𝙇 𝙄 𝘽 𝙀 𝙍 𝘼𝙏 𝙀 𝘿

13 L I B E R A T E D 13

13 L 13

"Half an hour late, but she's finally here," my mother said, smoothing out the fabric of her black, satin-like dress. I say satin-like, because hell, we not rich yet.

A'livia's mother spun around, like many other people in the small boutique, to witness the arrival of Carmela Zion and her daughter, Vonna East.

"C'mon. I'll go over and introduce you," A'livia's mother and my mom walked off towards them.

Carmela Zion looked expensive as hell, her tits sitting up in a sparkly dress that was the epitome of all the evening gown looks that A'livia had shown me. Besides her, Vonna East was wearing a black suit with her hair slicked back into a bun, and some shiny dress shoes.

Although they were almost like walking goddesses amongst us, something dead in their eyes gave away the human in them.

"You know, I got a lil boo thang, but Vonna kind of looks a little," A'livia finished her sentence with a sip out of her champagne glass (which was filled with a clear liquid might I add, that burns when it goes down your throat).

"Ya mama know you drinking?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow at my friend.

"Ya mama know you gay?" she shot back, smirking.

"Fair enough. Fair enough," I laughed.

"Sit tight. Ima go get something to eat. If you can't find me, just go back and chill at our table," A'livia advised.

"Alright," I said, taking a quick glance around the store. It was weird pretending to be so fancy here, and also extremely weird for me to not be filling my pockets with all the things on display at the mini booths some of the businesses had set up.

Formally, this was just one of Mrs. Ronalds' events, but informally, it was the preview to what Carmela Zion had to offer at her big venue.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets, one of my fingers playing around with my new favorite keychain. The purple sparkly one from last week that had caught my eye.

As I was trying to control my temptations, I noticed the girl approaching me. She had a champagne glass in her hand, but it was obviously only filled with Coke or Pepsi. "Only other real teenager I see here, besides all the usual boutique kids," she commented.

Her tone was light, although her face bore hardly any emotions. There was pain in her voice, but also a analytical vibe about her. "I'm a boutique kid too. My mom just hadn't gotten her a physical store yet. She's still selling online," I shrugged.

"Hmm. Same difference."

I grabbed a glass off the tray of a waiter walking around. It was filled with water, unfortunately. Me and the girl both stood there against the wall, observing the crowd and sipping out of our fancy cups.

"So which one's your mother?"

"The one talking to your's still, probably."

I didn't even have to look for my own mother in the room to know that. "She's a friend of A'livia's mom. Mrs. Ronalds," I supplied, noticing the expression on the girl's face.

"I don't know many people. My mom mostly knows everyone."

"Everyone definitely knows your mom." I don't know why what I said seemed to come out sounding so bitter. "New to the Aster Waters boutique market, and hopped right up there on the fashion food chain."

"Yeah," she took a long sip of her drink.

"I'm Liberty. Liberty Coolmen," I sighed. I guess I was going to have to start off with our introductions too then.

"Nice to meet you, Liberty. I'm Vonna."

She was giving me this weird Edward Cullen vibe.

"So, what's up with the fashionably late entrance?"

"You the paparazzi?" Vonna snapped, her entire expression seeming to change. She sighed, setting her glass down on an empty table surrounded by plush chairs. "A rough day. A rough night," she told me with a shaky voice.

"Sorry to hear that. It happens to the best of us."

"Vonna. Come here. I want you to look at their floral arrangements and tell me if you think they'd look good in crimson red at my event." Vonna's mother pulled her away, leaving Vonna to shoot me an apologetic smile before drifting away.

For the rest of the night, I minimally got a chance to speak to my mother or A'livia's, as I expected. I ended up spending most of my time getting to know my new best friend better and talking with the rest of the typical boutique kids.

Being around people who had better things to do than steal made me feel like maybe if I hung around the right crowd...my urges just might go away.

I said might.

Don't hold onto any hope for me, universe.

At the end of the night, my mother was a confirmed attendee to Carmela Zion East, or whatever the hell her last name is's, event. On our drive home, courtesy of A'livia's mom's car, we all went out to a restaurant to celebrate.

Now that my mom would be attending this event, she would be featured in websites and magazines. Business would start booming for her and her dream of finally getting a physical store might actually become reality sooner rather than later.

Regardless, as I slipped into bed underneath my covers, an image of Vonna waited in my dreams.

I wanted to know about this mysterious girl who was so apart of this fancy world that she was out of it.