Charlotte

Chapter Eighteen

"Rose!" 

Janine screaming my friends name startled me, forcing me to jump away from Dimitri, who sadly let go of my hands and stepped back to the wall. 

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Janine's five foot self-stormed over to Rose and Adrian. They were still standing next to each other, a respectable distance away, too. I watched as the elder Hathaway angrily confronted her daughter; her face as red as her hair. Rose was holding a champaigne glass and the liquid tipped over onto the skirt of Rose's dress. 

"Whoa, what do you think you're doing? This is silk. You could have ruined it!" 

Janine snatched the glass, placing it firmly on the table. "Good. Maybe it'll stop you from dressing up like a cheap whore." 

I spared Dimitri a glance before squeezing his hand and making my way over to the two Hathaways.  

"That's kind of harsh," Rose was saying as I got closer. "And where do you get off turning all motherly all of a sudden? This isn't exactly cheap, by the way. You thought it was nice of Tasha to give it to me." 

"That's because I didn't expect you to wear it out with Moroi and make a spectacle of yourself." 

"I think the only one who is making a spectacle, is you," I say darkly from behind Janine. She whirls around to see me, and Rose looks up at me with wide eyes. "Everyone was minding their own business up until you came over here shouting." 

"Why am I not surprised you're here too. Kirova must be getting soft for allowing you to continue on at St. Vladimirs," Janine shot. "Perhaps you should go back to minding your own instead of trying to fight my daughters battles for her." 

"I'm not fighting anything for her. Your shitty parenting is for you and her to deal with, but you're not going to sit here and bully her in front of everyone and not expect a friend to stick up for her. I don't care who you are." I'd already proven to her once that I wasn't going to let her do this shit in front of me. Would she really risk being humiliated in front of all these people? Right now, only a few people were staring, and a sharp glare from me had them turning away, but if either of us raised our voices one more octave, the entire hall would be paying attention. 

Janine seemed to realize this too, turning back to Rose and lowering her voice. "Your body is conspicuous," she hissed. "And flirting with Moroi isn't helping." 

"I wasn't flirting with him," Rose said. "Besides, isn't that what I'm supposed to do? Hook up with a Moroi guy and further our race? It's what you did." 

"Not when I was your age." 

"Oh, come on," Rose laughed. "You were only a few years older than me." 

"Don't do anything stupid, Rose. You're too young for a baby. You don't have the life experience for it. You haven't even lived your own life yet. You won't be able to do the kind of job you wish you could." 

In truth, I felt a little sad for Janine. Her hidden side was poking out with her words, revealing her regret. It must be hard to have to see your daughter and knowing that in her eyes you'd failed her. They continued to argue, the word sex ripping more attention from the crowd. I grabbed Rose's hand and led the way out of the hall, fully expecting Janine to follow. She didn't disappoint, immediately ranting about Adrian and his reputation with women. 

"Thanks mom," Rose growled unappreciatively as she turned and stalked away in the opposite direction, dragging me with her. I hugged her closely as we stepped outside to a roof top deck. A thick blanket of snow was coating everything, and the early morning sunlight was reflecting off of the sheet, making everything glitter. We brushed off the snow on some box like object and settled on it, uncaring of our dressed. Rose nestled into my arms between my legs and I hugged her close. It was freezing for me, causing my breath to puff in the air and I feared I would be sick in the morning.