Fundraising event

Babe's POV

Fred and I didn't talk about what happened earlier till we got to the house. Since the rest of the trip was less than fifteen minutes, Fred decided to drive while I sat beside him. 

"Promise me you'll be fine," he asked as he stopped the car in front of the house. I was speechless as I couldn't give him a straight answer. 

I never felt this empty in my whole existence. I actually didn't think I would feel this way before I left home but now that I was here, it's clear that I'm going to miss him and our friends at school and in the neighborhood. 

"I promise" My eyes swollen with tears, ones that I was too afraid to let them drop.

"Call me if anyone does anything you don't like and I swear that I'll come here in seconds and beat the crap out of the person" he threatened and I smiled.

As I did, the tears I've been trying to stop dropped down my face.

"I'll miss you" I whisper loud enough for him to hear.

"I'll miss you more" He replied, as I threw my hands around his neck.

We held on to each other tightly for what seemed like seconds. Quietly, I untangled myself from him and climbed out of the car.

"Whew, your aunt must be living in gold, diamond, and lots of money," He said, referring to the house.

I rolled my eyes and ignored his comment.

"Why don't you stay for the rest of the day and leave by morning?" I pleaded.

"I can't Babe, I have to help my mom out tomorrow morning. I'll just take the bus" 

He closed the car's booth once I'm done bringing out my luggage.

"Call me when you get home" I instructed her as we hugged one last time.

"You stay safe here" 

"I will," I assured him. He kissed my forehead before we separated. I stood rooted at a spot as I watched him walk away without looking back. He hailed down a taxi as soon as he got to the road, turned back, and waved at me.

I waved back, bidding farewell to the last piece of memory from my life.

"Barbara!" A loud shriek came from behind me, startling me. I rolled my eyes before I turned to see her. 

"My name is Babe, not Barbara, Pinky" 

I corrected my cousin for the umpteenth time. 

She never just listens! 

"Stop being an asshat, cousin. Come here," I laughed as she pulled me into a tight hug. 

"It's nice to see you again Pinky. You look good" 

"Right back at you girl, you look amazing" I raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. 

Here we go! My new life is about to begin.

"Where's Aunt Linda?" I asked her as I dragged my luggage after her. She didn't even bother to help me….

"She's inside. Sorry I couldn't help you with the luggage. I just had a pedicure and the diamonds on my nails are real, freaking expensive. Mom got them for me last year because I had straight As in my exams and I can't bear using them to carry luggage. You understand, right?" 

I was dumbfounded. I know Pinky was an extra kind of girl but I never knew it was this much.

"Totally," I replied. 

Immediately she opened the door leading into the house, two ladies wearing uniforms collected my bags and left before I could even say hello to them.

"Aunty Linda, it's so nice to see you again," 

My aunt, who was sitting on one of the expensive sofas, turned her attention to me. 

"Ooh! You're finally here. How was your trip?" 

She asked, smiling at me.

"It was nice," I replied.

"You have a lovely home," I complimented. 

"Thank you," She appreciated me.

"Pinky, take your cousin to her room" She quickly dismissed us much to my surprise. 

I smiled at her one more time before I followed Pinky up the stairs to the rows of the room. 

On our way to the room, she pointed to one of the rooms as hers, the one with the pink door. Of course, without her pointing to the room, I knew it was hers.

"Here's your room, royal princess. A royal chamber for a princess" she joked 

I coughed lightly.

"Do you know if Hunter is still in town?" 

"Hunter?" She asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, Hunter. The guy who's a twin, green eyes" I described him with what I could remember.

"Ooh. Yeah, him. Hunter is different now. I don't think you can recognize him if you see him" She grinned.

"Different in a bad way?" 

"It's heartbreaking to admit that someone who looks that good is a bad boy. Gosh, he's hot" She gushed and dramatically, placed her hand on her chest. 

"Let's forget about Hunter. What do you think?" She asked me as soon as we stepped into the room. She plopped on the bed while I placed my hand on my hips and observed the room..

It was huge enough to house two to three girls and much bigger than my room back at home. There's a walk-in closet and that was a shocker.

"I love it," I told her.

"I know you will," She didn't bother looking at me since she was so serious with whatever she was doing on her phone.

"I'll be in the closet sorting my clothes out" She waved, and gave me a thumb up. I smiled as I walked into the closet.

I started arranging my bags, which took me just three seconds since I didn't own much. The last box was bigger than the rest and that was because it contained my clothes. I left the remaining at home. 

"Oh my God! Are those your clothes?" 

Pinky screamed from right behind me and I hesitated before I responded because if I did not, I might have cursed her out for startling me.

"Yes," I replied.

"This is impossible. Where are the 'Gucci, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Fendi, Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Balenciaga'. What are all these?" I looked on in horror as she scrunched her nose while picking up my clothes one by one.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Designers baby. Designers! You have none" 

To say I was embarrassed was an understatement. Looking at Pinky right now reminds me of my mom. She's a brat! 

"I don't have them because I can't afford them" I ignored her after that and continued arranging my clothes.

She shivered in surprise and walked out of the closet till I heard the room's door opened and closed.

My phone beeped and I saw it was a message from Fred, saying he was on a bus on his way back to our town. I replied back telling him to call me once he does.

After I was done, I took a quick shower and went through a school's pamphlet I saw on the study table. There was a laptop sitting on the table that I didn't want to touch because I didn't know if it was mine or not.

The door suddenly opened and I saw my aunt standing at the door.

"Barbara, do you have anything you can wear to a fundraising event?" 

"No, why?" 

I'm not a fan of formal dresses so I never bothered to get one, not even when they're so expensive.

"A close friend of mine is holding a fundraising event tonight and I want to go with you because that's the only way I can reintroduce the society to you and you to the society. I want you to meet everyone in my circle." 

"It's bad I won't be able to go then" I snickered silently because I was glad I won't be attending such an event.

"You'll go! Follow me!" 

She walked out before I could stand up. I stomped my leg against the floor and groaned loudly before I walked after her.

"Pinky, give your cousin a dress to wear to the fundraising event. You both should be ready in an hour's time, alright?" 

"Okay mummy" Pinky happily agreed.

Before I could say flapjack, Pinky pulled me into her room. As I walked in, I had to close my eyes repeatedly because of the pink color that was almost blinding me.

Pink walls, pink roof, pink bed, pink covers, pink reading table, pink everything.

This girl makes me hate pink so much I want to throw up.

"There,!" She exclaimed while pointing to the pink dress she had picked for me.

"Nah! No! There's no way I'm wearing that" I replied sternly.

"Why?" she asked with a sad look. 

I didn't want to break her heart, so I shook my head, picked up the dress, and left.

I went back to my room to get ready. I did light makeup, put on the pink dress that I hate so much I either puke or tear off. I matched it with a clutch purse and a Fendi shoe of mine.

Walking down the stairs, I saw that my aunt and Pinky were already waiting for me. I almost cried out in frustration when I saw them also in pink. I mean a pink ensemble. 

Bags, earrings, bracelets, shoes, hair ties! 

"You look great, Barbara. The cloth suits you" 

I smiled awkwardly at my aunt's compliment.

We got to the party and I realized the real meaning of miserable. I was dragged from one person to another. Everyone kept hugging me and asking me about my town and what it was like to live there, why am I so different from my aunt? And in turn asking my aunt, why she decided to bring me back here?. Some were nice while others had their noses up so high in the cloud. 

When I was finally able to escape my aunt's web, I sat at a corner far away from her eyes as I drank a bottle of water.

The crowd's attention suddenly turned to the door and I watched as the event founders walked in with their two children. A boy and a girl. 

I was able to recognize the couple because of their pictures hanging around the room.

As the son faced my direction, he suddenly looked so familiar. I wondered about where I'd seen the face before.  Immediately he turned to me and our eyes met, I froze. 

He was the Hunter I saw earlier today, the new Hunter. The one with a gun. I couldn't take my eyes away from him. He looked different now, probably that was because he looked so formal in the suit he was wearing. One of his hands was in the locket on his trouser and as soon as he sighted me, he began walking towards me.

"Hunter," I called out as soon as he got beside me.

I thought he was coming over to my side but he wasn't. He was actually walking towards the man standing at the far end of the wall.

He kept his gaze locked on mine. Hunter opened his mouth slightly as if he wanted to say something but at a second thought, he bent to my level and whispered.

"It'll be best if you forget about me because I don't even know who you are"

"Hunter?" I whispered as a bout of disappointment hit me. 

The look in his eyes made his words true, he wasn't messing around, he really didn't want to get acquainted with me.

"About what you saw today, learn to shut your trap and I might learn to keep my gun at a distance" 

He suddenly tucked my hair properly behind my ear. My eyes went wide as my body reacted to his touch. He stood up straight and scrutinized me.

"Pink looks terrible on you, Babe"