• ★ •
the lights were dim, making it hard to see anyone, especially since their faces were covered by their masks. the bass of the calm music vibrated throughout the room, with guests either sitting at random tables, dancing in the middle of the room, or at the bar, ordering drinks.
nyla and addison were stuck together for the first hour of the party, saying hello to everyone that they could, and making sure that everyone was having a good time. they grabbed some glasses of wine from the bar before heading back into the crowd of people and continuing their greetings.
"oh my fucking god, is that bryce?" addison gasped, looking to her right, where bryce was sitting at a table, along with the rest of the sway boys. "nyla!"
nyla grinned, and slightly pushed the girl towards bryce's direction. "oops."
"i hate you, nyla."
"go say hi, it's the proper hostess thing to do, addi."
"come with me, bitch!" addison said, trying to grab nyla's arm, but the younger girl was quick to turn away.
"i can't, look, there's mia and-" nyla turned back to addison, her lips pursed. "is that vinnie?"
addison frowned, shrugging. "i don't know, i didn't invite him. but oh my god, look, i think that's troy over there with the blue suit. i can't really tell."
nyla sighed, waving to bryce as addison dragged her to the other side of the room, where troy was standing with his friend aaron, sipping on a drink.
"aw, look at you two, you're almost matching!" addison cooed, pushing nyla into troy, the boy catching her smoothly with his free arm. "how adorable."
nyla laughed, giving troy a hug. "hi, troy."
"hi, beautiful, you look gorgeous," troy responded, looking at nyla's half covered face. "your smile's so pretty."
nyla rolled her eyes, even though troy couldn't see it, and hid her head in the crook of his neck. "stop, you're too nice."
"i only speak the truth," troy responded, putting his drink down and grabbing nyla's waist. "you wanna dance, lala?"
nyla turned to addison, who was staring at them with a grin on her face. "go dance, lovebirds, i'll go say hi to everyone else."
"we're not lovebirds!" nyla called out as troy escorted her to the dance floor, right when the music changed into a slow song.
"ah, perfect timing," troy said, fixing his mask over his eyes. "this is a good song."
nyla put her hands on troy's shoulder, the boy pulling her in a little closer so that their bodies were almost touching. they swayed from side to side, ignoring the stares from the other people around them. nyla looked up at the boy, the both of them staring at each other, troy leaning down slightly, their noses brushing against each other, their lips almost touching.
"there you are!" mia crowed, quickly walking to the pair, almost pushing troy to the ground. "you look so, so, pretty, lala," she said, grabbing the girl's arm. "it's mia, by the way, i don't know if you can tell."
"oh, i can tell," nyla mumbled, looking at troy apologetically. "troy, i'll-"
"she'll see you later," mia interrupted, pulling the girl with her to the circular table where thomas and few other hype house members were sitting. "you know, as a host, you're supposed to say hi to everyone, and you didn't even say hi to me."
"that's why there's two hosts, mia," nyla said, shaking her head. "i feel bad for leaving troy back there, would you-"
"hi."
nyla turned at the sound of vinnie's voice, her eyes widening, heart pounding, and stomach fluttering with butterflies.
he looked good.
he was dressed in a white button up shirt and a blue suit that was the exact same blue as nyla's dress, his curls resting perfectly on his head, his mask covering his eyes and accentuating the sharp features of his face.
in his hands were two drinks, and he extended an arm out, offering a glass to nyla. "wanna take a walk outside? it's kinda crowded in here, don't you think?"
"i shouldn't-"
"yeah, she wants to take a walk," calvin cut in, standing up next to nyla, who looked at him, eyes wide. calvin leaned over to nyla, whispering a "go get your man" in her ear and nudging her shoulder before standing up straight and walking over to the bar.
vinnie looked at the girl, his eyes piercing into hers, still waiting for her to accept his offer.
nyla sighed, grabbing the glass of champagne out of his hand and taking a long sip to calm her nerves. "okay, let's go."
• ★ •
troy roamed around the ballroom, hoping to catch sight of nyla, or at least addison or someone else he knew. the lighting was making it hard to see, and guests just kept entering the ballroom as the time went on.
he looked by the bar, his shoulders relaxing as he caught sight of the blonde's dress, and walked up to her, ordering a whiskey for himself. "where's nyla?" addison asked, pulling her mask off her eyes and rubbing the corner of her eyelid.
"you look pretty," troy mumbled, taking a gulp of his drink. "your eyeliner looks nice."
addison looked at him, slightly surprised, but smiled, putting her mask back on. "thanks. nyla did it for me."
troy nodded, feeling himself start to sweat in the ballroom. "two millionares rented an entire ballroom, but y'all can't get the a.c. working in here?" he asked, earning himself a slap on the shoulder from the older girl. "what? it's fucking burning in here."
"you wanna go outside?" addison asked, taking a long sip of her water. "it is pretty hot in here."
"can you even leave? it's your party, isn't it?"
"i'm sure nyla's in here somewhere, she can handle it," addison said waving her hand. "so, you wanna go on a walk?"
troy nodded, and the two slowly made their way out of the ballroom.
• ★ •
"the place looks amazing," vinnie said as the two walked side by side, nyla's right hand hooked around vinnie's left arm, holding onto him so that she wouldn't trip on her heels. "you guys did a great job."
nyla smiled. "thanks, vin. it was nice to do this and get my mind off of everything else going on. i just hope nothing goes wrong today."
vinnie chuckled, taking a sip of his water. "what could go wrong? you and addison planned everything out perfectly. i just wish we weren't forced to dress up all fancy."
nyla pushed the boy with her hip, making him stumble slightly. "first of all, you weren't even invited. second of all, it's a masquerade ball, dummy. you have to dress up nice."
"sounds super old school to me. next time you should make it tropical themed or something so i can see you in a bikini. and then i can take it off of-"
nyla glared at vinnie, making him shut up, but she still had a big smile on her lips. "shut up, horndog. do you ever not think about sex?"
"i only think about sex with you," vinnie replied, a smug smile on his lips.
nyla bit her lip, shaking her head. "wow, it just sucks that you can't do anything until june 12th, huh?"
vinnie groaned, "don't even fucking remind me. i can't believe i let bryce talk me into that."
"he only did that because he doesn't have anyone to fuck since he's single now," nyla snickered. "i can't believe he convinced you to do that too."
"well, i mean, i'm single too, right?" vinnie asked, clearing his throat.
the atmosphere immediately became awkward, the pair looking away from each other.
"yeah, i guess you are," nyla mumbled, letting go of vinnie's arm. "uh, i should probably get back inside, i have to do my hostess things, you know?"
vinnie nodded, standing still as nyla walked ahead of him, holding her dress up slightly with a hand.
the girl turned to the right, following the signs to get back to the ballroom, when a flash of pink caught her eye.
addison's dress.
nyla scoffed, laughing to herself, because of course both of the hostesses of the masquerade ball would be outside instead of actually in the ballroom.
she stopped in her tracks, however, when she saw troy walking with the blonde, their masks off as they walked down the stone stairs, talking about something, the both of them laughing.
nyla quickly walked down the steps as well, ready to call out to the pair in front of her, and tell them to go back to the ballroom, but froze when she saw what was going on.
troy turned to addison, his hands cupping the blonde's face as he leaned in, kissing her, their lips moving together for a few seconds before they both pulled away, breathing hard.
nyla gasped, the sound going unheard by both troy and addison, who were still staring at each other.
addison broke out of her trance and took a step back from the boy, her brows furrowed, turning her head to the side, eyes widening as she saw the girl standing in a blue dress a few feet away from her.
it was silent, with nyla's eyes traveling back and forth between addison and troy, who had also realized she was there.
"nyla! can we-" vinnie called out, standing at the top of the stairs and taking in the scene of nyla, troy, and addison standing in the courtyard, all of them seemingly frozen in shock.
he quickly rushed down the stairs, stopping a few steps behind nyla, concerned.
"what's going on?"
• ★ •
she speaks!
i am so tired goodnight
-n
• ★ •