𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗘
𝘉𝘈𝘊𝘒 𝘛𝘖 𝘚𝘊𝘏𝘖𝘖𝘓
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Last night's party was a mess. Champagne was indeed a best friend and worst enemy at the same time. Angelique didn't even remember how she got home, her memories were still blurry.
What she did know, however, was that she had an unbearable headache.
"Ahhh, I feel like my skull has been split open—" Angelique moaned, noticing that she wasn't wearing her party clothes anymore. She rose to a sitting position and glanced around the room. "Lydia! What are you doing here? Isn't it like 6 in the morning?"
Somehow, she woke up a few minutes before the alarm went off. When her clock started to make noise, Angelique hit it with a pillow, knocking it down. "Oh, you shut up!"
"Good morning, Miss." Lydia bowed her head and smiled. "Well, I'm responsible with taking care of your school uniform too and I wanted to make sure it's perfectly ironed."
"You're an angel, literally."
As much as she wanted to stay in bed, she wasn't going to miss school. It was her last year. Besides, her mother would murder her if she skipped classes.
Her bedroom door swung open, revealing a very happy Zöe, the head maid of the Evans mansion, who carried a tray with breakfast and fresh coffee.
"Good morning, Miss," Zöe greeted her, then acknowledged Lydia's presence. "Miss Lydia," the head maid saluted her as well. "I brought you something that should help with your headache."
"Another angel. Am I in Heaven?" Angelique joked, reaching for her cup of freshly-brewed coffee. "I think I'll skip breakfast for today, I don't think my stomach can take it. But coffee is a holy remedy, thank you. Anyway, I remember I passed out wearing my party clothes, so who's responsible for these?" She pointed out to her silk gown.
"I helped you change into your nightwear, Miss," Zöe confessed as she opened the window. "Fresh air should help as well."
"Should I call a makeup artist, Miss?" Lydia intervened.
"Nah, don't worry." Angelique dismissed the idea with a gesture of her hand. "There's nothing a little concealer can't do, I can manage it myself."
"Ugh, look who's here," Blair muttered under her breath, her eyes landing on Angelique right as she got out of her car. She waved in Angelique's direction, inviting her to come closer.
As she approached them, Blair and her friends flashed their best fake smiles.
"Good morning. You look good, Angelique. I would've thought you got a good night's sleep if I didn't know any better. Are you still hungover?"
Sweet.
"Just a little. Oh, I forgot to ask. How did your plan go? Are you still a virgin?" Angelique snapped back, then took a sip of coffee.
Blair bit her tongue, fighting the urge to glare at her. "Here, this is for you," she changed the subject, handing her an envelope.
It was a party invite, of course. Angelique took the envelope and put it in her purse.
"Kiss on the lips? Original. Enjoy your breakfast, Blair. I gotta get going, it's getting late. I'll see you at the party."
Angelique wrapped Blair in a quick hug and kissed both of her cheeks goodbye, leaving lipgloss stains on her skin.
"Oh, Serena's here, by the way. I hope she is on your list, because she surely saw the invites," she warned her with a playful wink, then left.
She was sure as hell she wouldn't spend her entire morning with Blair, she didn't need someone to aggravate her splitting headache. Instead, she wanted to enjoy her third coffee in silence.
Angelique waved in Serena's direction, then headed to the main entrance. She had to make it through the hallways if she wanted to get to the interior courtyard, which meant putting on a friendly face and wishing everyone a good morning.
As if.
"Good morning, Angelique!" A high-pitched voice was not what she wanted to hear right now.
"Uh-huh," she replied, ignoring everybody on the hallway until she finally reached a quiet place.
"Good morning, Angelique. You look beautiful, Angelique. Are these designer shoes, Angelique?" She mimicked the voices of the girls she met on her way here. "Well, of course they are. As if i would wear anything less."
She heard a low chuckle behind her. Great, she wasn't alone.
"How about the bags under your eyes, Evans? Are they designer too?" Nate rounded the corner, revealing himself, and leaned against the wall. "I wanted to tell you good morning too, but it seems like you've already had enough of that."
"Get lost, Nate. I don't have bags under my eyes." She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Please don't. I'm obviously not in the mood."
"When are you ever in the mood?" He asked. "You're annoyed everytime I see you. I think you might be even a little meaner than Blair."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Speaking of Blair, why isn't she with you?" Angelique crossed her arms, giving him a suspicious look. "Hold on, you're hiding from her, aren't you?"
"Shh, quiet!" Nate placed his index finger over his lips, almost begging her to keep a low voice.
"Boyfriend of the year." She clicked her tongue. "Don't worry, she's too busy inviting everyone to her Kiss on the lips party. Who even names a party like this? Ugh. Anyway, I don't want to see her either, so your secret is safe with me. For now."
"Aren't you just lovely? And hey, don't get this wrong. I could earn the boyfriend of the year award but—"
"Yeah, yeah, you don't want it, I know. Don't waste your time giving me the speech, I don't want to hear it. But there's something else I want to hear."
"Angelique, don't..."
"She didn't tell me if you two had sex last night. It didn't happen, now did it?"
"How would that be any of your concern?"
"I'm just curious, that's it. I heard her talking about how she plans to seduce you into finally sleeping with her for weeks, but it obviously didn't happen. Can you do us all a favor and sleep with her already? I'll murder someone if I have to hear any of her plans again."
"Stop it, okay? And hold on, what do you mean by all of us? Who else did she tell about this?"
"I don't know, her new best friends maybe? She keeps hanging out with these girls, but I don't remember their names. I'd be surprised if she didn't complain to Chuck about it too."
"Great. Look, I'm not going to sleep with her just because you asked me to."
"You know what's weird, Nate?" Angelique squinted her eyes and took a step forward, getting closer to him. "You talk about this like it's such a big deal, taking her virginity and all that, but this is the second time I see you hiding from her in less than 24 hours and if I remember correctly, you mentioned you two have a tough time.."
"Where are you trying to get with this?"
"Are you together anymore? Do you even like her anymore? No, scratch that—Did you ever like her?"
Angelique took one step after the other, getting closer and closer to Nate. He, on the other hand, couldn't take any steps back, he was pressed against the wall. Right when Angelique was a little too close, the bell rang.
"Saved by the bell, huh? This conversation is not over, Nate. I'll see you tonight and you better have my best friend clung on your arm."
"I think you're a little too close to someone who's in a relationship, Angelique—" As if the bell hadn't been enough, they have been spotted together.
"Don't worry, Chuck, I was just leaving," she explained herself, not even bothering to look at him. Her eyes were still on Nate.
"Shall I walk you to class?" Chuck asked, obviously in a joking manner.
"I think I can manage by myself."
"Come by my place before the party for pre-drinks, will you?" Chuck shot her a wink, placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder, as if to wake him from a trance.
"You know I can't say no to champagne."
After she left, Chuck playfully elbowed Nate. "Snap out of it, will you? You don't want to anger Blair."
"What are you talking about, Chuck? Why would she be angry?"
"Come on, Nate. It's Blair. She doesn't need a reason to be angry at you." He was mocking him, it was clear in his tone. "But I'm sure she wouldn't be happy if she saw the way you look at Angelique. I'd keep it in my pants if I were you."
Whoever said drinking in the afternoon is not socially acceptable should take lessons from Manhattan's elite clique.
Chuck was back at the bar, alone, scoffing every five seconds or so.
"What's with that face?" Angelique asked, taking a seat next to him. "It's obvious something is off so.. what did I miss?"
"You missed Serena." He couldn't even say her name out loud without rolling his eyes. He was surely glad that Angelique didn't witness what happened, but he was still pissed at Serena.
"Oh? I thought she was going to come to the party with us?"
"Yeah, well, she's surely not staying for the pre-drinks."
Angelique chuckled.
"Didn't you come here for drinks, Evans? I don't see you drinking at all, but I surely hear you talking too much."
"Woah, easy there, Chuck. Don't give me an attitude. Give me a martini instead."
He called the bartender, but not before downing the rest of his glass, and told him to get him another glass of whiskey and a martini.
It was only after drinking his second glass that he managed to look at her. And when he did, he took his time with it and studied her dress carefully, his gaze lingering for a moment too long on her legs.
"Don't you want to take a picture? I mean, you can save it for later." She wasn't going to let him get away with anything, not even with checking her out.
"You look good. Your dress is short enough for my liking, did you get a new stylist?"
"I did. She does wonders."
Maybe it was a little too bold on him to say this, he had just been refused by Serena less than thirty minutes ago, but it was in his nature. "I'm sure you'd look better without it."
"Oh, I know I do. But that's not a sight for you to see, so you better snap out of it. Before you start drooling, I mean." Angelique leaned forward and wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin.
"I'll have another glass of whiskey."
She chuckled. This was his third glass since he came here. "Are you trying to get into a coma, Chuck?"
He was about to come up with a snide remark, but they were interrupted by a not-so-happy Nate.
"What's up with you?" Chuck asked. "See, Angelique, that's how a fucked-up guy looks like. Why aren't you picking up on him too?"
"Oh, don't worry, you're both getting compliments from me tonight. This is the second time I see you looking like crap, Nate."
Nate turned to Angelique, looking as if he was about to tell her to shut up, but he closed his mouth as soon as he allowed himself to look at her.
"It's custom-made, in case that's what you were thinking about," she cleared it out, bringing her martini glass to her lips before taking a sip.
"I can't do this right now," Nate muttered, then took Chuck's whiskey glass and walked towards the exit. "I'll see you in the limo."
"Okay?" Angelique watched him until she could no longer see him, then turned back to face Chuck. "That was.. weird."
"I guess he finally confessed, huh?"
"Confess what?"
"Finish your glass, love. We're leaving in ten."
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you asked and i listened. here is another update! don't you just love blair and angelique's "friendship"? i know i do. please vote and comment, don't be a ghostie ! i know i haven't updated in like forever but i promise you i have some chapters that will be published really soon and seeing your thoughts on the book keeps me going !