Welcome to Style
Prolouge
Alexandrea H. Jones stood, staring up at the large building. She was used to them, of course, since she saw them every day. That's just how it goes when you're living in New York City. This building was different though. It was owned by the world renowned Arthur Kirkland. Alex had been wearing the clothes he designed since she could fit in them (which had been around age thirteen). This one, located right in New York City, was owned by his younger sister, Alice Kirkland. She had decided to help him run the business in America (though it had taken a lot of convincing). Every year, eight students are chosen for internships, and Alex was one of them. Alice had chosen her personally, which in turn made Alex feel proud but nervous at the same time.
She pushed through the revolving door, and she was in a completely different world. Everywhere, there were people running with papers and fabrics in hand. It seemed like complete chaos to her. Where was she even supposed to go? She had to maneuver through the people, being careful not to get hit by anyone, to reach the front desk. There sat a girl with the palest skin she had ever seen—you could say it was literal white. Albino. Her hair matched the skin tone, and her eyes where a bright red.
"Um, excuse me…"
"Ja?" the woman glanced up from her work, which from what Alex could see must've been a dress design.
"I'm one of the interns and I'm not sure where to go…"
The woman muttered something about clueless teenagers and then handed her a paper. It was a map of the building. She traced the route with a bright blue finger nail. "So, go here, threw there, and then enter that door. You'll see a few others there, also interns. Just don't mess up."
Alex blinked and nodded, then turned around to the hallway. It was narrow, and with all of the people rushing around her, she stayed close the wall. Getting in their way would not have a pretty end result.
It took several tries, but she found her way to the room. It was large and full of dull grays and whites—obviously a meeting room, because of how it was set up. Three others were also there, not including Alice, who sat at the head of the table, watching each intern with cold green eyes, causing them to flinch when she looked at them. Alex vaguely recognized one of them; they both went to the same high school. She'd seen her around the hallways a few times and had the same lunch time and English class together. Her name was Mei, if Alex was remembering correctly. She had long, very dark brown hair with a stubborn piece that hung in her face, though all of it was pulled back into a ponytail at the moment, and her dark eyes scanned the room nervously.
Second was a blond boy with green eyes, a grin on his face. Third was… Marianna Bonnefoy. Alex knew her quite well, actually. Francis's younger sister. She was surprised to see the blonde haired girl sitting there, nervously tugging at her clothes. Francis hadn't said anything to her about Marianna getting the same internship, despite the fact it was all Alex had talked about for months.
Alex sat down next to Marianna, the silence killing her. She could feel Alice's eyes swipe over her. It was unsettling. After another few minutes of waiting, four more interns entered the room, which took them to their total of eight.
"It appears all of you are here. As you know, I am Alice Kirkland. For the next three months, you will be working under extremely important people in the fashion industry. You must not mess anything up. I will be taking on one of you, and everyone else will be assigned elsewhere. One mistake, you're gone. The papers in front of you need to be filled out. You have fifteen minutes."
The questions were simple. Alex didn't understand why they were needed; she had answered these while signing up before.
Alice moved from her seat at the head of the table, walking around and collecting the papers. Alex shifted nervously in her seat. How amazing would it be to work under Alice Kirkland? Well, it seemed more nerve-wracking than anything.
Alice left the room and everyone let out a sigh of relief. She caused quite a bit of tension. The air seemed thicker the moment she walked back in, seven people behind her. "Mei Wang, you'll be working under Mr. Karpusi. Feliks Łukasiewicz, you'll be under Miss Héderváry. Marianna Bonnefoy, you'll be with Mr. Edelstein. Lili Zwingli, you'll be with Mr. Køhler. Romeo Vargas, you'll be working under Mr. Adnan. Belle Janssens, you'll be with Mr. Oxenstierna. Angelique Balle, you'll be working under Mr. Väinämöinen. And lastly, Alexandrea Jones, you will be working with me."
Everyone moved to the person who they'd be working under. Alex felt shaky. Maybe even sickly. Everyone left after a moment, leaving Alex alone with Alice.
"I'll make it easy for today, but starting tomorrow there's no slacking."