Stars Aligned

Chapter 15

The dance took place on the last day of school. The whole campus was frantic, jittering excitingly about their plans for the summer and how amazing the dance would be. In 6th hour Roman Literature, Maite showed me a picture of the dress she would be wearing that night, with the matching mask. It was blue and yellow and there was glitter all around the bust. I told her that I would look for her in the dance to say hi. "You're actually going?" She exclaimed. I nodded. "I thought I might give it a whirl." "You'll look great, I just know it." Maite smiled. Nicole and I went shopping a few days before in a little boutique far from Astro's campus. We took two busses and arrived in a town's square, which was the hustle and bustle of Greenland, as Nicole had previously explained. She led me to an antique boutique where I found a gorgeous Victorian-era dress. It fit perfectly and Nicole informed me how beautiful I looked in it. The dress itself was red and black which had a corset that was stitched with black lace and red ribbon to tie the corset in place. Luckily, we found a black mask with burgundy feathers. Together, it cost me around 500 euros. It was the first week of May and I was excited that school was so close to ending. Yallannie started packing up her side of the room to move back home for the summer. I should've done the same, but I was too reluctant to call my mother. Truthfully, I was outright scared for tonight's rendezvous with Sebastian. I haven't spoken with him for months, and if I indeed saw him there, there was no guarantee that I wouldn't break down inside. No, you are stronger than that, Natalie. Once back in the room with the shopping bag which contained my dress, Yallannie was ironing the creases on a dress which looked absolutely fancy. "Are you going to the dance?" I asked. "Yeah," she replied. I just gave her a simple nod. Yallannie was going, that meant Samuel was too. I pulled out my phone from my pocket and sent a text to Nicole: I'm changing at your place! Yallannie is going to the dance!!!It took us an hour and a half to get ready for the dance, the Aquarius House was swarming with conversation and arguments. Nicole's dress looked absolutely stunning; it was a beautiful combination of amethyst and white, which complimented her complexion. Her roommate, Suzi, who was a 2nd Year, did our makeup. Suzi truly had a gift; she made us appear flawless. My eyebrows looked on point and arched, my complexion emerged airbrushed; all my imperfections blurred. She created a heavy eye look, one that I never wore out before. A smokey eye, Suzi called it. Nicole and I curled our hair and while she left hers down, I pinned half of it up to create a voluminous crown. When Nicole and I felt ready enough to go, we walked into the Dining Hall, where the dance took place. The whole room was transformed; the dining tables were moved to the walls and the place was filled with dancing teenagers. The music playing was live and upbeat electronic. The room was already packed and it was barely eight-thirty the last time I checked the time. The Dining Hall was dark, the fluorescent colored dance lights were the only things shining. Nicole and I stood at the entrance, our statures tall and confident. I puffed out my chest and raised my head. I looked almost unrecognizable, which gave me a pang of safety. "We'll never find him in here!" I shouted through the noise. "Yes, we will! Look, they just shut the doors. That means that he has to be in this room!" "Alright, you go north," I told Nicole. "I'll go south." North was where the dance floor with the DJ stood. On the south wing of the Dining Hall was where the concession stands were, with the enormous punch bowl and the wallflowers of the party. "Text me if you find him, okay?" Nicole announced as she waved her phone at me, heading towards the feral crowd. I turned south, taking notice of everyone who passed me by. I ignored anyone who didn't fit Sebastian's criteria. Anyone short, scrawny, blonde, or female were out. I paid special notice to tall, dark-haired males, avoiding those who had a curly texture to it. Whoever I talked to seemed to resemble Sebastian's features, but I knew that it wasn't him. With one, the height was off. Sebastian's nose would always hit where my temples would be. One was too tall, or another was too short. I talked to one guy but I knew it wasn't him because his voice was too high and his eyes were amber, not dark brown like Sebastian's. Every male whom I spoke with in the south wing of the Dining Hall kept flirting with me, and although it has felt entirely too long since I last played in that little game, I felt a little disgusted because I knew a few of them were 1st years. I was about to give up and text Nicole when my phone buzzed: I found S! He's right here dancing with this chick. Hurry, she's wearing yellow and green. Mask is pointy-looking. Back of dance floor. I hurried to the exact location which Nicole told me Sebastian was in. I took notice of the music, it wasn't electronic anymore. The beat was more mellow and danceable. It was an old English song which I knew by the beat, but I wasn't familiar with the words, nor did I know the title. I blended into the crowd, and as I danced to the back, I was being pushed and bumped into by all sorts of people. I made an effort not to lose my temper because I had only one goal on my mind: to find Sebastian. I searched all around the back of the north wing, looking for the yellow and green dress. Finally, I found her. It was a flouncy dress with ruffles around the bodice and puffy slits which fell right off her shoulders. Her mask was, how Nicole described, pointy with gold, sharp detailing around the eyes. I wasn't sure whether I knew the girl or not, but as I got closer, I noticed that she had shoulder-length blond hair, so that cancelled any form of familiarity with this person. Next to her danced Sebastian. He was just like how I last remembered him. His black hair was the same length as when I last ran my fingers through them. He wore black dress pants and a red dress shirt. His mask was very simplistic, just plain black. It resembled the mask of Zorro in a way. As I approached Sebastian, the music changed. From a mellow song, it turned into "Bust Your Windows," by Jazmine Sullivan, a song with a jazzy beat, one which you could tango to. I tapped on his shoulder and as he turned on his heel to face me, I lowered my voice to sound sultry. "Dance with me," I sounded almost unrecognizable. He widened his eyes and placed an arm around my waist. As he pulled me close, I wrapped an arm around his neck and let him lead with his other hand. We moved towards the center of the dance floor, our feet moving in synch, rhythmically. I didn't even know he could dance that well. Our eyes remained locked on each other, but then I pressed my body even closer to his. My mouth was millimeters from his ear. "I know everything," I whispered. "You can stop brainwashing my friends now." Sebastian pulled away to take a look at me. He pulled me into his grasp again and spoke into my ear only for me to hear. "Natalie, how do you know?" "Next time, you should tell Victor to close his door." "This isn't my doing, I don't want you harm." "I know, but I want my friends back. I don't want them running away because you're telling them to." "I'm not telling them to do anything," he growled. "We just want to protect you." "And from who? Arya? Why would he hurt me?" "Because it will be a way to get to me. He has been trying to destroy me since our birth." "Why am I the reason to get to you? I haven't spoken with you in months." "He knows how I feel about you, that's why." "Pointless," I said. "You don't feel anything for me, that was clear." "You don't get it, do you?" Sebastian snapped. "You don't know everything." He caught me. I didn't know why Arya wanted to get to Sebastian or why I was the reason to. "Natalie, you can't trust him." The song was about to end. "How can I know that I can trust you?" I asked. Looking into his eyes, I saw how desperate he was. "Whatever you do, don't kiss hi—" he extended his arm so I could twirl right when the song ended. I felt an arm grip me around my waist and pull me away from Sebastian's hold. The male was tall and his skin was as true porcelain. The mask he was wearing resembled the one from Phantom of the Opera, covering half his face. His eyes shone bright and I knew exactly who it was when I glanced at the curly black locks on his head. Arya. As Arya placed a hand in mine, the song, "I Put A Spell On You," by Annie Lennox began playing. He led me to the back of the dance floor swaying with the rhythm of the song. I twisted and twirled in his hold, pretending nothing was wrong. "You know," he whispered in my ear, "It's rude to ignore someone for a whole month, love." I couldn't answer. My heart pounded so hard against my chest that I felt like Arya could hear it. "I missed you, love. You know how I get when I'm ignored." Arya continued as he moved his head closer to mine. I started panicking even more. I thought about what Sebastian said, Whatever you do, don't kiss him. I knew that I should trust him. My instincts told me that his intentions were for my safety, but he still didn't tell me why I was in danger. I love Sebastian, I always have and I always will. As Arya's head was millimeters from mine, I turned away. A tear escaped from my eye, running down my cheek. I needed to get back to Sebastian, but I had no idea how to escape Arya's hold. "Love, what's the matter? Do you not wanna kiss me? I've missed you so much." More tears came. I decided to play along and pressed Arya closer to me so he wouldn't see my face. "I just want to hold you, baby. I missed you, too." He tried breaking away. "I really wanna kiss you, ohmygods." I held onto his neck as tight as I could. I wouldn't let him kiss me. I wouldn't. Arya knew something was up. He broke away from our hold. His eyes looked wild and his face looked furious. I was scared that he was going to hurt me. He grabbed my shoulders and snarled, "Let me fucking kiss you!" I struggled from his grasp and broke away but Arya stopped me by stepping onto the back of my dress, which caused me to fall. I heard some of the fabric at the back rip off . On the floor, people cleared the space so I could ascend. I felt dizzy, my head was spinning and I had little strength to get to a corner so I could regain myself. "Natalie? I'm right here." Sebastian's voice filled my ears. I felt hands around my legs and waist. As I was on my feet, Sebastian asked me what happened. "He tried to kiss me. He knows that I know something." I breathed. "Son of a bitch. Let me get you out of here." Sebastian placed my arm around his neck as he led me across the dance floor. We were right in the middle of the crowd when an angry Arya rushed towards Sebastian and punched him in the nose. A few people dispersed with a frantic, "ohmygods," or a "what's this kids problem?" I yelled at Arya when I saw the pool of blood around Sebastian's face. I tore more fabric from the ends of my dress and handed the scraps to Sebastian so he could roll them into a ball to help with the bleeding. Arya grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to his side. "You can't keep protecting her, Sebastian. Ignoring her never proved to me that you don't love her." "I...will..." Sebastian gasped, "kill...you...if...you...hurt...her." Arya laughed mockingly, "Ooh, I'm so scared!" I tried breaking from Arya's grip but he wouldn't budge. "For centuries, my family tried destroying yours. I shall not fail my ancestors." "Oh, I hope you burn in the underworld." Sebastian spat. Arya laughed heartily. "Say goodbye, Sebastian. Prepare to live a miserable life." He grabbed my shoulders and as he pushed me to him, Arya placed his lips onto mine. "NOOO!" Screamed Sebastian. "Natalie, no! I love you, no! I love you so much!" As Arya let me go, I fell to the ground. I felt cold and weak and my eyesight blurred with the tears streaming down my face. Sebastian pulled me up and into his arms. I held onto him so tightly, burying my head into his neck. Sebastian wrapped his hands around me tightly. "Gods, I love you so much." I whispered. "I love you, Sebastian." "I'm so sorry, Natalie. I'm so sorry—I killed you! Gods, I'm so selfish! I love you so much, I worked so hard to avoid this!" He sobbed. I pulled away from his hold but my knees were weak. "Sebastian, it's okay. We'll be fine. Darling, it's over." "No, it's not! I killed you!" Sebastian pulled me back into his hold. "What the hell are you talking about?" I pondered. All of a sudden, my head and back began aching. My vision blurred and I felt a terrible cough at the back of my throat. I pressed the back of my palm to my cheek—I was scorching hot. I immediately felt really cold and I shivered in Sebastian's embrace. My eyelids felt droopy and I struggled to remain awake. "Sebastian?" I croaked. "What is it, my love?" He sniffed. "Hold me." I managed as my body became numb. I collapsed onto the ground as the whole world around me turned black and finally peaceful.