Chapter 19
1191words
No matter how she tried, she couldn't forget what Evan said to her three nights ago. It had kept her tossing and restless on the bed throughout the night, making her a little bit cranky this morning.
Her eyes were all puffy and red plus the side of her face was slightly swollen. She had applied some makeup to conceal the dark spots and eye bags but they didn't do a good job.
"Aurora,"
She was also extremely hungry since her mother insisted that she had an apple for breakfast, not to mention how she felt after being grounded for a month.
"Aurora!"
At least, Evan got punished alongside her so that was a respite,
"Aurora!"
She almost jumped from her skin when she felt icy hands on her shoulders, when she tipped her head backwards, she was met with the face of her friend, Natasha.
"What's wrong with you?" She screeched, shifting away from Natasha's cold palms.
Her friend scoffed, rolling her toffee-coloured eyes, "What's wrong with me? You should be asking yourself that, I've been talking to you for about twenty minutes now and you didn't hear a thing I said."
"Oh,"
Natasha's eyes rolled eyes causing her to smile sheepishly. The Hispanic ignored her instead crouching beside Aurora and folding her palms delicately on top of her thighs,
"Are you okay?" Natasha asked, concerned gaze running over Aurora's face, "You don't look good, is everything alright?" She moved to place a hand on Aurora's cheek but she tactfully avoided it,
"Sorry, your hand is just too cold." She covered Natasha's outstretched palm with her own instead, "And I'm fine, Nat. I just-" She broke off, looking for an appropriate lie, "I'm just thinking about the dance."
Natasha's brows furrowed together, "Why would you be worr-"
The doors to the classroom flew open and their head simultaneously went to the entrance. The entire class had gone silent, watching the two newcomers with interest.
Eva Winners was the first to reach, rushing towards James with an ear-splitting grin. "Who won? Who got the position?"
She peered at them, narrowed at Mason who had a frown etched on his face. Natasha cursed lowly in a foreign language,
"I don't think Mason got the spot."
She was right because, at that exact moment, James haughtily lifted his chin, "Of course I did, wouldn't let this amateur beat me now, could I?"
Eva squealed loudly, clapping and jumping in excitement. The rest of her girls gathered around them and Aurora tuned them out, facing Mason instead,
Mason trudged towards them, his shoulders slumping and eyes bleak. She didn't utter a word until he settled in front of them, sitting crossed-legged.
"You look like shit," She said the moment he was fully settled.
Mason scoffed and rolled his eyes, "I could say the same about you." He fell silent again, rubbing the heel of his palm against his chin, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't get the spot. I know how much you didn't want to dance with James and-"
"It's fine," She cut him off, smiling gently, "I guess I don't have a choice," She blew out a breath and looked to James who was busy prancing about like a peacock, "I was looking forward to it anyway," Her tone was dry and sarcastic.
Mason sighed and Natasha placed a hand on her shoulder. She grimaced when James looked in their direction and began to saunter towards them, Eva and the others trailing behind,
"Well, if it isn't my pretty swan. Have you heard the news already?" He crouched low, rubbing his palms together, "We're going to dance together?"
She gave him a snide grin, "I'm sure that's the biggest milestone you'll ever achieve in your career."
Natasha coughed into her palm and Mason snorted, even Skylar looked like she was holding back a laugh.
James' pale face turned red and he instantly shot to his feet, glaring at her through dark eyes.
Aurora flashed her teeth at him and lifted a shoulder casually, "Try not to fuck it up this time, Arthur. I forgave you for that little misstep last year but I won't let you ruin this one for me. Do you understand?"
Smoke was practically coming out of his ears by now, his face was so red, it reminded her of a tomato and the way his nose was flared was kind of funny.
But then he smiled, clapping his hands loudly and drawing the attention of everyone in the room, "To celebrate my victory in getting the main protagonist spot, they'll be a pool party at my place tonight. Everyone is invited," There were cheers and hooting, some even clapped in response and he smirked, blue eyes falling on her, "Everyone except the Rochester princess. The party is starting by nine and that's when her curfew begins."
The mocking laughter that passed round the hall burned at her chest and she gave him her best death glare. He smirked victorious, winking before saying,
"Bye-bye, princess." She watched as he and the rest of the girls walked away.
Anger and shame burned in her chest the longer people stared at her, whispering into each other's ears. She jumped to her feet, clutching the can of water in her hand desperately before taking off.
"Aurora, wait!" Mason and Natasha shouted but she ignored them, running across the length of the room.
The moment she stepped out of the classroom, it felt like she could breathe again. She walked further away from there, choosing to rest her back against the wall and shut her eyes.
It wasn't what James said that made her infuriated, it was the fact that the whole thing was ridiculous. She was not an eighteen-year-old anymore and she definitely didn't need a curfew or her parents grounding her,
Aurora rubbed at her chest, it was beginning to ache again.
"Aurora?"
Her eyes flew open instantly, coming to contact with Lousia. The girl had her show blonde hair in a tight updo and her bright blue eyes expressed her concern.
Aurora arched a brow at the girl, "What do you want?"
"I-" Louisa paused, scratching the side of her chin, "I wanted to apologize for James' behaviour. That was wrong and-"
She scoffed and cocked her head to the side, "Why?"
"What?" Louisa batted her lids dumbly.
Aurora pushed her weight away from the wall, facing the blonde squarely, "Why are you apologizing? Did you do anything wrong?"
"No, but um, James-"
She raised a finger, effectively silencing the girl, "James is James. He always has been a jerk and will continue to be one, probably for the rest of his life. That's none of your business." She took a step forward, peering at the blonde cautiously, "I don't need your pity, Louisa Roberts."
Aurora gave her one last meaningful look before stalking off, the heels of her shoes echoing in the still hallway.
