I smiled. “Yes, they are.”
At least half an hour passed and the wine bottle was finished—thanks to Mila’s efforts mostly. Mila’s words were slurred and she had taken off her shoes in an attempt to do cartwheels in her dress. It was my fault, I suppose. I’d told her it was impossible. Sure enough, she was able to complete one full cartwheel even if she did end up on her ass.
“We should head back,” I called out to her.
“No, no! Please!” She ran over to me, her skin was cool with sweat and her hair was no longer perfect and elegant. “You’re leaving again soon and I want to spend as much time together as possible.”
Her lips drooped in an attempt to convince me to stay. I sighed. “Fine, five more minutes but then we’re leaving. What do you want to do?”
She perked up as if I’d said something interesting.
“Swim!” she shouted. “I want to swim!”
I cocked an eyebrow at her. “We’re on a sports field. Where are you going to go swimming?”
“The waterfall!” She jumped to her feet and began running across the field. I stared after her, there was no waterfall here.
“There’s no waterfall here! The closest waterfall is—” My heart dropped into my stomach and she disappeared from sight.
The closest waterfall was outside the protection of the charms. I kicked off my shoes and sprinted across the field, oblivious to any of the alcohol’s effects.
“Mila!” I yelled after her. “Mila!”
Mr. Aleksandrov and Eli were going to kill me.
I PROMISE
Up in the sky, the moon shone down upon me. I looked back and forth, searching for Mila amongst the mass of tangled branches and thorn bushes. My feet crushed over a bed of dried leaves, filling in the haunting void of silence. My breathing quickened and my head spun as I tried to navigate through the woods. My clutch was still hanging off my wrist by its small strap. I grabbed for it desperately, pulling out Eli’s whistle. I had brought it to the party to give back to him, but I hadn’t had enough alcohol to work up the courage to do so. As I held it, it occurred to me that I’d never used the whistle before, I wasn’t even sure how it actually worked, but I blew it anyway. I’d rather deal with Eli’s wrath than Mila’s death. The forest was alive with nocturnal scurrying noises. I couldn’t see her, but that didn’t change things. I knew she was out here somewhere. It wasn’t until I saw her silver dress shimmer in the moonlight that I relaxed a little. She was leaning against a tree. The forest had fallen silent and her sobs filled the air. I ran over to her.
“Mila?”
“I’m lost,” she cried.
“I know. Let me take you back.”
“I don’t want to go back… I hate it there!” Her voice was loud and broken.
“Just come with me.” I reached out and touched her shoulder.
She turned abruptly and her eyes narrowed in on me. “Come with you? Why? So you can leave me again?” A funny slur altered her speech.
My mouth dropped open and an offended gust of air came out. I thought all was forgiven last night. Alcohol—magnifying bad feelings since—forever. “Mila, why are you doing this? I thought we sorted everything out?”
“Because—” she bent over and pulled a leaf off the ground, splitting it with her long nails. “I can’t stand my life. It’s boring. Since you left, things have gone back to normal. I hate normal. I have no friends and no real family… nothing.”
It had never occurred to me to question where Mila’s parents were. It had always been just her and Mr. Aleksandrov.
“You have me.”
“What good is a friend who’s only there for you a few weeks at a time? Who ignores you for a whole year?”
I reached for her arm. “We can talk about this when we get back to the school.”
She recoiled away from me, angry at something I’d thought we’d gotten over.
“No. I’m taking a page out of the Ruby Moore handbook and I’m running away from my problems.”
I flinched at her words. She doesn’t mean it, I thought, fighting against the part of me that wanted to leave her here. She’s drunk. I wonder how accurate the saying ‘a drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts’ actually is?
“Mila? I’m sorry. I’ll stay with you if that’s what you want.”
Mila collapsed into a crying heap on the forest floor. “It should be what you want, not what I want. Don’t you want friends? A life?”
I knelt beside her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close to me. I do want all those things. I want to have a normal life—more than anything in the world. “It is what I want. I’ll stay with you.”
“Do you promise?” She sniffled.
“I promise.”
She leaned into me and fell silent, content with the promise I made.
I didn’t know how long it was until snapping twigs and crunching leaves filled my ears. It had to be Eli, but I stayed quiet in case it wasn’t. In the faint light of the moon, I saw his white shirt stand out from beneath his tux. Shadow covered most of his face, but I could still make his relieved expression.
“Is she okay?” he asked, kneeling down and touching her forehead before towering over us again.
“She’s okay now. She’s had too much to drink and decided she wanted to go swimming.”
Although he had disapproval written all over his face, he didn’t say anything. He wanted what I wanted—to get Mila home safely.
“We’ll take her back to your house. I don’t want to ruin Mr Aleksandrov’s night,” he suggested, checking his cell phone.
I nodded, not sure what else to say.
“Is there anything I can do?” said a voice from behind Eli.
I was too busy focusing on Eli’s looming figure to notice Xavier standing behind him.
“Um, yeah… Can you get her off me?”
Xavier stepped past Eli and scooped Mila up in his arms. Eli extended his hand to me and I took it. As he pulled me to my feet, I ignored the electrical current that pulsed through me.
We followed closely behind Xavier while he carried Mila effortlessly, as if she was a feather.
As we walked, my head spun slightly, causing me to miss my step over a rotten piece of wood. Unable to catch my footing, I fell. Eli reached out and caught my arm, pulling me toward him. Somehow, we’d ended up with our bodies pressing firmly together. His eyes watched me intently, waiting for me to pull away… or kiss him, I couldn’t tell. After a few long seconds, he spoke. “Are you all right?”
I nodded slowly, completely incapacitated by his touch. “I’m okay. Thank you.”
I expected him to let me go, but he didn’t.
“You still have the whistle?” he asked in a low tone.
“I was going to return it tonight, but then this happened.”
Much to my dismay, he released me from his grip and my heart sent a weird shock throughout my body.
“How did this happen?”
I steadied myself and started walking again. “She wanted to get away and have fun.”
“And you encouraged it?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t have a choice. I wasn’t going to say no to her, not after everything I put her through.”
Beside me, Eli fell silent. That was it for conversation until Xavier laid Mila down on my bed. Eli and I waited in the living room. I pulled leaves and sticks out of my hair and Eli was leaned against the wall, his arms crossed in front of him, watching me in amusement. I glowered at him. Even after the run through the forest, his hair was still perfect, his skin was clean, and there was barely a mark on his outfit.
“It’s not funny.”
He smiled. “It is a bit funny.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because no matter what you do, you can’t stay out of trouble.”
A small laugh escaped me. I had to give it to him—he spoke the truth—to an extent. He didn’t take his eyes off me as I attempted to remove a hairpin from my hair. I kept my eyes on the floor, too nervous to make eye contact. If I did, there was no guaranteeing I’d be able to stay on this side of the room. My lips twitched, I was trying hard not to smile. This was how it should be between Eli and I. Our conversations should be light-hearted and normal, not stressed or forced. I yanked one final time on my hairpin, but couldn’t get it free.
“Do you need help?” Eli offered.
I exhaled and pointlessly straightened my dress. “Yes, please.”
Slowly, he walked over to me, his leather dress shoes tapping slightly on the floor. I tilted my head down so he could access the pin. As he got within inches of me, my breathing quickened and my heart rattled against my ribcage. After a year of being without Eli, he still had the same effect on me. Somehow, he managed to get my hairpin free. I held out my hand and he placed it on my palm. When he didn’t step back, I glanced up at him. His eyes were intense and warm, flickering as if he was fighting some internal struggle.
“She’s down for the count.” Xavier entered the living room.
He smiled awkwardly when he noticed how close together Eli and I were standing. “I’ll wait outside.”
I cleared my throat and stepped away from Eli and his crazy gravitational pull. I walked over to the kitchen bench and pulled out the remaining hairpins, setting them down on the hard surface. I ran my fingers through my hair and it fell nicely around my shoulders.
“Before I forget,” I crossed the room and took his whistle out of my purse. “Here’s your whistle. I should have given it back sooner.”
“No, you keep it. It’s yours.”
I held it against his chest. “You need to give it to Mila.”
He frowned. “She told you?”
I nodded.
“Are you mad?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I’m mad—jealous maybe, but not mad.”
The corners of his lips twitched into a smile as he took the whistle from my hand and stuffed it into his pants pocket. “Do you have another dress?”
“Maybe. Why?”
“Because we have a party to attend.”
“No, thanks. I’ve had enough excitement for one night and I really should stay with Mila.”
“Mr. Aleksandrov will be worried if both you and Mila aren’t at the party. Come. You can tell him she was feeling under the weather and has gone to bed.”
I clicked my tongue against my teeth in thought. “Fine, but I’m going to say goodnight to Mr. Aleksandrov and then I’m coming straight back.”
Eli smiled. “I’ll meet you outside.”
I ran into the bathroom and when I saw my dress in the mirror, I almost burst into tears. It was torn and covered in grass stains and dirt. It had wet patches on it and smelled strongly of wine. My skin was just as bad. Quickly, I slipped out of my clothes and jumped into the shower, careful not to wet my hair—it’d be easier to brush if it was dry.
When I got out, I pulled the red dress from its bag hanging on the back of the bathroom door and slid into it. The strapless gown hugged my curves and I spun around on the spot to get a view of the back. It was good enough.
I put on a fresh layer of make-up, brushed my hair, and left the bathroom. I was tired now, my legs ached, and the alcohol had worn off. Bed seemed like the best thing to do, but alas, here I was, shoes on, dressed up, and ready to party again.
In the rush of it all, I forgot to retrieve my coat from the dining hall, so as I stepped outside and the cool night air blew against my skin, I felt it.
“You two go. I’ll stay in case Mila wakes up.”
I eyed Xavier suspiciously, unsure of his motives.
“I’ll stay outside,” he added.
I nodded. “I’ll be back soon.”
I turned my attention to Eli, who watched me admiringly. He didn’t say anything, only watched. My cheeks heated under his gaze. Maybe the dress wasn’t as mediocre as I first thought. We didn’t talk until we got to the dining hall, despite the light conversation we had before Xavier entered, Eli was still closed off to me.
“There you kids are!” Frank called from across the room.
His sudden, loud voice drew attention to us. Some people watched us with big smiles and friendly eyes; others watched us cautiously—like we were here to ruin the party. Frank made his way through the crowd and over to us.
“Maybe my eyes are failing me but I could’ve sworn that you were wearing a gold dress earlier?”
“It got dirty.”
Frank rolled his eyes at Eli. “Women, I can’t even begin to understand them.”
“I don’t try to,” Eli responded, his voice light with humor.
Frank chuckled at Eli’s response and I rolled my eyes.
“People are dying to see our saviors share a dance.”
Saviors? That was a bit farfetched. We hadn’t saved anyone, really, and Lucian was still alive.
“No, no dancing. I’m looking for Mr. Aleksandrov. It’s getting late and I want to go to bed,” I replied dully.
“Don’t be silly,” said Paula, appearing out of nowhere and pulling me forward by my elbow. “It will only take a few minutes, then you can go to sleep.”
And just like that Eli and I were ushered to the dance floor. Beside us, Paula and Frank danced in a big show of twirls and giggles. Eli placed his hand on my back, much lower than Frank had, and took hold of my hand. I placed my free hand on Eli’s shoulder, ignoring the nauseous yet thrilling feeling that circled my stomach.