Chapter 10
"TORY! WAKE UP!" Kit banged on my door.
I checked the clock, and it was 8:30am on Saturday morning. Crap! I had the debutant breakfast at 9:30am! I jumped out of my bed, and threw all of my covers that were on my bed onto the carpet floor in the process. I could see that Whitney was in my room because my dress was already laid out with matching shoes and jewelry on my chair by the window. Without a single protest, I quickly got dressed so I wouldn't be late for the party. Whoa, was I actually caring for this debutant breakfast banquet? I must seriously be out of it today.
The dress Whitney laid out was a full length, silk, one shoulder, pink dress with sparkles dancing over it. It had hugged by body perfectly! And it really brought out the curves of my hips. Dang! I looked GREAT!
"If only Ben was here to see me." I thought to myself.
Oh no, ohh no no no. I hope I am not becoming one of those prissy girls like the ones at my school, for the queens of the prissy thrown was the Tripod.
The top of the Tripod was Madison Dunkle. She practically glowed with well-groomed excess, from sculpted hair - brunette last semester, with smoky blonde tendrils - to stylish, five figured jewelry.
Then there was Courtney Holt. Blonde, blue-eyed, and curvy, she radiated a cluelessness that was impossible to emulate. She'd been chosen as the captain of the cheerleader squad. I was amazed she'd avoided flunking out.
Lastly there was Ashley Bodford, a pit viper in her own right. Night to Courtney's day, Ashley had glossy black hair, mechanically tanned skin, and a cruel streak a mile long. Her favorite activity was preying on the insecurities of others with cutting, whispered digs.
The Tripod of Skank.
They hated me. I loathed them.
Last semester, the sight of these three would've filled me with dread. They'd made my freshman year a living hell. That was over now.
Last August, at a cotillion event, I'd unloaded on the Tripod with all of Bolton's in-crowd watching. Flaring, I'd used my hypersenses to read their emotions. Sniff out their weaknesses. Then I'd struck without mercy.
Shocked speechless, the Tripod had retreated in angry tears. The tell-off had been EPIC.
Since that outburst, the other "cool kids" had been slightly more respectful to me. Almost polite. Not out-and-out friendly or anything, but the open hostility was gone.
High school popularity is so fickle.
That day, I'd finally bested the Tripod. But then I made a mistake. Unleashing the wolf had gotten my blood pumping. Flaring seemed to exacerbate my aggressive nature. Caught up in the rush, I'd done something incredibly foolish. Disastrous. I'd lifted my sunglasses and flashed my glowing eyes.
Courtney and Ashley had missed it, but Maddy had enjoyed a front row seat. Terrified, she'd bolted, and had avoided me ever since.
Normally, I'd call that a win-win. The Tripod had fled and continued to stay away. The relentless harassment had stopped. But I worried. What did Madison suspect? Who would she talk to? Chance? If word of our powers got out, we'd be government lab rats by lunch the next day. Thanks to my stupidity, Madison was a threat.
Trying to focus on actually getting ready, rather than my worries, was harder than I expected. I kept mentally punching myself for doing a stupid act of revealing my glowing eyes to Madison! Ugh. I did not want to focus on this right now. So I took off the dress, hopped in the shower, and hoped my worries would drown and disappear with the water.
Once I stepped out and dried off, I slipped back on my silky dress that was gliding smoothly over my freshly shaved body now. From there, I clasped my diamond jewelry that Whitney had lent to me. Then I slid my average sized feet into flats. I'm glad that I had persuaded Whitney to flats and not heels because at this time of day, I would be stumbling upon the ground every 10 seconds! Then I finally did my makeup. I just slapped on the foundation, eyeliner, and mascara as quickly as I could. I would rather not wear makeup, but I honestly didn't want to argue with Whitney right now.
As I made my way down the stairs, the smell of fresh fruit and pancakes wafted into my nose; the smell kept getting stronger as I closed in on the kitchen. When I finally made my way down the stairs, I was about to pass out from my craving stomach that was wishing the delicious food to be housed in there. I walked briskly towards the table so I could eat as soon as possible.
As I sat down on the chair, Whitney remarks, "Oh Tory! You look stunning this morning! And may I say, GREAT job on the makeup! I'm becoming so proud of you! Aw Kit, look at your beautiful daughter!"
Whitney was now dragging a restless Kit over by the table. Kit had a black robe on, black slippers, and a hot steaming cup of coffee.
"Tory, you look amazing," Kit managed.
"Thanks," I mumbled. I didn't really want to talk about how beautiful I look this morning.
Ever since I made that connection with the Tripod and me this morning, I made a mental note saying be more yourself. I liked impressing Ben, but he fell in love with who I AM and not my looks. He doesn't want a prissy girl, for if he wanted one, then he could have gone for Madison. Madison is the prissiest girl in the WHOLE school! Plus I've seen her steal a few glances at Ben with googley eyes.
I was about to reach for a stack of freshly made blueberry pancakes cooked by Whitney, when Whitney slapped her moisturized hand on top of mine!
"OW! What was that for?!" I yelled at Whitney.
"You are going to be eating at the breakfast banquet! I do not want you to spoil your appetite!" Whitney replied back.
I was about to yell a snarky response back when all of a sudden a car honked. Curious, I walked to the front door's window and peeked out. It was Jason. You have GOT to be kidding me!
A thousand questions blew up in my mind that went along the lines of, "What will Ben think? Will Jason try to make his move on me? Will I give in? Will Ben see? Why am I thinking I will give in when I don't like Jason? Why am I worried at all? Will I flare? What is wrong with me?"
Don't get me wrong, Jason is an attractive guy, but I'm just not into him. All of the girls' daydream at his tallness, his blond hair, his big round crystal-blue eyes, and his place in sports; however, it just doesn't work for me.
I was still slightly trembling, for I was worried about all of those things. I mean what would I do if Jason made his move and I gave in? Or what if I flared in front of everyone? I wouldn't know how to cover that up! Man, all of these worries would have been cleaned up if Ben was taking me. Hmm...
"Whitney what is Jason doing here? I'm pretty sure I told you that Ben was taking me," I turned to face Whitney as I told her, for I was doing a good job improvising!
Whitney looked dead straight at me from the kitchen. Her eyes were the size of Ireland! I knew that if her plans go unsuitably to her schedule, then she goes crazy! However, I had to do this! Just this one time!
"What?! No, no you didn't! Even if you did, you wouldn't be allowed. The rules say that you have to bring a date. Meaning a debutant date," Whitney explained.
I smartly replied back, "No! It says a date! Not a debutant date. If it doesn't specifically say what kind of date, then you can't assume anything."
Whitney looked be-founded. I could imagine her brain rapidly looking for an excuse for me to go with Jason and not Ben, but she eventually came back with zip.
"Fine, you can bring Ben, but just this ONCE!" Whitney exclaimed, holding up her pointer finger to emphasize the word once.
As I went upstairs to call Ben to see if he could be my last minute date, I could faintly hear Whitney explaining to Jason that I am going with Ben this morning. After a couple seconds later, I heard Jason's engine roaring down our drive way angrily. I felt slightly bad for blowing Jason off like that; however I had to brush that aside because I have someone to call.
I entered my room, grabbed my smartphone from my desk, and dialed Ben's number.
After a few rings, I heard, "Hey Tory. What's up?" I was silently cheering that Ben picked up!
I responded, "Hey Ben! I need a date to the debutant breakfast banquet this morning, and I was wondering if you would like to be my date?"
A/N: Sorry it's been awhile! I'll try to udate more often! So did you guys like this chapter? Please review! Thanks so much!