Iridescence | Edward x OC

40

The strongest drug that exists for a human is another human being.

- Unknown
-

"Mom, I'm not going." Aris stated, swatting away her mother's hands who were desperately trying to pull her out of bed.

"Yes you are. We haven't seen the Denali's in months, and who knows when they're gonna throw another party?" She threw her hands up exasperatedly. "What is up with you? You never pass up an opportunity to see your immortal friends. Besides, a masquerade sounds like a lot of fun!" Talia tried to reason, though Aris's face remained placid.

"I'm just not feeling well." She shrugged unconvincingly.

"Well, you can suck it up for one night. You're under my roof, which means my rules, and my rule is that you will attend the Denali's tonight, especially because I already bought you the perfect dress and mask." Talia walked over to the far side of the room where she held up the bagged dress, unzipping it for Aris to see, or rather, admire its beauty.

The dress was long and a periwinkle color, the center embroidered with jewels, as well as the rim around the top. The delicacy and softness of the look had Aris just yearning to put it on, her previous aversion of attending the party seeming to have just washed away.

'It'll be easy enough to avoid the Cullen's.' She hummed, hopping out of bed and striding over to the dress. 'Or, if I do happen to run into any of them, especially Edward, let's just pray that I can keep my composure to lie convincingly enough about where I've been.'

Aris took the dress from her mother's hands, heading over to the mirror where she held it up to herself. It was the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen, and she just knew that she'd look breathtaking wearing it. Though, she couldn't help it as her mind wandered to a certain someone, and how under normal circumstances she would've been looking forward to him seeing her in it as well. However, considering what she was going to do within the next 24 hours, she was hoping that she wouldn't have to face him at all.

"Oh Aris, that's going to look stunning on you." Talia gushed, placing her hands on Aris's shoulders from behind.

"I think I'm feeling better now." Aris mumbled, still in a trance of awe from the dress's beauty.

"Great! It's already 3:00, and we're supposed to be at the Denali's by 6:30, so you better start getting ready now." Talia smiled, clasping her hands together. "I'll go check on Jack and your father, we'll be out the door by 5:00, so you better hurry." Talia hurriedly headed out of the room, leaving Aris alone, still unable to take her eyes off of the dress in the mirror.

It took her pretty much the entirety of the allotted time to get ready, but by the time she was finished, there were no words to describe just how beautiful she looked.

"Aris, there's someone here for you!" Talia called up the stairs, which was then followed shortly after by the creaking of the front door being opened.

Putting on her matching mask and touching up her hair one last time, Aris then wandered down the stairs curiously, making her way to the foyer where Osiris was stood in the entryway, dressed in a navy tux with his hair styled nicely. Though there was a jet black mask covering the upper part of his face, the smug smile that played on his lips made it obvious who he was.

"Um, I'll be right back." She mumbled, heading out the front door and closing it behind them so her mother wouldn't overhear their conversation.

"What're you doing here?" She hissed, walking them away from the entrance of her house, and over to a nearby tree. "And why are you dressed so nicely?"