Gears and Glass

Chapter 6

Later that night Ni-ki added Arabella and I to a group chat with him, Jungwon, and Sunoo. Arabella and Sunoo were messaging in it all night. Arabella was also messaging Ni-ki a lot.

A few days later Agatha came home with a dress.

Lavinia asked Agatha and Arabella to try on their dresses. When they came down the stairs in their dresses she told them to take a picture. Later, Arabella sent the picture to the group chat.

Niki: Where's Ela?

Sunoo: Yeah! Why isn't Ela in the picture?

Lavinia wouldn't buy me a dress and said I couldn't go if I didn't have a dress :Ela

Sunoo: Who's Lavinia?

Arabella: My mother

Ni-ki: Wait. Oh...

Sunoo: Ela, after work tomorrow, we are taking you shopping

Arabella: THE DAY BEFORE THE BALL!?

Ni-ki: Yep. She needs a dress.

Arabella: But the dresses might be all sold out

Ni-ki: Not the expensive ones.

No. You already paid for my hospital bill. I'm not letting you pay for my dress to :Ela

Sunoo: Nope we're paying for it, and you're coming, whether you like it or not. We will drag you out of the shop if we need to.

Ni-ki: I was thinking of inviting Jay and Sunghoon too. They haven't bought their suits yet.

Jungwon: Can I come too?

Arabella: ME TOO!!

Sunoo: SURE!!!!

I close my phone and sigh. I continue sweeping the floor. "ELA! CLEAN THE DISHES!" I already did. Lavinia just can't be bothered to go in the kitchen.

The next day, Arabella brings me to work. "I'm gonna go shopping while I wait for you to be done." I nod my head. I walk into the shop and say hi to Arthur, the shop owner's apprentice. He took over for me while I was in the hospital.

I put on my apron and start working on a wall mounted clock a baker brought in yesterday. It is almost fully broken. I have to replace most of the gears and should probably replace all of them just to be safe. After I finish the clock, I'm able to finish two others with the help of my mice, before Ni-ki, Sunoo, Jungwon, the man that brought in the grandfather clock with Ni-ki, and one other man I don't know walk in.

"Is it time to go already?"

"Yep." Sunoo says happily and tries to pull me out of the shop.

"Wait, my apron." He lets go and I put my apron away. I walk out of the shop after them and see Arabella standing outside.

"Ela, this is Sunghoon," Sunoo gestures to the man who brought in the grandfather clock. "And this is Jay." The person I had never met before bows his head.

I say hello to both of them.

"We're going to go get their suits first! Then we'll go get your dress!" Sunoo says happily while clapping his hands.

Arabella and I wait outside the shop while they get their suits. "Sooooo, what's going on with you and Ni-ki?" They were talking the whole way over to the shop. "What! Nothing!" I raise my eyebrows. "Uh huh." I drop. She won't tell me, she's too stubborn.

The boys walk out of the shop holding some bags. "Why did you need new suits?" I ask. Weren't only unmarried young ladies invited to the ball?

"Just because." Ni-ki says. "Now let's go get your dress!" He points to the shop across the road. We walk over and into the shop.

We look at so many dresses but all of them were too expensive. Jungwon walks over. "Don't worry about the price." I nod my head.

I see a dress I like on the other side of the store and walk over to it. I grab it and go to the changing room. A few minutes later I walk out. All the boys and Arabella look over.

"That's the one!" Arabella exclaims and all the boys nod. Niki goes up to pay for the dress after I get changed back into my normal clothes. We leave the store and say goodbye to the boys before we head back home.

When we get home, I get my mice to help me with my chores and get ready for bed, excited for tomorrow.