She's Not Cinderella

After-parties are SO overrated

"Images of destiny,
A countenance of honesty,
Living in the twenty first century,
An abstraction of security,"

I sang gently to the sway of the piano, forgetting my worries and letting the music take me away to a beautiful place. Jordan said that he could design the lights so I couldn't see the audience, but I wanted too. All those people, a sea of faces, flashing cameras and waving hands.

"Blossom, In the rain,
Life will never, be the same,
Fire, in the stars,
Moonlight on my melody,

A diamond, in the spectrum,
The loner in the crowd,
Liars with the badge of honesty,
Wilderness, drowning in greed,

Tears, of the Nightingale,
Lives, down the toilet bowl,
Dreams, from the factory,
Hours at the glowing screen,"

A glistening piano part arises. William isn't at the keys, but the pianist is incredibly talented, capturing the hall with his shimmering melodies.

"We, will ride, together,
On, the wave, of today,
And when tomorrow comes,
A new day will have begun,
Ride with me,
Ride with me"

As I sing the chorus, some people join in, and slowly but surely the entire audience is united in song.

The music comes to a close and so does the evening for many of the audience members. My heart is on an adrenaline high, excitement coursing through me as I take in the roar of the crowd. What seems like a long time ago, I could not even have imagined this.
Casting a final glance at the crowd, I try and catch everyone's faces, memorising what this feeling is all about. And then the golden doors close behind me.


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You know when you've just done something super exciting, and you're all pumped up, but somehow everyone else doesn't understand why? That's exactly how I felt after opening my world tour.
Stage assistants dragged me over to my dressing room where all the 'superstar Adeline' was stripped off of me and I went back to Adeline Christa. I must have been blessed, as Claire wasn't on the makeup team. I slipped into a marginally more comfortable dress as the crew redid my makeup for the after party.

There really is no rest for the wicked.

After-parties are so overrated. If you like shaking hands with arrogant 'VIPs' with fake boobs and fake smiles then after-parties are the things for you. Hopefully William would be joining me, for otherwise I might die of boredom. Putting on my midnight blue shift dress I looked myself in the eye in the mirror.
'Adeline.' I told myself. 'You will not fall for a good for nothing rich brat that always ends up insulting you somehow. You hear me?'
"Your brain says no, but your heart says... Yes!" came heavily American accented voice. Did I say that aloud? I cast that thought aside as I grinned widely at Stacey who stood in the doorway, looking the right American girl, her arms folded over her checked shirt, her beige leather boots tapping on the plastic flooring.
"You came! Are you here for the party?"
Stacey smirked.
"I am always in for a party, I hope you have a dress for me!"
I nodded, went to the wardrobe, and pulled out a short, sky blue taffeta dress which swung way above the knee, the way I knew Stacey likes it. She gasped as she saw it.
"OMG. Is that for me?"
"Maybe..." I teased, handing it to her. She smiled so wide I thought her face would snap in half and clutched the dress to her chest.
"You know I love you, right? By the way, you look gorgeous."
I smiled weakly at her.
"I hope so."
As Stacey went to put on her dress, I posted a picture my assistant had taken of me on Instagram, writing something vaguely casual underneath. I replied to a few comments, when suddenly a little dark bar appeared at the top of the screen reading; William: Are you going to he there tonight?
Yes! He was going to be there! I checked my reflection in the mirror. As usual, the makeup artists had worked their magic, and I could barely recognise myself.
"You know, William is going to be there." called Stacey, walking up beside me.
"Yup..." I said, trying to act casual but failing, a smile breaking across my face.
"Call Nick or Joseph to be your date then..."
I stared at her like she was crazy.
"Why on earth would I do that?"
"To make him jealous, idiot. Do you think he'll just come? You look hot, but there will be supermodels at that party, you don't want to be showed up. From what I heard, Joseph is pretty fit."


It took a lot of convincing, but when I entered the party, I entered with Joseph at my side. He looked amazing, at last minute, he somehow turned up looking like he had been planning for months, decked out in a suit and tie, his dark hair flopping over his eyes.
"You look beautiful." he murmured to me, smiling. The last time he had said that to me, I'd just hung up on him. I smiled nervously.
"You look great too."
The party venue was dimly lit, with gentle soft pop music playing in the background, and a few couples swaying on the dance floor. People stood in clusters, smiling, laughing, and shaking hands. A few people sat at the bar, helping themselves to free drinks. At the bar sat a guy who I thought I recognised. Squinting at him, I realised it was William. Was he even old enough to drink?
I poked Joseph in the ribs.
"Hey, shall we go say hi to William?"
Joseph gave me a sideways glance, perhaps not looking totally overjoyed.
"Do you have to?"
I frowned at him.
"Yes. You don't have to come..."
"I will." he replied immediately, catching hold of my arm and marching towards William.
When we reached him he looked up at me, a smirk spreading over his face. And then rapidly dissipating as he saw Joseph, hanging onto my arm. He raked a hand through his blonde hair, smiling weakly.
"Hey William." I said breathlessly.
"Hi." he said, having a stare off with Joseph. "What is he doing here?"
I sighed. I knew Stacey's idea was flawed, but she had this way of making you do what she wanted you to.
"Um." I smiled awkwardly at Joseph, then to William, not sure what to say.
"She's my date." Joseph butted in, smiling triumphantly at William whose cheeks seemed to have flushed red.
"What? Did you ask her?"
"She asked me, actually."
The tension between them was practically unbearable. I was tempted to just walk away, leaving them in a staring competition, but I resisted the urge and plastered a fake smile over my face.
"Yeah, ha! So funny. I thought you wouldn't be here William!" I lied through my teeth.
"I texted you sayin- "
"You didn't specify." I interrupted.
William messed up his hair in that way he did when he was stressed.
"It's fine. I just thought... You actually... Whatever. I thought you ca-"
"Dude." Joseph scowled. "You're making her uncomfortable"
William smiled lightly.
"That's rich." pushing back his stool, he walked away, leaving his drink still mostly untouched on the counter. Joseph picked up the drink and sipped it. I stared at him in shock.
"You can't drink that!"
"Why not? It was going to waste anyway."
"Just..." I looked in the direction William had gone. He had disappeared in a crowd of party goers. I was about to follow the path he went when suddenly a short, potbellied man stopped me in my steps.
"Adeline! A-mazing concert tonight. I'm Clarke Whitehead, CEO of Whitehead records. Here's my card."
He thrusted a pristine white card at me, and gingerly I accepted it, shooting him my 'superstar' smile. "Hi Clarke. Thanks, I'll call you sometime."
"Great. You're a real rising star, Adeline, Mark my words, the best is yet to come."
I nodded.
"I hope so."



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A/N: Hey people :)
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Xx Pavane