The Billion Dollar Girl

Ͼ Ella Castillo Ͽ

We were all lead up a lift. I sort of get why – it kind of ruins the effect if we all walk up the stairs and then walk down again. We were then told to stay in a room, as they got everything ready.

I leant against one of the walls, trying to remember everything Lady Emily had taught me. If I don’t I might do something stupid like trip and fall… Oh God, I feel sick. I absentmindedly felt at my thighs, trying to find the lollipop I always kept in my pocket. My fingers met nothing but silk. Damn it.

“Hey! Are you Gabriella?”

It took me a while to realize she was talking to me. Apparently, Lady Emily was spreading my new name around.

I looked to up, blinking, suddenly affronted by a six-foot-tall ball of orange zebra-striped satin, and strawberry-blonde hair. Her strong perfume hit me with as much force as a fat kid rolling down a hill.

“Uh…hi. Yes, I am,” I said, feeling slightly intimidated. Now that I wasn’t so deep in thought, I noticed the twenty-or-so other girls in the room with me, all beautiful and skinny. I vaguely knew a couple of them from school – namely Lucy, and three of her more high-class friends.

“I’m Kimberley,” she said, blinding me with a flash of her whitened teeth. “I just wanted to ask…Is it true? What they’re saying? You know, about…”

“What?”

“About how you’re married to…Ash Castillo?”

So that’s what she wanted to talk about. Of course.

I took a deep breath, preparing for the onslaught of interrogation, trying to remember every detail Ash had told me to memorize. I wasn’t meant to tell anyone the truth about how we “met” (in a gym, which he’d broken into), or about how we’d “dated” (he kidnapped me, and forced me into a dress, and ALMOST gave me Botox), or about how and when he “proposed” (about 8.6 seconds into our first “date”).

“Yes,” I said, forcing back a sigh. “I am.”

“So could I just ask…” she gave a nervous giggle. “What’s he like in bed?”

 “What?” I spluttered, feeling my face heat up. I was suddenly aware that all the other girls in the room were listening.

“I mean, we’ve all heard the rumors,” she said, smirking at me. “After all, he was a little of a slut before he got married. I just wanted to know if he was as good as some of the girls said.”

I gaped at her, trying to work out what to answer. Ash had never told me what to say in this situation. Logically, we should have an active sex life, right? If we were married…

Kimberley’s eyes widened.

“Wait… you have… done it, right?” she said, with another nervous laugh. “I mean, you’ve been married for about a week already…”

“Come on, Ella,” Lucy said, smiling at her friends. I knew she would say something. And all I’d wanted was to quickly get this stupid event out of the way. “Tell us all. I mean, you had to be pretty dirty to get a guy like that. What did you do with him?”

Her friends giggled smugly and Kimberly looked confused.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “Why would Gabriella…?”

Lucy stood up, using her three-inch height advantage.

“Kimberly?” she said, pretending to look confused. “You really didn’t know? I mean, I won’t tell you, if Ella doesn’t want me to…”

Meaning, ‘I’ll tell you even if she doesn’t want me to. And I know she doesn’t’.

“Know what?” Kimberly asked, her green eyes very wide. “What are you talking about?”

“Ella went to our school,” one of Lucy’s friends intercepted. “But she was poor. Like, trailer-trash poor. She had to clean our school gym just to scrape enough money to pay for her school fees. Everyone knows that her Dad’s a coke-addict, and her Mom’s a whore.”

I gasped. “That’s not true! How could you say something like that?”

“Sasha!” Lucy chastised, acting like she was shocked. “You can’t just say something like that! You’ll be leaving a bad impression on her new friend... Kimberly, right?”

My eyes started to fill with tears, as all the girls in the room started whispering.

“It’s not true!” I yelled “My parent’s aren’t those people! You can’t just make up things like that, and…and…”

“Girls!” It was Lady Emily. She stood at the door, with a fake smile plastered onto her face. She didn’t seem to notice my tears. “We shall all proceed to the hallway, where you will stand out of sight. You shall be quiet, and descend the stairs when your name is called. Your partner will be waiting for you at the bottom, and you shall take his hand, and walk to the doors at the other end of the Butterfly Ballroom. The doors lead to the main Ballroom, where you shall be spending the remainder of the evening. I imagine it will be quite easy, as you have all practiced.” She glared at me. “Good luck, girls and congratulations in advance for becoming Debutantes.”