The Exchange Dare

Chapter Sixteen: Break, Breaking And Broken

A/N: Hey there, all you beautiful people!

First off, I want to THANK YOU all for reading this story because TED is very close to me emotionally and I appreciate being pushed up on the Teen Fiction chart to 300s and 400s every time I upload a new chapter! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! <3

I'm back to the grind at college now, and although this summer break has been all chill with a few bumps with my health concerns, I'm super ready to make both my grades and my writing work! I am so glad for all your support. Always here to read and answer your queries. Lots of love!

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Pushing past the mansion's door, I started calling out for Miles. It was late Wednesday afternoon and although the days seemed to drag, I managed to maintain a professional distance from Collin to avoid his sporadic tantrums and completely avoided Winston altogether.

Collin had demanded isolation time until our appointment later in the evening to visit the apartment he chose, much to my happiness. I returned home to rest for a while and make sure I had a suitable outfit for the Thanksgiving dinner that I was also generously invited to.

When I informed Collin about the dinner and handed the letter to him, he sneered at me with much conviction. Obviously, the idea that I had read the letter repulsed him. The fact that I was asked to be included made him entirely bonkers.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit. Damn you, Jane," he kept muttering as he read through the letter, letting out low groans of frustration.

I wondered if it was the part that said they were leaving to Ireland or the postscript, which practically ordered my presence that made him so mad. Of course, he provided me with no answers.

"Yes Madam," Miles' voice suddenly came out of nowhere. 

I shrieked a little. "I apologize Madam, I didn't mean to scare you," he frantically began to justify himself, but I laughed it off.

"It's alright, you just popped out of the blue, that's all. I have a question for you."

"Anything, Madam?" he voiced out curiously.

"Do you happen to know what the dress code is to this dinner tomorrow night?" I pondered out loud hopefully.

The typical Connery Thanksgiving' traditions were extremely unorthodox. Mom made turkey burgers instead of the real deal with potato fries that my baby sister Jamie gladly mashed up. The Smiths' boys showed up with a crate of Grape Kool-Aid, a personal favorite, and all of us watched a Christmas film because we were too eager for the holidays. Naturally, sweatpants were the most that those occasions ever demanded.

"I assume it would be social formals, but I don't recall the invite mandating a specific type of attire, Madam."

I was skeptical of what formal meant for events like these because I still don't seem to have nailed the concept of office formals. I looked down at my monochrome striped full-sleeved blouse over a pair of black shorts and sheer stockings to barricade my skin from the piercing cold winds. Come to think of it, I could walk into a zoo like this and be mistaken for a zebra!

"...give you her number?" Miles' words snapped me out of my animalistic fantasies.

"Huh, whose?" I asked inquiringly.

"Mrs. Griffith's, of course," he suggested.

Yeah, I could just ask Jane. I nodded a yes and he immediately forwarded her contact information via text. I saved Miles' number before proceeding to call Jane.