~Hey Beautiful~

Aurora leant closer to the mirror to apply mascara to her eyelashes without getting them too thick or smudged. She needed a perfect flawless look so other invitees like her would not be able to correctly guess her age. It was what a party was for; fun and she intended to have every bit of it. She had been in a really dexterous mood coupled with the appearance of Christie when all hopes seemed to be lost. She had everything to be grateful for.

She gave her eyes a smoky and glitter glow to match with her outfit. Smoothening down her glittery party dress stopping above her knees and giving herself a once over, she picked up her purse, walking to the door. As she reached to open the door, Christie burst in instead with her mouth wide open in surprise.

"I'd be lying if I say you look gorgeous. You look over the top fantastic. Like dead drop gorgeous, toe curling beautiful, head turning stunning--"

"That's enough, Kay. We're going to be late if you keep going on and on about that."

Leave it to Christie to flatter and brainwash a person with compliments. It was like she was naturally gifted with that ability. Maybe it was the fact that she was a bubbly black american or she went to a lot of social gatherings when she was younger due to the social status of her family.

The most astounding thing was, Aurora had no idea Christie's family were that wealthy until she happened to accidentally overhear her while she was on the phone. Scarred from her previous encounter with rich folks,
Aurora had determined to put an end to their friendship before it fully bloomed but Christie would have none of that. She pointed out to Aurora that the money was her parents' and not hers. If she had to work from scratch to make wealth, then she would. After much persuasion from Dolores, she eventually caved in.

When they arrived the living room, her brother was nowhere to be seen. She figured he would be in his room probably on FaceTime with Dolores.

"See ya!" She yelled instead, hoping he even heard her. He often lost sight of any other person when Dolores was with him. Sometimes it was endearing, other times she hoped not to fall in love.

"You mean I won't get to see Nicolas?"

Aurora laughed at the sound of Christie's whiny voice behind her. Ever since the first day she came by her house to visit and got ushered in by Nicolas, she didn't want to get over her obsession with him. On most days when she accompanied her home, she did it for the sole purpose of spending some time talking to Nicolas, while ignoring Aurora.

She did all that but not acting desperately like a hoe needing attention. She was the last child of her family and her siblings were all grown, having their various jobs to fill their hands. There was no time for the baby of the house and If she couldn't find attention in her home, she was open to finding it elsewhere. Plus, Nicolas didn't seem to mind treating her like his sister. So there it was, the bond formation.

"You would see him after the party. Let's just go."

The ride which Christie ordered was waiting for them outside to convey them to their location. After a fifteen minutes drive, they arrived at an urban settlement with houses towering above them like ancient mansions. It made Aurora feel insecure but when she looked at her friend, she found that she didn't look fazed. Growing up attending parties in venues such as these must have worked it's magic.

Christie was the one who had gotten the invitation and wanted her to tag along so Aurora allowed her lead the way. They got to the entrance and Christie raised two invitation cards to the view of the doormen who briefly nodded then pushed open the long doors.

Aurora was astonished. She whispered to Christie. "They must be extremely rich. They even have doormen, can you imagine that?"

It wasn't new to her but she replied with equal enthusiasm. "I know right. It's so insane!"

They were greeted with pin drop silence while they glided noiselessly across the smooth tiles which glistened under the florescent lights. Aurora had to discreetly pinch herself to be sure she wasn't dead. The place appeared so surreal but she was more bothered about the party.

"Are we the first people to come?"

"Nope, we are really late. Just come with me."

Still entranced by the appearance of the mansion, she followed right behind her friend. Soon, they stopped behind heavy doors watched by another pair of doormen. They opened without hesitation unlike when they needed entrance through the main doors.

Aurora's jaw dropped to the ground the moment she walked in to what was the pool side of the house. It was larger than most pools she had seen in her life. The music blasting from the speakers alone was enough to have her deaf instantly. Teenagers her age and some young adults flooded every single space around the pool. Close to twenty people were in the pool floating around, making out and having fun.

She turned to grab Christie by her arm, shouting so she could be heard. "But you didn't say it was going to be a pool party. I can't swim."

"Who says we have to swim? Just stay away from the edge so you don't get pushed in." Christie shouted back before throwing her head back and squealing in delight as her favorite song came on.

It was Body language by a beat producer called Sickmix. It was basically just a remix of Chris Brown's Under the Influence. Apparently, Christie was going crazy for the song and Aurora, not wanting to miss out, decided to blend in and have her own share of fun. She didn't come all the way only to look like a stunned deer stuck in headlights.

A lot of people she didn't know stopped by to hug Christie, peck her on the cheek and so on. Most noticed her standing behind but only a few were courteous enough to spare a wave or a friendly smile.

Soon, Christie offered to go get drinks for them both provided she didn't move an inch. Agreeing to it, Aurora whipped out her phone from her purse. It was still too early for the party to be nearing an end but she was bored already. Shaking off the tiredness already seeping into her bones, she raised her hands in a twirl and began to dance.

"Hey."

A masculine voice crooned into her ear. The rich tone of his voice sent a pleasurabe tingle down her spine and she shuddered with delight. She turned to look into the most gorgeous eyes she'd seen. She was too stunned to speak.

"You look awesome in this dress." He stated in a flirty tone before leaning down to press a chaste kiss on her cheek. He stepped away right after and got lost in the throng of the excited crowd.

Subconsciously, her hand raised up to touch the spot he had kissed her. It made her insides swarm with butterflies and made her knees want to sink like jelly to the ground. It also didn't help that the DJ had swapped the song to something on a softer edge for the teenagers to indulge themselves in whatever they were doing with each other.

"If it isn't Aurora, the con trying to suck up to the next available money bag like a fucking leech."

The voice awakened her from her lustful slumber like a bucket of icy water doused over her. She turned around to see Selena with an ugly sneer cracking through her angel facade hence causing a putrefaction to her innocent like appearance.

"Its terrible to see you too, Selena." Fear arose in the pit of her stomach twisting it in an uncomfortable way but she wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing that she made her tremble with fear of the unknown.

"You have the nerve to talk back after all the years of pretence?"

"All I did was pretend. I haven't killed anyone. Yet." With her last word, Aurora pinned her eyes on Selena as intensely as she could to make her back away.

Instead, Selena took several steps towards her. "Did you just threaten me?"

Aurora rolled her eyes carelessly then shrugged. "It depends on whichever angle you view it but I was only giving a brief résumé of my capability."

"You won't have so much to say when your lungs gets filled to the brim with chlorinated water." Another step forward.

"W-what does that mean? Are you threatening me?" She took an unconscious step back.

A wicked gleam sparked across Selena's eyes, painting her face in a psychopathic glow as she replied. "It depends on whichever angle you view it but I was only giving a brief résumé of my capabilities. Have fun swimming."

Before Aurora could register that she had stepped too close to the edge of the pool, she found herself hurled into it. Her body sank immediately as she struggled to kick herself back up. The water seemed to have a strong grip over her limbs because the more she struggled against the force of the water, the more she was weakened. She opened her mouth to take in air but water seeped inside instead. Her lungs were burning, her eyes brimmed with tears which no one could notice. Laughter rang out from all around her but nobody offered a helping hand to pull her out.

She was holding on to the very last threads of life but slipping fast. Her body slackened against her will giving the water chance to move her almost unconscious self around. She thought she heard a faint splash from somewhere nearby but she didn't want to place hopes that someone was coming to save her. The water around her began rippling and in an instant, she felt herself tugged out of the water with smooth agility.

"Hey, beautiful. Look at me."

Her eyes faintly opened to gaze into the face of her rescuer but all her senses were too dulled to give any reaction. Her body gave up on her and that was it.

~~~{•}~~~

Before you kill me for this, I didn't plan this chapter
It just came suddenly.
I'm sorry.

Leave a vote if this was your best chapter yet.
~~Chignature~~