Alice Hughes’ POV
‘come on, come on, let’s get ready,’ Nora said as she opened the door and we got inside our apartment after a fair day of shopping.
‘alright, alright. I’m coming,’ I said as I closed the door when Nora dumped the shopping bags that she just got from the mall.
‘how do you even manage to get all these?’ I asked her as she was smiling like a fool at me.
‘well, you don’t think I have money? Come on, who do you think I am?’ She asked before she went inside the bedroom. I took a seat on the sofa as I was trying to catch my breath.
‘well, you’re the heiress,’ I said as I pinched my nose bridge. She popped her head out of the bedroom as she smiled at me.
‘that’s right and of course, you get the benefit as well,’ she said as she went inside again. I rolled my eyes at her.
‘i don’t befriend you because of your money, Nora,’ I said as I looked at her. She just changed from her outing outfit to something casual in a second.
‘i know, you only love me for who I am and not the money, unlike a certain someone,’ she said as she was holding the throw pillow with anger.
‘That bad, huh?’ I asked her before she smiled at me.
‘now, enough about me. Let’s get ready. It’s your first party after all,’ she said before she pulled me up from the seat and went ahead to let me take a shower.
‘okay, I want you to squeaky clean everything under 10 minutes. We have to do your hair, your makeup, your clothes, and all other stuff,’ she said as I was closing the bathroom door.
‘i see in a bit, Nora,’ I said as I went to take off my clothes and went ahead into the shower.
‘Alice,’ a voice was calling after me when I was closing my eyes under the shower, trying to feel the warm water on my skin.
‘who’s there?’ I shouted instantly as I was looking around me.
‘it’s me, Nora. You’ve been way past our agreement of your time in the shower. I panted before I closed the faucet before I wiped my face with my hands.
‘Coming,’ I said as I took the shower and went out of the shower before I headed to the bedroom as Nora was waiting to do a makeover for me.
‘alright, I want you to wear this,’ Nora said as she handed me a corset. I scoffed at her.
‘Are you kidding me? It has been centuries when a woman wears one of those,’ I said as I pushed it away from me.
‘well, tonight you will be one of those women, okay? besides, it will look good on you with that dress combined,’ she pleaded. She made her puppy pout. ugh, I hated it when she did that. I rolled my eyes at her before I took it to change into it.
‘fine, but you owe me one, Nora,’ i said as I went inside the bathroom and put on the corset. I wore my bra the usual before I put the corset on.
‘damn this stupid thing,’ i said as I opened the door to ask for Nora. She agreed to help me and oh boy, she did pull very tightly as I can barely breathe in it.
‘well, that should do it,’ she said as she looked at me.
‘now, wear that dress,’ she said as she handed me the plastic. I rolled my eyes. It’s just a party, I thought.
‘yeah, well, it’s your first one so we might want to make it memorable as possible,’ she said before I went inside the bathroom.
After a while, I got out with that dress on. The dress stopped under my knees as the lacy quarter sleeves were showing my porcelain skin. Nora gasped as she looked at me.
‘ugh! So beautiful, my creation,’ she said as she was circling me, looking up and down.
‘well, I got the dress on,’ I said as I felt the expensive fabric under my hands.
‘yes, now, for makeup and hairstyle,’ she said as she was holding the comb and curling iron. I gulped.
‘be careful, please,’ I said as I took a seat in front of the vanity mirror.
‘Cross my heart and hope to die if anything bad happens to your hair,’ she said as I arched my eyebrow at her.
‘alright then, let’s do this,’ she said eagerly as she was playing with my long hair and I waited for her to finish. After what I felt like 30 minutes or so, she was done with my hairstyle.
‘so, what do you think?’ She asked me as she was turning me around to look at the mirror.
‘woah!’ I said as I was looking at a person that was not me. She had her hair in an up-do with curls flowing down from behind.
‘well?’ Nora asked for validation. ‘do you like it?’ She asked again. I can only smile at her before I turned to look at her.
‘it was the best, Nora. Thank you,’ I said as I was holding her hands. She smiled at me before she turned me again for my face.
‘okay, now that the hair was done, what hurt can do without makeup on your face? You look like a zombie,’ she said as she was examining my face. I blushed at her.
‘well, I don’t have anyone to impress,’ I said as I was looking at her reflection on the mirror.
‘hence, tonight I have to make you irresistible,’ she said before she picked up the brush. I gulped.
‘please be gentle,’ I said as I looked at her. She smiled wickedly.
‘oh, Alice, you know I would,’ she smirked at me before she went to work her magic on my face.
First, she put the foundation on and dabbed all over my face. I was trying to cope with her actions. Then she put the powder to make the foundation stay on my face. Then, she took the new eyeshadow palette that she bought for me. She did her magic and in a minute she was done with my eyes.
‘Okay, now for the final touch,’ she said as she put some blusher on, I guess. She turned the chair around and she whispered into my ear.
‘you can look now,’ she said. I slowly opened my eyes as I looked at the person who had a fierce makeup look. The anxiety in me was building up.
‘Nora, I don’t think I can go out with this. With the dress, I can still cope but with this makeup on, I don’t—‘ Nora cut me off as she showed me two masks.
‘did I mention to you it was a masquerade ball?’ She said as she handed me the red mask.
‘what?’ I said as I took it. It was shiny with rubies as I think it was fake.
‘now, this would not be a problem, right?’ She asked me. I sighed before I looked at her. Her face was hoping for me to go with what she had done to me.
‘fine, I go to that party like this,’ I said as I looked at her. Nora was jumping up and down on the floor.
‘okay, let me get ready, see you in 30 minutes,’ she said when she disappeared in the bathroom. I just shook my head as she went to get ready for the party.
after Nora got ready in exactly 30 minutes, we were standing outside the apartment as she was locking the door.
‘so, how do exactly we go there? I mean at the party?’ I asked her. Nora turned to look at me.
‘i’ll drive,’ she said as she was holding the car keys in her hands. I scoffed at her.
‘and since when you have a driver’s license?’ I asked her. She smiled sheepishly.
‘well, I wanted to surprise you so, I just passed a couple of weeks ago and today, I got it in the mail,’ she said as she went toward the car that was parked at the roadside.
‘wow, nice ride,’ I said as I got inside the convertible red BMW.
‘i know, it was my birthday present,’ she said as she turned the ignition on. She put the gear into ‘D’ mode.
‘Should we wait for the engine to heat for a bit?’ I asked her as I fasten my seatbelt.
‘well, I don’t think we have that much time now, come on, we have to go now,’ she said as she drove off from the porch of our apartment. I was gripping the door handle as Nora was drifting on the road.
‘woah, hoo!’ She shouted as she was driving like a mad man.
‘Nora!’ I shouted at the top of my lungs.
After 20 minutes-ish of mad driving, we came to a stop as Nora parked at the corner, not far from the party. The house was booming as we were putting on our masks.
‘now, remember, just enjoy, okay?’ She said as she holds my hand. I smiled at her before I patted her hands.
‘don’t worry, I will and I planned to,’ I said as we got off from the car and we walked toward the house.
When we were at the front of the door, the reeks of alcohol, joints, and sex were overwhelming me. so, this what a party looked like. Behaving like an animal and don’t have a care in the world.
‘come on, let’s have some drinks first,’ Nora said as she pulled me toward the punch table. She gave me on and I thanked her. I went to look around the house as Nora was waving at her other friends.
‘i’m going to say hi for a minute,’ she said before she went ahead to leave me alone in this house.
‘Okay,’ I said as I was holding the cup. I don’t dare to drink it. I went to look at the university students who were partying hard like they don’t have tomorrow. I was looking around when I saw someone who was staring at me. He was wearing a mask as well, just like mine but he was a blue one. I gulped before I broke the eye contact and went to search for the door to get out of this madhouse.
I found a door through the kitchen. I went to sit on the bench that was sitting under an oak tree. I took a seat before I poured out the content of my cup. I sighed before I put the cup on the table.
‘that was a wise choice,’ a voice startled me as I looked in front of me, the same guy that was looking at me across the room earlier.
‘yeah, I don’t trust teenagers with their choice of drinks,’ I said as I tried to make a light conversation. He chuckled at me.
‘mind if I took a seat? Unless it was taken,’ he added.
‘no, no, please, have a seat,’ I said before he rested his butt near me. I felt strange like I had this kind of déja vu of the situation. We sat there for a while as an awkward silence took over the situation.
‘do you mind if I want to know you?’ He asked me. I looked at him through the mask. I guessed it would not hurt.
‘sure, my name is Alice, Alice Hughes,’ I said as I handed my hand.
‘well, Alice, nice to meet you, my name is Connor. Connor O’Sullivan,’ he said as he took my hand and shake it. suddenly, I felt electric over my body.
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