Shackles

4

Saturday rolls around. It wasn't bullshit. I'm in my room when my door is practically knocked down by a hand battering it.

"Leon! Leave! I'm not going," I call out as loud and grumpily as possible.

The battering doesn't stop.

I groan and climb out of bed, opening my door. His hazel eyes drop down my body, taking in my jogging bottoms and hoodie, and suddenly two hands are pressed on my shoulders and I'm shoved back into my room.

"Wilson, get dressed," he orders with urgency.

I lift my brows in amusement, crossing my arms stubbornly. "You really thought I was bluffing when I said I wasn't going to this party?"

He throws a glance down to his watch. "It's gone five, please get dressed."

"Leon." I say sternly, leaning down so I'm in his eye level. "I'm not going, and that's non-negotiable."

I watch his jaw roll and his expression stiffen. His tongue rolls along his teeth and he takes a step to the side, lifting his hand to my bedroom door. I stare at the wood, confusedly trying to see what he was gesturing to. Just a second later, a polite knock chimes through the air.

My eyes fly to his, alarmed. "Is that...?"

"Leon, Felicite, we need to leave."

My heart drops, and not because his father is standing inside our apartment calling for us to go to this stupid party. My heart drops because he just said my name. My name which not even Leon knows. Leon calls me Wilson. I never introduced myself to Leon's dad- yet he knows my name.

My blood runs cold and my palms gather a thin layer of sweat. Leon looks at me, almost as if he can read my every thought. He doesn't look shocked, though.

"Felicite?" he questions, tilting his head a fraction.

I nod, taking a breath through my nose. "Yeah."

"Why did you never correct me when I called you Wilson?"

"We aren't exactly friends, I didn't see the need," I reply honestly.

"Right..." he trails off, his interest seeming to be elsewhere now. "You need to- uh." He points at my wardrobe, where all my clothes are hanging.

The fear shifting between my bones has inflicted a dilemma within me. He knows my name but I never told him nor his son. I want to know how he knows my name, and so I head to my wardrobe, pulling open the door.

"Good," Leon nods, looking slightly relieved.

He backs out of the room and I hear the muffles of him telling his dad I'm just finishing getting ready through the door.

I can't believe this is actually happening. I can't believe I've been coaxed into going to this party due to fear.

I sat in the back of the car in silence whilst Leon sat in the front and his dad drove. I'm surprised he didn't have a private chauffeur, he seems this kind. We pulled up through the massive black gates and rolled down his gravel driveway, and the whole way my eyes were trained through the front windscreen in awe of what I was seeing.

His house is huge. Big white pillars with ivy wrapping around them like something out of a film. The driveway is a loop like you would see outside a casino, with a literally water fountain in the middle. It's stunning. There are so many cars parked out front, all with a price tag higher than my whole worth. His front door is a double, made of two huge pieces of dark oak.

As we step through, I can smell the essence of flowers and fresh linen hit me- even with the amount of people inside. I don't dare to utter a word under the high ceilings, I just follow in step with Leon and his father, with wide eyes and parted lips. This is a whole new world.