I took a sip of my coffee and stared at the thing in front of me.
"Do you like it?" Angel asks, excitedly. I look at her then back at the art work.
"What exactly is it going to be used for?" I ask, confused.
"Art. She said to do something creative." She says, her smile slowly turning into a frown.
"I think it looks amazing, Ange." Damien says, nicely. He looked at me. I tilted my head. After a while of not saying anything, he glared at me.
"Do you not like it?" Angel asks, softly. My eyes flick over to her.
"What? No. I like it. I just spaced out. I'm sorry." I say, feeling bad. "This is for a competition, right? I heard about it from your friend. Shit, what's her name again? I swear, she told me like a million times and I forgot. Anyway, she started talking about the competition when you weren't here a few days ago and I was. She was going on and on about something. Fuck, what the hell was it?"
"The fair?" Angel asks, confused. I clicked my tongue.
"That's it. Yeah, she said something about that. I forget what but anyway, I like it. It suits you, you know?" She smiles, huge. Damien looked at me weird and I looked at him. "What?"
"You hung out with a new person?" He asks, confused.
"I mean, yeah, why?"
"You hate hanging out with new people. People in general." Angel says, making me look at her.
"Well your friend wouldn't leave me alone so I talked to her, is that a bad thing?" They shake their heads.
"No, Maeve." Angel says, smiling at me. I shrug and take another sip of my coffee.
"When's your fair, and are you inviting us?" Damien asks, curious.
"It's next month. We have to submit everything by next week." He raised an eyebrow. "It's on the 24th."
I looked away from them. The 24th was my ball. I couldn't move the date considering the invites got sent out today. I sent them out this morning by email. I was going to invite them but now I won't. I won't have them picking me over her. She deserves the siblings going to the fair if her art work will be displayed. I could care less if they come to my ball. I could care less if Damien gets pissed at me for not being there for her. I could care less. I'll be fine with all of that.
"Are we all invited?"
"Duh." She says, in a playful tone. I put on a fake smile and look at her. "I may even get a scholarship!"
I took a deep breath. Now I won't tell them. My phone buzzes, making me look at it. I left the person on read and put it in my pocket. She looked at me.
"Do you have to go?"
"No. Wasn't anyone important."
I may get heartbroken by them not going to the ball, but I'll be alright. In the end, I'm always alright. That's just who I am. I'm always fine even if I have to put a fake smile on my face. I'll be fine in the end.
I take another drink of my coffee and look at the painting while Angel and Damien talk. I took in everything she painted. She was talented. She shared the gene with me too.
--
I watched as the sun rose. I was smoking. I felt guilty for some reason. I didn't want to miss her fair, I really didn't but I knew if I canceled this ball, then people would start withdrawing their money.
Someone came out and stood next to me. I looked at Angel and immediately put my cigarette out. She hated the smell of it. I didn't blame her but after a while, I got used to it.
"Sorry." I mumble.
We stood in silence, watching the sun rise. I looked at her.
"I won't be able to make it to your fair, Angel. I'm sorry. I want to, but I scheduled plans a few months ago. I'm so sorry." She looks at me.
"It's okay, Maeve."
"No it's not, Angel. I get you see the good in things but I should fucking be there." I say, coldly.
"Maeve, you didn't know, alright?" I sigh and look back out at the view. "Can I ask what it is you have to do?" I bit my lip.
"I have to go out of town for business." I say, lying through my teeth. She nods and frowns.
"Oh. I'll tell you all about when you come home." She says, smiling at me. I look at her.
"That sounds perfect, Angel. I would love to hear all about it." She nods.
"I have school to get to. I love you, Maeve." She says, wrapping me in a hug. I hug her back.
"Have a good day, Angel. I'll see you later." She nods and leaves.
--
Tears streamed down my face when I walked into the warehouse. My people looked at me and I raised an eyebrow.
"Are you alright?" I broke out into sobs. I covered my face.
"What's wrong, Maeve?" One of the best fighters asks, confused. She comes over and rubs my back. I sob harder into my hands. She continues rubbing my back and lets me cry it out. I knew this was embarrassing but I just felt guilt, you know? I felt horrible. I felt like shit but I guess it was karma.
"I won't be there for her fair." I say, in between sobs. I look at her. "And I want them to be there for me, but it's fine. She's gonna get a scholarship and all of that. I won't be selfish. They don't have to come to every single one of my things. Or my balls. I'll have more balls in the future but this will be my first and I just can't do it."
"Who are we talking about, Maeve? Angel?" I nod. "She's having a fair that she will probably get a scholarship at?"
"Damien is going to hate me when he sees I'm not there. I'm the worst sister." I say, breaking into another round of sobs. "I lied to her. I told her I'll be out of town that day."
"You want them to be there for you, don't you?" I nod. "But you want her to have a chance at her future, right?" I nod again. "Maeve, do they know about the ball?"
"I was going to tell them. I swear I was but then she came in with the fair and I just didn't. I know I had the shitty upbringing, but she deserves everything they offer for her. Did you know that half the money I get goes into the fund I made for her? The two kids split the money. Then the other money goes into my kids accounts. All of my money goes to them. I only live off the money I get from my painting and from this money. They get all the money from the businesses."
"Maeve-"
"If I go to jail, they still get the money. No matter what. I made sure of that. They don't touch the illegal money. They touch the good money. I just can't do it."
"Maeve-"
"I want them there. I do. I really do but they need to be there for her. She deserves everything life has to offer. She's free." I took a breath. "She showed me a painting she did. It was pretty. I decided then that they needed to be at the fair. I didn't care if they weren't there for me. I'll be fine. I'll keep doing what I do. Just fake a smile and power through. They can be at the next. If not, that'll be fine also. I'll be fine. I'll be alright. Have been since I was 7. Damien is going to be mad at me because I won't be at her fair. He already hates me. He'll just disown me, right? Axel can disown me. I'll be fine with it. Like I said, I'll just power through it. Again and again. This is the first time I'm doing a ball and they won't even be there. I just want one thing for them to be there but I guess they have other important things to do. I was mad, you know? I was mad because I wanted them there for me but then I thought about it and now I'm crying. I can't stop crying. I lied to her. Told her I was going out of town. No, I'm going to a goddamn ball that I'm hosting. The first one I'm hosting since he died. The first ball I'm hosting, period."
"Maeve, stop talking." She said, covering my mouth so I didn't keep talking. She was blurry. Tears were still streaming down my face and fast. "Maeve, take a deep breath babe. You're stressing yourself out. You're going to pass out."
I opened my mouth but closed it considering I couldn't talk.
"Maeve, just breath, okay?" One of my other people said, softly.
They saw me cry before. I had crazy hormones and the one said something funny and I just burst out into tears. After that, everybody walked around eggshells around me. They knew pregnancy hormones were the real deal.
"It'll be alright." I shook my head and a new batch of tears came streaming down my face. Lucian came in and looked at me. He then looked at one of the people.
"Angel has a fair the day of the ball. They aren't coming. She didn't want them to be there for her so they're all going to the fair, instead of the ball. Angel may get a scholarship at the fair so she didn't tell them." At that I started sobbing again. The girl removed her hand and hugged me. I buried my head into her neck, crying.
"She doesn't want them there for her when Angel has something special going on. She doesn't want to be selfish." Another person says, quietly.
"But this is the first time she's hosting a ball. Maeve, you didn't tell them, did you?" I shake my head. "Maeve, you want them to be there for you but you don't want Angel risking a scholarship?"
"I don't want them picking over an event. Angel deserves for all of them to go. I'll be fine." I say, looking at him. "It's not a huge deal anyway. They can go to other balls, if we're on speaking terms. She thinks I'll be out of town that day. I lied because I didn't want her to choose. She'll choose me any second but Damien would choose her so I did what he would do. I choose her instead of being selfish. I didn't want to get disowned. I'll be fine. I didn't want him yelling at me because I'll be selfish. I didn't want to get into an argument over something small. I want them there for her. I'll be fine."
"Maeve, you want them there for you. She can step-"
"No. They will go to her goddamn fair. They can go to the next ball, if I have another ball." I say, shrugging. He let out a breath when he realized he wouldn't win this fight.
"Okay." I sigh.
Let's just hope I won't get disowned.