause, before smiling at him and leading the pair of them into the shop.

The dark-haired shop employee agreed to check the dress sizes and after seeing how much it cost, she eagerly encouraged me to try it on. Arlo busied himself browsing through some suits whilst Ashlei followed me to the changing rooms. The walls had been painted a dark black that would usually make a room look small but surprisingly, it didn't. Instead, it looked bigger.

Stupid optical illusions that I don't have time for.

"Wait here, I'll be out in a minute," I told Ashlei, who was too busy scrolling through social media to notice. Rolling my eyes, I sharply pulled close the curtain, my freshly done nails that I'd rather annoyingly got painted to match a green dress contrasting against the red fabric, and began changing.

The dress was gorgeous and perfect for a ball. It clung to the front bustier area but drooped in a gentle arc towards the behind leaving the back on show. There were so many layers; it effortlessly brushed against the curve of the hips before flaring outwards and falling in soft drapes to the floor.

The Spring ball had always been something that everybody and Forteaux looked forward to and I wasn't just saying that because I fucking loved a party. It was one of the events of the year, only to be topped by the leavers' celebrations.

Tickets were specifically only available to the seniors. It was something that all students looked up to in adoration since their very steps into the Academy. By the time they'd reached the age to attend, everybody knew far too well not to be miserly. That was if they didn't want to look like a beggarly pauper amid royals.