1.2 | Je T'aime Encore ✓

09 | gala

09

g a l a

The gala was perhaps the most boring thing Anita had ever been to, so far.

At least, in the five minutes that she was there so far, nothing interesting happened. Normally, she and Olivia would be rating people's outfit's out of 10, then laughing about white, while Leon and Jackson just watched, shaking their heads and grinning.

Except, Olivia was still finishing her sabbatical in Rome, and Jackson wasn't there anymore. Oh, and Leon and Anita didn't get along. But, who forgot that?

Anita almost laughed out loud at her own thoughts. She was getting delirious.

Leon came to sit next to her, holding two champagne flutes. He offered one to her, and Anita looked at it warily.

"I'm 20." She said, turning away. "I can't drink yet."

Leon laughed. "The legal drinking age in France is 18."

Anita turned to face him again, her eyes widening. "I can legally drink rose champagne here?"

Leon grinned and handed her the flute. "I remember this being your favorite."

Anita took it, and held it delicately between her fingers. "Thank you. And thank god I can drink here without getting in trouble."

Leon rolled his eyes, although the smirk on his face showed he was trying to hold back a laugh. "When has the drinking age ever stopped you from getting wasted?"

"Hey, now," Anita said, a grin curving on her face as she pointed her now empty champagne flute at Leon accusingly. "I only got drunk once, and it wasn't that bad!" Anita didn't remember much from that night, but she did remember that Olivia and Leon gave her the hardest time after that.

"That's still one more time than I've been drunk. And it was totally that bad." Leon said, grinning.

Anita smiled back at him, forgetting she was trying to ignore him and she realized how easy it was to pretend everything was normal. How simple. How painless. And she hated it.

But, for today, just today, she told herself, she'd let it be.

After a few minutes, 10 champagne flutes later and a lot of begging coming from a half-drunk Anita, Leon relented, and they started playing the game that Olivia and Anita played. The one where they would judge people's outfits. Leon's opinions were quite entertaining.

"God, does that guy really think he can pull off red jeans and a navy blazer?" Leon scoffed, making Anita giggle.

"Okay, uhmmmm," Anita slurred, trying to choose their next victim. "Girl with the pearls in her hair, coming directly towards us."

Right as she said it, Anita wished she'd taken it back. Leon stared at the girl for so long, Anita's fingers itched to make his head move. "Um," Leon muttered, incoherently, his ears turning red. "I think," Anita's fingers dug into her palms in anger.

The girl came towards them at this moment, and smiled at Leon before he finished his sentence. Anita looked at her suspiciously as the brunette girl smiled. "Hi, my name's Anna, and I saw your artwork earlier and I was totally impressed. The level of detail was absolutely stunning!"

Leon, if possible, blushed more, his entire neck and face turning red. "Thank you, Anna."

She smiled, a sly sneer, in Anita's opinion, just as the song changed. It was now a slow song, and Anna looked straight at Leon. "May I have this dance?"

Anita decided that was enough. She cleared her throat loudly, before sidling up to Leon, and smiling at the girl, who suddenly looked regretful. "Oh, if you two are dating, or something, I wouldn't want to intrude," she stuttered, and Leon looked over at Anita, raising his eyebrow.

Anita faked a smile, then waved them away. "No, don't worry, enjoy your dance!" She said, shooing them away, while pure hatred burned in her veins towards stupid Anna.

Leon gave her a concerned look before walking off with Anna, who talked the whole way there, until they reached the dance floor. They were positioned directly across from Anita, who sneered at them, thinking it was set up.

The music swelled a few seconds later, and Leon spun her around in a twirl as the girl came towards him laughing. They were both laughing.

Red blurred Anita's vision, and she decided she couldn't take any more of this. She grabbed her purse, and marched out of the gala, her head held high, knowing exactly where her feet would take her.

She didn't notice a concerned pair of blue-green eyes on her as she hurried out. She didn't notice the brown-haired boy who excused himself to come after Anita. She didn't notice how a brunette girl's face fell when she realized the boy she was dancing with didn't have enough space in his heart for her.

Anita didn't notice any of this.

Because she was too busy leaving it all behind.