Illicit (H.S)

01

Lucille "Lucy" Greene

The annual ball.

The town's most grand and exciting event that my family hosts every year, takes place in the local library. Since my dad is the town's elected mayor, he has the honor of hosting this luxurious event. Once a year— August 18th–the usually quiet library is transformed into a loud and festive atmosphere filled with poised and well-dressed people. The men wear black tuxedos and white button up shirts. The women wear a dress that drags on the wooden parquet flooring as they walk.

Everyone is invited, so the library is full of this exact sight. And being the mayor's daughter, it's my duty to greet every person that comes into my view.

"Lucille, what a wonderful sight to see you here tonight," says Mr. Hughes, an older man who has known our family for decades. His fourth wife, and might I add, younger wife, standing on his left side, looks me up and down, her eyes lingering on my yellow silk dress.

A waitress carrying a tray of champagne walks past us. "I must say the same to you, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes." I greet them as I swiftly steal a glass of champagne glass from the tray.

I move along, trying to get to the other side of the high-ceiling room. The library, with its towering shelves of books, is now filled with chatter and dimmed lighting. I easily spot Calvin and Caroline's bright blonde hair from across the room. They're standing next to their parents, each with their own champagne glass in hand. Without any hesitation, I move through the crowd to get to them.

I've known Calvin and Caroline my entire life. The Jones family moved into the house next to ours when we were kids. Their grandparents' parents owned the house, and eventually, it got passed down to them, finally making the Jones family a part of town's socialites.

As I weave through the crowd, I suddenly crash into a tall figure. I stop and take a step back.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to–" I look up to see an unfamiliar pair of green eyes.

This must be the new guy everyone's been talking about. I've only seen him from afar so I hadn't seen him up close yet. I had only seen him from my window that overlooks the lake. Rumor has it he lives on his boat, a Princess X80, to be exact. Where he got the money to buy it, I wouldn't know. But then, I wouldn't exactly care since he's friends with the guys from Normans.

His almost curly hair looks darker in this light than it has in the sun. His cheeks and jaw are sharp and he is too wearing a black tuxedo.

"It's fine." he mutters and walks past me.

Confused by this unusual interaction, I almost forgot my initial mission. I start walking towards Calvin and Caroline again, this time trying not to bump into any other people.

"Lucy!" Caroline squeals as she sees me and takes me into her arms for a hug. "You look so pretty, oh my god." She looks me up and down.

I lift my hand on my hip as I look down on my yellow silk dress. "Thank you, thank you." I smile, flattered at her comment. "You both look great." Caroline is wearing a lilac colored dress, and Calvin is wearing, what I assume is, his new tailored tuxedo.

"Where's Margot?" Calvin asks as he looks around the room for his new girlfriend.

Margot and Calvin only started dating a couple of weeks ago. I'm actually surprised they've lasted this long. Calvin and Caroline are both quite impulsive people, and Margot is the exact opposite. But as they say, opposites attract.

Right as I turn my head to the left to help Calvin look for his girlfriend, a redheaded girl with a bright smile shows up. She's wearing a green version of my dress and it goes amazingly together with her hair.