It was now Monday and as promised Angela let me skip a few of my lessons which were double maths, geography and american history and surprisingly Alex was there aswell. He had told me the other day how Angela had said the same thing to him which made me out the pieces together and realise she was setting us up. That sneaky bitch. I'm just joking; I love Angela.

She said we could work on any projects we had due and lucky for me I just had to work on my piano piece and perfect it for my exam whereas Alex still had a lot of his artwork left which would go towards his final grade. We were working peacefully as Angela typed away on her computer before Angela spoke up.

"Vaeh, you were telling me about your family's annual masquerade ball. You should ask if you can play your piece there. It's that amazing it deserves showing off." she said as I hesitated

"For once, that sounds like a good idea" I said as Angela's face playfully dropped, "I'll talk to my parents about it"

"And Alex, you should put some of your artwork display since it truly is incredible. Might attract some buyers" she said winking

"Hm. I'll think about it" he said not looking up

"You should. It might give you guys something other to do than smoking and getting high all the time" she said eyeing us. One of the reasons I liked Angela, was because she would never snake me out to the principal when I smoked weed. Everytime I turned up to school either wasted or totally fucked up I would just go to her office and she would lecture me but it would never go any further than that.

"Yeah well we don't do that anymore. We quit together" I said as I smiled at Alex. It had been 54 hours since I'd gone without a blunt and I was really craving it but I had managed to stop myself.

"Oh wow guys. That's amazing guys. I knew you were good for each other" she said before I gave her a look and she looked down quickly.

I had taken a break and was just scrolling on my phone when I got a notification on instagram so i tapped it and to my surprise it was Heather. I read overher messaged and started laughing at her stupidity.

Hey girl, I'm sorry to tell you this but I just wanted to let you know before you get hurt. Me and Alex were together last night and things might have gotten a little bit steamy. I'm so sorry honestly but I guess he always wanted me and not you xx

I walked up to Alex and showed him the message before he laughed and we discussed what to text her back.

Are you dumb? He was with me last night 'girl'. Get those delusions sorted out and give it a rest. Xx

At this point, I had come to terms with the fact the Heather might have mental issues because it was every other day she was having hallucinations about her and Alex but I didn't mind cuz I was the one with him not her.

"What are you guys laughing at?" Angela said looking up and trying to figure out what was going on.

"This one delusional girl called Heather. She keeps tryna break me and Alex up cuz she wants him. She's doing too much like honestly she needs to hop off our dick." I said as I walked back to to the piano and leaned against it waiting for her response.

"Damn. You guys always have someone tryna tear you down." she said as she chuckled lightly and went back to whatever she was doing. A couple minutes went passed and I was feeling hungry.

"Angela I'm starving, imma go get food and Alex is coming with me." I said pulling him up, "You want anything?"

"Depends. Where are you going?" she asked me but I genuinly didn't know

"Wherever the wind takes us." I said as I grabbed my coat and took his hand walking to the door.

"Well, in that case get me doritos and a lemon fanta" she said as I nodded standing in the door frame as Alex walked out. I closed the door and walked alongside him as we walked through the office and into the corridors. All the teachers were either teaching or in a meeting so it would be easy to sneak out especially because our school isn't guarded that heavily.

We had opened the double doors and walked, or more like jogged out of school so we wouldn't get stopped. Sometimes the alarm went off and other times it didn't but it wasn't unusual for it to go off without being disturbed since it was kinda faulty. We jogged until the end of the street before we began walking.

"So, you thought about being my date to my family's ball. I'll buy your suit andmask and everything." I said hoping I wouldn't have to ask someone else.

"Yeah, I'll do it only cuz I don't want you to go with anyone else. Balls aren't really my thing; they're too formal and posh"

"Yeah I agree, the only reason I'm even going is to support my parents and that. Every year they bore me to death. Speaking of my parents, they said I should choose my ball gown. The boutique is like 10 minutes away. Oh my god, I feel so weird using these fancy words" I said cringing at my words.

"Yeah being fancy doesn't suit you Eva." He said jokingly as I pushed him lightly. We walked as I told him all about the ball: what kind of people to expect, what to wear and who to avoid ect. We had eventually got there but not before stopping at the convience store and getting snacks. He opened the door of the boutique for me as I stepped in with him right behind me. I walked up to the desk as I greeted the woman at the front.

"Oh hello Miss. Brown. We've been expecting you" she said as she shook my hand then Alex's and got up behind her desk, "You must be her date. Miss.Brown, you're parents have already have already covered the costs of everything. Just pick what you want and we'll deliver it to your house later. You too Mr."

"Okay, thank you. And by the way you can just call us by our names. I'm Nevaeh and he's Alex." I said following behind her as she led us to the back of the store that had dresses upon dresses. I looked up in awe as we walked past the racks of clothing. I looked at Alex and he had the same expression as me as we both gave each other a knowing look before listening to what the lady was saying.

"So my name is Eleanor and I'll be your helper today. So I've heard that the look your going for is for a masquerade ball. Would you be able to confirm that, Nevaeh?" she said as she carried on walking

"Yes, i'm looking for an eye-catching look but not nothing too over the top. Something that will make the people turn around in awe but not something where the awe is in disgust, you get me?" I said pretending I knew what I was talking about when in reality I didn't.

"Hm?" she said as she stopped and thought, "I see the vision"

I looked at Alex with a surprised but confused look as she turned around and analysed my body. She began circling me as she looked me up and down in an intruiged manner. She lifted my arms up as I looked at Alex panicked before dropped them and began circling Alex. He looked at me in alarm before she dropped his arms and began walking infront of us.

"I have a couple options that I think would be perfect for you guys. Have we got any color in mind or are we just not picky?"

"We're just going with the flow so no not really" I said as she stopped infront of 2 changing rooms opposite each other and with suits on one side and dresses on the other. There was a bench inbetween the changing rooms so we just dropped our stuff there as Eleanor began scanning the row of dresses on the top row with were high up. She climbed the ladder and pulled out grayish light bluish dress.

The dress was engraved with a white flower pattern at the top and bottom of the dress and was puffy at the end. It was gorgeous to say the least and I stood in amazement as she got to the bottom of the ladder. She passed me the dress before moving to the opposite side and choosing a matching suit for Alex which was the same color as mine.

"So, Alex. You can either have a matching color suit to whatever dress Nevaeh chooses or you can have a black suit but your tie matches whichever dress she chooses." she said as I looked at him.

"Well can I just try on both and see which one looks the best because I don't want the colors to clash in any way." he said as Eleanor looked impressed with his answer.

"You definitely do art or something creative like that" she said as Alex smiled answering her statement, "Okay, you guys can go try on your outfits" she said as she gave Alex a macthing suit to my dress.

Option 1:

I looked at myself in the mirror as I admired how I looked int he dress. It was gorgeous and like Eleanor said it was a perfect option.

"You guys can come out now" she said as we both walked out from our seperate changing rooms. I looked at Alex impressed with how the suit fitted him perfectly. You got to hand it to Eleanor; she knows how to do her job properly.

"You look smart." I said to him impressed as he stood in the middle with his arm out so I could link arms with him. I grabbed his arm lightly as we stood infront of Eleanor waiting for what she was going to say

"You look beautiful" he said as my eyes peeled away from him and to Eleanor.

"Hmm..." she said as she stepped back to analyse the full outfit. She climbed back up the ladder and began looking through the dresses again. Me and Alex looked at each other cluelessly as she looked frantically. She picked out a dress then went over and chose a black suit with a matching colored tie."Try this" she said as she gave us the clothes.

Option 2:

The dress was a white sparkly dress which had a slit all the way up to my mid thigh. It was still flowy but was strapless. It was gorgeous and hugged my body tightly.

"Hurry up, I'm getting impatient" she said as I opeend the curtain and stepped out.

Alex mirrored my actions as I stepped towards him. His mouth dropped as his eyes looked me up and down refusing to look away. I smiled before sorting his tie out a little bit and linking arms with him again. His suit was fully black with a white shirt lighting his outfit up.

"You look sexy" he whispered in my ear as I tried to hide the smile appearing on my face.

"I was just about to say the same about you" I said looking at Eleanor

Option 2:

"Wow, I do say I am impressed with my work." Eleanor said as she admired her work, " You see the thing with white is you cant go too full out or too little out because otherwise it turns into a weddding gown or just doesn't do what you need it to do. But this dress however is just right in the middle. It's eye catching but in a good way. Same with the suit"

Me and Alex smiled at her in agreement of her opinion before she was off again searching for another option. She hesitated before taking a dress down from the manequin and looking at it intensely. "Now i know you probably wont even consider this and option because of how over the top this is but I think you should think about it."

"No one's ever worn this dress because it's too fragile and special but I think it's made for you" she said as she handed me the dress and I smiled in gratefulness.

Option 3:

She handed me the dress and I could immediately tell it was fragile. I looked up at her and she was talking to soem workers in the back.

"I think you'll look amazing in that dress. You should try it out even if you're not gonna wear it for the ball" Alex said as he took a seat on the bench. Since this was not an option and just a one off occasion, Alex was just going to wait for me to try it on. I went in the changing room and pulled the curtain closed.

I looked in awe at the dress. The intricate design pulled my attention straight to the top of the dress as it looked ethereal. It hugged my curves perfectly and the necklace topped it off. It was absolutely magical but I felt like it was too much. It felt like a dress for another occasion. I heard Eleanor telling me to come out so I walked out and felt eyes on me.

Behind Eleanor, I could see a group of workers stood in astonishment and admiration. Alex looked up and I could see him get lost in his imagination before he stood up smiling. He walked up to me and kissed me lightly.

"You look drop dead gorgeous baby" he said as I smiled in thankfulness. He stepped back letting me have my moment as the workers in the back fangirled over the dress.

"He's not wrong there. You look incredible Nevaeh" Eleanor said as she grebbed my hands, "You should take the dress even if your not going to wear it for the masquerade. I couldn't keep it simply for display"

"Thank you so much Eleanor. It truly is beautiful." I said as I went back inside to change. I had changed back into my clothes and walked back out knowing what option I was going to pick. When I had walked back out I had seen that Alex had already changed back into his original clothes. Too bad; he looked hot in his suit.

He was talking to Eleanor and when I walked out and joined the conversation his arm naturally rested on my waist.

"So, have you guys decided what you going to wear?" Eleanor said as I we looked at each other knowing what we wanted to choose.

"The second one" we both said in sync (If you want to wear anything else you can btw, just my preference)

"Well, since you've chosen and everythings paid for you can either choose to collect your clothes now or get it delivered later on" she said with a warm smile

"We'll get it delivered, you have my address right?" I asked realising what time it was.

"Yes, it'll arrive latest Friday but it should come before that." she said as I smiled and said my goodbyes.

------ TIME SKIP ------

We had spent 2 hours in the boutique and we were now running extremely late. We were supposed to take 30 minutes max but we had clearly taken longer. We jogged back to school with the snack bag in our hands. Our phones had been blowing up from Angela wondering where we were but we just aired her knowing she would find out when we got there.

We broke back into the school and went to her office, closing the door behind us and catching our breaths. I lay flat of the floor out of breath from running the whole time as Alex lied down on her couch catching his breath.

"Where the hell were you guys?!" she said as me and Alex looked at each other and laughed

"We had business to attend to but we got your snacks" I said as Alex passed them to her as she laughed shaking her head.

⚪◉◉◉◉

◉⚪◉◉◉

◉◉⚪◉◉

◉◉◉⚪◉