A Dance Of Crowns & Thrones | Book I

Chapter 125 | November 14th | The Headmaster's 23rd Birthday Party

"What are you saying?!" Madison stepped forward as Eko exhaled and grabbed her clutch from the desk beside her mirror. "You're choosing him over me?"

"You're the one who gave me this ultimatum!" Eko barked. "Not Matthew, not me! You!"

"Sera!"

Eko didn't want to hear it, especially not on this night of all nights.

"The decision is yours," Eko stopped briefly at the door, "accept my choices or leave. It's that simple. I want an answer tomorrow afternoon."

Madison nearly fell down onto her bed, her mouth agape, leaving her cousin to reflect on the life-altering choice that lay ahead of her.

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The group arrived at "The Crown" nightclub, which had been rented out exclusively for the occasion. Eko, donning a backless silver corset party dress, met Jesse outside the venue. Jesse wearing a navy-blue Nyasia One Shoulder Hem Dress, and Mya wearing a knee-length pink sheath dress.

She was actually super jealous Mya found the dress before her while they were shopping, she loved the layered spilt bow that sprung off her shoulder, and it was a dress she was going to sneak into her room to steal later in the week.

The girls met Jasmine in the elevator that had been in full party mode for the night, she had her hair dyed back to the pink Eko had first met her with. The long trails of pink fell down her back, and she was a goddess of a woman in her puffed-sleeved tulle dress. 

She knew how to make that mini-length hem work for her, adorning the extra puff sleeves for distinctiveness, Jasmine grasped onto the girls, and they made their way to the top floor of the four-levelled building.

As they emerged from the elevator, the scene before them was bustling with people from various academies, all dressed up for the evening and engulfed in the pulsating music. The party seemed to embrace them the moment the doors opened, with sparkling lights and strobe effects adding to the ambiance.

Jesse couldn't contain her excitement at the execution of the event before them. "This is amazing! He's going to love it!"

"He'll be here with the guys in twenty minutes," Eko confirmed, taking in the spectacle before them, "I don't think he realizes how out of control this has gotten!"

The private event was packed with hundreds of people, and if Eko had known how much he was loved, she honestly would have made it even bigger. Well, her subconscious smirked, there's always next year, right?

Jasmine nodded with Mya smirking, "Alright, I'll get everyone in position. Toni will let us know when they're downstairs!"

The girls split up and disappeared into the crowd. Eko, grinning from ear to ear, hugged and greeted people she knew, including some from the fan club that she wasn't entirely fond of. Nevertheless, he was hers now and not theirs, and if anyone of them got their hands too touchy on him, she would be escorting them right back home with a black eye.

After ten minutes, then twenty, Jasmine finally got the message from Toni. 

"They're heerrreeee!" Jasmine screamed hysterically as she waved down the DJ to quit the music.

"Eko,  go!" she heard her name being screamed over the people, and Jasmine grasped a hold of her hand. They make an extreme rush to a private room with a few of the club's attendees on hand, ready to assist in the surprise.

Scrawling around the entire penthouse floor, the crowds of hundreds of bodies were ushered to be quiet. Jesse, clasping Mya's hand pushes forward to get the best hiding spot for the surprise. Their phones ready to capture the surprise, they kneeled down with the rest of the crowd that murmured at the excitement of this event.

The room went dark at that point, with a lot of suss-hing from people around them before Jasmine, annoyed, stepped out from the private room screaming at everyone.

"Shut the fuck up! You're going to ruin it!" Then disappeared back into the room, as there were a few low giggles that echoed the penthouse floor.

After a long fifteen seconds, the elevators finally opened. Matthew stepped out, dressed in an open-collared black suit, along with Toni and Richie. He laughed nervously and asked, "Should I be afraid?" as the darkness consumed them. His heart was beating in his chest at the unknown.

Suddenly, the room erupted with a loud "SURPRISE!" as the lights blared intensely and the music blasted through the speakers. Matthew watched as his friends jumped out front and centre and a penthouse packed full of people were screaming at him. He was surrounded by the immense shouting of his close friends, raising their glasses, and 'happy birthday' flooded his senses.

Matthew burst out laughing as his friends engulfed him with hugs and kisses on the cheek, leaving him feeling overwhelmed by the sea of faces around him. After a few minutes, Jesse signaled for silence by tapping her wine glass.

As the noise subsided, Matthew turned to face Jesse and Mya, who raised their glasses in a toast to him. However, he noticed that two people were missing, and he suspected that the troublemakers were up to something.

Jesse took the floor, "good evening, everyone! We're gathered here to celebrate Matthew's 23rd birthday! We thank you all for joining us in honoring our amazing and elusive Headmaster!"

The crowd raised their glasses as the music continued to hum softly in the background.

"While we are dying to kick off this party." Mya continued from Jesse. "We are kicking off the celebration with the cake first! Jasmine!"

Jasmine emerged from the private room, accompanied by four club attendees who were pushing an enormous, nearly twenty-tiered cake on a trolley. Matthew's expression fell at the extravagance, and he couldn't shake off his suspicion about what was happening and why his girlfriend was still missing.

"Ready!" Jasmine announced, and the crowd began to sing.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!" the group cheered, "Happy birthday dear Matthew!"

Out of nowhere, fireworks suddenly erupted from the cake, exploding all around him. Matthew took a step back, still in shock as the singing continued. And then, just as he thought the surprises were over, his girlfriend burst out from the top of the cake.

"Happy birthday, babe!" Eko screamed, arms high in the air as though signaling the next part of the surprise.

As if that wasn't enough, the entire guestlist raised miniature cannons above their heads, firing them into the air. Gold and silver confetti rained down on them in a downpour, and Matthew was left speechless, caught completely off guard.

Almost as though time slowed down, he spun around to watch the world around him, before he turned back to stare at the goddess that was his girlfriend in her itty-bitty silver dress.

The same that had cost him $5,000 alone.

She was a sight to behold, and he couldn't help but stare at her in awe. She rallied the crowd to keep singing before directing her attention to him. Her bright blue eyes beamed down at him as the confetti continued to rain down upon them.

What she doesn't understand at this moment for the man, was for him, there was her, she was his true north. She was his northern light dancing across the mountains inside of him.

She was something of a phenomenon, an angel created from stars that only comes around once in a lifetime, and to think, he was alive to be the one who got to love her.

He was the one that was going to propose to her on New Years.