ACCEPTANCE -DEAN PORTMAN

[CHAPTER THIRTEEN]

Eurydice messed with the lace sleeves of her emerald dress dress for what seemed but the hundredth time. Desperately trying to make it look the way she wanted and fall gracefully off her shoulders.

"Why does it keep on crumpling up?" Eurydice seethed, contemplating on completely giving up and not going.

The Varsity guys has invited the Ducks to a fancy dinner as a way to honour an Eden Hall tradition, to congratulate them on their first game.

Although the team didn't perform well, they still showed their guts so Rick Riley thought it was fitting to treat them to lobster and steak.

Julie groaned, "If you keep doing that to the fabric, it will definitely crumple."

She straightened out the delicate cloth before asking Eurydice to help zip her skirt up.

"How much do you wanna bet we show up and they don't." Julie asked, fiddling with her fingers.

"Banks is there, he wouldn't do that to us."

Julie smiled at the one comfort, "Guess so."

They two girls grabbed their purses and walked towards the boys dorms, fixed their hair frantically as Julie was still fiddling with a strap on her flats.

As Eurydice was struggling to put on her bracelet, Julie huffed, "If those two boys aren't ready yet I'll literally strangle them with my pearls."

The two girls banged on Kenny and Fulton's dorm continuously until finally, Fulton opened it revealing both he and Kenny were still in lounge wear.

Eurydice gasped, "Why the hell are the two of you still in your pyjamas?"

"There's still an hour, why are you two ready?"

Urgh, boys.

Julie shoved Fulton into his dorm and pulled Kenny off his bed, tossing two button ups in their direction while Eurydice handed them the only two belts they brought from home to Eden Hall.

"Take these, put in some long pants, we'll see what we can do with your hair." Eurydice stated before both her and Julie walked out of the room.

Julie peeked her head into the crack of the door one last time, "Also if the two of you aren't out in ten minutes I will kick both your asses, don't make us late."

~

Kenny fretted over his hair once more, undoing all the good Eurydice did in just a few seconds.

"Ken that took me fifteen minutes to just get your hair neat!"

Fulton wasn't any better but Julie gave up rather quickly in his case just tucking most of his shoulder length hair behind hair ears, ignoring his please to wear a bandanna.

Eurydice groaned, "This is a dinner not a hockey game, you can't wear it."

Fulton made a face before slightly ruffling his fingers through Eurydice's hair, messing it up ever so gently, causing her to go into a frenzy.

"DUDE, that took me half an hour."

The four finally got to the school entrance where Rick said he and his posse would pick them up and drive to the fancy restaurant.

Averman was bouncing with excitement as Goldberg could wipe a smile off his face. However, Charlie of course, was very hesitant to show any signs of pleasure or joy.

Free food, good dining experience and free transportation? Sounds too good to be true.

The ride to the restaurant was tense with Averman trying to make conversation with Cole but the older boy had his sights on glaring at Fulton.

The three girls stuck together for the whole ride, trying to brush off the heat radiating from both Charlie and Rick as Banks tried his best to be friendly with both.

The relative silence in the car made Eurydice's mind start to wonder to Dean.

She hadn't told him about the dinner, that she'd be back in her dorm later than usual. A sense of not just urgency but fear bubbled in her as she imagined the messages Dean would leave her let alone tell her tomorrow over the phone.

Before she could spiral too deep, Julie tugged Eurydice's wrist, telling her they had reached their destination.

The place really looked very very expensive with waiters in suits and tables being draped in cloth, something she rarely saw.

As the food was being served Eurydice chowed down on as much food as her stomach would allow, it wasn't everyday that they could order as much steak and lobster as they liked.

Goldberg and Julie were having a squabble as Kenny and Eurydice gawked at the quality of food they were being served, with Fulton silently eating with a smile on his face.

Guy came back from the bathroom excitedly as he gestured for the team to listen, "I heard in the bathroom that they're going to have a surprise for us. Not to spoil it but, it's a cake!"

Eurydice gasped, "No way!"

Guys smiled, "Yes way."

With the team stuffed to the brim, Rick and Cole grabbed Banks from his shoulder and forced him to stand up from his seat, the rest of the Varsity team following them.

"Stay put alright? We're gonna get you guys that surprise." Rick said, a smugness to his voice before he took his last swing of cider and walked out of the room, leaving them all alone like sitting ducks.

"Oh they're too kind."

A few moments later, a group of waiters arrived into the private room, a four tier cake on a stand, with blue writing written on a piece of white chocolate, standing out from the whole cake.

"Thanks for dinner losers!"

Holy shit.

She should have seen this coming. They were assholes, how could they just let them enjoy a dinner?

~

"This is so gross." Julie groaned as she dug into the sink drain, her face turning the other side, hold her breath.

Eurydice sighed as her brows furrowed, "Can't believe I'm going to miss my call with Portman."

Kenny scoffed, "That's what you care about? Seriously We are literally cleaning toilets to work off out debt."

Eurydice shrugged, "He'll be mad, don't wanna deal with that the first thing when I get back."

Fulton shook his head, Eurydice could tell he wanted to so say something but he was holding himself back.

"Just spit it out Reed."

He sighed, still unsure whether to do it, "It's just...don't you think he should be more understanding? Like don't you think you should try to talk to him again? Not just get scared?"

Eurydice took a deep breath, "Not now Fulton."

Even though she did want to hear what her friends had to say and their opinions especially on the rough patch of their relationship, however, the moment Eurydice was confronted with a negative opinion, or the possibility of it having a bad outcome, she couldn't take it.

She just couldn't take it.