Chapter Three: A Flicker Of Hope

Chapter Three

Vaelora's POV 

Maya paces round the room, shooting me another menacing glare before sighing.

“Sometimes, I think there's something really wrong with you and it's not visible to the eyes.”

I stay quiet, fiddling with the hem of one of the dresses on the floor. 

“How do you even explain all of this?” She questions and I look up at her.

“It just happened, and I already told you that I'm fine. These are minor.” I point to the cut on my forearm, smoothening it.

Her brows shoot up. “Seriously? You have cuts all over your body and you say they're just ‘minor’?!” 

I shrug, wondering why she's so concerned about the small, visible cuts on my body rather than focusing on the unhealed gash on my forehead that's now exposed.

“Is this because of the party?” I glance at her.

“No, but it's part of. I mean, you obviously won't be able to wear the dress.” 

I frown. “What do you mean?”

She walks over to me, crouching down to the floor. She lifts my chin up with one finger.

“You won't be able to wear a sleeveless dress.”

A pang of disappointment stings my chest and I look away, suddenly embarrassed.

“Well, we could just find something else. Maybe a dress with sleeves or I don't know, would they let me wear a sleeping robe?” I joke.

“Ugh.” She sighs, standing up with a smack to the forehead.

“How the hell did you end up fighting a fucking fox, Vae? Who even does that?”

“Me? Listen, Maya. I don't know why you're so worried about this. It's just minor cuts and we could cover them up with something. Besides, you should know how to cover that up with makeup.” I suggest and she glance at me.

“Except if you want to bathe in concealer, then that's fine. But look at this…” She waves her hand up and down at me.

“.... your whole body is covered in different colors of bruises. Some silly concealer won't cover it up.”

She's right and even though I'd rather swallow a knotted nail than tell her the truth, I understand why she feels that way.

“I'm sorry.” 

My voice is low with shame. I should have been able to fight off that god damn fox. I shouldn't have ran away like some fucking scaredy cat but there was nothing else I would have done. I needed to fight back, even though I lost.

“Vae..”

I shake my head. “No. I know fighting off a fox was stupid was a stupid idea, but I just wanted to fight back for once in my life.” 

Our eyes meet and I see the pity swirling in them. I hate that.

“I know-”

“You don't understand.” I stand up, wiping the back of my skirt. “Maybe one day, I'll explain to you but for now, let's look for other options. I really want to go.”

A small smile tugs at her lips and I smirk, shaking my head at her. 

Maya is the only girl who understands me even when I don't understand myself. If there's one person I've lived for since my mother's death, it would be her. No matter how much I've tried to push her away, she never leaves, and even though she has no idea who I truly am, I'm grateful for her consistent presence in my life.

I pick up an orange dress, inspecting it. “When's the party again?”

From my peripheral vision, I see her glance at her watch. “We have four hours left and you know that Matt won't wait for us.”

Matt is Maya's elder brother and my childhood crush. Over the years, I thought that he was my mate because anytime he was close to me, my stomach fluttered and I got heart palpitations, until he found his mate last year. I was really heartbroken. He's the reserved type as opposed to my best friend. Where Maya is the flame, Matt is the water that quenches it.

“We better start getting ready then.” 

She shakes her head, snatching the dress away from me and throwing it on the floor. “You're too pale to wear that color. Let me see…” 

I watch as she bends down, searching through the pile of clothes for the perfect dress for me.

“It's not like I'm going to find my mate then so why the hassle?” I mumble, shrugging at her obvious struggle.

“What?” 

“I'm only attending because I don't want to miss the moment when you find your knight in shining armor.” I wink at her and she throws a dress at my face.

“Too bad you won't be witnessing that. Now, come try this on.” 

She raises a familiar black dress up and I groan, embarrassed by the memories of it.

“You can't be serious right now, Maya. You know I can't wear that.” 

“Then why is it in your closet?” 

“I don't know?” I raise my hand up in defense. “Maybe I forgot to burn it!” 

Without warning, I snatch the dress away from her and scamper into the bathroom, giggling to myself and pressing on my aching temple to relieve the pain.

“Vae! Come out, I've got something!” She calls out.

Carefully, I step out of the bathroom with guard and see her waving a red dress in front of her. My eyes widen with surprise as I stare at it, unable to believe my eyes.

“How did you…” I pause, not knowing what to say.

“Bold of you to think I wasn't going to come with a backup. I knew you were going to do this.” She giggles, twirling around with the dress still in her hands.

The last time we'd both gone window shopping, I'd seen the dress, tried it on and even gushed over it to her. I became so obsessed with the dress that I dreamt about it so many times, but couldn't get it because it was too expensive.

I look up at her, the shock vanishing from my face. “Did you rob a fucking bank?” 

“No.” She responds dryly, checking her watch. “We're running out of time. Go take a shower and come try it on again.”

“That doesn't answer my question.” 

“I'll answer that later. Please go!” She whines, urging me to the bathroom.

An hour later, I'm standing in front of my mirror in a V-neck sequin, red dress. It hugs my curves perfectly, and even though I don't like how my hips look in the dress, I can't help but admire my alluring figure. My makeup is minimal with just concealer blending over my gash and my lips covered with a nude lip gloss. She'd managed to style my hair into an updo with side bangs, making my oval face pop out.

My neck is adorned with a single diamond necklace and two mini huggies earrings are attached to my ears.

I look so breathtaking that I find it hard to believe I'm staring right back at my reflection.

“You look absolutely stunning.” She whispers, her eyes widening with awe.

I really do. In fact, this is the first time in years that I've looked this good.

“Thank you, Maya.”

She shrugs me off and buckles her sandals, humming an unknown tune to herself. I take her in and smile. Her knee length short dress hugs her figure perfectly, accentuating her skinny curves. The curls of her hair fall over her shoulder, framing her round face.

She's beautiful.

“Says the girl who looks like a million bucks.” 

I open my mouth to disagree but the buzzing of her phone stops me. She picks it up and she nods frantically, muttering “yes” before hanging up.

“Matt?” I ask and she nods, grabbing her bag.

“Maya, how do I get past Micheal?” 

I haven't informed him that I would be out today and since he got back home last night, we haven't spoken. Although Maya said she already told him, knowing Micheal, he might decide not to let me go.

“Trust me when I say he won't notice that you're gone. He's not even home.”

My lips twist into a frown. “He's not?”

She shakes her head with a smile. “Nah. Give the old man some little cash to go gamble with.” 

“Seriously?” I raise a brow up at her in question.

“Now's not the time to worry about this, Vae. Matt will leave us behind if we don't go out now.”

Nodding, I pick up my clutch and head out of the room, wondering how on earth she’s able to come up with horrible solutions for horrible problems.

“Hey. Sorry we kept you waiting.” Maya apologizes to Matt but he ignores her and opens the door for me. I flash him a small smile, slipping into the back seat of the car and making myself comfortable.

They both get in and he revs

up the engine as Maya winks at me.

As he drives off, my head drops on the seat and I close my eyes, hoping that today turns out to be my lucky day.