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CHAPTER FOURTEEN it takes two to tango
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
AS IT TURNED OUT, Nadine hadn't needed to worry about practicality when she'd gotten dressed today. They were going to infiltrate a gala, which meant that everyone had to dress up—it wasn't as if they could just go in their day clothes. This was the sort of party that would require extravagant dress, immaculate makeup. An event where rich people exchanged gossip over drinks and hors d'oeuvres and silently judged their fellow guests. Nadine knew all of this because she'd been to such events before. When she was younger, before her mother stopped trying to mould her into a perfect clay figure, Louise often took her to fancy parties. Nadine would only be seven, eight, but Louise would still force her into a dreadfully lacy dress, paint makeup on her cheeks, and instruct her to behave herself. Nadine would try, but given the lack of other children present (and the closest people near to her age were dull-eyed morons, anyway), she'd inevitably end up either sneaking out or hanging around the buffet tables, stuffing herself sick with potato skins and chocolate truffles.
It was safe to say, though, that because of those unpleasant memories, the idea of infiltrating a gala such as this one made Nadine a touch uncomfortable. She tried not to let it show on her face, but Molly seemed to notice regardless as she, Nadine, and Lila all made their way to Elliott's room. Apparently, his ex-wife had dedicated a whole closet to her dresses, and when she'd left him, he hadn't the motivation to ever clean it out. Of course, Nadine would have just preferred wearing something from home, but she and Molly hadn't had the foresight to pack something so lavish. They thought they'd be doing battle, after all.
"You all right?" Molly whispered. Lila skipped on ahead of them, ecstatic to get her hands on the fancy clothing available. Molly was a little awkward around her, even though Lila had been thrilled to meet her—and very grateful for the fried egg sandwich she'd provided. It was likely because they hadn't exactly had an official introduction yet. Or maybe just because Lila was so... unconventional.
"I'm fine," Nadine whispered back, lacing her hand into Molly's. Although she hadn't outright said she was dating Molly, she knew that Five was well aware of it—he'd said as much, back at the landing. Diego likely knew, too. There had been a moment, when they were all eating their fried egg sandwiches and coming up with a quick plan, where he'd locked eyes with her and wriggled his eyebrows. Nadine had flipped him off for it, but he'd just laughed. Asshole. "I just... don't like parties."
She wasn't even solely talking about fancy parties—Nadine wasn't the biggest fan of any social gathering. She'd been to a few house parties back in France (mostly with Camille, who was exuberantly more popular than Nadine), and had spent most of those on the couch, drink in hand, watching everyone else have fun. Nadine was a lot of things, but she wasn't a people person. She preferred to solve problems with her fists, rather than her words.
