The Price of Gold | Fortune's Fool #1

17 | distortion of disaster

• [ d i s t o r t i o n o f d i s a s t e r ] •

♥ louisa ♥

THERE IS ONLY one thing in the world that you can give too much of without the capability to ask for it back. An invisible gift you can carefully hand to someone else in hope that they'll look after it when in reality, you don't know whether they will.

A piece of your self.

The true you beneath those social pressures.

What people don't realise is that sometimes, the true you isn't exactly a gift that should be treasured but a horrible abstraction that should be hidden deep down. Something too ugly for a beautiful world like our own. Something that was once a gift but transfigured into a complex distortion of disaster, confusion and mistakes.

This deceiving part of us seems to resurface when you feel vulnerable or broken and in that moment it can manipulate you until it feels completely right to show this 'self' to another person. The only issue is that majority of people tend to regret it as soon as they wake up the next morning.

I had been feeling that exact emotion for the past couple days. I rolled in bed, my pillow pressed against my head in a pathetic attempt to mute the wretched alarm. Regardless of what ringtone I chose, mornings like these were the worst; mornings where I felt like I'd just been a fucking punch bag. I winced as I accidentally leant on a bruise and quickly sat up.

It had been three days since I last stood foot in Forteux Academy and I was dreading going back today. Most of the past days had been spent praying that Gabriel hadn't exposed me to the whole damn school. I kept reassuring myself that if he had, I would have known about it by now.

After a quick shower, I covered my bruises, deliberately wearing a long sleeve turtleneck dress, before driving to Forteux in my red Bugatti Veyron.

After parking the car, I walked into the main reception tapping my ID card and taking in the familiar oak-lined buildings, accessorised with gold-coated decorations.

An Asian girl with high cheekbones and a slim face, who was a member of my business class, rushed away from her group of friends towards me. "You weren't in the last lesson Louisa, but I took an extra set of notes for you so you wouldn't have to copy them out. Here."

I blinked at her, wondering how ridiculously long that must have taken. I wasn't going to deny them though. Less Business coursework for me. I nodded at her, taking them from her hand yet she pulled the notes away at the last minute.

"But in return, I can sit with you and the elite at lunch? And come to two- wait for three- no four! of your parties?" Her dark eyes flashed courageously as she asked me, hoping to use this opportunity to climb up the social levels. How could I forget that everyone was desperate to claw to the top, unaware of how lifeless it was up here?

A hollow laugh slipped out of my mouth as I rolled my eyes. Giving her a sickly sweet smile, I shoved her hand away. "Keep the notes, sweetheart. I could barely read that pathetic excuse of handwriting anyway."

She shrank back slightly, embarrassed as her friends mocked her. "And next time, think twice before you ask stupid questions. It's a waste of my time and yours."

I began stalking away until I heard her nasally voice mumble something in the background. "If you can let a newbie like Gabriel Reid sit with you, why can't I do that? You're just threatened that someone else is going to steal Logan away."

Be my fucking guest.

I kept my face stoic yet I was aware her conclusions were perfectly logical. The fact remained that I was too scared to make any sudden change that could trigger his memory again. Deciding to walk away and act as if I'd never heard her, I retraced what had happened a couple of days ago.