A Certain Romance (Reimagined)

A Death

DECEMBER 29TH

These were the days leading up to the new year, that seemed to blend altogether. I found I wasted the days sleeping rather than doing something productive. I ignored the calls and texts from my best friends in hopes to catch up on rest I had been missing out on. But I still didn't feel any better.

The day felt weird when I woke up. It was raining harder than usual, the air was crisp, causing the inside of the house to feel cooler than usual. So I kicked the heater on before I hopped into the shower. My gut was full of negative energy, something desperately was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. We were supposed to listen to our bodies when something was wrong, my dad had told me that many times in my eighteen years. But I chose to ignore the feeling and the negative things run down the drain of the shower. I wanted to be in a better mood than I had been in for the previous days. Even though, Ashton and I were significantly sure on where we stood with each other, I still didn't feel good about things because Veronica was still in the picture.

And that would be rubbed in my face tonight, when I attended Elizabeth's big birthday party. In previous years, I wasn't anyone special to land a spot on the guest list for her birthday parties, but this year, I was what everyone wanted to be around. Her birthday's were always extravagant and unnecessary. For her sixteenth birthday, I heard her parents gifted her a Ferrari that Calum later crashed and they never fixed it for that reason. On Elizabeth's seventeenth birthday, she had a few celebrities show up, but no one too popular to be memorable to anyone that had gone from school. This year, I expected her to show up in a helicopter, draped in the best fur she could find. I really didn't care about all the fancy things, nor did I care to show up, but curiosity was itching at the surface of my skin. I could, at least, experience, a few hours of Elizabeth's grand world.

Luke was going with Ally and I would go with Michael since Ashton was preoccupied with Veronica as his date. Ashton and I needed to keep a low profile anyway, so no one grew suspicious of us. Arrie was staying at the house, but he would be on standby if I needed anything. I still felt extremely bad that his entire life revolved around me and what I did. For now, keeping an eye on me was the only thing he had to do.

When I secured the dusty purple floral dress to my body, I felt good. Better than usual, I could say. I styled my hair in a simple half-up do to make it seem like I had enough effort in me to look good for the occasion. I did feel slightly insecure about showing up to the party in a floral dress. I mean, did anyone really wear florals in the middle of winter? I guess I did. I accessorized with the necklace Ashton had given me for Christmas and with other gold jewelry I could find that made me feel glamorous even though it wasn't my night.

My moment of glamour only lasted so long until I saw Ally. She wore an all black off the shoulder v-neck dress. Tea length, exactly. She looked like a sophisticated starlet from the 1950s with her hand around Luke's arm. Even her hair lied in perfect vintage curls. I wanted to be as lucky as Luke. God, I would've brought Evelyn as a date if she was allowed in, instead of bringing Michael who wanted to get drunk off the expensive champagne, disappearing from my side instantly.

"I like your dress." Ally pulled me into a gentle hug and greeting me with an air kiss to each cheek. Etiquette queen, she was. And I...I didn't exactly belong here. I took etiquette classes when I was ten, but I was still overwhelmed by the amounts of plates and forks and all the random knowledge on how to place my utensils on my plate to let the waiters know how I was feeling about my meal. I could barely remember if I needed to do the Duchess Slant or cross my legs completely when I sat down at my table to eat. Fuck, did it even matter? No one was going to be looking under the table anyway.