May I, My Love? ✔

37. t h e s l e e p o v e r

That evening, as I came home after meeting His Majesty, mother was waiting for me anxiously. She demanded that I tell her what it was about, and as I told her, she congratulated me for it. But I could see the truth behind her plastic smile. She was only pretending to be strong for me, but I could read the pain that has been a constant in her and my life.

I could see that it pained her greatly to see my talent – which was acknowledged by The Sovereign – go to waste in such a manner. But not enough to fight for it, I guess. She never stood up for me when I was told to leave my ambitions and passions behind, and had invariably comforted me after father was gone. We were both huge cowards, and somehow that felt more asphyxiating to me now, than it had all these years.

Brushing off the negative thoughts, I instantly got ready to go over to Lisa's house. Quickly packing some clothes and toiletries in my overnight bag, I gave a call to Lisa to tell her that I was arriving shortly. Coming back out, I bade my mother goodbye and left for Lisa's with my chauffeur.

'It's gonna be a great weekend without Josiah!'

I was engulfed into a warm hug by Lisa's mother, and my aunt the moment the door opened. Aunt Alexandria was a redhead too, just like my mother, but unfortunately, her daughter didn't have her genes in hair color. She was a warm hearted person, older than my mother, and was equally strict and dominant. While my mother was under full control of father, aunt Alexandria was the decision maker in Lisa's household. Another reason why I liked her more was that she baked the best cookies in the world. There was seriously no other baker better than her.

"Oh dear, where have you been? It feels like I haven't seen you in eons!" She exclaimed dramatically. Lisa takes every bit after her.

"I'm wonderful aunt. I've just been busy with a lot of stuff, and the last you saw me was at the ball, not eons ago." I laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But it still feels like eons, that's how much I missed you. Now do you—"

She couldn't finish her next sentence as Lisa and Matt came downstairs and Lisa being her true self, started shouting at her mom, "Mom, I'm going to borrow her and take her upstairs. You two can have your little party tomorrow, after our party is over."

"Okay, okay, do what you want. I'm so sorry Har, she really is a violent girl. I've tried disciplining her, but it's just of no use." Her mom said with humor in her voice but Lisa still got offended.

"Mom?! Can you not? Please?"

"Alright dear, I'm just joking. Go now, shoo." She shooed us away up the stairs as she made her way into the kitchen. I guess some scrumptious food is on the way.

"So, violent girl, how are you– ow!! See this is why I call you violent girl!" Matt howled with pain.

I looked over to see Matt holding his head in his hand. Looks like he got smacked in his head for calling her a violent girl. I laughed at his misery as he kept on ranting all the way upto her room.

Lisa's room was the complete opposite of mine. It looked like you had just stepped into an art gallery instead of a room. It was filled with every single bright color that you could find. There were mild yellow curtains on the windows, while her bedsheets were of a solid red hue. Dozens of pillows ranging from tiny to huge sizes lined the head of her bed perfectly in dashes of blue, green, orange, yellow and more red. There were tapestries and dreamcatchers all over, and it really hurt my eyes sometimes. This was too much color for me to handle.

But as usual, I couldn't utter a word otherwise I would meet the same fate as Matt. So, I quickly kept my overnight bag in her overstuffed walk-in closet and sat on her bed, admiring its surprisingly soft texture.

"Guys, we aren't here to laze around, okay? Let's get into the mood of a sleepover and watch some movies before we can steal my dad's liquor and play twenty questions."
Lisa announced excitedly to which I rolled my eyes.

She had always dreamed of a sleepover when we will steal liquor from her dad's storage and get drunk on it. I have no idea why she was so obsessed with it, but now I know that she still is. God bless her soul.

"Lisa, let's just watch a movie. And if we're not supposed to have liquor, maybe its because of a reason. So stop being stubborn about it and do what we usually do." I told her sternly, totally opposing her ridiculous idea.

She scoffed, "So you want me to be a loser until I'm thirty? Fine, if that's what you want. Let's just watch Titanic and do nothing else. Nothing that is fun to do."

There she goes. "There are things more fun than alcohol. But you're too stubborn to see them."

"Well, whatever. I'm just going to satiate myself with Titanic."

"Um guys, am I allowed to have a say?" Mark asked hesitantly from beside us.

"No." We both replied in unison to which he groaned and we laughed as the most cliche movie in the history of movies played on the screen.
Sometimes we saw it only to annoy him and were successful every single time. Judging by the way this night was going, this one was also going to be a fun and successful sleepover. At least, I can hope that it will.