WHAT COMES AFTER THE END OF THIS

Chapter 48

Yrene's dress

Chapter 48

Yrene's PoV

Deciding it was not my day, as I was extremely exhausted, physically and mentally, I pulled on my grey sweats with a black crop top and an American Eagle hoodie, with my black Chuck Taylor's. Putting my hair into a messy bun atop my head I collapsed into Ross's passenger seat with an apple in my hand. One Apple wasn't going to hurt, after all it didn't have that many calories and considering I had to learn another new dance routine for another play, I could burn them off. Not wanting to face reality I pull on my black shades and Ross drives off.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"You just seem so off. Like you aren't even ready for school like you usually are."
"Hmm."
"Talk to me."
"Nah I'm good. Besides I don't wanna talk about anything. Barely slept last night."
"Rest your eyes for a bit then. I'll wake you up when we reach."
I recline my seat and go to sleep.  As soon as Ross wakes me up, without saying a word I walk towards my locker.
"Hey engaged sister! Where's the diamond?"
"Katie. Not now."
"What crawled up your ass and died?"
I show them our timetable and they all flinch. Yes, double maths! With none other than the maths teacher that I was making out with not so long ago. The maths teacher I fell so hard for I barely knew it. We start walking to the classroom and Aelin lingers behind with me,
"Nene?"
"Yes?"
"What was Jason talking to you about yesterday?"
"Well he kind of asked me out."
"That's what I thought! Babe, give him a chance."
"I don't know."
"Think about it."
I nod at her and the rest of the walk is silent with occasional bickering from the Joss and Katie walking in front of us. Somehow, I manage to sit through the lessons without looking over to Chase, waiting for his subtle wink or the smiles he kept hidden from everyone else but me. I follow everyone as we file out of class when Chase calls out my name and stops me.
"Hey." I awkwardly hug my textbooks to my chest and rock back and forth on my heels.
"Hi." He smiles at me, causing his large almond eyes to crinkle at the corners under the glasses he's wearing. I can barely notice anything else but the way he looks, the way which his baby blue button down clings to him with the top two buttons undone and how his khaki pants make him look so hot that I feel like I should get rid of my hoodie.
"You wanted to talk about something?"
He clears his throat as if jumping out of a daze.
"Oh-uh- yeah. How'd it go yesterday?"
"Peachy." I roll my eyes at the end.
"I'm serious."
"So am I." I glare at him angrily.
"Okay... Let's not fight. Show me the ring?" He says eagerly with a pure fake smile.
"Why would I do that?"
"I just want to see it! As your friend I have that right."
"I don't have it on me right now. Maybe later?"
"Where is it?"
"Calm down! I chucked it on my dresser! I'll show it to you later. Jesus!"
Our banter is interrupted by miss Pentaline.
"Mr. Drew can I whisk this darling away."
"Of course, we were done anyways."
"Why, thank you very much. Good day!"
"Good day to you too!" He waves at me and I wave back before leaving with the drama teacher. The whole day goes by with a few questions from Bear regarding the engagement and my happiness and dancing to the new choreography and rehearsing the lines. Exhausted, as I make my way out of school I remember that today Jason was supposed to pick me up. Talk about awkward. He sees me and gives me a warm smile and I feel a funny feeling in my stomach due to it and so I manage to give him one of my own. His expression soon falls and the smile turns upside down into a frown as he notices my left hand. The ring isn't there. It is true I'm still thinking about his suggestion, I really am but I couldn't deal with all the questions that would be hurled at me once the ring was in sight of the school population. Not a word is exchanged between us and in no time he drops me off. I half expected and wanted him to take me back to the lake, just for the much needed peace and quiet it would provide. I decided to not study that day and didn't come out of the room the whole day.
~*~
Feeling refreshed after some fourteen hours of sleep due to my insomnia medication I got out of bed with a happy mood and even decided to have breakfast. I turned on my phone and the notifications blared and I was shocked to see one from Chase.
* I need to talk to you tonight. * Talk about demanding but I was still extremely confused about the whole thing.  
  * pardon?*
  * At the gala * Oh shit! That was tonight too? And what the hell? Why was he coming?  And what the fuck did he want to talk about now?
  * wait you're coming?....why?" It struck a chord in me and I remembered the outlook and establishment of his house, the necklace he had gifted me, the silver Rolex on his wrist. Wow! He was rich and all the rich people came to the gala but he had never been here before. Why was he coming now?
  * my father is you father's business partner.*
  * okay. * I needed time to process all of this but right now I was kind of in a hurry, I had to get ready and stuff.
  * okay what? I can talk to you or okay that our fathers our partners.*
  *both.*
  *fine. Where is your room? I'll talk to you there.*
  * second floor, right hallway, end corridor, fourth door to the right.*
  * confusing but okay I'll manage.*
After a shower, salon day and breakfast it's already three thirty pm and I sit on my vanity stool as the stylists pull and tug at my hair. What are you playing at, Chase? What do you want now? I can't deal with you breaking my heart over and over again by easily stating we're just friends. I won't be able to take it. And what do you want Jason? How do you suddenly have feelings for me? My thoughts take that different direction as I look at the ring on my dresser.
"Ma'am?", I feel someone shaking my shoulder and I jolt out of the realm of my infuriating thoughts as I look up to see the stylist smiling politely at me giving me the the impression that she had called me before too.
"Yes?"
"What colour is your dress?"
"Emerald green and silver. Why?"
She smiles at me again,
"Just to pick out the headdress for you, ma'am."
"It's Yrene. Call me Yrene."
"As you wish Yrene." The tall blonde woman leaves me for a few minutes and returns with a velvet case, the case that houses all the family headpieces. The contents of this  box alone would be worth hundreds of millions if not more due to the diamonds and other jewels. She expertly pulls out a diamond and emerald comb to match the dress and places it into the centre of my hair before curling the ends and twisting either sides of the centre parting, after having seen the dress and having been pleased with her choice of headpiece. The headpiece by now looks like it is a part of my head due to the twisted hair having been pinned behind it.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, Yrene, would you like me to do your make up as well?"
"No, thank you very much Jolene. I can take it from here." By now it is five. She tells me the hair looks perfect and wishing me farewell she retires herself to the salon she came from. I apply the make up in my usual style with my usual lipstick. After having sat idly for quite some time and zoning out as soon as I'm done wearing the dress and heels and am wearing the customised Gucci gloves a knock sounds on my door. Expecting it to be Michele coming to check up on me I tell the person to come in but it's not Michele. In a black suit and red tie, in front of me stands my teacher. Holy shit! What's the time. Why are the gusts here? I look at the time on my phone and see that it is six thirty. Yay me! The time of arrival for the guests was six.
"Hi." He walks towards me and stands behind me and I look at our reflection in the full length mirror for what seems like eternity. The silver, heavily crystal sequinned and zirconium beaded bodice of my dress clings onto me amazingly and the lightly crystal and zirconium beaded skirt flows out voluminously grazing the ground beneath my feet and Chase... Words cannot do justice to the way his suit jacket hugs him perfectly and the way his hair is combed and gelled to perfection and the combination of his red tie against his Snow White shirt has my knees getting weaker every passing second. Perhaps I think to myself, in another world, where norms and conformities didn't exist we would be the perfect couple, we could be the norm itself, let our passion be our guiding force, our release. But that world doesn't exist. It never has and never will. My perfect world would only ever exist in my mind and in poems of epic legends and oddities, but I would never in a million years be real.
Our close proximity makes my head spin and my breathing hitch, and what he does next makes me lean into him even more. He wraps his arms around my waist and and rests his head in the crook of my neck and kisses it gently making me sigh from the sheer pleasure. His words and breath are blissfully hot against my December frozen neck as he questions me, taking me by surprise.
"Where's the necklace I gave you?"
"Why?" Is he going to take it back? And what is he doing? I thought he said it was over between us and I was sure it was. Was it his pure, hot lust taking control of his actions?  My thoughts are cut off with his reply, demand rather,
"It matches your dress. Wear it."  And no sooner do I take out the Cartier box than Chase lifts my curls and claps it around my neck. Before I can grow more ecstatic from the feeling he moves away from me as if my skin burnt his. I am taken aback by his actions and am throughly confused as to why and how he changes from one 'lust driven' version of himself to another 'not so lust driven, rationally thinking and realising I'm not worth it' person in a matter of seconds but mostly life has decided to remind me once more and proven it too: things to good to be true never last, especially for thankless, psychotic people like myself.
~*~

Chase's PoV

She looked exquisite in that dress of hers. The sheer beauty portrayed in front of me so plainly didn't help the fact that I wanted her to be mine and I couldn't stay away from her. The effect she had on me was in all regards the same as when I first saw her when she fatefully crashed into me: my insides burned with desire and my heart felt like it would explode any second now. I tried. I tried very hard to stay away from her, to stop myself from holding her against myself. But I couldn't. I gave in. But before it could get further than that I, by some magic of God, managed to stop myself and retreat. But I didn't want to retreat. I wanted to surrender myself to this goddess before me. But I couldn't. The world wouldn't let me, I could not let me. I remind myself over and over again that this was for her. All of this was for her, I had given her up so that she could find someone who deserved her, who could lover her better than I ever could. Like a mantra, I religiously repeat the thoughts over and over again. She was never mine, she could never be mine. I couldn't let her be mine.