The New Girl

The new girl chapter 7

Dong dong. A soft knock echoed throughout our small apartment.

That's it. Dylan's here. I looked at the clock. 4.59pm. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. For some reason, I was really nervous. I used my hands to smooth my dress down again for the hundredth time today and headed towards the door.

Seline, you can do this. Just open the bloody door. It's just Dylan. It's just a stupid party.

And I opened the wooden door way too hard it swung back and crashed into the cement wall behind, making a loud sound while causing bits of paint to fall out.

Nice Seline. REAL nice.

"Didn't know you were soooo excited for the party." I looked up from the mess to see a very well-dressed man standing in front of me, one hand tugged into his off-white formal pants, holding a lopsided grin. He was dressed in a champagne-coloured tuxedo with a dainty peach rose corsage in his suit pocket. He wore a white high-neck shirt underneath, which was completed elegantly with a gold-and-white striped bow tie at the collar. His hair was styled backwards, showing off his sharp jawline. The champagne colour of his suit only brought out his hazel eyes even more. I would be lying if I said he wasn't attractive. I mean, he was already good looking to begin with, but this get-up just made him look even better.

"Um, hey Dylan, you're early." I tried to compose myself from the embarrassment I just caused myself, and gave him a smile.

"Someone's been watching the time diligently." Dylan smirked and nudged me playfully.

I didn't want him to see my face turning red so I quickly grabbed my purse - Aunt Elda let me borrow it, think she said it was passed to her by her grandmother - that was on a cardboard box next to me and walked past him, towards the limo - that I assumed was his - that was parked right in front.

Till I tripped. Due to the fact that -
1. I have never walked in heels before
2. I was walking way too fast - because of known reasons

I see the ground coming closer and closer to me at an incredibly fast speed. That's it, Seline. You clumsy piece of meat, you screwed up. Now even Dylan's gonna run away from you. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact. But.. none came. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a firm pair of arms below supporting my waist.

"Be more careful, princess."

I quickly stood up. That was so embarrassing. I could feel my face burning up. It must be redder than a tomato now. I couldn't bring myself to look at Dylan, so I just mumbled a 'thanks' before walking towards the limo again, obviously more carefully and at a slower pace this time. Dylan just laughed quietly and followed behind me.

The limo was a white classic beauty, with its white lights adorning the doors and mirrors. I, of course, have never sit in a limo before, so I was amazed even at the idea of getting into one. The chauffeur (chauffeur!) opened the door for me as I approached the vehicle.

"Thank you." I thanked the chauffeur as I got in. I had thought that the exterior of the car was beautiful enough, but I was even more floored by its interior. The purple seats were made out of a soft velvet material that spelt class, yet were still comfortable. The floors of the limo were fully covered with carpet with fur rugs at the base of the seats. There was even a mini bar inside the vehicle, with bottles of what looked like expensive alcohol, mini soda bottles, fruit punch.. you name it, they have it. I could buy a nice table with the money used to buy just one of these bottles.

"Thanks Joseph." Dylan climbed in after me. After the car door was shut, I could hear classical music reverberating softly all around. This was like a completely different world for me. It's a new, yet exciting feeling.

I suddenly felt a gaze on me. Sure enough, Dylan was looking at me with amusement apparent on his face.

"I guess you haven't been on a limo before."

"Well, no. It's all pretty new to me." I must have looked pretty retarded staring incredulously at everything.

"Well then, guess you had better get used to it. Else your eyeballs will starting falling out when we arrive." Dylan teased.

"My eyeballs will NOT." I smacked him out of embarrassment. "Is the place we're going that majestic though?" I started to get worried. I couldn't even get used to a limo. And it sounded like the place we were going would be more dramatic than this. What if I don't fit in?

"You'll see." Dylan let out a small laugh, seemingly enjoying my reactions. "Hey, press that button over there."

I looked around me and saw a small red button at the side of the seat. "This one?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." I pressed the button as he instructed. I shrieked as the metallic hand rest started sliding and moving like a transformer. Dylan laughed at my outburst. "What is-" I started to turn to him.

"Shush, shush. Look."

The gold hand rest started rotating 360 degrees to reveal a glass sphere on the underside. I covered my mouth with my hands. Inside was a beautiful peach corsage that matched the one he had in his suit, except this one had many small white daisies interlaced between white ribbon embroidered with tiny pearls. It was absolutely stunning.

Dylan reached over me to detach the glass sphere from its holder.

"Here, I'll put it on for you." He took out the corsage from the sphere and tied it around my wrist. It looked so breathtakingly beautiful I could only sit there staring at Dylan while he helped me put it on.

Just then, a voice came from the front of the car, "Mr Este, As you requested."

"Got it. Thanks, Joseph!" Dylan called back from beside me.

"Are we here?" I finally tore my eyes away from the corsage and looked out of the window. There was a pure white architecture in front of the car, with vintage-looking decorations all along the frame of the building. It eludes elegance just from its exterior, but it seemed far too quiet to be a place for partying. There was no other vehicle other than ours. Shouldn't there be other people coming to the party? Or are we early?

Joseph went around to open the door for us, and we stepped out of the limo. Nope, not a single soul around. That's weird.

Dylan grabbed my hand and started to pull me towards the building.

"Dylan, why is there no one here?"

"Just follow me. You'll see." He didn't say anything more as he continued to lead me to the door of the building.

There was some sort of intercom at the entrance. Dylan punched in a few digits.

"Dylan here."

"Mr Este and Miss Seline, we have been expecting you." Wait, how did the person on the other end know my name? I was about to open my mouth to ask when the doors swung inwards to reveal 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6.. 7 people lined up to greet us. They were properly dressed and looked very professional. They bowed immediately when they saw us. I was taken aback, not expecting treatment like this. What's this, some king and queen ceremony? A man walked towards us.

"Allons-nous commencer?" He seemed to be talking to Dylan. What language was that? It sounded like French. Why was he talking in French? I was so confused. What the heck is happening?

"Comme je l'ai chargé." Dylan replied swiftly. I looked at Dylan, not sure if I was more lost by my surroundings, or by the fact that Dylan just conversed with the guy. In French. Whatever he said, the well-dressed man seemed to have understood what Dylan had said and nodded. He then looked at me and beckoned me to follow him. I looked over to Dylan for some confirmation.

"Do I.. follow him? What's happening here, Dylan?"

"Just follow him. You'll know in awhile." Why isn't he telling me anything? He's being so secretive. I looked back to the well-dressed man. He seemed to be waiting for me, pointing his arm towards a room at the back, gentleman-style. Fine, I guess I'll just have to find out myself. I headed towards the room.

---------------------------