Cress walked out of the dining room like a soldier walks out of a battle zone. Cress couldn't stop replaying how undeniably terrifying Levana was. It was hard to believe that the intimidating pair were the parents of Julian Montgomery. Not only that those people were her in laws. Cress stumbled down the hallway feeling absolutely sick to her stomach.
Just as she was about to return to her room, Iko intercepted her.
"Ohhh, you've come back! What was it like? Were they scary? Was Levana as beautiful as everyone says she is? What did you talk about? Are you calling them Mom and Dad now?" Iko squealed.
"Um." Cress said lamely having no idea how to start explaining the utter insanity of her first family meal.
"Wait, don't say anything yet everyone should hear about this! Most of us have never seen Mrs. Montgomery before much less talked to her. The only people she will acknowledge on the staff are Cinder and Kai. I think they all have a history together but whenever I try to bring it up it just gets awkward." Iko explained her eyes sparkling in excitement. Cress on the other hand was more focused on the fact that she would meet the staff again. Maybe she could even talk to the mystery handsome man.
"Uh, okay. I don't know if I am a great story teller or anything like that but I guess I could try…." Cress trailed off already knowing what a stammering mess she would be in a room full of practically strangers. Iko didn't seem to notice and lead her through what seemed like a maze of hallways to the kitchen where she meet the staff last night.
"This is our usual hangout spot—probably because it has a lot of food provisions." Iko chirped she paused when she saw Cress' nervous face. "Don't worry about them Scarlet and Wolf can act pretty scary but everyone is really welcoming."
Cress managed to give a grimace type smile and faintly nodded her head. The entire time she had been in the Montgomery household she was so nervous she was always the verge of fainting. She hoped that this was just some moving in jitters and it wouldn't last. At least the staff was around her age she couldn't imagine what it would be like if Iko was an 60-year-old woman.
Iko skipped up to the familiar kitchen door and pushed it open strutting through it like she was a celebrity on the red carpet. Cress on the other hand shuffled behind her and tried to melt into the shadows the second she was in sight.
Cress had once read an entire book on chameleons for a school science report. She remembered reading how they could change colors and blend in with there surroundings. This was how they survived in the wild. Cress had afterwards desperately wanted to be able to blend in as effortlessly as a chameleon.
When the entire room got as quite as a tomb after her entrance Cress had once more wished she could change colors and become invisible. Sadly her wish wasn't granted. Everyone was seated around the banged up tables with rustic stools. There was a smell of jasmine in the air and fancy mood lighting. Just a few seconds before everyone was talking and laughing but now it was cut short into dead silence.
Cress felt like a deer in headlights unsure what to say that would dispel any awkwardness. After a while Cress decided she had to go with the classic greeting.
"Um, uh h-hi." She said her voice soft. Iko gave her an encouraging smile like someone cheering a soccer match from the sidelines. Cress took a deep breath trying to gather whatever courage she had left. "We—uh—we met last night I just thought I would, um, say hello."
"I um, I'm sorry if I interrupted something I can just leave." Cress said finding the prospect of retreating to her room to watch Netflix extremely enticing. She could binge watch a show and then instantly feel better about her awful day. She was already inching towards the door itching to just wallow alone.
"What? No, you don't have to leave!" A strong deep (but not to deep) voice said. Instantly it felt like millions of tiny butterfly's had been released within Cress' rib cage she could hardly breathe. It was the handsome stranger, he stood at the back of the table with a teasing smirk on his face. Cress could feel her own face heat up slightly.
"Oh no we didn't mean to be rude. It's just surprising to see a member of the house down here. The only Montgomery who interacts with us is Julian and that was only a handful of times." The girl with multiple grease stains said. Cress shifted where she stood feeling equally awkward and relieved.
"Oh well I just thought I could learn all your names. Um, when Julian came down hear well I wasn't under the impression that he knew all of you that well." Cress held her breath hoping that this didn't offend anyone. Instead, the girl with the scars nodded her head.
"That very sweet of you Crescent Moon friend. My name is Winter." She said in a light almost singsong tone. Cress gave a smile, she was happy to see that a least one of them saw friendship as a possibility.
"This is Cinder the mechanic, Kai the fellow maid, Jacin a guard, Scarlet the chef, Wolf the other chef, Iko your assistant, and Thorne the driver." Winter said in a dreamy voice. She rocked back and forth on her feet and was holding Jacin's hand. Okay definitely more than just a friend or co-worker.
Cress glanced around wondering if anyone else was in a relationship with each other. Both of the chefs seemed pretty close together but Cress was never a love expert. For some irrational reason Cress hoped that Thorne didn't have a girlfriend. Cress stopped herself before thinking about her silly fantasies of a whirlwind romance. It would do her no good, and she was already engaged. Cress would just have to stop daydreaming.
Cress turned her gaze away from Thorne who looked just so incredibly handsome that she felt like her insides were melting. She pinched her arm trying not to go back to reality. Focusing back to the conversation Cress put on her brightest smile.
"Oh um my name is Crescent Moon but you guys can just call me Cress." She said feeling slightly more at ease.
"I was just telling Cress that I thought you guys would want to hear what Levana was like." Iko said. Almost everyone perked up and Cress had to wonder how Mrs. Montgomery managed to never run into the people she lived with. It was as if she was not on the same planet.
"Actually this does sound interesting." Scarlet said leaning forward as if to hear Cress better.
"O-okay. Um what do you want to know? Just ask a question I guess…" Cress stuttered. Cress looked at their faces everyone looked curious except for Cinder and Kai. Cinder was fiddling with a screwdriver and methodically slapped it against her palm. Kai shifted on his feet and his faced looked like he had eaten something sour.
"O-oooooooo! Me first! What does she look like?" Iko squealed jumping up and down. Cress chewed the inside of her lip trying to think of a word that equally described beautiful and terrifying.
"Well um, she was really pretty but also like terrifyingly so." Cress said trying to tread carefully. She was getting the vibe that Cinder and Kai were going to sprint out of the room anytime now. Iko nodded like this information was as important as the fate of the world.
"Was she kind and motherly?" Winter asked with an air of desire.
"Uh—not really." Cress said.
"Did she really eat the Macaroons?" Wolf asked. His voice was so deep, gruff, and quiet it startled Cress. Something about Wolf made Cress feel a little intimidated like she should wave a white handkerchief in surrender. But the question was so odd that Cress felt compelled to answer.
"I-uh-um I am not really sure I wasn't on the look out for any macaroons." Cress said trying to keep her voice light and upbeat. She sneaked another glance at Thorne he had pulled up a stool and rested his elbows on the table. It said at the same time I am completely listening to you and I don't care what you are talking about because I am so awesome.
"How about we talk about something else." Cinder's strangled voice rang out in the room. Everyone went silent looking at Cinder and Kai like they had grown a second head. Cress instantly felt sympathetic her entire life she felt like people looked at her that way. Cinder obviously had something tying her and Kai with Levana and Cress couldn't exactly blame Cinder for not wanting to talk about it.
"Um, okay. So what's with the Macaroons was it a gift or something?" Cress said her voice and octave higher than usual which didn't help matters because her voice was already freakishly high. This seemed to spur Scarlet and Wolf back action and soon Cinder and Kai were relaxed again, though Cinders face still had some tension.
"Hardly a gift. More like a punishment." Scarlet snorted and rolled her eyes. "She was having all these guests over for dinner, and we were serving fish. Apparently the Prime Ministers second cousin found a fish bone in her food and freaked out. Mrs. Montgomery said that as practice we will make macaroons for breakfast and dinner every day. The Montgomery's go there separate ways for lunch so at least we don't have to make three batches."
Cress couldn't help but still be confused. "Okay but why macaroons I mean they are pretty good but twice a day every day seems a little repetitive." Cress said beginning to wonder if this was some elaborate prank and pretty soon everyone would be laughing in her face about how gullible she was.
"Because they are hard and you need small nimble hands to actually make decent ones. Something that Wolf and I definitely do not have." They both held up their hands as proof. "Levana may be pretty, but she is also smart. Wolf and I just always wonder what she is doing with all of them."
"Well I-I could help you make them!" The instant Cress said this she wanted to punch herself. She had made macaroons only twice and the first time it had gone down in flames, literally. But something about being with all these new people made her want to prove herself. She wanted them to know she wasn't just some random little rich girl who marry's a guy and that's the end of the story.
"You could?" Wolf asked with a hopeful expression.
"Um yeah. Totally I love baking." Cress was internally screaming as she spoke. What the heck was she saying? What the heck was she getting herself into? Her entire life she had lived off of microwave start foods and things that come in a can.
But then next she knew she was holding a baking sheet and lining it with a silicone baking mat.
—
Cress had never felt so accomplished when she finished the macaroons. She had never really made anything with as much effort as those macaroons. But in the end it was oddly rewarding because as she slid in the sheet and set the timer for ten minutes she felt invincible.
She was never this excited about anything before. Not even computer programming which recently just made her feel trapped and sad.
Cress checked the filling and made sure it would be in top condition when the cookie part came out, then she collapsed on the bar stools. Unfortunately Cress had forgotten that she wasn't alone. Thorne, Cinder, Jacin, Scarlet, Iko, and Wolf all were looking at her.
A blush roared against her cheeks and suddenly the room felt ten degrees hotter. Cress gave a weak smile and began to wish that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Cress wasn't normally so dramatic, and she didn't want them to get the wrong impression about her. But still here she was draped over a row of chairs all because she had to make a batch of macaroons.
"Uh, the cookie part is done I just have to put in the filling and it will be all set for tonight." Cress chirped sounded much more calm than she actually was. Just then a bright ding! Came from the oven and Cress quickly pulled out the batch.
"I think you will have to be the official macaron maker. Scarlet and I are always an hour slower than you. I takes us forever to actually get anything on the sheet to harden" Wolf said with surprising support. Cress' cheeks flushed and this time it wasn't from embarrassment.
"I kept looking over expecting you to do something wrong." Scarlet nodded, then added as an afterthought. "No offense or anything." Cress felt as though she was on cloud nine. No-one ever had complemented her. Aunt Sybil had always found a way to tear her down or to find a flaw in her work. But Scarlet and Wolf actually were caring and didn't bring her down, Cress knew she shouldn't let it go to her head, but she could use a tiny ego boost one in a while.
"Well I don't know anything about baking, but you look happy Cress. Like your kind of glowing with joy." Thorne remarked. Cress felt her heart excellerate and the entire world seemed to become brighter. Cress couldn't believe how her day had just turned around, a goofy smile slid across her face. And Cress decided that if she was struck down right now with some terrible illness she would die a happy person.
Cress quietly hummed to herself as she filled the batch with icing and when the macrons were finished in a dazzling display of yellows, greens, and pinks she decided she had never seen anything so breathtaking (except for maybe Thorne).
"Wow those are pretty. Usually Wolf and Scarlet create some misshapen globs with a little icing inside and call it a day." Cinder quipped. Then she hungrily looked down with such a strong longing Cress had to force herself not to giggle.
"You guys can each have one I made extra." Cress said smiling that she had actually made something.
"Oh my gosh I am so glad were all friends now. Cress you are amazing!" Iko squealed grabbing a pink macron. And right then and there Cress thought she might explode from so much happiness.
—
Cress left an hour later humming and old opera song to herself. For once Cress actually enjoyed looking onto the decor, and she wasn't moping around about how miserable her life was. Cress wasn't just on cloud nine anymore she was on cloud ninety-nine.
She walked up the stairs taking two at the time which in Cress' book was an impressive feat for her legs were not made to stretch over long distances. When she got up to her bedroom door she didn't wrinkle her nose in disgust but instead laughed at how lucky she was to have such an incredible place to sleep.
Cress was about to walk out onto the porch when she noticed a small square box sitting on her bed. Instantly her euphoria washed away. Cress hesitantly walked towards the box half expecting it to explode. As she got closer she realized sickeningly what it was.
Cress slowly opened to black velvet lid and looked on the plush white bedding perfect for holding jewelry. In the middle was the biggest diamond Cress had ever seen. It was as large as a dime and caught the lighting the in perfect angles. The silver band had small intricate swirls on it and was the perfect fit to her finger.
It was an engagement ring. Cress felt as hot tear run down the side of her face. She didn't sob or wail. She just sat there crying as she looked at her ring. Cress was tempted to throw the small velvet box but instead a small piece of paper inside caught her eye.
Cress slowly unfolded it to read its message. Hey Sugar, how does November 13 sound? Cress sucked in a breath today was September 1st in two months she was getting married.
