Little Annotations | Tristan Dugray

chapter fifteen

"Genevieve," A soft voice shook her awake, "We need to talk,"

Genevieve peeked one eye open to see her grandmother standing over her with a kind smile. She honestly expected a nice conversation, maybe some breakfast, and then she'd be able to go about her day as she normally would. Instead, she was hit with news that made her want to run away from home.

"Cotillion." She said, "Entirely necessary,"

She thought of all the excuses she could make to get out of it. Maybe she could pick up an extra article or two at the Franklin, or maybe she-.

"You've put it off to the point where all of your friends have had their debut. Any later and people might think that you're just a figment of my imagination. I have already taken the liberty to contact your school about it, they understand that you have a commitment," Her grandma said.

It was one thing to argue back to her mom- and that got her sent to France the entire summer, but arguing with her grandma? She would be kissing her friend goodbye at that point.

"You have a fitting, then you must find an escort, then your father-,"

"I can ask Alina's mom to help with a dress, Trisan's going to be my escort... father though..." She trailed off.

"Don't interrupt me," Her grandmother said pointedly, "Your father cannot make it- shocker."

"Which is where I come in," Genevieve turned around and her face instantly lit up. There he was, standing in front of her with a bag of something delicious in one hand, and arms ready to wrap around her.

"Weston!" She shot up and ran into her brother's arms, "What are you doing here?"

Weston Clairmont, the twenty-year-old, male version of Genevieve. Arguably her favorite family member excluding her grandma. Though, he lost some brownie points when he packed his bags and left for California.

"When grandma calls you answer," He chuckled, patting her head, "I've missed you idiot,"

"Watch who you're calling an idiot. Idiot." She said, "I'm doing better than you did at Chilton,"

"I have no doubt about it," He pulled a Chilton newsletter out of his pocket and flipped to the fourth page where a student-conducted interview of Genevieve was displayed, "I find that having the motivation to stay on top of my academics is vital," He mocked. She glanced at the address on the newsletter and realized that Weston had Chilton sending him newsletters all the way to California.

"I understand that I hold a responsible part in the community at Chilton, being a role model to my peers-," He slapped his palm over her mouth before she could continue mocking him. Genevieve remembered staying up past her bedtime, begging for Weston to read his interview to her, to her, he was a superhero.

. . .

"It's your lucky day," Genevieve threw Tristan's door open, he shot out of his bed in fear and landed in a fighting stance. She stared blankly at him as he stared blankly at her.

"How'd you get here so fast?"

"I told you I was coming."

"Yeah you said in fifteen minutes!" He swung his arms around.

"That was twenty minutes ago," She sighed, handing him a cup of tea, "We have a long day ahead of us, now that Delphine and every other girl that I'm friends with seems to be busy. Oh and Tristan?"

"What?" He asked.

"Will you be my escort to Cotillion?" She asked, and he slightly grinned.

"Can you ask me again once I have a shirt on?" He leaned on his desk with one hand, she looked over to him and rolled her eyes.