The Competition

Yelena

"Why bother coming to the academy?" says an annoyed Natalia as we enter their mansion. The teachers are supposed to be talking about something really important about the science competition. The prize I was supposed to get for my academy, I ended up doing with a partner. I also talked to my butler on the phone about the party, and he surprisingly agreed, saying that my father wasn't there. In fact, I haven't seen him at all; it's been a week since he took his flight to Tokyo, and I have absolutely no idea when he'll be back. Such a great father figure, isn't he? I sigh. "Are you gonna stand there all day?" Viktor whispers, walking past me.

I feel like I almost live here. I'm more at their place than my own. But I still haven't met their parents. Whenever I bring it up, they ignore the question, but I can't really blame them, I do the same. The party starts at five and I've been here since eleven and now it's four thirty, ten minutes drive. All calculated. Natalia wears a short silky dress in a dark blue color that really suits her. The dress clings to her frame like wet cloth and I absolutely love it. She wanted to match, so I decided to wear the silky red dress she offered me. We both have our hair in a ponytail, clear makeup and heels. By the time we get downstairs it is already time to go.

-❦-❦-❦-

Looks like the invitation came from none other than Noah Cromwell. We enter as loud music blares in our ears. "Have fun, girls," Carson yells, disappearing into the crowd. No need to turn around, Viktor is probably gone too. A guy offers us drinks, however it looks like he put something in them. Natalia pulls my arm as we stalk through the crowd to the kitchen. There she hands me a shot of what looks like vodka. "Bottoms up!" she yells and I chug the liquid, feeling it burn the back of my throat. It feels good. After several shots, we head to the dance floor, where I have to admit that the girl knows how to move her body. So much so that most of the guys have their eyes glued to us as we grind against each other laughing. However, twenty minutes later I come back for more shots and Natalia is gone. She just vanished. Feeling a bit dizzy, I see a half open room and decide to go in and rest a bit. That was a big mistake.