Blood, Sweat and Tears

CHAPTER 3

She was terrified. Her hands were shaking as she tried to finish putting on the dress she had chosen for the party. It was a red dress that showed her shoulders and collarbone but it was closed at the back, it was short sleeved but it wasn't very cold outside and they probably had a fire in the party area. She tried to calm herself down by running her hands through her hair before tying it into a bun letting two loose strands fall down her face and she painted her lips red to match the dress. She grabbed her sketchbook and tore out the last drawing she had been touching up so she could fold it up and tuck it inside her pocket along with one of her pencils. Once she was ready she decided to leave and went downstairs to go find her brother who was all dressed up waiting at the door. He was wearing black pants down to his cufflinks. The shoes he wore were also black and he also wore white socks under his pants. On top he was wearing a white shirt and a black jacket with some gold patterns on the collar, wrists and all over the lapel. No doubt everything looked good on him. His hair was quite done up with a lot of volume, as he always wore it and when he saw his sister he smiled and approached to offer her his arm. The latter grabbed her brother's arm with a slight smile.

一I get the feeling that today everyone is going to talk about how beautiful Emily Dankworth is and not how handsome I look 一he muttered with a chuckle before saying goodbye to his family and walking off with Emily to wherever that party was.

They did not walk but rode in a small carriage and when they arrived Steven got off first so he could help his sister down, like a gentleman. She accepted his help with a smile and took a breath before looking around the place. As had been expected there were several campfires scattered around the place and they had raised several timbers to make a few roofs in different places that they covered with blankets, clearly they were for sleeping there or for couples who wanted some privacy. The people had already arrived and there were quite a few people who were already with their respective drinks, some even seemed to be wasted and it had only started a short time ago. She did not know how but someone had managed to bring a band there to play music with their stringed instruments, so, many couples were dancing to the sound of it.

Her eyes roamed the entire party as her brother led her closer to where some of her friends were. At a sudden moment her gaze met Katherine's who was laughing as she drank from her glass along with some girls she imagined would be her friends. She was able to notice what the brunette was wearing since from where she was looking at her she could see her full length. A beautiful dark blue dress that brought out her eyes. Like her she also had her shoulders bare, but unlike Emily, the dress Katherine was wearing showed her back perfectly. Her arms were covered by black gloves that showed only her fingers and covered her elbows. She also wore a silver necklace around her neck and several rings on her fingers. Her hair was loose, except for a couple of strands that she had tied behind her head to make a sort of updo but let her hair down at the same time. Without a doubt she was the best dressed of the whole party and it was not for less, she was always that way, no one could overshadow her.

She had been staring at her for too long, but during all that time the other girl hadn't taken her eyes off her either and she guessed she was analyzing her outfit just as she had been doing. She looked away for a second from that intense gaze that the opposite always gave her and quickly realized that many of the people present were looking at Katherine. All waiting for her to look back at them, or simply notice their presence. But the brunette's eyes were on Emily and she knew it. Everyone was looking at her, but Katherine was looking at Emily. When she realized that, she moistened her lips nervously, snapping out of that weird trance she was in and looked down at the ground before going for a drink so she could try to blend in with the crowd. Hopefully that way she could lose the girl.

But that didn't seem to do any good because in a matter of seconds the brown-eyed girl had approached Emily, still not taking her eyes off her and with a smile on her lips.