𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚 // 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

09

"Mom! We're home!" Kie yells as we make our way through Kiara's massive house. "Jackie! Kiara! Finally!" Mrs. Carrera says enthusiastically. "Hi Mrs. Carrera!" I smile, accepting her hug. "Oh, I've told you a million times Jackie. Call me Anna. You're coming with us tonight, right?" She asks. "Yep." I say, holding up my dress that we picked up from the Chateau. "Oh, that is precious! You'll look wonderful!" Kiara sighs, trying to pull me away from her mom. "We're gonna go upstairs." "Okay! I'll be up in a bit" We say our goodbyes and rush upstairs to Kie's room. "I'm sorry about her." "No you're all good! She's sweet to me." I say.

I pull my phone out of my pocket, connecting to the WIFI. I check Taylor Swift's Instagram before letting out a little scream. Kiara whips her head around. "What?" She asks, rushing over to my side. "Oh, no way. Shut up right now." Folklore. "I can't believe I missed this. Fucking Agatha." I open Spotify and press play, downloading the album while connecting to Kie's Bluetooth speaker.

"Oh.My.God. Do a spin!" Kie squeals. August is playing as I walk out of the bathroom and into her room once again, all dressed up. "Holy shit you look so good Jackie. JJ's gonna flip his shit." Grinning and rolling my eyes I spin slowly, showcasing the whole dress.

It's a silvery-gold two piece with a slit up the side. It's a bit loose on the top but the lower half fits perfectly. I feel like a princess.

"And you!" I say, pointing at the girl in front of me. Kiara is wearing a flowy silk dress, a lavender colour, which looks phenomenal. "I feel disgusting." She groans. I take my flower crown, made from wildflowers, with some daisies and place it on my head carefully. "You look great, besides it's only one night. How else will you showcase your moves?" I ask, wiggling my shoulders at her.

We sit in silence for a moment, our laughter dying out. I can tell the same thing is on both of our minds. "You think he's okay?" Kiara asks softly. "Yeah, yeah." I whisper, Heyward's words running though my mind. "He's tough." Kie and I giggle.

I'm lying on Kie's bed and she's standing in the mirror. "This is disgusting." "I know it's just horrible. I'm asking you to relax and go to a fun party." Anna says, walking in. "I look like a bourgeoisie pig." Kiki complains.

To be honest I'm excited, I would never tell Kiara but this is big. I get to leave my life behind for a night to dance, drink and flirt with cute Kooks.

"Will you please not worry about socioeconomic injustice for one night?" "Mom people not three miles from here don't have power no running water." Kie says, walking over to her mother. "Like Jackie! Jackie doesn't have power." The girl points at me and I sit up. "It's true. I don't have power." I say uncomfortably, not wanting to be a part of this argument. "And we're going to Midsummers. That's so tone deaf" "Do you know how hard we had to work to get into the island club?"

"Yeah, Mom. How could I forget? You had to grovel for, like, ten years..." "Twelve, and we also had to cough up a huge chunk of dough, and do you know why we did that?" "To keep up with the Joneses?"

I let out a snort, before covering my mouth quickly. Not wanting any unnecessary attention.

"No. So you could have the experiences that I had as a child. Honey, do you know what the Island Club is?"

"A factory farm for debutantes." True.

"It is a nice place, with nice people, where you can do fun stuff."

"With out-of-touch rich people, while the island sinks slowly into the ocean." Also true.

"Okay, I want you to put on your party face, Kie, if you wanna live." Anna says, walking out. "Jackie you look great!" She calls out from down the hallway. "Thank you!"