Chapter Eight
"Oh come on, pet." My mam started trying to drag me towards the small boutique shop on the corner. "I just want to see what you look like in the gorgeous dresses, that's all."
"Mam, I'm really not interested." What on Earth was the point in going and trying on a gorgeous dress that I couldn't have? It would just make everything else seem even worse than it was already. "Look, let's see if they have anything in there." It was a shop that looked well within our price range.
Liliana had informed me that the dress code wasn't anything as fancy as prom, but it was very smart still. Wedding style, apparently. I just needed something that didn't make it blatantly obvious that I'd spent about a tenth of everyone else's budget. At least no one there shopped in the high street shops, so they probably wouldn't recognise where I'd got my dress from.
There was nothing here. I pulled out a purple knee length dress covered in sequins and shuddered, quickly shoving it back. My parents continued to breathe down my neck whilst I scoured the railings trying to find something suitable. "So, you haven't really told us anything about your teachers yet. How are they?" My dad inquired, pulling out a floor length dress with anchors on and forcing me to shake my head.
"They're fine." It was mostly true. Mr. Langley was of course my favourite. Mrs. Mellier and the other ballet instructor we had were both stuck up and unbearable. The academic teachers were nice enough, it seemed. "I mean, they're good, obviously. My ballet instructor was dancing with Royal Ballet at one point."
"Oh, that's so great." My mam was buzzing to hear anything good about the school and I wasn't going to break any of the bad things to her. "I'm so proud of you, pet."
"Thanks, Mam." I pulled out another dress and sighed. This one probably would have been okayâknee length, slim fitting and creamâif it hadn't been for the slit that dragged practically up to my knickers. I had to pull another out just to check this one wasn't ripped. "I don't think there's anything in here that's going to do."
"And your friends? No one's being morons I hope, I can imagine there are some stuck-up idiots there." My mam had always done a surprisingly good job of not swearing in front of me. I knew she made a conscious effort, too, because she was on the phone with her friends there was a fuck every other word.
"There are some, obviously. I have some friends, though. It's all been fine, really."
I exited the shop and tried to hide my scowl. I wasn't sure why we were shopping in Leeds in the first place. It was closer to the school than Newcastle, but they had all the same shops and I missed my home town. I wanted to see my friends, but instead my parents had just come to pick me up for a day trip. They thought I was enjoying myself so much that I wouldn't want to come home and I couldn't bring myself to burst their bubble.
I was just about to divert our path towards the next shop when I heard someone calling out my name. My stomach sank with recognition. "Hey, Leon," I greeted, scratching the back of my head. "These are my parents." I turned to my folks. "This is Leon. We go to school together."
"Are you dress shopping?" He looked at my so far empty hands.
"Yeah, just having a look around really. You?"
"Just going to try and find a suit." His hands were empty, too. "You should tag along, it'd be cool to see more of you."
It was really the last thing I wanted to do, but he was doing a good job of looking very imploring. And he dared to do it in front of my parents, who were egging me on silently.
"Sure," I allowed with a sigh, knowing I didn't have the heart to disappoint them too much. Even if Leon was going out with Amber, he seemed like he'd make a good enough impression.
"Great, I'm heading into there next." He, of course, pointed to the boutique that my parents had been dying to get me to enter. "This is my favourite shop. I don't have an excuse to wear a suit often, but I always come here when I do."
"Ah, cool." What else was there to say to that?
"Have you seen much of the school?" Leon chatted to my parents without any hesitation. "The grounds are really beautiful this time of year." All the trees were bearing red leaves by now.
"We saw it briefly when we came to pick Carly up, I'm sure she can give us a bit of a tour when we drop her off again."
I could deal with that. Liliana, Callum, Dean and I spent plenty of time outside under the trees, but it would be getting too cold for that soon. It was already the first week of November.
Leon pushed open the door and the woman greeted him with a large smile. I wondered what portion of her income he supplied. "Leon, love, it's good to see you." I felt so out of place it was horrific. I was wearing my scuffed up trainers and a flannel shirt with a hole in it. I wasn't meant to be in here. "And your..." she trailed off. She hadn't meant the glamourous Amber yet, then.
"Friend," Leon supplied. "This is Carly."
"Nice to meet you, love." She stuck out her hand and I resisted the urge to sigh. "I'm Maria. Now, what can I get you two?"
"I'm after a suit. Something fancy, but not too fancy." As if that was enough to narrow anything down. Maria seemed to understand, though.
"I'm just keeping him company." I forced a smile and turned towards the sofa in the window. If I was going to stay and watch Leon try on suits for some reason then I was doing it in comfort.
"Nonsense," Maria stopped me just before I was about to sit down. "You should at least try something on. You might find it was just what you were looking for."
"Go for it," Leon urged. "Better than just sitting doing nothing. I think you'll like the clothes here, anyway." Leon knew that was at the Academy on a scholarship so I wasn't sure what game he was playing. Maybe he was just trying to give me a taste of the high life. Perhaps he thought showing off his wealth was impressive.
Either way, I conceded to my eagerly nodding parents and went to browse the limited number of dresses on the racks. "I take it you're going to the same occasion?" Maria prompted from where she was rifling through a collection of suits. "A wedding?"
"The Gala," Leon explained. "I'm sure you've had people from the school in about it."
"Ah, of course. I have." She left the suits alone for a minute and zipped straight towards a railing across from me. "This is the one for you, then." She pulled out a gorgeous dress. Sleek, close-fitting and black, it came just above the knee. It looked about my size, too. "Into the changing rooms with you. I can't wait to see it on."
In the changing rooms I examined the expensive dress closer. The front came right the way up to my neck, but the entire back and sleeves were covered in real lace. A hidden zip in the side kept it all held together.
Swallowing, I shrugged out of my own clothes and unzipped the dress slowly. When it caught I almost had a heart attack. This dress probably cost more than my mam earnt in half a year.
When it was on, though, I looked in the mirror and was tempted to cry. I'd never owned something this gorgeous. Smoothing out the material and admiring my reflection, I wished it was Ethan here to witness my glimpse into the high life.
I looked damn sexy.
Allowing the smile that was brewing to break through, I stepped from the changing rooms. My parents grinned ear-to-ear and Leon raised an eyebrow from where was being asked to choose between two shirts. "You look gorgeous pet." My mam snatched her camera from her bag, before glancing towards Maria. "Is it okay if I take a few snaps?"
"Go ahead."
It was with a sigh that I posed for my mam. She could show people these pictures and omit any from the actual Gala.
Leon's gaze was on me the entire time, to the point where it was beginning to get a bit uncomfortable.
"I'm going to go and change," I told them with a scowl after my mam had made me take a picture with my dad. Seeing what I wanted and not being able to have it was just as morose as I'd thought it was going to be. This dress was perfect and the dress I'd end up with would be far from it.
I stripped it off and wished I could erase having seen it. A few pictures wasn't worth it.
Hanging it back on the hanger, I tried my best to forget my appearance in it. I could find something suitable and it would be fine. It wasn't like I was going to enjoy the Gala anyway.
I handed the garment to Maria with a smile, thanking her for letting me try it on. She'd known from the start that I couldn't afford it. Leon had disappeared, presumably to try on his suit, so I retook my seat in between my parents. "I told you it would be fun." My mam gave me a playful jab in the side and I gave a false chuckle.
"Yeah, I guess you were right."
"So, you haven't lost your accent yet. Do you think you'll end up sounding like a posh girl when you come out the other side?" my dad questioned.
I snorted, laughing even at the thought of it. "You have nothing to worry about, Dad."
Leon emerged in the tailored suit. He was an attractive guy and it fit him perfectly. No wonder he enjoyed this place so much. "Perfect," Maria agreed. "Definitely the better choice." It looked pretty standard to me. I wasn't exactly a connoisseur of suits, though.
He glanced in my direction and I was forced to admit, "Looks good." Amber would have a field day if Leon was going to relay it to her at the end of the day.
"That settles it, then. This is the one, I think."
He disappeared in and my mam leant over. "He's a cutie. Are you into him?"
My grimace covered my face. "No. He has a girlfriend, anyway."
"So you are?"
My dad looked unimpressed by the entire conversation, but he never interrupted my mam, no matter what his opinion was.
"No, I'm really not."
"He's nice. You should steal him away from whatever stuck up girl's got their claws into him."
"You don't think he's stuck up just because he's got a pretty face and he said hello to me? He's just as bad as everyone else there."
My mam rolled her eyes. "He's a nice lad. Give him a chance. He likes you."
"No, trust me, he really doesn't." I was beyond grateful when Leon emerged from the changing rooms and forced her to shut up. He went to pay and I sat in my seat and sulked. As if the outing hadn't been bad enough, I was never going to find something I liked enough now. I'd have to come back some other time when the black dress had faded from my memory.
Leon came to us and held out a box to me. I narrowed my eyes at him and he lifted one shoulder. "It suited you," was all he offered by way of explanation. "You should have it."
I stood up, taking the box and really trying to get out of my parents' earshot. "You can't spend that amount of money on me." The place was so expensive nothing even had tags on. I didn't want to know how much this had just cost him. "You don't even know me."
"Carly, and I'm not saying this to be a dick, but this isn't even a dint in my bank account. I thought it looked good on you, so you should have it. It's not a big deal for me, really."
I wasn't sure what Amber was planning to do with this, but I forced myself to smile. "Okay. Thank you."
"It's no problem, I'm glad you got a good dress. The Gala is fun, no matter what Liliana's told you about hiding in the corner and avoiding the festivities. There are always good cakes."
Shaking my head in amusement and clinging to the box he'd handed me, I turned back to my parents. My mam was practically rolling in delight. She probably had mine and Leon's wedding all planned out.
"I'm looking forward to it a bit more, now," I was forced to admit. The nagging feeling this was all because of some ulterior motive stopped it from being perfect.
Leon didn't know me. All he knew was that his girlfriend didn't like me. Then again, I couldn't question the motives of someone with money to burn. He thought I'd looked hot, so why not make sure he got to see me looking hot again at the Gala? That was probably motivation enough for someone rich to spend probably hundreds on a single dress.
"Anyway, I have to get off. My father is around somewhere and he wants to see my suit before he lets me wear it. The fear of me embarrassing him by wearing something that doesn't suit me is strong with him." He hesitated slightly before leaning forward and kissing my cheek. That was a posh thing, right? That was just the posh way of saying goodbye.
"Okay, well, I'll catch you later, then. Thanks again for the dress!"
"It's still no problem," he called over his shoulder before striding down the street.
Turning back to my parents, I was met with a massive grin from my mam. "Oh, he is perfect."
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Here's a longer chapter, and a day early! I know there's no Ethan in this one, but he'll be making his return next chapter ;)