Travelers

Chapter Six

Alex

This girl is really starting to piss me off.

"I'm sorry" she apologized with cute puppy eyes. "She's not cute Alex, concertarte".

"You should be" I said shaking my head "I almost got cut out of the program because of you. What were you thinking?"

"I wanted answers Alexander" she said raising her tone. We were lucky we were aloud to use the library, otherwise she wouldn't be shouting like that. "Lawrence was the only one who could help me"

"According to who?"

"To my mom" she said rolling her eyes "We need to start getting along with each other Blackwood" she said after a long minute of silence.

"And what would I ask? Huh?" I didn't mean to sound that harsh but I had specifically asked her not to leave the house "What's your favorite color or animal? Or what's your middle name?"

"Well..." she tried to say but I interrupted her.

"No Greer that's what friends ask each other and we are not friends"

The doors flew open and Duke Gresham entered the room.

"Violet you need to come with me" he said and she nodded her head.

As she went past me she whispered "Rose, my middle name is Rose". A smile crept into my face but I quickly brushed it off. "Pull yourself together"

My mother entered the library holding a green suit and a big smile on her face.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked "We need to get ready for tonight."

Today the Lancasters were throwing their anual stone ball. Every year all six houses dress up in their rightful colors as the rest of the guest wear white.

"Oh, there you are" Anastasia said as we reached the main door. Violet was sitting on the front steps waiting for something "Do you have your dress Rosalie?"

"Rosalie?" I asked staring at her awe. We learnt that the Ainsworths had only one descendant left but she was believed dead.

"I do" she answered my mother and she nodded before leaving the two of us alone. "Don't call me Rosalie, please" she added before getting in my mother's car.

****

After hours of preparing, Anastasia was finally ready to leave.

"Where's Greer?" I asked her noticing she was missing.

"She'll ride later in a separate car" my mother said fixing her emerald green dress.

I nodded my head not giving it much importance. The ride was silent and uncomfortable. My mother changed after my father's death, she turned cold and unloving.

"We're here" I said and almost jumped out of the car. Crawford was waiting in his orange suit next to George Gresham and Elijah Harrington, two of my training partners.

Out all of us, out of all of us, I was the luckiest one. While I was wearing a dark green suit, Harrington was wearing a bright blue suit and Gresham a peach one.

"Alexander Blackwood" Gresham said with open arms "About time"

"Gresham" I said and the four of us headed inside. On one corner of the room was Fawn talking to Jillian Darby.

"So have you met her?" Harrington asked as he took a sip of his champagne glass.

"Met who?"

"We all heard Rosalie Ainsworth is staying at Blackwood manor" Gresham added.

"I know what you're thinking Gresham" I said raising an eyebrow "That girl is a few sandwiches short of picnic" I added "You should really start chasing smarter girls"

He opened his mouth to answer but he was interrupted by the valets announcing Rosalie Ainsworth had arrive.

Everyone's attention went to the top of the double stairs where she would make her first appearance as part of the seventh house.

The doors opened revealing a beautiful brunette with her hair tossed to the side by a braid. I walked to the top of the stairs were we had agreed I would receive her. "This gentleman rules are getting old."

Between applauses and all that ball things I presented her to everyone else.

"Nice to meet you" the blonde said "I'm Jillian Darby"

"Nice to meet you too" Greer said shaking her hand "Could any of you tell me why are we the only ones wearing colors?"

"We represent each of our houses" I said grabbing another glass of champagne. "There's no way I'm going to survive the night sober".

"I represent the emerald and Darby the ruby" I added pointing at her "Harrington represents the sapphire, Gresham the morganite and Lancaster the onyx" I continued pointing at each one of them.

"So Rosalie" Gresham said winking an eye at her and she clenched her jaw "So Alexander has told us many things about you"

"He has?" she asked confused.

"Yes but why don't you tell us about yourself" Crawford said smirking.

"Well I like to say I'm an odd combination of Elle Woods and Blair Waldorf" she said proudfully even though none of us understood. "Are you kidding me? Don't you people have a tvs?"

"Excuse us" I said and dragged her to an empty hall. "What's wrong with you?" I noticed she was wearing the amethyst necklace. Usually we don't go showing our stones around, so it surprised me.

"What's wrong with me? You are the one that has been acting like an asshole ever since we met" she complained. "Believe me, I don't want to be here either but that doesn't give you the right of treating everyone like garbage"

"I treat everyone like garbage? You just made all of us look like fools"

"It's not my fault you got stuck in time" she crossed her arms like a five year old.

"This argument makes no sense" I said grabbing the bridge of my nose.

"You started it" Really? The third grade comeback? "Why am I still here? You clearly can save the world without me" a tear slipped through her cheek as she grabbed the emerald from my pocket.

"You know what you are supposed to do Alexander, you were raised here, trained here. I'm just another outsider who thought could do something good for once."

"Why do I feel bad? I never feel bad about other people. Not even my own mother" I thought as more tears started staining her eyes.

"Hey don't cry" I said grabbing her hand where she was holding my stone "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, it wasn't my intention."

"Thanks" she said smiling. Then all of a sudden both the amethyst and the emerald started glowing.

"No, not again" Violet started panicking and squeezed my hand as we were surrounded by a cloud of light.