The Rest Is History | ✓

14 | the gala

Soon it was time for Christmas Eve.

Thankfully, my cousins had come to visit today instead of tomorrow like they usually did, so that this year at least we had some semblance of the fun we had every year.

My cousins Clara, Sophie, Phillip and Weston lounged around in my bedroom, all of us eating potato crisps and watching a Netflix series together. It had been ages since we'd last met and it was safe to say, simple video calls hadn't been enough.

"I really missed this," Clara said through a mouthful of crisps in her mouth. We all agreed.

After a few episodes, we decided we wanted to do something different. Sophie piped up, "Why don't we play Monopoly or something?"

Phil groaned. "Why are you so obsessed with Monopoly, Soph?"

"Hey, I'm not obsessed! I was just suggesting something good."

"And that 'good' thing is always Monopoly."

"God, can you bear to keep your mouth shut for two minutes, you sod?"

"Excuse me--"

And so it began. I swear, a reunion with my cousins never happened without any chaos.

Soon enough, the verbal fight turned into a shove, and that shove turned into a full-blown pillow fight. Consisting of not just Soph and Phil but all five of us.

So by the time Mum entered the room, she found an utter mess of pillow cases, feathers and quilts everywhere, along with five teenagers who seemed to come from the zoo.

She stared at us, too stunned to say anything. Then she sighed.

"I should've expected this, considering my past experience."

We smiled at her sheepishly. She glared at us.

"Vivian Scarlett Wentworth, aren't you supposed to be the Head Girl of your school?"

Uh-oh. She just said my full name. This meant trouble.

"Sorry, mum. I promise it won't happen again."

She gave us one last stern look. "Clean up this mess and arrange the pillows in ten minutes, your supper is ready."

After she exited the room, we looked at each other and burst out laughing.

°

After a great Christmas Eve with my cousins and aunts and uncles, it was safe to say that I just wanted to spend the rest of Christmas with them, at home, but apparently it was too much to ask for. Now I had to get ready for a gala and face none other than Archer Woods there.

No, Viv, this is Mum's big day. Be happy for her.

And I was. I was truly very happy and proud of her for achieving so much and becoming a leading name among fashion designers in just 10 years. But I just didn't want to act all formal and courteous in a ballroom full of fancily dressed people holding champagne flutes. And I especially didn't want to be in the company of a certain someone, again.

Although Mr and Mrs Woods were incredible and I missed them. It would be good to see them again. If it just wasn't for their son...

If it wasn't for their son you wouldn't have even known them. Are you daft?

I shook my head. Why was I arguing with myself?

I willed myself to focus on getting ready instead. Three more hours were left for the gala to begin and Mum and Dad were also getting ready now.