The Light to His Darkness

Chapter 3

"Finally, my besties are right here looking gorgeous and handsome as ever," said Amelia. 

"Girl, we are nothing compared to you. You look absolutely beautiful as ever. You still didn't get hit on by guys yet?" asked Hailey. 

"One, yes, two or three guys flirted with me, but as you know, your girl doesn't like these rich, arrogant brats. As I always say, two don't compare yourselves with me because I'm the same as you guys. Besides, my parents are the ones who hired people to pick my outfit, do my hair and makeup. I actually wanted to go simple, but my parents insisted. At least it's worth it." 

"Well, Amy here didn't even bother to wear a decent amount of makeup. Just red lipstick. But her outfit choice was good, though." said Trevor. 

"Hey! I did apply some concealer. The dress that I'm wearing is Amelia's present, by the way. I never got the chance to wear it. This party gave me the chance to wear it. Not gonna lie, I look good in it."

"Same old Amy. Simple but elegant. Finally, you decided to wear this dress. I really wanted to see how you look like in this dress since I gave it to you. As expected, you look hot."

This is Amelia. She is the one the never stops complimenting us. She is the life of our friendship group. Amelia doesn't portray herself as a typical rich girl. Instead of spending money on herself, she always buys other people's gifts or anything of a materialistic sort, especially for the three of us. It all started when we first became friends during university. She would always bring us to dinner at various restaurants around town. Then, it escalated to her, dragging us to the mall and buying us stuff every once in a while. At first, I thought she wanted something from us, considering I have trust issues. As the friendship blossomed throughout time, my thoughts about her completely changed. Amelia is the sweetest yet generous girl I've ever met. She has both beauty and brains. Not comparing with Trevor and Hailey, though, they are the best in their own ways. 

"So Amy, are you settled down? Pretty sure you must be aimlessly job hunting since your graduation because I know you too well," asked Amelia. 

"No, obviously. I was looking for jobs online during my stay at my parents' house after graduation. I only got to go to the companies today. Most of them said that they'd call me if I'm needed, which is pretty much expected." I said, sighing. 

"Don't worry, girl. You'll get one soon."

"Right," I replied. 

I turned around to see that the whole ballroom was filled with guests in a lavish demeanor. Men were in expensive-looking suits, and women were in their dresses with a full face of makeup. I felt a wave of uncomfortableness in me as I am totally not used to this kind of environment, seeing as I grew up in a middle-class family and having a social anxiety history.  

Then, I heard the microphone being turned on. Mr. Lockwood was on the stage, in front of it. 

"I would like to say thank you to all my respected guests for attending this party of my beloved daughter. Each of your presence is very much appreciated. Without wasting much time, let's get to the cake cutting ceremony."

The sound of applause invaded the ballroom. 

"I would like to invite those who are dearest to Amelia up on stage to be beside her during this ceremony," said Mrs. Lockwood through the mic. 

Instantly, Hailey squealed and went to the stage, followed by Trevor and me. The three of us were placed near Amelia, with me being on the left with Trevor behind and Hailey on her right. Being a cake lover, Trevor licked his lips, looking at the cake in front of him. The cake was undeniably huge and was princess themed which made me chuckle. How childish of Amelia. 

"Don't laugh. It's red velvet, your favorite," whispered Amelia. 

Of course, she knows that.

"Oh, you better make sure I'm getting half of this cake." I jokingly whispered back. 

"Wow, girl. Didn't know you were thi-"

"Everyone, let's sing the Happy Birthday song while the birthday girl cuts her cake!" said Mr. Lockwood. 

Everyone started to sing along while calm music came through the speakers. Hailey started to scream the song into Amelia's ear, making us laugh. Everyone started clapping their hand as Amelia successfully cut the cake with the cameras in front of her. This is surely coming on every single celebrity gossip site tomorrow. 

Pictures were taken of Amelia feeding the cake to us and vice versa. Trevor nearly smooched the cake on her face, but she dodged it thankfully. 

"You're going to get it, Trevor!" said Amelia while chasing him, not realizing that this was a formal event. Hailey catches him from behind, and Amelia smeared the icing on his face. 

"That's what you get for nearly messing up my makeup," she said. Everyone was laughing at us. 

"Ma'am, can you please return to your previous position? We have to take more pictures." said one of the photographers. 

I quickly helped Trevor wipe his face, and both of us went to our previous places, as Hailey was already there looking at her face on her compact mirror. 

As we went to our places, the photographers started taking pictures of us. Oh god, my face might be out there on the internet by tomorrow. 

"WAIT! I haven't retouched my makeup yet!" exclaimed Hailey. Upon realizing this, I knew one of these candid pictures is going to the public's talk. 

"Sorry, guys. Gotta look good for the pictures and men here."

"You know that you're not the spotlight, right?" asked Trevor. 

"Shut up, Trevor. You don't know anything," she replied. 

Amelia and I chuckled over this and turned our faces to the camera. I secretly hoped I looked good in these pictures.