The Pond Of Flowers

One, The Party

Elliana wasn't rich. She didn't live in a mansion; just a personal penthouse in her dad's building. Her dad wasn't the owner of a multinational company; just the CEO. Her mom wasn't a world renowned actress; just the star of the country.

She sighed and flopped onto her bed. Elliana Richards had told herself this every night since she was ten years old. She hated having so much money. She knew she was extremely fortunate, but couldn't she just be average?

She hated the way people looked at her. The rich girl. The girl who gets everything she wants. The girl who doesn't have to try for anything.

Today was the worst. Today was her birthday. Her dad always made an elaborate and way over the top party. She had to smile at people she didn't know. Act poised around them. And the people she did know were even worse. They never acted the same around her. When Elliana was a kid, she invited her whole class to her birthday party. The next day she sat alone. And the day after that. And the week after that.

She got up. There wasn't time to moan for herself. She stared at the dress that had been made especially for the party.

She sighed. This was too fancy. Too elaborate. She wasn't good enough for this dress. No one was.

She found a dress that she never wore. It was a pink and blue swirled dress, with long, thin sleeves and a slightly ruffled skirt that reached a little past her knees. Her dad had got it for her first day of high school. She loved it, but she didn't want her first impression as a high schooler to be that she was a snob. It wasn't as fancy as the other dress, but it was too fancy for school. It was perfect.

After she put on the dress, she did her hair. But then she undid it. She let her blond curls loose. It was beautiful. She didn't need flowers and clips and whatnot. This was good.

She took the elevator down until she reached the ground floor. She got into her dad's limo. As she rode, she started to sing. Everyone said she had a beautiful voice, but she never knew if they were telling the truth or just being polite. She sang quietly. It was a song she had written. It was about the water. The only true thing was the water.

She got out of the car. She walked through the stunning gardens of the venue her dad had come up with.

"Ellie!" She heard.

"Stace! Em!" She called back.

Her best friends, Stacy and Emily had arrived. Emily's pale skin contrasted with her raven black hair that was flying around in the wind. She was wearing a navy blue dress with floral lace. Stacy was wearing a sunny yellow dress, with red details that matched her flaming red hair that was done up in a fishtail braid.

"Thank you guys for coming! I would not be able to survive without you two." Elliana said.

"We're here for you Ellie." Stacy said.

"And for the dessert bar." Emily joked.

They all laughed. Emily was Elliana's best friend in the world, but was more of a joker than a supporter. But the laughing stopped too soon. These parties always ended in disasters. There was the time no one talked to her. And the time her dad got a cake so tall that it toppled onto her. The time she tripped over the infinite ruffles on her skirt and broke her arm. The time her dad ripped up her favorite book because she was reading it instead of dancing.

But Elliana took a deep breath, grabbed her friends' hands, and walked in. The music pounded in her ears. Everyone bowed to her like she was a princess from the nineteenth century. She sat down on a lush chair and chatted with her friends. Soon enough, as predicted, a rich family in ball gowns came to talk to her. And then more people. And more. She lost Stacy and Emily in the crowd. Fancy dinners. Happy birthday song. Cake. Presents. They rushed by. She sighed with relief at eight o'clock. Only one hour left. She searched for Emily and Stacy. They weren't in the main room. She went up some stairs and searched the balcony. She couldn't help but admire the view of the beautiful lake.

"Beautiful view, isn't it?" Someone said.

She sighed. More people. But she went all perky and glued a fake smile to her face.

"Your father found the best venue." The person said.

"He always does." she said, and made her voice a few octaves higher.

"I'm George Phenakin. You're Elliana."

She didn't reply. Just nodded. She wasn't supposed to correct people.

"I'm so glad to make your acquaintance." She said.

"You seem like such a nice girl. It's a lot better than those girls who think they're equal to men. Parading around asking for equal pay. I mean, how crazy can you get?" George said.

"Yeah. I didn't know people could be so crazy." Elliana replied.

She had to turn away. This man was outrageous.

"You're very agreeing." George said.

She tensed.

"And rightfully so. Girls shouldn't show their emotions."

She wanted to scream at him. Tell him he was a sexist idiot. Oh, how she wished to.

"Thank you very much." She said. Her voice got even higher in anger.

"You're good wife material." He said.

She couldn't help herself. "I'm fifteen!" She blurted out.

"Oh, not now. But in the future. You know, betrothal."

Betrothal? Really? Now she wanted less to punch him and more to throw up. But she still wanted to punch him.

"Cruciatus." She said. She had said, torture, but in Latin. She knew a little bit of Latin, and usually only spoke it when she didn't want people to know what she was saying.

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" George said.

"It's just lovely in... russian. I have to go." Elliana said.

As she walked away, George pulled her back and kissed her hand. She smiled and nodded and walked away scrunching her face up.

She surveyed everything from the top of the stairs and finally spotted Emily and Stacy. She grabbed their hands and pulled them outside.

"We're leaving. Now." She said.

She led them outside. They kept walking until they reached a small cove behind the lake. Elliana explained what had happened. They continuously interrupted her with comments about what a jerk George was. Elliana barely wanted to go back to the party. She honestly would have preferred to keep talking about how terrible he was.

"So what are you going to do?" Emily asked.

"I'd find that George and give him a taste of my fists." Stacy said.

"Stacy. Remember, stay calm." Emily said. "But me too."

"Seriously guys." Elliana said.

"I'd just ignore him. It's not like you're ever going to see him again." Emily said.

"You're right. Can we go back to my place after the party?" Elliana asked.

"Sleepover!" Emily shouted.

"Sure. Why not." Stacy said.

They walked back in and spent the rest of the party (which was about thirty minutes) dancing around in fancy ways. Or at least, attempts at fancy ways. Elliana used talent and years of classes to manage a tango by herself, while Emily and Stacy basically just did bad ballet. But it was fun.

After that, they tumbled into Elliana's limo, fighting over shotgun. Just like usual. Little did they know, the night would turn out very different than usual.

A/N Hi! This is my first story and I'm still young with my writing skills still developing, so this might be kinda sloppy, and I'm sorry.