by Lilly Purdon
“I never expected you to like someone like him. I mean, he's your polar opposite; he fights, you’re too scared to do anything, he’s violent, you’re obviously not, and he’s just brutal. Sure he’s hot, but he’s trouble. He doesn’t seem to care for anyone but himself.”
“But you don’t know him-”
“Neither do you,” she interrupted me. “It’s just a crush, it’ll fade eventually.”
I wanted to speak up about liking him for years, but I knew she’d probably shit on me for not telling her. “I talked to him Kasay… alone. He’s not how you described-”
“One conversation doesn’t change who he is.”
“But maybe who he truly is isn’t what he chooses to let other people see-”
She interrupted me once again, “you’re defending someone you barely know. Don’t let it bite you in the ass.”
I wanted to tell her I knew him. I knew him quite well, probably far better than anyone else. The fact he opened up to me gave me hope. I had always seen vulnerability within those green eyes.
“You’re inexperienced,” she stated the obvious, “look what happened last time. I’m sorry, I just don’t see it working-”
“Kasay, he defended me.”
That seemed to hit her.
“He told Ricky ‘if you mess with her, you mess with me too’.”
She stared at me blankly.
“To be completely honest, Axel doesn’t deserve you.”
I felt disappointed. I was expecting her to help me with this, or at least try to support it. But instead, she was against it. She was like the others in a way; judging him based off of his past actions. I was expecting her to be more open minded. I thought she’d be the one screaming, ‘YOUR BABIES WOULD BE SO ADORABLE!!!’
She sighed, “honestly, I’m torn. I don’t know what to do.”
I bit my lip.
“Even though he’s a complete asshole, I’m your friend. If you’re confident in your judgment, then I will try to help you.”
A grin spread across my face. That was the Kasay I knew. I hugged her tightly, “thank you Kasay, thank you! You won’t regret it!” I pulled away excitedly, “I’ll prove you wrong about him. I know he’s a good guy.”
“I hope you’re right,” she patted my head like I was her puppy, “I’ll help you in whatever way I can.”
Suddenly, she smirked, “you know if he were to knock you up, your kids would be adorable as fuck!”
My mouth was hung open in shock as she laughed hysterically. Why was I even surprised? After a few minutes of her laughing and rolling around the floor with the cashier in the coffee shop looking at her like she was nuts, Dustin came back.
“What’d I miss?” Dustin questioned, watching Kasay roll around the floor like a mental patient.
“A lot,” I replied, still staring at the girl.
“Oh by the way, guess who I ran into,” he wiggled his eyebrows.
I stared at him with wide eyes, he smirked and nodded.
“And I know exactly where he’s going tonight.”
“I thought the stalking was my job,” I lowered my voice to make the joke which Kasay wouldn’t understand.
He chuckled, “he’s going to a party tonight. I ran into him in the guy’s bathroom.”
“Who’s party?”
“Not sure, he just told me he was gonna’ get wasted.”
“I GOT AN INVITE!” Kasay squealed, getting off of the ground. The girl had amazing hearing. “I GOT AN INVITE FROM SOME COLLEGE GUYS WHO ARE GOING!”
Dustin looked slightly concerned and the mention of college guys.
“You’re going!” she grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me.
“As much as I want to see him, I can’ t go, I’m grounded.”
Kasay snorted out loud. “Grounded my ass. That didn't stop you from coming to the mall with us! Oh, and I have this red dress that will fit you perfectly! It’s tiny, I wore it when I was like nine, but it’ll fit you! It was for my uncle’s wedding- I was kicked out for arousing the old men-”
“We didn’t need to know that…” I trailed off.
She continued, completely ignoring me, “I also have some of that dark brown hair coloring left-”
“Kasay, I'm not going!” I interrupted her.
“Yes you are!” Kasay snapped her fingers at me. “You wanted me to help you, so I'm going to fix you up!”
~*~
Chapter 21 CINDERELLA WORE RED
“So, how do I look?” I spun around so Kasay and Dustin could get a good view of me in the dress.
“Oh my god! You look fucking stunning! I feel like I dumbass for wanting to throw it out!” Kasay squealed as she grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me.
Dustin just sat on the bed staring at me. I couldn't describe the emotion in his eyes, but it was one I've never seen before.
“Dustin,” I called for him.
He shook his head clearing his thoughts and looked up at me, “what?”
“What do you think?” I asked as I spun around for me to get a view of my whole body.
His eyes scanned my body, taking in every detail carefully. I noticed a bead of sweat trickle down from his forehead to his neck. He was probably nervous about Kasay being there.
“Um, you l-look really ni-nice.”
I smiled and thanked him before I sat down on the bed. Kasay grinned as she walked out of my bedroom. I groaned in frustration before burying my face in my hands.
“When's your step-mom coming home?” Dustin asked sounding worried.
I shrugged, “I’m guessing around six?”
“Where is she? I thought she worked at home.”
“Well she writes her articles from home. I don’t really know where she disappears to.”
He nodded, acknowledging what I had said. “So we have to be out of here by five forty five, in case she comes back earlier than we expect.”
“Who's using the math now?” I teased.
He flashed me a cute smile showing off his left dimple, before he shook his head and leaned against my headboard.
“I still don't know how to face him,” I admitted.
“You could try to convince him to forgive you- the Rosaline you are everyday.”
The corner of my lips lifted up into a small smile.
“How though? Wouldn’t he be suspicious about me knowing what’s going on in his life?”
“Say you’re Rosaline’s cousin?”
“Oh god, that’ll spark up suspicion.
Dustin bit his bottom lip. “You could just hint at it, just hint at forgiving someone he's mad at. Or try telling a story about someone in a similar situation and how not forgiving someone doesn't help at all.”
“I might try that,” I considered.
Kasay came in holding a large pink box. It must’ve weighed at least ten pounds by the struggle on her face.
“What is that?”
“Your step mom's makeup kit,” Kasay grinned.
“WHAT?! DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?!”
It was obvious she couldn’t care less. She walked over to where I was sitting and placed the makeup box beside me.
“I'm still glad I had some of that hair coloring left.” Kasay beamed at me.
I touched my hair which was still a little damp. Kasay dyed my hair earlier with the hair dye left from last time. But we? We could never make it? What does she mean by that?
“Um, Kasay?”
“You’re coming this time, right?”
“Of course!”
“Wouldn’t people at the party know you usually hang out with me? The ‘nerdy Rosaline’?”
Kasay visibly tensed up- she hadn’t thought of that.
“You could have a makeover too!” Dustin suggested.
Kasay’s eyes widened, “fuck no.”
~*~
Stood before me was… uh… a thing with a long blonde wig which reached her waist. She wore a pink party dress which looked unfashionably tacky, (that’s what I fou
nd in Cleo’s closet), and her makeup was done terribly… Sure I could draw- but I couldn’t do makeup. It took me a while to explain to Dustin that sketching and doing makeup were two different things.
“She looks like a drag queen…” Dustin looked horrified.
“Isn’t that the point of it? We were supposed to just make her look unrecognizable?”
“She sticks out too much.”
“Which means it’s the perfect disguise. The more she sticks out, the less obvious it’ll seem she’s trying to hide her identity!”
I had confused them both.
He felt the wig, “it feels like… a broom. Why does your stepmom even own a collection of wigs?”
“Good question,” I couldn’t answer him.
Kasay groaned and put her hands up to her face, “I hate myself!”
“It’s not you though! You can’t hate it yet, you haven’t seen it.”
“I don’t want to see; knowing you can’t do makeup for shit!”
Under all the thick gothic makeup, Kasay was simply a pretty girl.
I rushed her to my bathroom so she could go look in the mirror. I stood her in front of the mirror at grinned at her. Her mouth fell open as she observed the girl in the mirror carefully.
“I'm...” she trailed off.
“Come on; if you really want to make me go we better go right now. We're gonna' be late,” I rushed her.
She nodded numbly before following me out.
~*~
“And turn right! I heard it's the big cream mansion to the left,” Kasay told Dustin the directions.
I sat in the back seat, leaning forward staring at where we were going. I was incredibly nervous… an odd feeling in my chest told me a lot was about to happen.
As we got closer, we could hear music pumping from blocks away. When he tried entering the street Axel lived on- he couldn’t. The street was filled with cars of all types. Mostly fancy ones I might add. At the end of the dead end block stood a large cream mansion… it was far bigger than any house I had seen before.
“So it's not to the right, its right in the center,” Kasay mumbled to herself.
The mansion was three stories tall with vines climbing up the sides of it. There was a large fountain in front of it which people were splashing around in.The view was breathtaking. The mansion's gates were open, allowing strangers to flood in. There was a short driveway before we could reach the mansion. The traffic was horrible, cars were lining up to drop people off or park.
Dustin gulped as he turned to us with worried eyes. Kasay was just grinning at the house as I admired it from a distance.
“Oh my god...” Dustin trailed off, looking up at the house.
“It's big isn't it?” Kasay stared up at it.
Dustin turned to both of us. “Do you realize whose house it is?”
Both of us shook our heads.
Dustin looked straight at me, “its Axel’s.”
I screamed, “WHAT?!” After years of stalking him, I still didn’t know what his house had looked like!
“Well, that'll just make it easier! You'll be able to find him for sure!” Kasay said.
My face grew pale. Axel's house. I was attending a party at Axel's house. They had a reputation for being the wildest, the most dangerous, and the most memorable. People from around the district came. There was a rumor that a couple of guys from the NBA even showed up once…
“I can’t go in there,” I stated.
“You have no choice, you asked me to help.”
I couldn’t take her seriously with that makeup.
“I can’t lie to him in his own house.”
Kasay shook her head, “technically you’ve barely lied!”
I thought about it. I told him my name was Rose, which wasn’t a lie- because it’s short for Rosaline. But I did change my appearance.
“I’m still tricking him though-”
“Shut up,” she rolled her eyes at the traffic, “we’ll walk,” she said to Dustin, before dragging me out of the car with her.
~*~
Katy Perry wasn't joking about pink flamingos in someone's yard at a party. There were pink flamingos laid out across the lawn with curse words spray painted on them. Oak trees which lined up by the driveway, were filled with toilet paper and the water in the fountain was completely red – I prayed it was food dye.
I could already tell some clever teens were at this party, (note my sarcasm). The heels were starting to hurt my ankles as we reached the front door. The front door was open letting people come and go as they please.
There were couples making out on the front steps of the mansion. I gulped as I walked through the front door. The music was pumping so loud, I felt like my eardrums were about to explode.
“Hi there, mystery girl.”
I jumped immediately. Too close for my liking was a very wasted Matt. His breath smelt like at least five bottles of whiskey.
“Fuck off,” Kasay growled beside me.
Matt scrunched up his face in disgust, “Jesus Christ, what are you?”
Kasay balled up her fists but kept them by her sides.
“I'm going to tell you nicely only one more time. Fuck off, asshole.”
Suddenly, Layla appeared behind him. She was wearing a tight red dress which showed off her curves with matching heels. Her ‘dress’ was strapless and only hung to where her underwear lining was. Her bright red underwear was visible. It was too short if you asked me…
Her chocolate brown hair was wavy and reached to about her back. She had bright red lipstick on, matching her outfit.
“What's the problem here?” Layla asked as she looked between me and Matt.
I heard Kasay growl beside me.
“I'm sorry, but is my friend bugging you?” Layla asked politely.
My mouth fell open. She was acting too nice. I had to mentally remind myself, I wasn't the nerdy Rosaline, I was the Rosaline she saw at the party. The pretty one who wasn't me.
“Yes,” Kasay answered for me.
“I have to apologize for him, he's a bit tipsy,” Layla smiled.
Layla turned to me; her brown eyes recognized me.
“Rose, right?” she questioned.
I nodded. She flashed me a bright smile.
“Nice to see you again!” Layla beamed at me. “Look, we’re almost matching!” I could sense a bit of hostility in her voice. “Usually people aren’t brave enough to wear red,” she laughed, “we’re the only two hot enough to pull it off!” Was she tipsy?
