Grim

35

A/N: Just noticed that when I published chapter 34, it didn't give a notification. Make sure you read that first and then this one! 🎀✨

Beads of sweat trickled down my forehead as I put up the balloon arch. It was the last decoration left to put up, which meant that Ariela and I were finally done decorating the place. Ariela exited the kitchen and sighed, "I'm so exhausted! I think the cupcakes should be good by now." We had been alternating between decorating, baking, and cooking. Even Diana had been taking part. She was the primary chef. Most of the recipes came from her, and she also kept consistent monitoring of the food. I was glad that everything had come together the way it had. We had done a great job, and I honestly hadn't thought that everything would turn out so well, given our time constraint!

"We did it!" I chuckled through an exasperated sigh.

"Bro, this shit looks way better than I thought it would," she admitted, and we both burst into laughter. She then checked the time on her wrist and said, "It's 5:30. Ace must've been stalling to keep Zy outside longer!"

Or maybe they both were, given that Azias now knew, I thought to myself.

"We should freshen up and get dressed," I suggested, and she nodded in agreement, so we went our separate ways. I had already prepared an outfit for myself and Azias. I left his on the bed and took a quick shower and got dressed in haste because I wanted enough time to do makeup. Even though I'd be doing a light beat, I still needed a decent amount of time because I wasn't as skilled as Rose and didn't practice doing makeup as much as she did.

As for my hair, I simply wore it in a high knot bun and called it a day. I had done the bare minimum with my edges because I wasn't feeling the whole getting dolled up vibe that I normally would feel whenever it was time to dress up for something. Maybe that lack of excitement was a result of Azias and me fighting, or maybe it was simply one of those days when I just didn't want to dress up.

I was wearing a baby blue mini dress that had a long v-neck to show the tits I didn't have. I matched it with some silver red bottoms that Azias had gotten me, along with some of the diamond jewelry he had bought me.

I took a good look at myself in the mirror and sighed.  I looked nice, but I just simply wasn't in the spirit of dressing up. I wanted to get undressed and jump into some sweats, but I thought I should at least dress the part to welcome Ace and Azias to the party. After, I planned to escape the festivities and spend the night in my room. I just really wasn't feeling the vibes tonight, and I would have much rather being antisocial. However, I had put too much time and effort into making sure this surprise party came together. I didn't want it to be all for nothing, at least for Ace's sake. He had been through quite enough, and I felt that it was only right that we welcomed him back the proper way: a loving celebration with his family.

I took one more look at myself and sighed. I hated the fact that I looked so cute when I felt so horrible on the inside. I hated fighting with Azias, although he had it in his head that I enjoyed it. Recently, we just kept on butting heads. We weren't seeing eye-to-eye at all, and instead of talking it out, we just kept on saying and doing dumb shit. I was getting tired of the arguments, and especially tired of feeling so hurt. I knew I played a role in our fall outs. I'd be a liar if I said differently, but this time, I felt that I actually tried to avoid an argument with Azias. Each time I tried to push away the hurtful things he did and said and socialize with him, I'd end up getting even more hurt.

That's why when we had our argument last night, I just completely tuned him out after explaining myself. I wasn't ready for an apology from him because we had gotten into one too many fights where he'd hurt my feelings and then I'd just let it go because he apologized. He needed to know that his behavior wasn't okay!