ATARAXIA • BELLAMY BLAKE

[ 1 7 ]

"Oh, to be a kid with no cares in the world," said Freya under her breath. She winced at the loud music that blasted through the speaker standing just beside her in the corner where she and Jaime stood, chaperoning the masquerade party. Freya craned her neck to see the entrance over the teens' heads, searching for Bellamy's face.

"You make it sound like you're ninety years old."

Freya shot Jaime a surprised look, not having thought he would have heard her over the music. She shrugged. "I sure feel that way. I'm like a grandma ordering all these kids around," she said. "You know, I used to love going to parties like these. Never thought I'd get stuck on the other side of them."

"What a ray of sunshine you are," mused Jaime, before snorting a laugh.

They were stood just by the table with all of the refreshments, getting nervous looks from a few teens as they scooped themselves some punch.

"Hey," said Freya to two boys as they walked up. She motioned for them to take off their masks — or rather one of them to take off his mask and the other to take off his goggles. The boys looked hesitantly at each other before doing so, Jasper shooting an amused smile while Monty offered a highly awkward one.

"Hey..." Monty said with a slight wave of his hand.

"I thought it was you," Freya said, casting a glance at their cups, a minuscule smile creeping its way to her lips despite her best efforts to keep it at bay. Jasper's hand twitched nervously on his cup, making Freya arch a brow. "I'm watching you."

But before any of them got the chance to answer, Freya's attention was caught by Bellamy as she spotted him among the teens. She left Jaime to stand alone in their corner and squeezed her way through the crowd to get to him.

She couldn't help the grin that took over her face. "Hey," she said, lightly smacking his shoulder. "Told you we'd chaperone one of these things together one day."

Bellamy looked her over, smiling. "Yeah, and can I just say how absolutely breathtaking you look tonight."

Freya forced a look of offense at his comment on her very boxy guard's uniform that she had complained to him about on multiple occasions. "Not funny."

She frowned when noticing how Bellamy's eyes were no longer fixed on her but on something behind her. She turned around to follow his gaze, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Who are you looking for? Have a new girl already?" she joked, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Shut up, Smartass," he said playfully before resting both hands on Freya's shoulders and turning her around to face the same direction as him. He subtly pointed his finger the way of a girl who was dancing enthusiastically next to a boy with some very stiff moves.

At first, the mask threw Freya off, but once she saw the dark bangs and ponytail, she felt her heart plummet to her stomach. Octavia.

Freya whipped around to face Bellamy once again, her smile long gone. "What have you done?" she asked, panic-struck.

But Bellamy didn't match her worry. "Relax, Faye, nothing's gonna happen. Everyone is wearing a mask, no one even knows who's who."