"Hey Azure!" A bright voice comes through the door almost immediately after I knock.
"Hi Mindy, Jasmine, Alexis." I answer, and they let me in.
"What kept you so long Azure?" Alexis asks from the other side of the room. Her room is quite like Zane's, but with a more girly twist. There are pictures and brightly coloured stationary on the desk, with a small stack of fiction books, not just duelling ones, and of course her wardrobe is larger, and at the moment her dressing table is littered with makeup, and dresses are laid down on the bed.
"I just bumped onto Zane on my way here, nothing to worry about." I answer smoothly, not wanting her to stress about Lisa.
"Grumbling idiot, he's taking away girl time!" Alexis herself grumbles, and I chuckle.
"I'd go for the pale pink dress. Or maybe that long Lilac one. It reminds me of Blade Skater…" I put my input into her decision making.
"I guess your right about that… yeah I'll wear the Lilac one." The dress Alexis picked went down to just below her knees, with a nice simple sweetheart neckline.
"What are you wearing Mindy?" Jasmine asks, swirling around in her own turquoise body-con dress.
"I think I'm going for this gold one, I think I should dress up a bit more." Mindy says, waving around a gold halter dress, relatively short but still flattering.
I sit down at the dressing table and quickly to a light coat of foundation, a bit of shimmery blush that isn't very pigmented, a small amount of bronzer, and powder before I start on my eyes. I line them with a shimmery navy eye pencil, before doing a small smoky eye, with an ombre going from mid to dark blue. I then brush my hair, putting it into a waterfall braid round my head, and letting Mindy put my hair into soft spiral curls. I get changed before looking in the mirror.
My dress is a navy chiffon dress, a sleeveless one-shoulder waterfall. It's tight around my chest before falling loosely at my waist. It's very long, the front going down to my knees, but the back going all the way down to my feet. There are silver and lighter blue streaks in the dress, making it look more like a waterfall, the top half having more silver and the bottom more navy.
"Wow, Azure, you look amazing!" Alexis exclaims as she sees my reflection in the mirror.
"Wow, it suits you so well Azure!" Jasmine compliments me. I smile shyly.
"You guys all look incredible. I would never have the guts to wear as bold colours as you and Mindy." I say.
"Do you want me to paint your nails? We still have… 30 minutes till it starts, and it's always better to enter late." Alexis asks me and I frown.
"Why?" I ask, knowing that they probably wouldn't enter late for the same reason as me.
"To get attention of course! 20 minutes after all the guys have seen all the chicks-" Mindy says obviously.
"New girls come in. They think, I haven't seen her before…" Jasmine says. "Guys have such a short attention span, it always works."
"Okay then… paint away!" I say, sitting down letting Alexis choose my nail paint.
"So, are you interested in any of the guys here?" I ask Alexis shyly, and she smiles.
"Not really. Guys hit on me sometimes, but the only ones who ever do are so egotistical I eventually storm off." Alexis answers, and I chuckle.
"That bad then." I murmur.
"Plus these two are always trying to set me up. They constantly try to gain my favour so I have to go on one of their blind dates." Alexis carries on.
"So you need the kind of humble, loyal friend, who looks after his friends… and girlfriend. There aren't many of those. Especially since I know you like one of a kind." I say, as she carefully paints my toenails perfectly.
"I guess… but I don't really look for that kind of thing. If he's the one, it'll happen." Is Zane like that? We haven't exactly talked about it… it's not like anyone knows or anything. I know I like him… but he's an upper-class man… I should probably stop worrying. That's what he would say anyway-
"Azure!" Alexis shakes me out of my daze. "You spaced out! Am I to think you're interested in someone?" I scoff at her words.
"Alexis, you should already know I'm no good with people in general, and definitely guys… in that way anyway." I lie easily, quivering on the inside.
"Doesn't mean some of the guys won't take interest in you. Guys like a powerful duellist. Unless they're egotistical like Chazz, they'll want to kill you if you beat them." Alexis says smirking. "Your nails are done." Alexis had painted them navy with silver sparkles and I smile at her.
"They're beautiful, Thank you. How long do I need to wait?" I ask.
"They're already dry. You were spaced out for a while." Alexis replies.
"Okay." I see her struggling with a curling iron and I go over to her.
"Allow me." I say, taking the curling iron from her hands that her up above her head. "You would've burnt yourself."
"Thanks." She replies shortly. I do a few tight curls and she smiles with curiosity. "I wouldn't have expected you to be so good at this kind of stuff. You know, two older brothers, male duelling cards, all the isolation."
"All the isolation was the reason. I had so much extra time, so much time to experiment." I answer honestly.
"Come on guys! Alexis, we should get going! We don't want to be too late!" Mindy squeals. I unplug the curling iron before slipping my navy gladiator wedges with a 4 inch heel. Like Alexis, I'm quite tall, maybe an inch shorter, but I love walking in heels, surprisingly.
"Okay, we all enter at the same time, it will give us a bigger and better entrance." Jasmine says as we approach the stairs leading down to the obelisk main room, where all the duellists were gathered, the boys wearing shirts and ties, some even with smart coats, while all the girls were dressed in impeccably pretty dresses. I grip Alexis' arm as quite a few people turn to look at us, and she pushes me forward to go first, despite what Jasmine had said.
I descend as gracefully as I think I can down the stairs, the back of my dress tickling each step. As I reach the bottom a lot of eyes are on me, and I start to panic under their gazes. What if they think I'm an overrated fluke? What if they think I am as good? What if they're scared of me, what if-
"Hey sis!" I almost snap my head around to see a mop of blue hair coming towards me. Tommy.
"You're out of the medical wing." I observe, and he nods.
"Well I couldn't miss this! My little sis's first victory ball!" He says, grabbing a champagne glass full of sparkling fruit juice.
"Of course, I seem to remember you having a particular spin for these kind of events…" I muse, and I suddenly her a squeal-y voice.
"What are you talking about? Thomas only came because I asked him. He usually hates these events!" A girl appears, a short red bob flipping with her in a short, body-con red dress.
"This is…?" I say awkwardly, confused and slightly afraid.
"Az, this is my girlfriend, Elly." Tom explains, blushing slightly. I almost scoff. Almost.
"Erm… By the way he doesn't like being called Thomas. It reminds him of our Dad. It's Tom-"
"What do you mean? Thomas loves to be called by his full name. And his dad's wonderful! One of the heads of that banking firm!" She replies, and I attempt not to imagine her being strangled.
"His Dad's our dad, I know." I say softly, taking a small breath, and mentally taking a step back.
"Excuse me?! Thomas is…" She rambles on and I look around desperately. I'm saved by the bell.
"Excuse me students! It is the end of a wonderful tournament, and tonight is the night you get to relax, before your long journey home, or for duel academy students, your lessons tomorrow." Chancellor Shepard announces, and there are a number of groans. "But, I believe before the first dance, we must all recognise the talent of our victor this year, Azure Roarke of East Academy!" There's a lot of clapping, and a spotlight blinds me. I can vaguely see Chancellor Shepard beckoning me up to the stairs, so I slowly but stably walk up to him.
"I am also happy to announce, that she will also be taking part in first year lessons tomorrow! She will be joining Duel Academy!" Chancellor Shepard announces, and there's more clapping, and a little whooping. I smile softly. "But now, for the first dance, have fun tonight students!" The music starts, and it's a fast-ish waltz. And feel awkward on the stairs, so hobble down them desperately as gazes are still on me.
"Hey Azure! Wanna dance?" Jaden comes out from the crowd wearing black trousers, a white shirt and a red tie. I smile.
"Thank you, and yes, I'd love to." I say, taking his offered hand as he leads me to the dance-floor. We waltz… not exactly gracefully, but it's a laugh.
"So, do you think we can duel again sometime? It's great to hear you'll be joining us tomorrow!" Jaden tells me as we spiral off.
"Of course, it was definitely a pleasure duelling you Jaden.
"Definitely! That monster of yours was incredible! I mean, 4200 attack points, and that crazy ability?!" He crazes over my deck and I laugh.
"Jaden, I could say the same. Your monsters are pretty awesome as well, you would've taken down Adynn if it weren't for his ability, and I probably wouldn't have used it if I had lower life points." I explain to him, but he still smiles. The song ends and we stop dancing.
"I should probably find Alexis, but thanks for the dance, and we will duel again!" I say smiling, before walking away. I already feel awkward; the crowd makes a small path for me as I walk through, even though I'm trying not to be noticed. But soon, I see Tommy standing with some of his friends, no girlfriend to be seen, so I go over.
"Hey, Tom can I talk to you?" I ask and his friends murmur congratulations, some even look me up and down before-
"Hey Mac, John, that's my sister." Tommy says, and I blush as they walk of laughing.
"Where's your girlfriend?" I ask normally, and he pulls a face at me.
"Whatever you're going to say, she's nice when she's just with me or her friends." Tommy says quickly but I intervene.
"Does anyone here actually know what you're like? Who your family is, your favourite foods…? Other than a bit controllative, Elly does seem nice enough, but she knows nothing about you." I say, and he grins sheepishly.
"I haven't… wanted to tell anyone. I mean you know dad, I went with him and still don't see him most of the time." He admits.
"Tommy, I'm not going to fight with you here, but, you should try being yourselves. If it's really a secret, real friends won't pressure you to hear it." I tell him, and he watches me as I walk away.
I find Alexis and the girls and we chat for a bit, and I get set up with 7 different guys to dance with. I protest throughout the night to Mindy and Jasmine, but they won't hear a word of it. The first two guys were okay, but weren't particularly talkative, and when they did talk, it was about my last duel with Jaden. The third was really, really short, and couldn't dance at all. I was taller, and I left him in the middle of the dance. The fourth was again, okay, but kept on telling me about all the duels he had supposedly won, and when I mentioned the tournament he stormed off. The fifth sixth and seventh were all rather like the fourth, but a little toned down. Still unbearable after just one dance though.
I go for a drink before heading outside for some air. I mean, big room, loads of people, and dancing, make me claustrophobic. I go out, my dress falling behind me until I end up just in front of the port, the music still in the background, relatively clear against the waves washing against the port. I sit down on the floor, which Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy would kill me for, so lady-like and all, and take of my wedges. I'm usually okay with walking in hells for a night when I have to with my family, but dancing, is not so great.
I lie back on the concrete, the cold stone relaxing my hot body, and just sit there. I hear the song change to a slow dance, and I'm glad I left before it. And then I hear a voice.
"May I have this dance?" I open my eyes and Zane is standing above me. I nod my head, and he helps me up and brings me to the lighthouse, just as the first verse begins.
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