Elude

Forced Socialization

A guard shows me to my seat at one of the many round tables. I'm in the front, since my last name starts with A. That means I'm only a few feet away from where Matthew will be standing.

Right now he's sitting down towards the back of the stage, laughing with one of his officers. I'm going to guess that it's forced laugher.

When everyone's seated, he steps up to the podium. "Welcome!" he says with a hint of a smile. "Today we'd like to congratulate you on a successful few years of high school. You still have a long way to go!"

He glances back over his shoulder. Some girls are giggling- this is the first time almost everyone in the room has seen Matthew in person.

I'm bored.

"I'd also like to congratulate a certain person," he says. "Nox Amador is my newest officer!"

Everyone applauds politely, but Ty whistles loudly. I see him give me a questioning glance. "Later," I mouth.

Once the room quiets down, Matthew addresses us all one more time. "Enjoy your meal!"

Waiters appear carrying bread, roast beef, champagne, and a fruit arrangement for the tables. I raise an eyebrow at Matthew and gesture to the food. He nods. "Eat only yours," he mouths.

I turn to Luna. "This is so exciting!" I say. She nods through a mouthful of bread. I finish my meal quickly, and the waiters return with dessert. It's a delicious looking chocolate cake drizzled with raspberry sauce.

When I finally stand up, I'm stuffed and I had too much to drink. But hey, my first champagne is a special occasion.

Matthew walks down and approaches me, grinning playfully. He offers me his arm. "May I escort you back to your room?" He's slurring his words.

I take him arm, giggling. "Yup," I say.

We somehow both end up in my room and he lies down on my bed.

"That's my bed," I say and it's followed by a fit of laughter.

"I know," he says and I laugh so hard I have to lie down.

***

When I next open my eyes, I'm still on the floor and I don't feel good. Matthew is sitting on my bed.

"Jace isn't going to be happy," he says quietly. "Even if I say that I drank too much."

"My head hurts," I complain.

He turns on my tablet. "We have ten. minutes before the security cameras turn on, we woke up early. Listen. The food here- all of it- drugged. It makes you unable to think too hard about certain things. Tomorrow I'll make sure all your meals from now on are safe, but you can only eat the food from your room and nowhere else. Events like that, as long as they're hosted by me, should be safe. Got it?"

I nod, then hesitate. "I'm sorry," I say. "For what Jace is doing. I, uh- stayed in the elevator for a bit."

He smiles weakly. "Now do you see why we have to leave?"

I nod again. "Do you think he'll-" I pause. "Whip you when you get back up to your room?"

"Depending on if he's sympathetic for me being almost drunk or not. I'm guessing the answer is yes. Jace is surprisingly social and loves parties."

"Shouldn't you leave now?" I ask. "Not that I want you out, but.."

"Nah," he says. "He'll assume that I slept in late. He's going to be sleeping in too, because of his trip. We still have a few more minutes..."

"What do I tell my friends?" I ask.

"As little as possible. 'Are you having fun?' You say yes and leave it there," he tells me. "You won't have a chance to talk to them from now on. It's for the better."

"Why?"

" Tyrone is mad that you lied to him. Dominique and Bridget are jealous."

"You mean Ty and Domino?" I reply.

"Who else could I been referring to?" he asks. I hear my alarm go off.

He quickly lies back down and we both pretend to be asleep. "Nox?" he says after a few minutes. "You awake?"

I sit up and rub my eyes, then fake yawn. "Yeah," I say. "Now I am."

We both get up. "I should go," he says. "Thank you."

But when he reaches the door, it opens and Jace is standing there. "Why didn't you come back last night?" he asks.

Matthew groans. "Because I was at a party."

"And what did you do at the party?" Jace asks, ignoring me.

"Can't my life be private for once?" Matthew replies, making the situation much worse.

"No," Jace says.

"Okay, fine," Matthew says. "I dressed up in this suit and went to the dinner. I talked to people I hated then I talked to people I don't know. Next I ate food, then I walked her back to her room and fell asleep."

"You were drunk, weren't you."

"Exactly."

Jace gives him a disapproving look. "You're the most annoying person I know," Matthew says. "You don't control my life."

"The only problem with that is that I do. Come with me. Kid, I'll be down for you soon," Jace says and they leave together.

My breakfast slides down and I'm not sure if I should eat it or not. I'm still full from dinner, so I toss the food down the garbage chute and leave the plate on my bed.

I use my tablet to get into casual clothes. There has to be a way for me to change this illusion off. I'll have to ask Matthew when the security cameras are off. Maybe there's an empty room that doesn't have a camera in it.

Jace knocks about ten minutes later and I leave the room. There's some blood on his hand, but I pretend I don't see. "You eat?" he asks, then lowers his voice. "It's fine if you didn't, I know you must be pretty full."

"I didn't," I whisper back. "I wasn't hungry." I'm still pondering whether I should have told him that when we get up to the office.

**Author's Note**

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