Completely confused, I follow her into the hallway. On the threshold of our house stands a black woman with dreadlocks in a robe. In one hand she holds a carrier cage with a red kitten, and in the other a cage of a large polar owl.
- Eh, there's some kind of mistake here. I don t... I look at my mother in complete shock. She smiles and takes the cells into the house.
- You wanted a cat, Annie. And you ve been raving about owls since 2001, Carla beams and, opening the carrier, strokes the kitten.
- Mom, but who will take care of them? You're at work, dad too. I study for half a day. I can t take my eyes off the owl. She's the spitting image of a boob, and I feel like Harry Potter.
- We'll come up with something. The owl will sleep during the day, and at night you will release it. As for the kitten: I think I can handle it. Or dad. We don t work on the same day, honey, Mom hugs me and I smile at her.
But still, who found, and most importantly, sent me this damn menagerie? Of course, I m happy about the gift, but if my guesses are correct, then I m screwed...
October 31
Still, you talked about an ultra-short leather dress, but you came in a blue curtain, Jack meticulously examines me.
I stand at the entrance to the assembly hall and smoke. This year's Halloween theme is Yuletide, fucking Hogwarts Ball.
Deciding to play a prank on my classmates, I ordered a Bellatrix Lestrange costume from a sex shop. Of course, I ordered it through Mia, whose parents went to Paris for fashion week. However, Jones, who had never kissed someone in her life, handed my outfit to Kate, who immediately tried it on. She was caught doing this by her mother, a zealous puritan who kicked Katherine in the ass and, shouting: Burn the fuck up! , destroyed my Halloween outfit.
I had to ask my mother for help, who urgently altered one of her old dresses for me, for which I thank her very much. Also, Mia and Kate, for the first time in my life, put my makeup on and tidied up my hair. It turned out well, I admit. But I'm still in this shit for one evening.
- Do not you like it? I raise an eyebrow, and Jack chuckles.
You d be better off in either jeans or a mini, he grins, and will Jones come?
- She promised. What, a bad boy has a crush on a good girl? - Why doesn t this bother me?
Why am I not jealous of him? I like him too. Why do I feel joy for him, and not anger? What is wrong with me?
- Well, I m so into it... She helped me with my homework a couple of times, I protected her from bullies and that s it. And here, by the way, is she and Kavanagh, Hyde beams and goes to Mia in a red dress.
Jones, beaming, hugs him and smiles.
And now the pain comes over me. I understand why he chose Mia. She is sunny, open, cheerful. And I m afraid to let someone in, I hide behind my sarcasm and rudeness with the foolish confidence that someone like me cannot be loved. Apparently, it was destined for me to be lonely. The mood and desire to date Rowling have gone to hell, and I m seriously thinking about running away from here. Come home, get drunk and play with a vibrator until the morning. There are no miracles, ugly ducklings remain ugly and outcasts.
Ana, Mia suddenly drags me into the hall, from where the sounds of a beautiful melody unknown to me can be heard.
I enter there and see burning candles, pumpkins and sweets with the symbols of the faculties. Mysterious and enchanting surroundings. I look at the interior and a smile appears on my lips.
Miss Still, I thought you only wore jeans and sneakers, I hear a velvety voice, and, oh damn, my lower abdomen immediately feels heavy.
With fear, I turn around and see Christian, the cynical bastard, Gray. He is wearing a black tuxedo and a black bow tie. Her hair is styled hair to hair, and a smile plays on her lips.
Well, I had a universal crisis about this ball, because they let me come here dressed as a Gryffindor whore, I answer and see his outstretched hand.
- Do me the honor, Miss Still. I invite you to dance, Christian says and bows his head slightly.
I? Dance with him? Still, you're screwed. I have no choice, and I carefully place my hand in his warm palm.
I suck at dancing, I admit to him as his hand rests on my waist, where the scars are. I wince, but I don t tell him about it.
Christian confidently and at the same time gently leads me in the dance. His movements are as smooth as a cat's. What happened with me? Why do I feel so needed and alive, why do I melt in his arms? Now I feel like a beautiful swan, Hermione, who came to her first ball. I look into his eyes and my legs give way. I want to remember every second of this dance. To hell with all of it! I look at his thin lips and feel an obsessive desire to kiss them. I don't care what they think, I have nothing to lose.
How are the owl and the cat doing? - Gray asks, leading in the next step.
I'm right, he sent them to me. The prank is clearly not his style. Such a greedy and cynical businessman is not inclined to help girls like me. Well, if he just wants to get them into bed.
- Alive and happy. Thank you for them. Dad swore, but mom didn t. Now I have someone to care about and someone to give this stupid love to, I say, swallowing tears.
- Ana, why are you crying? Did I do something wrong? - He gently brushes away my tears.
POV Christian
Fuck, I definitely don't understand this girl. From Alex's dossier it follows that her mother died under mysterious circumstances and was a whore. She was adopted by the Stills at age five. She did not speak for a long time and avoided communication. Carla spent a lot of time and effort adapting her to normal life. But I didn t think that such a daring and cynical person was capable of crying.
- Nobody has ever given me such gifts. Nobody listened to me except my parents. I am considered an outcast, and in truth I am. You are the first one who made me smile and made my dreams come true, Ana speaks softly and tenderly, her eyes shining.
I would give anything to see them shine in my playroom. Take what you want Still, take it all. But bitch, who convinced her that she was inferior, that she was an outcast and a freak? What blind motherfucker came up with this idea? She is cheerful, bright, brilliant... Her friends love her. Her parents love her. What kind of monster destroyed her self-esteem? It s not involuntary that my heart clench at the thought that her biological mother instilled this in her. I'm ready to dig up her grave and kill her again.
- Ana, you are not an outcast or a freak. You are a very smart and beautiful girl, I whisper and stroke her hair, who came up with this nonsense?
Ana is silent. I see that there is a struggle going on in her, that she is afraid to confess to me, but she wants it.
My mother s pimp told me that. She never protected me from him. He beat me, burned me with cigarettes, and one day I almost... - Still begins to tremble and I hug her.
I'll kill this bastard! He doesn't deserve to live. Yes, I admit, I also don t mind making fun of the weak and defenseless, but damn it, not at children! I give them a quick and painless death. And this freak will get what he deserves.