The Reincarnated

Chapter 10: Rules and Precautions

I froze abruptly near the entrance.

Lots of faces.

There is so many of them I've lost count of how many familiar faces I have seen in the crowd. Everyone is in medieval character. Lots of them were dressed like royalty, wearing thick silky dresses full of glamorous jewels dangling on every part of their clothes. I wonder if they are still comfortable walking like they are carrying 5 sacks of cement. A few were wearing simple party clothes. I had trouble recognizing my friends since everyone was wearing a mask talking in groups. In our school, we had plenty of medieval plays from the Renaissance times so I knew everyone had the attire. I just never thought they would go overboard with the 'ball' idea.

The room was lit up with yellow bright lights coming from the enormous chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I already knew the hall was huge but I never thought everyone can fill it. Thank God there were no balloons hanging on top. That would look really thorny placed in a medieval setting. Flowers of different colors emanated from the different crooks of the main hall. The room was enveloped by the fragrant smell of lilies, my favorite flower. Aunt Tiffany really did a great job in decorating the place. A slow music was playing on the background and I never thought a DJ can be so formally dressed, when I see him at the far left corner of the big hall near the stage surrounded by flashy lights. It's really hard not to spot the five-layered cake displayed near the edge of it. There was still considerable space at the center. Judging from my view here, people had just started eating. There was plenty of food placed near the corners in case people might get hungry.

"O.M.G." Jillian exclaimed heedlessly.

That came out a bit too loud. Sometimes that lion tends to forget how loud her voice can roar. Unsurprisingly, it attracted too much attention. Almost everyone turned their heads and looked at us. This was one of the many moments when I want to beat her into a pulp. And if not only on the people staring at us, I would have probably done it. Silence crept on the hall, so mute I could probably hear a falling needle which was just my uneasiness speaking. After a few more seconds of uncomfortable and awkward silence, some of the teenagers started walking towards me and greeted me a happy birthday. It took them long enough to recognize who I was. The rest shrugged it off and went back to whatever they were discussing. Others eyes remained glued to me and I don't know what to feel about that.

Hugs were exchanged from people I barely knew, but I smiled and thanked them for coming anyway. Some were genuine, others were inelegantly fake. I can tell because I've been facing thousands of those smiles since I was a kid. Jillian whispered in the middle of my greeting conversations that she will look for the gang and return to me later on. It wasn't much, just simple 'thank yous' and 'hellos'. I knew some of them, others, not so much. There was Arnold, and Jared, telling me that I look inexplicably gorgeous tonight. Some were saying the same, but I didn't know most of them. Megan from the varsity team was also there, complimenting me and the efforts of putting up a party this big. It took quite a while, really.

Suddenly someone pulled me out in the middle of my conversation with Karen, my lab partner in class. "Mind if we borrow her for a minute?"

Karen and I both stared at Alexei, dressed in his noble musketeer attire, smiling one of his famous smiles. As expected, Cassandra was right beside him, holding his hand. She was wearing a black dazzling dress, showing off her curves and stunning figure. And gosh they both looked so gorgeous, I feel so ordinary in front of them. Karen politely let me go and wished me a happy birthday for the third time tonight and went back to her sorority sisters.

"Wow Cheese, you look so tasty in that outfit," he greeted.

"Yeah Alex, I bet it would totally look good on you," I spat back.