Matched by Fate: Prologue

Chapter 6

"I think your hair would look good in a bun!"
She brushes my hair back leaving some strands of hair out for my bangs. Tonight is the event and we've been getting ready since this morning. I know Lauren wants us to look perfect, but this is so tiring! "Hand me a bobby-pin!" I take one from her vanity and hand it to her, "That's the last one, and you're done!" I look in the mirror, she put light eyeshadow and mascara on me. I put on some lip gloss and she plucked and fixed up my eyebrows. "Lauren, you should be in school for cosmetology! You did awesome," She laughs, "You flatter me too much! Don't we look hot!" She leans in to the mirror with me and she strikes a pose. "We do, but aren't you nervous? I feel like my heart will explode as soon as we walk in."
  "Of course I'm nervous! But I know I'll be fine with you there too, even though we're in different groups." I give her a hug, "You're right, but we should probably leave early to get there in time."
"I agree, I just need to grab a jacket." I go into my room and grab my invitation and my big puffy jacket. I look in my mirror once more, I can't believe I'm doing this. Lauren really did do a great job, I'm getting all giddy! I grab my collar and I close my bed room door. I walk over to the door. Lauren grabs the apartment keys off the wall, She takes a look at me. "You're wearing the collar? Why?" I grab the collar around my neck, "Well just for protection, and that I promised my parents that I'd always wear it." "I get that, but you'd look good without it on!" I cling to it tighter. "Does it really matter?" She sighs, "Yeah, it's not too important, Let's hurry and go!"

We get off the subway and we start walking down the sidewalk. I notice a few a glances and whispers. I grab onto Lauren's arm and she pulls me closer, "Don't worry baby, I won't let any other Alpha have you!" I giggle, "Oh you're so strong! I love it!" We both laugh as we run down the street together, and just like that we make it to the event building. We stand in front of the entrance, Lauren grabs my hand and I can feel her shaking. I squeeze her hand, "Do you think we should have taken a shot before we got here?" I ask jokingly. "We really should have, well here goes nothing!" We both are greeted by two men who open the doors for us, we walk in and immediately a woman with a big smile walks up to us. "Hello there! Welcome to the Matched by Fate event! You two must be omegas, which group are you in?"
"Yes we both our omegas, I'm in group 2 and my friend is in group 1." The woman smiles, "Wonderful! I can take you to where group 1 is meeting. And my associate here will take you to where group 2 is meeting!" A man walks up to us with a smile, "Sounds good! Carol just text me when you have the chance, have fun!" Lauren walks off with the man, "Come with me!" I quietly follow the woman, she takes me up a flight of stairs. Soon I'm met with a long line of omegas, "You just have to give them your invitation and they'll give you a wrist band. Thank you for coming tonight and I hope you enjoy yourself this evening."
"I will thank you," I feel my chest tighten once more. I grab my phone out of my bag, and I start texting Lauren. I'm so nervous, are you also standing in a line? I get a message from her instantly,

Me too! 😣
Hopefully they have some alcohol! Well I'll text you in a bit, I'm up next!
Have fun!

I sigh, I put my phone back in my bag. "Next please!" I quickly walk up to the table, "Hello."
"Can we see the invitation?" I nod as I grab the invitation from my bag, the man takes it from me and he looks at it for a moment. The man cocks his eyebrow, "Dominant Omega?" I nod. He then wraps a blue wrist band around my wrist, "Your table number is 40 and you can give your things to us." I take off my jacket and I grab my purse, I then hand it to them. "Just go down that hallway and you'll know where to go, enjoy your night." He was acting a bit weird, whatever. I walk down the hallway and I see two large doors that are wide open. I walk in and I see many omegas standing and sipping on drinks and some sitting at tables, I take a few sniffs. It smells amazing in here, I wonder if I smell as good. I walk over to the table of drinks, I grab a cup and take a sip. It's champagne, champagne is not my thing but if it loosens me up a bit who cares what I drink. I take the cup with me and I start look around the room for my table, There are 50 tables so maybe it's around, oh I found it! It's a small table with two chairs facing each other, I take my seat. In the middle of the table, there's a little stand with the number 40 on it. I fiddle with my fingers, I lean into the pocket of my dress. Oh this dress doesn't have pockets, shit! I left my phone in my purse! I groan as I rub my face lightly, to not mess up the makeup. More omegas walk in and take their seats, I keep my head down as I play with my drink.
"Good evening everyone!" I look up to see an older woman standing by the large closed doors
with 2 men by her side, "Before we let the Alphas in, I just wanted to gloss over the rules. You will get 8 minutes to mingle and to exchange scents. There will be an intermission where snacks will be served." Thank god, we didn't get to eat anything before getting here. "The most important thing to us, is making sure you have a fun and safe night. So if you have any complaints or questions please let our beta staff know, alright that's enough from me. Let's get the event started!"
I hear all of the Omegas squeal and giggle, I see a large swarm of Alphas walk in. I feel my face get red, Why am I all flustered already! I wish Lauren were here with me! "As soon as every Alpha finds his table we will begin the timer." My heart beats faster as every alpha starts taking their seats. Soon enough a tall man stops at my table, I build up my courage and look up at him.
No way, I make eye contact with a familiar man wearing a fancy suit, his shaggy black hair was slicked back and he was wearing glasses. He has a scar on his cheek and he had blue eyes, "Keegan?" He takes a seat and looks at me with an empty expression, "Hello." I can't believe he's here! Why is he here? "The timer has started, please mingle to your heart's content!"
We sit in silence not knowing what to say to each other, he then holds his hand out. I stare at his larger than normal hands, "What?" He sighs, "Your scent, I need to smell it." Slightly embarrassed, I present my wrist. He grabs my wrist he notices the band. "You're a dominant omega huh? You don't seem like it," I glare at him as he takes a sniff of my wrist, he opens his eyes slightly. He doesn't move from my hand, What's up with him? "Are you okay?" He flinches and lets go of my hand, "Sorry, here." He extends his arm out towards me, i carefully grab his wrist. A blue band, he must be dominant too, which isn't too hard to believe. I bring his wrist to my nose and I take a light sniff. He smells nice, he smells like I sniff his wrist deeply. He has a citrusy smell, I was not expecting him to smell this nice. "Thank you," I let him take his hand back.
"So...I wasn't expecting to see you here, we've been bumping into each other more and more!" I give him a weak smile, "I guess we have, so what do? Do you go to another college? Or just work?"
This isn't as bad as I thought, "I'm not in college I just work at a grocery store by the subway station. It might not be the most ideal place to work but everyone there is nice and the pay is actually pretty good!" "A grocery store? Really?" I frown, "Yes really, is that a problem?" He scoffs, "No, it's just not what I was expecting from a dominant omega. I was expecting something more exciting." I start to feel a bit annoyed and embarrassed, "You got to New York University right? What do you major in?" He smiles as he straightens his glasses, "I'm majoring in Engineering, I'm currently a junior. So I'm assuming we're around the same age then," I nod. "But that's interesting, you do seem like the type to be majoring in engineering," I take a sip of my drink. He smirks, "How do I give off that impression?" "The thick glasses and the slicked back hair, I thought you were either majoring in engineering or mathematics."
   He glares at me, "Sorry that I'm half blind and I need glasses, I usually wear contacts but I didn't want to wear them tonight ." I perk up, "Really? Your eyes are beautiful! Wouldn't you want to show them off especially if you're here looking for a mate?"
He was caught off guard for a split second, then he smiles and leans in. "My eyes are beautiful? That's kind of a weird compliment to give a guy." He laughs. I really want to sock him in the mouth, but I have to admit he's cute when he laughs. He sees me look away with an annoyed expression, "Well thank you for the compliment, and to return the favor," He takes off his glasses, he grabs my chin and makes me look him in the eye. "You look very nice tonight, you should dress like this more." I'm blushing one minute then confused the next, "What do you mean by that?" He lets go of my chin, "Well when I saw you at the college and at the liquor store you were wearing baggy and ugly clothing. If you dressed more like this, you'd probably not even be here. But on the other hand you were getting harassed by men both times we bumped into each other. Unless you like getting hit on by random men." I feel my blood boil, He's not cute at all! "Wow, you're such a gentleman! You're definitely going to have all the omegas fawning all over you tonight!" He gives me an innocent smile, as he puts his glasses back on. "I don't doubt that, they fawn over me at school too."
"If that's the case, then why are YOU here. If you're so popular why are you even at this matchmaking event?" He rolls his eyes, "Trust me, I would have never came to this event but my family wanted me too."
"I see, well I came just because my friend wanted to me. She's in the 2nd group," He clicks his tongue. "She was blonde right? Damn I would have loved to talk to her!" I just sigh, If I keep talking to him, I'll have to be dragged out of here for assault.
"You have one minute left! Please wrap up your conversations!" Oh thank god! "Well shoot, I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation Keegan. It's such a shame that it's already over!" I hold my hand out and he shakes it, "I enjoyed myself too, it was very entertaining. Well I hope you enjoy the rest of your night uhhh, What was your name?" I curl my hands into fists, "Its Caroline!"
"Times up! Alphas please rotate!" He gets up from the table. "Okay Carrie, it was nice talking to you! Don't have too much fun, see you next time." He gives me a little wave and a smile before walking away.
I rub my temple, Its going to be a long night!
Carrie?

Authors Note:
This chapter took a while to release and it's longer but here it is! I hope you enjoy it

Caroline seems to find Keegan annoying, but what does he truly think about her 🤔
Who else will she meet tonight?