Michael

I take out my phone and send a text after we've reviewed Francine's article for the upcoming edition. We had to cut out more than half of it – she wrote an excessively long piece on the men's soccer team captain. There was an inappropriate amount of detail about his appearance.

Michael: I should be done in half an hour. We can go straight to the party from here.

I glance at the time. Like usual, my meeting has gone past its scheduled time. Now that I think about it, I don't think these meetings ever finish on time.

Alyssa texts back almost immediately.

Alyssa: Don't you need to go home and get ready first?

I stop myself from scoffing audibly. Does she even know me?

Michael: No, Andrea helped me get ready before the meeting. We can head out as soon as I'm done.

Alyssa: That seems a bit unnecessary.

Michael: It's called efficiency, Alyssa. Take notes.

-----

"Any thoughts?" I ask as I finish sharing my article. It's a short piece on the dean of engineering. He was a bit dull during our interview, but polite enough I suppose.

I turn around from the projector, only to see everyone's creepy stares again. "For God's sake, can you guys stop looking at me like that?" I groan.

Andrea just laughs. "Sorry, but you can't just show up dressed like that and expect us not to notice," she says. "Especially with the way you usually dress."

"What's wrong with the way I dress?"

"No offense, but it's kind of boring," Cole chuckles. "You basically always wear either a white, grey, or black tee shirt with jeans."

I can't believe the dress code for the party is black tie. Marissa and Lillian are only fourteen, where the hell did they get this idea from?

I fiddle with my bow tie and cufflinks again. My matte black tux feels a little stiff, but it's smooth and completely free of wrinkles. It fits me perfectly – Alyssa brought me to a tailor to get a custom made one. She insisted that a well fitting suit was mandatory and could make or break my entire look.

I think she was being quite dramatic.

Jane gives me a sympathetic smile and adds my article to her folder. "I think we've had enough for tonight, meeting adjourned."

Everyone quickly packs up and heads out. No more than a minute after the last person leaves, Alyssa steps in. She's gotten a lot better at being punctual since all of this started.

She's wearing a glittery, dark red dress. It's long and flowy with a long slit up one side. Her makeup is similar to her regular look, except for her lips. They're painted a deep red, the same shade as her dress.

I suddenly find my pulse speeding up and it becomes difficult to catch my breath.

I clear my throat. It's probably just the bowtie, I told Andrea she tied it too tightly.

"Hey Alyssa," I try to say cooly, but my tone still comes out nervously. I mentally slap myself on the forehead.

Alyssa blushes a little when she sees me. "You clean up nice," she giggles.

"Thanks," I mumble. "You look... nice too."

-----

Alyssa hands her car keys to the valet and we head into the hotel.

The lobby is extravagant and luxurious. Marble floors, massive chandeliers, a pianist at a grand piano, and gold accents everywhere.

It doesn't phase me. We used to stay in hotels like these all the time when we went on family vacations, they all start to blend together after a while.

Although it does make me feel a bit nostalgic. It's been years since we've gone on vacation together. I'm almost certain dad hasn't used any of his vacation days in nearly eleven years now.

Alyssa raises her eyebrows as her gaze wanders around the room. "Your sisters have pretty classy taste."

"I guess so," I say.

They were quite tomboyish for most of their childhoods, I have no idea when that changed. As much as I know I should, I don't reach out to them often enough. It's been a while since I last spoke to them. The last time was when they called to check up on me when they heard about the accident.

She looks down at me and frowns. "Your bowtie is crooked."

She leans forward and brings her fingers to my collar. I roll my eyes – her perfume smells like cinnamon. Of course she'd be into all of this pumpkin spice bullshit.

Alyssa suddenly stops and leans even closer towards me. I begin to speak but she just shushes me. She frowns as she reads the tiny tag attached to the back of the tie. Wordlessly, she starts to examine the rest of my outfit. I feel like an animal being dissected, the way she's poking and prodding every inch of me.

She finally backs away and stands back up. Her jaw is dropped open. "The audacity," she gasps.

"Excuse me?"

"You criticized me for my money, but look at you!" she exclaims. "Your shoes, socks, cufflinks, tie, and watch."

I decide my only option is to feign ignorance. "What about them?"

"They're all luxury brands," she says and crosses her arms. "Either you're some sort of drug dealer, or your family is rich too."

I sigh deeply. "Fine, you got me. My mom's side of the family owns a... company."

"That's too vague."

"Well that's too bad for you." I hate talking about money. Making regular friends is already a pain in the ass, the last thing I need are people pretending to be my friends.

Alyssa rolls her eyes and begins pushing me towards the ballroom. "I guess that explains how you could afford to host the party here."

"Actually, we own this hotel," I chuckle.

"What?!"

-----

"Michael!" I hear two familiar voices squeal.

The twins come crashing into me and pull me into a tight hug.

I chuckle and hug them back. They're probably the only people in my life that I will willingly hug. "Hey you two, happy birthday."

I hand them a small silver gift bag. Inside are two tickets to the concert they've been dying to attend. After what happened with Jett, I thought my chance at ever getting them was doomed. Amazingly enough, Alyssa pulled some strings and used her family's connections to get me them instead.

"Thank you!" they chime simultaneously.

"This party sure is something," I say, looking around.

All of the main lights are off, leaving the room softly lit by candles and fairy lights. A massive banner that reads, "Happy Birthday Lillian and Marissa," is hung up on one wall above a DJ setup. Gold and pink decorations are everywhere. Most of the guests are on the dance floor, dancing to pounding pop music - although they're mainly awkward teenagers who don't know what they're doing with each other. 

I have absolutely no recollection as to what I did for my fourteenth birthday, but it was definitely nothing like this.

"Thanks!" Lillian giggles.

"How has the night been going?" I ask. "I hope you've been having fun, it's your birthday after all." It's loud and a bit chaotic, but I know that this is their kind of crowd.

"Great!" Marissa gives me an excited grin. "Even better now that you're here though, we've missed you!"

"Yeah, we haven't seen you since August!" Lillian adds.

I smile, but I still feel guilty on the inside. Getting to see the twins when I visit home is nice, but that's where the positives end. There isn't anything left for me back there.

"Thanks you two, you definitely make me feel more special than I actually am," I laugh. "I've missed you too." They often give me that extra boost of serotonin that I won't admit that I need.

The both of them giggle and pull me into another hug for good measure.

I scan the room, it's dim and crowded but I can still make out faces. "Is dad here yet?" I ask.

Marissa shakes her head. "You just missed him. He's working an overnight shift tonight, but he stopped by to say hi and drop off some presents."

What a surprise.

The twins don't seem phased by it, I suppose it's basically all they've ever known. They're too young to remember how tight knit our family used to be.

Lillian does a twirl. "Do you like our outfits?"

"Thanks again for paying for them!" Marissa adds.

I did not realize how expensive dresses were until I saw my credit card bill. At least they're happy, I guess. They bought matching ball gowns; Marissa's is pink while Lillian's is gold. Their hair is sort of the opposite, Marissa has a thin gold streak on her right, while Lillian has a pink streak on her left.

I can't help but chuckle a little. When I was nine, my friends and I all dyed our hair blue. I don't even remember why anymore, though I'm sure it was for a stupid reason. Dad laughed when I got home, but mom was livid and immediately made me go back to the salon and have it dyed black.

"They're nice," I say. "Very... fancy." There isn't much I know about fashion, but I do my best to be supportive. Alyssa would probably have something better to say.

Speaking of which,

"Oh and this is Alyssa," I say. "Dad might've mentioned her, she's been helping me out since the accident."

I don't include the fact that Alyssa was the one responsible for the accident. Knowing my sisters, they would immediately hate her guts if they found out.

Lillian slightly frowns and crosses her arms. "Yeah, we've heard about her."

A/N:

If this chapter gets more votes than usual I'll drop the next chapter early? 👀 (More motivation to write! 😊)

Thanks for reading!