Clarisse and I decided to go back to my apartment to get ready. My bathroom was slightly bigger than hers so it made sense for us to get ready there. We were both pretty adequate at doing makeup but we decided it might be fun to do each other.
“I think I almost have the eyeshadow done,” I blended it a little more before declaring myself finished.
“Let me see!” Clarisse grabbed a mirror, “I love it! You did such a good job!” she beamed.
“I did my makeup all throughout high school, I never did it well but I’ve learned some tricks over the past couple of years,” I laughed.
Clarisse leaned back in her chair, “Do you have any pictures.”
“Oh god no, it’s so embarrassing,” I definitely had pictures, but it didn’t mean I wanted to show her.
“Please,” she stuck her bottom lip.
“Fine,” her face looked so adorable it was hard to resist.
I pulled out my phone. I spent many minutes scrolling through my gallery of terrible selfies until I came across the less ugly ones. When I say it’s bad I mean it’s bad. My eyebrows looked like I had drawn them on, meanwhile, my lipstick had smudged all around my mouth, it was amazing there was any on my lips.
“Is it bad for me to say that mine looked identical?” Clarisse laughed.
We would’ve continued the conversation further but Keira had walked into the room. Her hair was wavy with a single braid that was pinned to the back of her head. Weirdly enough she was wearing makeup as well. She had a smokey-eye look and red lipstick.
"Alrighty children, without further to do we have places to be," She smirked.
"Just let me fix this one spot and I'll be ready,” Clarisse grabbed a makeup wipe.
Keira and I started heading out anyway. We were completely silent on the way to Lucas’ apartment. I was totally fine with it. For some reason though she kept glancing in my direction which was extremely annoying.
When we got there Annabelle was already there. Carter looked in the mirror adjusting his tie while Lucas briefed Annabelle about the plan.
“Ok, guys. How do I look?” Carter twirled around.
“You look very handsome Carter,” Clarisse said as she walked into the room.
“What about me?” Lucas asked.
Clarisse walked up to him and smoothed the collar of his jacket, “You look very handsome as well.” His face blushed. I tried not to puke.
“Now, does everyone understand the plan?” Keira announced.
“Piece of cake. You do a thing, I do a thing, perfect plan,” Carter smirked.
“Exactly,” Keira smiled, “Now let's go.”
She led the way to the limo and we were on our way.
When we reached the building we flashed our invitations to the security guard. He gave us a funny look before letting us in. Being as though we were all between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-four he probably had a hard time believing we were legit. I wouldn’t think we were legit either.
The venue was huge. The floor was made of real marble with pillars everywhere. Towards the back of the room, two staircases led up to another platform, just as impressive. There were french doors at the very back wall of the platform. Red curtains were also hung to disguise the other hallways. We were, after all, supposed to stay in the main ballroom.
“We have until they start the presentation to relax and keep an eye on things. At seven is when the presentation starts, everyone, be in your places at six fifty-five. Ok?” Lucas addressed us. We all nodded in agreement. “Perfect, keep your eyes open and stay in groups no smaller than two.”
Unsurprisingly Lucas and Clarisse headed off somewhere. That left me with Carter and Keira. Great, I'm left with the two clowns of the group. Not only can they not take themselves seriously, but they also can’t take anyone else seriously.
We decided to scope out the place. There wasn’t a chance we were going to get in before the gala started, so unfortunately this was our only shot. Luckily the layout wasn’t too complicated.
“If this wasn’t a super important mission I would probably find a way to swing from the chandelier,” Carter stated.
“I would be right behind you,” Keira laughed. I rolled my eyes.
“Let’s stick to the job at hand,” I reminded Carter.
“Don’t worry, it’s not like I was actually going to do it,” he nudged my arm.
I sighed and walked over to the food table. We needed to act naturally. If anyone found out that we were here to rescue kids from their corrupt boss, things would not end well.
“Excuse me,” someone tapped my shoulder.
When I turned around I was faced with one of the businessmen. He looked relatively young, probably around the same age as me. He was only a little taller than me with brown eyes that seemed to stare into my soul.
“What do you need sir?” I tried to sound professional. It made me want to puke.
“I was wondering if you’d care for a dance,” he sounded gentle.
Did I want to dance with this guy? Not really. Actually not at all but it was normal at these fancy gatherings. Of course, I could say no and there would be no issue. I desperately wanted to get away from these two.
I checked my watch. There was still plenty of time before we needed to get into position. Why not have a little fun? There was also the chance that it would make Keira mad, which always makes me happy.
“The pleasure is all mine,” I responded.
As I walked away from Carter and Keira I noticed that she had an annoyed look on her face. I smirked to myself. I knew they were going to stay close to me in case anything happened.
“I’m Jonas.”
I don’t have trust in anyone, “Nice to meet you. I’m Amelia.”
He grabbed my right hand and placed his other hand on my back. There was a slow song in the background. We moved around gracefully in a circle. He didn’t step on my feet once. This should’ve been romantic. Jonas was handsome after all but there was no better feeling than when I was dancing with Johnny.
“Were you forced to come here as well?” he rolled his eyes with a smile.
“Unfortunately, the company required it,” I fake laughed. I only felt slightly bad for lying to this guy.
“As soon as this stupid ceremony is over I’m booking it. I have some sketches I’ve been dying to work on.”
“You’re an artist?” he twirled me around.
“I prefer the term craftsman-,” he paused for a second, “-struggling artist.”
“I dabble in art myself,” the first truthful thing I’ve said to him all night.
He half smiled, “Perhaps I’ll have to see your work someday.”
“Maybe,’ I laughed.
Thankfully the song started winding down. This guy was starting to get a little more handsy. Every time he moved his hand down my back, I shifted my position to move it back up to my shoulders.
“I must say, you look very beautiful tonight,” he said when the song ended.
“Thank you, but I have a boyfriend,” I responded maybe too aggressively.
“Noted. Thank you for this dance. I hope you have a wonderful night,” he smiled and walked away.
I sat down on one of the chairs. That wasn’t as horrible as I thought it was going to be. Having to be pleasant wasn’t the highlight of my night by any stretch. How are people just genuinely pleasant.
Carter walked over to me and handed me a plate of food. I scarfed it down. I was still hungry from earlier before I got interrupted. He sat down next to me and Keira on the other side of him.
The three of us said nothing to each other. We just watched as people danced and ate food. It was easy to pick out the people from each company. Robert Truly’s company is wearing red, while Jordan Grapes are wearing flower brooches. Jordan Grape would be getting the kids from Robert Truly.
“There he is,” Carter pointed out someone. Without a doubt, it was Robert Truly. His face was plastered all over our notes.
“I’ll tell Lucas,” Keira grabbed out her phone and started typing away. “Ok, it’s time to get into position. The ceremony is starting soon.”
“I thought we still had time,” Carter exclaimed.
“Lucas says they’re starting sooner than planned,” Keira stood up.
“This is starting to feel a little too real,” Carter sounded nervous.
I rested my hand on his shoulder, “As long as we follow the plan, we’ll be fine.”
Keira started leading the way. We had to go up a giant staircase and then to some backrooms. Getting to the stairs wasn’t an issue. Going up the stairs was a problem of its own.
“You aren’t permitted to go up here.” It was a security guard.
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