Greyscale [✓]

Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

"If you don't get your fat arse out of my face right this second, I am going to shove this shoehorn up it, do you hear me?"

Cameron and Mohammad only snickered in reply, ignoring Hannah's threats as she glared at the two of them. The idea that girls took ages to get ready was completely ridiculously, considering the two of them had been arguing over the mirror for the past thirty minutes and still weren't done. Hannah had been ready for ages, bored to death as she waited for them to stop being such drama queens for once in their lives. It was the following week and the much anticipated day of Premrose's annual Winter Ball had arrived.

Much anticipated by everyone but Hannah, of course.

Ashlyn had been looking forward to the event ever since they first joined high school, all those years ago at the tender age of eleven. The vast majority of her family had attended Premrose, the Janek name far too prestigious for anything other than their snobby private school and all the women had been crowned Queen. There was nothing more Ashlyn was waiting for other than the moment the silver crown touched her golden locks – she'd had the speech she would say at that moment prepared for the past few years.

But whilst Ashlyn was definitely still the ruler of the school in terms of social standing, Hannah was no longer a hundred percent positive that her best friend was going to win. There were whispers floating around, muffled voices mumbling her name beneath their breaths.

Hannah hoped with all she had that she was incorrect but a part of her knew she wasn't. She knew that there was a good chance that she would be voted Queen instead, the school's attempt to rattle their actual queen off her high horse. As loved as Ashlyn was, she was also hated – her poisonous words ready like rattlesnakes, always on the edge of attack to push others down in order to remain at the top.

There was a petty part of Hannah that wanted to see her former best friend not receive the award or attention she expected but there was a greater part of her that didn't want to anger Ash even more. She knew better than anyone how low Ashlyn could stoop to hurt her and after all these years, all her insecurities were well known.

"Okay," Cameron finally said, one last tug at his hair as he spun around to face his cousin. "We're ready, c'mon, let's go party."

As they trooped downstairs and into Cameron's car, Mohammad burst into an obnoxiously loud singing. "C'mon, Barbie, let's go party, oh oh oooh!"

His stupidity, surprisingly, made her grin and push the negativity out of her mind. "Honestly, I have no idea why I agreed to come to this Ball with you. You're way too embarrassing!"

He gave her such an outrageous look that she burst into giggles, trying to stop her eyes watering in order to keep her makeup on neat. If the rumours she heard were true, enough people would have voted for her for all eyes to be on her and there was nothing she wanted to do to compromise it. She had to be perfect.

"Oi," Mohammad responded with disdain, tugging at the gleaming silver tie around his neck that perfectly matched her dress. "You agreed to come with me because I'm amazing and you can't live without this amazing-ness."

She only rolled her eyes at his words, her gaze running over the buildings and lights they were speeding by. Her stomach was contorting in itself, a gut feeling of something brewing. But she focused on the fact that both Becky at the library and Rayne in English had offered for her to sit with them if she wanted to. She knew that neither of them expected her to take them up on their offer – after all, she still had a lot of people claiming to be her friend and they were barely known in school, somewhere near the bottom of the social ladder. But truth be told, she would much rather hang out with them than the vultures around her.