by Ivy Clyde
“Stop that!” chided Clara at once. I stared at her wide-eyed. This was the first time I’d seen her snap at someone. “This is a family matter. Please go back to the party and enjoy yourself. Come on, Paris,” she said, placing a hand on my shoulder and walking into the room with me. Turning around, she closed the door on Brianna’s stunned face.
Looking ahead, I saw a room filled with bookshelves and comfortable couches. Charles sat in the far corner with Grandpa Peter near him.
“Hello, Grandpa Peter,” I greeted, walking further inside the room. He gave me a nod but still looked grim. The atmosphere among the adults was making me anxious.
“Come have a seat,” Charles invited me to sit on one of the couches.
Once we’d all gathered around, Clara spoke up. “Peter wants to take you away to live with him. I tried explaining that your mother left me as your guardian but he wouldn’t listen.”
“Why do you want me to go with you?” I asked.
“You don’t understand, child. These people haven’t been fair to you or your mother. Let me make things better now.”
“We didn’t have a choice!” insisted Clara, looking worried. “We couldn’t tell anyone about Emily’s whereabouts. That was one of the conditions she placed for helping us back then. All we did was honor her wishes.”
“Honor her wishes? You’re saying she wished to live in that tiny apartment and work like a laborer in that bakery she ran?” He scoffed. “Do you take me for a fool? I got all the information on how she lived with her daughter in Kensington.”
Clara looked hopelessly lost against the old man’s vehemence. Glancing at me, she silently begged for help.
“Mom and I lived pretty well,” I said in a strong voice. “It’s true we weren’t rolling in money but life wasn’t as bad you’re thinking it to be. Mom’s bakery was very popular in the neighborhood.”
“Wasn’t it tough for you?” asked Peter. His scowling expression deepened the wrinkles around his mouth.
“It was,” I agreed. “But they were the best years of my life.”
Peter looked stunned and then turned grim again. “Are you saying you aren’t happy to live here?”
“That’s not what I meant,” I said. “Clara and everyone have been very kind to me. I don’t know where I would be without her. She’s looked after me during the most difficult time in my life. Her patience has no bounds.”
“Didn’t she run off to Hong Kong only a week after she got you and stayed away for months?” said Peter. “How is sending you off to the academy looking after you?”
“I wanted to go there. No one forced me.”
“And what about living in that forest cabin?”
I stared at the frowning old man. How had he found out about that?
“What forest cabin?” asked Charles, looking between me and Peter.
Peter looked triumphant. “You don’t even know where your ward is staying at the academy. She wasn’t given a place to stay at the dorm like other students. Since she was on charity, they let her take a crumbling cottage by the woods without any security nearby. It’s a wonder she hasn’t frozen to death in a place like that. I should sue you all!” He brought down his fists on the armrest of his couch.
Clara and Charles turned their shocked gazes on me.
“Is that true, Paris?” asked Charles, looking troubled.
I glanced at Liam who was sitting with downcast eyes.
“It’s true,” I said. “I am sorry I didn’t tell you about it. The cottage looked so cute and cozy, I begged Liam to get me permission to stay there.”
Liam’s head jerked up.
“I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. I’m sorry if it caused any trouble,” I said in a small voice, trying my best to look apologetic and make it all my fault.
“Are you telling the truth?” asked Clara. She looked even more worried than before, glancing at her son. “You don’t have to be scared of anything.”
I shook my head. “I am sorry. And I’m sorry, Grandpa Peter. I never meant to make you worry about me. Clara truly looks after me. I promise.”
“We look after her, Gramps,” said Gabrielle. “We’ll never let anything hurt her.”
“Well,” said the old man, getting to his feet. “If you ever feel like you can’t stay with them, you are always welcome to come and stay with me. You will always have a place in my home.”
Standing up, I hugged the stubborn old man and squeezed him tight. He must’ve loved my mom very much to worry about me this way. Once again, I wondered what led Mom to run away from everyone she knew.
“Have a good Christmas, kid,” he said, patting me on the back. “Come on, son,” he called for Gabrielle. “Get your old man a drink.”
“Of course!”
Gabrielle was beside us in a moment. Clara and Charles looked visibly relieved as they came towards the door too.
“Let’s go enjoy ourselves,” said Charles. “It’s Christmas time after all.”
I was about to follow after them when Liam pulled me back. Closing the door after everyone left, he stood close to me.
“Why did you protect me?” he asked. His azure gaze was piercing my very soul as he stared into my eyes.
“I was protecting your mom, not you.”
“What?”
“She loves you so much, Liam. You’re her pride and it would hurt her to know you did something so mean. This is the reason I stayed quiet about it all this time.” I shrugged and smiled. “Besides, I like staying in the cabin now.”
“I’m sorry.” That familiar look of intense pain settled back into his beautiful eyes. He looked vulnerable once more like the night of his birthday.
“I know you regret it now,” I said, placing a comforting palm against his cheek. He leaned into it and closed his eyes. “It’s all right though. I am fine.”
Opening his eyes, he covered my hand with his and placed it over his chest.
“I was so wrong about you, Paris Johnson,” he whispered, pulling me against him to capture my lips in a gentle kiss.
30
Paris
Christmas was a quiet affair at the Davenport residence. We sat down to a feast of roast goose, whole baked salmon and lots of Christmassy stuff like pies and pigs in blankets. I made decorated gingerbread cookies as presents for everyone in the house and sent some to Grandpa Peter and Aunty Cathy.
Clara and Charles bought me a generous gift card at my favorite bookstore. The amount of money they put in it would last me for months even if I ended up buying hardbacks every day. From the moment of receiving my present, I decided to take a look at their online store for some cute stationery. Overall, my first Christmas with the Davenports turned out to be homely and peaceful.
Zoya returned home from her trip to Switzerland two days after Christmas. As soon as she landed back in US soil, she wanted to go shopping for the upcoming New Years Eve ball. She’d already extracted a date out of a senior at the academy and now was desperate to get a gown and mask.
I was about to text her back when three texts entered my phone one after the other.
They were from Liam, Nik, and Gabrielle, all asking me to go to the dance with them.
My worst fears were materializing before me. My heart and body craved them all and choosing one over the other felt like an impossible thing to do at the moment.
Part of me wanted to open up to Zoya but how would I bring up the subject of her stepbrother? She loved Nik and would hate me for not being able to make up my mind. She would always be Team Nik.
An incoming image flashed on my phone.
It was a gift card for a boutique in Philly.
Mom’s Christmas gift to us, Zoya texted. We are going shopping today.
You just came back today. Take a break!- Paris
Nah! Shopping!- Zoya
I checked the time. It was close to eleven A.M.
All right, then. Pick me up?- Paris
Sure! Be there in half an hour- Zoya
> I got off the couch in my room to fix my hair. The dark green skater dress I wore would be fine for a trip to the luxury boutique. My heart raced in my chest, wondering how Nik, Liam, and Gabrielle would react if I chose one of them over the other.
After combing my hair and putting it up in a high ponytail, I donned a thick coat over my dress. The weather had gone colder after Christmas and an icy wind blew outside constantly. Not wanting to come across Liam, I hurried through the hallways to reach the main front doors of the house.
The coast was clear, allowing me to move outside the doors without any obstacles. Since Zoya would be picking me up, I decided to walk some distance down the road to meet her before her arrival could alert Liam.
Zoya’s Lamborghini soon came into view.
The car stopped a few feet away from me. Next second, the door in the back opened and a squealing Zoya rushed out to greet me. We hugged each other tightly as we shouted to be heard over the other, saying how much we missed each other over the holidays.
“You look so chubby,” said Zoya, poking my cheek.
“So do you!” I said, sticking out my tongue.
“Yeah,” she said in a grim voice. “I miss those fondue dinners already. I don’t want to go back to school. They’ll rub our noses to the books until we’re skinny again.”
I chuckled. “It’s stress.” A rush of frigid wind had us shivering. “Let’s get going.”
We climbed into the car and drove through the bleak winter landscape. I filled Zoya on all the things that happened between me and Brianna over the holidays, staying tight-lipped on my interactions with Liam, Nik, and Gabrielle.
“It will only worsen things,” said Zoya thoughtfully. “She will do her best to bring you down.”
“I’m going to avoid her and the girls that hang around her,” I said in a grim voice. “Next term is going to be even more brutal with final exams and project report submissions. I won’t have the energy to worry about them.”
“Don’t remind me,” she groaned.
Within the hour, the car stopped in one of the parking lots near Walnut Street. Zoya’s mom gave us gift cards to one of the luxury boutiques located there for our dresses.
“Do you know what you’re going to get?” asked Zoya, walking through the glass doors of the shop.
I followed after her, finding myself in a vast room with lots of open spaces. Illuminated by soft lights, the place twinkled and shined. A light fragrance of rose and lavender permeated the air.
“May I help you?” a young woman greeted us. She was dressed in a tight A-line black dress with sleek, straightened hair. She smiled at both Zoya and me.
“We are looking for dresses,” said Zoya. “It’s for a masquerade ball.”
“Ahh, by any chance do you go to Knightswood Academy?” asked the store assistant.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“We’ve had customers in here over the past week. Let me show you the best in our collection.”
Zoya nodded at me encouragingly and followed the woman further inside the shop.
Over the next two hours, we tried on at least a dozen dresses with two assistants helping us lace and zip up the gowns, so we could see how we looked in them. The shop remained empty through all of it and even if a few customers came in, we weren’t disturbed in our section. After a few dresses, I stopped looking at price tags. Everything was ridiculously expensive.
“I’m going with the navy dress I’d selected earlier,” I said, walking out of the changing room in my own clothes.
“Are you sure?” said Zoya. “You haven’t tried these yet.” She motioned at the dresses hanging from a rail.
I shook my head. “I am exhausted.”
Zoya glanced at the dress I’d selected. “It’s kind of plain.”
“Yup!” I said, taking a seat on a plush settee. “I am going to a twenty-first-century masquerade in Pennsylvania. Not one in sixteenth-century Italy.”
One of the shop assistants giggled, earning a frown from Zoya.
“Do you have masks?” I asked. “Maybe we could get started on those?”
The assistant nodded. “We had some fine ones delivered yesterday. Your gown is naturally very elegant, so you can go for a heavily embellished mask, something that will let you stand out in a crowd.”
“All right.” I didn’t mind wearing an extravagant mask with sequins and feathers.
In the end, however, I was set up with an eye mask made of exquisitely-woven lace. It covered the top half of my face and looked as elegant as the dress I’d chosen to wear even if Zoya kept complaining it was simple.
She went for a flaring, red gown without sleeves that complimented her small, petite shoulders. Even the mask she chose came with a plume of black feather. Zoya looked utterly ravishing in her get-up.
“Brandon’s one lucky guy,” I said with a wink.
She glowed with my compliment. “I wish Jonathan would come. He keeps saying he’s busy with school and work. It’s the holidays!”
“Kensington High isn’t generous with their winter break,” I reminded her. “And Jonathan must be busy making money for college.” I sympathized with him completely. If I didn’t end up with rich guardians like Charles and Clara, I would be in the same boat, stressing about making money to make starting college as smooth as possible.
When Zoya continued to look glum, I said, “Hey, at least we would get to meet Lucas’s date. We might even know him.”
“Oh ya! I’d forgotten about that!”
Later that evening, Liam cornered me at the dining table.
“Did you get my text?” he asked as everyone started on their cheesy cauliflower soups.
“Yeah.”
“When will you reply?” he asked, staring at me with hard eyes while I kept my gaze on my soup.
“Maybe never.”
“What are you two talking about?” asked Charles. Clara picked up on his question and now we had both of them looking between us.
“I asked her if she’ll go to the dance with me,” said Liam.
“Oh my! Really?” Clara looked like Christmas had come around a second time. “I didn’t really want to push you guys around too much but it would be amazing if you two hooked up for real.”
My mouth fell open. “What?”
“You’re such a cute and sweet girl, Paris. I’d love to have you as my daughter-in-law.”
The air whooshed out of my lungs. Liam groaned and Charles chuckled softly.
“So why haven’t you replied to him yet?” asked Charles with mild curiosity. “Do you like someone else?”
My cheeks burned with embarrassment. This was not the conversation I’d planned on having with Charles and Clara.
“No one can compare to my Liam,” insisted Clara with a frown. “Right, Paris?”
“Err…”
“I believe the young Master Romano is also interested in our young miss,” said Ruben, placing fresh, warm rolls onto our side plates.
I covered my face with my hands, too embarrassed to look at anyone. How did the nerd queen of Kensington High suddenly turn into a popular diva at Knightswood?
“So he’s asked you too?” asked Liam.
I nodded, still hiding behind my hand.
“Did…anyone else ask?”
I gasped, staring at him with wide eyes. “How did you know?”
He tore into his rolls with his teeth and looked angry.
“Who else wants to take you to the dance?” asked Clara.
“Nikolai Ivanov,” Liam answered coldly. “Her best friend’s stepbrother.”
Charles chuckled, his light brown eyes brightening up with humor. “He must be hard to say no to.”
“Charles,” warned Clara. “You’re not helping.”
“Neither are you two,” he said, pointing his spoon at her and Liam. “Paris should have the chance to make up her mind on her own and not be pressured into something.”
A grateful smile rose on my lips. Charles noticed and winked
at me.
The topic wasn’t broached again through the rest of dinner but I could feel an icy draft coming my way from Liam.
Fortunately, I was able to leave Davenport Mansion the next day to go back to Knightswood Academy. Even though term didn’t officially start until the second of January, I gave the excuse of studying for the coming classes within the week. Zoya also moved back to the dorm, making my excuse to return to school more plausible rather than a mad attempt to get out of uncomfortable questions about the dance and my future plans.
To my surprise, plenty of students were back at the academy. Most of them were excited to see their girlfriends/boyfriends and prepare for the upcoming ball. Lucas was still at home and would arrive on New Year’s Eve with his boyfriend.
“What about you?” asked Zoya.
I shrugged. “I’ll dance with you when Brandon takes a break.”
“That’s so lame,” she said with a scoff as we drank coffee and ate muffins in the school cafeteria the evening before the ball.
“It’s complicated.”
“Complicated?” Her eyebrows rose high on her forehead. “You’ve been acting strange lately. I knew something was up. Now, spill!”
Over the next hour, I spilled everything to her, including the hot make-out session with Nik.
“How did I not know what was happening?” asked Zoya, looking baffled. “You’ve progressed with all three of them. And now, you have to choose.”
“I can’t choose,” I said with a moan. “They’re amazing. I know it’s selfish but I like them all.”
Zoya chuckled softly. “I guess you really had to come to Knightswood to find your inner goddess. Wait till Lucas hears about it all. He confessed he had a thing for Nik ever since that time he rescued you both on Halloween.”
“That was quite a scene to fall in love with your rescuer.”
Zoya huffed out a long breath and fixed me with a look. “So, what are you going to do?”
“Nothing,” I shrugged. “I’ll just hang out with you and Lucas at the dance.”
“Not just the dance. What about afterward? Those boys will still be looking to you for an answer.”
