𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 ~ 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 , 𝐣𝐣 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen:
Midsummers
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Fallon rolled her lower lip in between her teeth as she ran her fingers over the pink lace fabric of her dress. The dress she wore must have cost more than her entire family's wardrobe combined. Which seemed absolutely ridiculous, but Fallon couldn't help but bask in the confidence she felt in the dress. She liked how the dress she looked on her, she liked how it felt. All at once, Fallon understood the appeal of Kook life. But it wasn't something she would say out loud. 

"So..." Fallon trailed off as she flickered her eyes to meet Kie's in the mirror. "Why'd you invite me?"

"Because I don't wanna be around a bunch of self-centered Kooks alone." Kie answered with a shrug. "You're gonna need to get used to these fancy dresses and crowds for red carpets and shit."

"Ugh, crowds." Fallon stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her nose, "Gross."

"Hey, speaking of red carpet events.." Kie's voice trailed off as Fallon looked over at her, motioning for her to continue. "At your first red carpet, I expect to be your date. JJ can wait, I go first."

Fallon blushed, pulling her eyes away from her reflection in the mirror to look over at Kie. "Wh-Why would it be JJ, anyway?"

"It wouldn't." Kie replied, a teasing grin on her face as she handed a delicate flower crown over to Fallon, "Because it'll be me."

"Kie.." Fallon turned to look at her, raising her eyebrows. "What are you playing at here?"

"Nothing, nothing." Kie waved her off, turning to look at herself in the mirror. Her smile faltered when she saw herself, "On second thought, maybe not. This is disgusting."

"I know, it's just horrible!" Mrs. Carrera said sarcastically as she entered the room, "I'm asking you to relax and go to a fun party!"

"I look like a bourgeoisie pig." Kie argued, turning around to face her mom.

"You look amazing!" Fallon threw her hands up, "I mean.. wow!"

The woman pointed to Fallon and nodded in agreement, turning around to face herself in the vanity mirror as she tilted her head to put in the earrings, the earrings that were probably worth more than Fallon's entire closet, "Will you please not worry about socioeconomic injustice for just one night?"

Fallon pursed her lips, looking away from the Carrera women. She knew what was coming. 

Kie crossed her arms, rolling her eyes at her mom as she bit back a scoff. "Mom, people not three miles from here have no power, no running water, Fallon's house had a tree in it days ago! She has to shower here, and we're going to Midsummers. That's so tone-deaf!"

Unfazed, the woman turned to look at her daughter, not sparing a glance at Fallon as the girl readjusted the flower crown on her head. "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." Kie rolled her eyes, turning to look at Fallon and sticking her tongue out in a fake gag.

Fallon pursed her lips, awkwardly stepping back as the woman practically strutted out of the room. "Twelve, and we also had to cough up a huge chunk of dough, and do you know why we did that?"

Fallon clicked her tongue, avoiding looking at the woman as she looked in the mirror and pretended to fix her hair, wanting nothing more than to leave the room filled to the brim with awkward tension.