Agreements With Mr Rich Boy | ✓

30 | The Ball

It really was the only nice thing I had. I wondered if had my father not up and gone, I'd have more things like this, or at least more things that aren't either really, really old or worse, broken. I doubted I'd have anywhere close to the scale of The Elite, but maybe I wouldn't feel quite so out of place when we were just in day to day clothes.

"Jolie? You there?" Autumn asked. Noah nudged me with his shoulder, having made me scoot over so he could perch on the seat beside me, pulling me out of my reverie.

"Sorry, what?"

She held up another box, this time containing a necklace and pair of earrings complimentary to my mother's ring. I nodded numbly, in complete awe.

"Let me just give the final touches for you and finish getting ready myself, and we'll get going," she said, eyes on her watch.

"It starts in half an hour," Noah said, wary. "Are you going to be finished by then?"

"I won't if you keep rushing me," she said, pulling him by the arm to get up. "You go fuss Archer and Houman, yeah?"

She'd shoved him out of the door before he could do much more than give me a parting hug and small wave.

Autumn slumped on the closed door. "Finally."

***

"Not too shabby," Autumn said, looking at us side by side in the floor length mirror by the staircase I'd soon have to be very careful not to fall face first down. "Come on, they're waiting."

It had been a good hour and a half since Noah had gone to the boys, so to say their patience was thinning would be a bit of an understatement. Though, I supposed they must be used to Autumn's screwed sense of time.

She had on a floor length black dress with a gaping back and elegant slit down one length, which briefed those around with snippets of smooth skin with every step. Her long legs were elongated further with equally dark heels with a red underside.

Like herself, she'd forced me into breaking my ankle worthy heels, of the mind that if I did die in them (or because of them, more like), it would be worth it.

As we approached the stairs, I suddenly was filled with panic, with the urge to run without looking back, not that that would be particularly easy in heels this high. My legs felt weak, like I could collapse at any moment.

Autumn noticed me not following her anymore, so turned back with a questioning brow.

"I don't think I can do this."

"I'm here, Miles, Noah, Houman, Michelle are here. Archer's here. We're all here and will all support you," she was saying, holding my hands in hers.

"I just don't know if I can."

I felt stupid. Stupid that I could let what other people thought affect me so much, but I just couldn't help it. Maybe it was the add ons from 'being with' Archer or maybe it was what I've always been like and being in the public eye has just made it all the more obvious.

She sat on the ground and leant against the wall.

"What are you doing?"