See You Again

Prologue

"With or without a tie?"

My baby sister was lying on my bed as I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Depends. Are you going for a 'one-night stand guy' look or an 'I'm the man of your dreams' look?"

"Well, I kind of like the idea that I'm the man of her dreams." I sighed.

"Then put on the tie. " She rolled her eyes.

I put on my crimson tie and buttoned the jacket of my navy suit and looked at myself in the mirror. I look good. There's no way she can't see that, right?

We were attending Peter's birthday party, and with the birthday party, I mean the gala. My family had always been close to the Edwards, and I became close friends with their children. Well, with Peter at least, but Vanessa and I... we're a complicated history. I think I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. Yes, we were only five, so what? I knew I loved her from the very beginning.

"Can we go now?" Sadie asked.

I nodded, and we joined the rest in the limousine. Mum was wearing a pink dress matching Sadie's and dad and Nathan were wearing ties matching with their dates. Yes, Sadie and Nathan were each other's date. That was the deal when you were twins. Maybe Vanessa is wearing a crimson dress...

When we reached the party, we were welcomed by the butler and I separated from them to go look for one of my friends. But it was he who found me first.

"Hey, Will!" Ezra called me. He was at the food table stuffing his mouth as predicted.

I joined him, grabbing a flute from a waitress' plate.

"You can't drink that." He chanted, and I rolled my eyes.

"Only if my parents see me." I chanted back, "Have you been here for long?"

"A little. Walter is at the back, smoking with the others. And before you ask, no, I haven't seen Vanessa yet. I saw Leah, though. She said they were upstairs with a certain guest who is an old friend."

I rose my eyebrows. I know all of her friends and I don't remember some 'old friend'.

Then, I saw Peter in his black suit. He joined with a huge grin plastered across his face and a flute in his hand.

"Happy birthday, man," I told him. "How does it feel?"

"It feels like my folks can still boss me around. But I might get a car, so that's cool." He shrugged, taking a small sandwich from the buffet. "Tiny food... Cons of being rich."

Ezra smirked. "I know, I know. You just couldn't help but beg for a car like mine. Sorry, dude, there are only three in the world and none of them is available."

"You're very full of yourself, aren't you?" Peter asked.

"Only on Fridays."

Then I saw her.

Leah came down the wide marble stairs first, in her baby blue dress. Then Vanessa lowered herself a step at a time, a princess red dress hugging her figure. Her dark hair fell in soft waves down her back. All I could hear was the sound of her heels clicking against the floor.

I was so focused on her I took a long time noticing she had her arm around someone else's, smiling at her. I had never seen her before. She was about an inch shorter, wearing a navy blue short dress. Long, straight blonde hair framed her round face.

Then, said girl, spotted us, let go of Vanessa's hand, much to her dismay, and ran towards us. It caught me off guard and both me and Ezra moved to the side as a reflex. She threw her arms around Peter with a huge smile and he leapt her of her feet.

"Peter! I missed you so much!" She beamed.

"I missed you too, Mackie."

"Don't call me Mackie." She complained as they pulled apart, still holding each other's hands.

He laughed and laid his arm on her shoulders, so she leaned into his side with a smile tugging on the corner of her lips.

Vanessa and Leah joined us right after, both looking gorgeous in their designer dresses.

"Hello, boys." Vanessa greeted. "I see you've already met McKenzie. Mackie, these are Ezra and William. They're a bit of a pain in the ass, but I think you'll like them"

"I don't get it. Are all English guys this hot? Should I move here?" She complained, and Ezra immediately straightened his suit and stepped forward. Again, she turned to Peter. "It breaks my heart knowing that you're gay."

"Don't joke, Mackie, my parents might hear you"

"You still haven't told them? If they disown you, I have several guest rooms. Of course, there's also my bedroom..." she trailed. I can't recognise her accent, but it annoys me.

Peter's smile fell. "Don't worry about me."

Leah entangled her arm with Kenzie's, pulling her away from him. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm showing Kenzie around."

"I already know the house. What do you want to show me?" She asked and grabbed a mini salad roll before being dragged out. "Bye Nessa. And boys"

Nessa? Did she just call her Nessa?

I exchanged a look with her and extended an arm she gladly took.

"So, how come I never heard of this McKenzie?" I asked as we left the room.

She shrugged. "I don't know. She's from Wales and barely visits, so I never thought it was important to mention?"

That explains the accent.

"You got pretty excited with her."

She blushed and looked away. "McKenzie is a very important person to me. She's my best friend."

That caught me off guard. I always thought that was Leah. I mean, they're always together and they have all that original language that only they understand.

We reached the garden, few lights surrounding the pathway. The garden was a beautiful camp with majestic trees all over. We stopped and looked at each other.

"You look beautiful tonight"

"I know. You look good too." She said as she fiddled with my tie.

Damn, I want to kiss her. I want to kiss her so badly right now. But I can't. She was very specific. 

Years ago, when we were only seven, and I tried to kiss her, she slapped me and made me promise I would only kiss her on the day she asked me to. I'm still waiting. There were so many times I could've done it, but that promise always held me back. I know it sounds stupid. Most of my friends told me she had already forgotten it, but I know she didn't.

"Can you keep a secret?" she asked and locked eyes with me and I saw how desperate she was.

"Of course."

She took a deep breath, looked down before turning to me again.

"I want to run away. Obviously, I'm not going to, but sometimes I just..." She paused, looking for the right words. "I hate it here, I hate this house, I hate... I hate the pressure to be perfect. Maybe I'm not as perfect as they want me to be, and that scares me. What if I'm not good enough? What are they going to do if I'm not who they want me to be? Kenzie was joking about the disowning, but... I'm scared."

I hugged her tight. I never knew she felt like that. She never let herself be so vulnerable.

"To what it's worth, you're perfect for me"