Chapter 4

Veronica’s clearly up to something again. The last time she gave me that look, I ended up squeezing through a crowd and fighting over books at a sale. All she said was she just needed me to come with her to buy a book she wanted.

I could see her pretending to pout as she wiped away imaginary tears. Then she gave me those sad, pleading eyes and acted even more hurt just because I said no. I’m not falling for her tactics this time.

“Come on, Ali, just say yes. It’s not like we’re about to rob someone or what.”

“No, Veronica, you’re always the one who tricks me with those things.” I made it clear to her that I’m not falling for her pity acts.

She acted even more pitiful and suddenly let out a sigh.

“Alright, I guess there’s no way I can convince you anymore. Thanks for everything though. You don’t want to share what’s bothering you, and you won’t even listen to me. Honestly, what’s the point?” She was playing the best friend card on me. Just as Veronica was about to stand up, I stopped her. The moment I touched her, a crooked smile appeared on her lips. Lord, I know I’m going to regret this, but please, help me anyway.

“Alright, fine! I’ll go with you!”

The moment I said that, I felt like I wanted to take my words back.

“HAHA I’m the winner! No takebacks, Alina Ysabelle Allard!” And with that, I thought I saw Lucifer in Veronica’s smile.

Without any hesitation, she pulled me again toward the women’s section. We headed straight to the part of the store with dresses. I think we were just going to act like decent people, and she was only tagging me along to help her pick out a dress that suited her. She ran up to me after grabbing all the dresses on the left side.

She handed me three dresses. One of them was a sleek, black mini dress with a square neckline and fitted silhouette. The other one was a chic black mini dress with a thigh-high slit. The last one is a strapless black mini dress styled with front buttons and a slight slit, it has tailored, almost corset-like top that adds structure. All of them look great, and I’m sure they’ll suit Veronica perfectly.

“Girl, you don’t just stare at these, you try them on.” Try what??

“Ali, hurry up and try them on so I can see. After that, let’s check out the new bar.” What? Try them on? A bar? What the hell is Veronica even talking about?

That’s when it all finally clicked for me. Her pleading smile, the way she dragged me over to the women’s section. I quickly handed the clothes back to her, but she didn’t take them. Instead, she just smiled at me again, as if saying ‘no backing out now, Ali,’ then in my head, I swear I could hear her having an evil laugh.

“Haha, no backing out now, Ali! Oh, and by the way, you mentioned before that your dad has something to take care of in the US. How long was that again? A week or two? So, I know he’s not around right now. Sorry, not sorry, bestie. Later, you’ll thank me for making sure we had some fun.”

Oh my god, what did I just get myself into? I just know I’m going to regret saying yes to Veronica tonight.

“This is the best day of my life!”

“Hell yeah! See what you’ve been missing out on? And look, that dress I bought for you, Ali, it looks absolutely perfect on you!”

I couldn’t hear Veronica anymore. I think I was getting pretty drunk too. Honestly, how many hours have we even been here? I could feel myself getting a bit dizzy, but I kept on drinking anyway.

“Damn you, Remedial and Constitutional Law! You’re seriously messing up my dreams right now!”

I laughed at her when she shouted. We honestly didn’t care anymore if people were staring. Let them. Tonight, we just wanted to forget all that shit. I wanted to forget my dad’s rule, forget Lance, forget all of them. I just wanted it all to disappear for now.

We were both holding a drink in our hands and took a sip together.

A moment later, I felt someone grab my hand. I couldn’t react right away because of it. I didn’t even notice where Veronica went. What’s going on? We were just having fun. Did I do something wrong?

Who is this? Why is he pulling me?

I tried to pull my hands free from his grip, but I couldn’t. He was holding on too tightly. I was starting to feel dizzy, so I lifted my head to see who this guy was who was dragging me away.

“Don’t even try to snatch your hand away from me, Alina.”

After he said that, he turned to look at me. It felt like a bucket of cold water had just poured over me. My heart was racing so fast. I still felt dizzy and drunk, but I knew exactly whose eyes were staring at me right now.

“…Le…Leon…”