Chapter 4, part 3 - Secret feelings and stolen kisses.

Training had been going really well so far this week and today’s training was hard, but it made me feel stronger and my dad had promised to train with me when he got back from work so work on my sword skills and my Dad was an excellent swordsman, he’d actually been given a medal that was sewn onto his leather armour for excellent combat and swordsmanship in a time of need and in battle.

My dad had led our Alphas Warriors into battle many times in his younger years alongside Gabel when our boarders were not quite as secure as they are now. Many years ago, two rogues managed to get into the Palace grounds and found the Luna.

They circled her as he turned into her wolf and did her best to fight them both but luckily before they got chance to hurt her my dad jumped so high and fast into the air plummeting toward the rogues, in one swift move of his sword he sliced the rogue’s wolves’ necks open then manoeuvred his way to the side to the other wolf and stabbed him straight in his side, killing them both straight away, that was when he was rewarded by the Alpha and even now, I always love it when he tells me that story.

When I got home, he took me out into the garden, and he had made makeshift sandbags that were hanging from the trees with crosses on each of them marking where I had to aim. At first, I got the hang of it using a sword and daggers, I moved quickly, running and flipping here and there, using old pieces of wood and garden furniture that were large enough to hide behind as cover as he wanted me to also practice shielding myself. It was going well until he started running past the sandbags and swinging them telling me to hit while they were moving, of course! “it’s more realistic cause no one is going to stand still while you try to aim and kill them” he shouted as he ran past each one. I had seven marks to get but I only managed five.

My dad told me it was good enough for now but that he wanted me out here three times a week to practice, and I was determined to get it right. I don’t want to be just a good warrior I want to be one of the best and I knew I had it in me I could feel it with every fibre of my being.

When we’d finished training, I got showered and headed to the high street to buy some new puzzles and some new nail polishes and bits of makeup for Florence. I want to see her this week and today is the only chance I’ll have to buy her some new things and I wanted us to do the things I knew she always used to love.

After I picked up what I needed I made my way back from the high street taking a slow stroll home when I happened to see a face, I really wasn’t in the mood to see.

"Well, I thought I smelt a rat" Zara laughed as she sneered at me.

I sighed ”oh another time Zara I can’t be bothered today, go and be desperate for attention somewhere else”

"Me desperate? HA! I don’t need to be especially now I know Layton has a thing for me”

“Sure Zara, whatever you say but I doubt Layton’s into spoilt brats”

"I’m no spoilt brat! but he does like me, I see the way he looks at me whenever we talk and whenever were together” she said looking all smug.

I wasn’t aware they ever were together, but I didn’t have it in me to care today, to overthink any of it ”Ok well have fun with that” I said sarcastically, ”but I’m off I have better things to do than deal with you”.. I walked past her with a grin on my face to show her she didn’t get to me. It’s not like she does get to me it’s just her attitude that grates on me.

I got home had dinner with my family then got my work uniform ready which consisted of a black pencil skirt and white blouse with black mid heel court shoes, but our owner was very strict on our uniform, liking it to be spotless and crease free so ironing it and brushing it all down took at least an hour, luckily I only did three shifts a week cause I don’t think I had the patience to do this every evening. when I was finished, I got into my shorts and Cami pyjamas and headed back downstairs to watch a film with my family. All of us snuggled up in the living room with popcorn and different chocolates on the coffee table, we watched a kid’s comedy, suitable for my little sisters of course, but we never minded having to watch these kid films anyway we all just loved being all together.

The Gallery was quiet today with nothing but the sound of Mozart playing quietly on the radio as I booked in all the information of the new paintings we had come in this morning.

The door creaked open and I looked up from my desk to see a tall stocky man walking in wearing a tailored well fitted dark grey suit with a crisp white shirt on underneath, the top two buttons casually and most likely purposefully left undone to show off his tanned, hard chest.

He was definitely handsome and rugged with stubble along his jawline and dark neatly trimmed short hair… he took off his sunglasses and walked over to the desk, and I could see he had deep brown eyes. His mouth turned into a polite smile as he approached me… only then I realised I had been staring at him and hadn’t even greeted him like I was supposed to. I quickly gathered myself and tried to look more professional

"Hi Sir, Welcome to Gordons Gallery, what can I do for you?”

" Hello” he said in a deep rusk voice, resting one of his large tanned hands, covered in tattoos on the white desk and I tried not to grin at how sexy his one hand looked and how stupid I was for even noticing but wow he was gorgeous,

"I’m actually here to pick up a piece held back, it’s under the name Lawrence!”

"Sure, let me just have a look for you”... I looked at my computer checking if we had a piece held back under that name… ” ah yes here it is, ‘the Garden of peace’, by Robert Staffold, Is that correct?”

"Yes, that’s the one”

"Great, well he’s actually new to our Gallery, so I’ll be happy to call him later and give him the good news that its sold. It’s all wrapped and ready to go, so if you’ll just give me a moment, I’ll go and collect it for you”

"Thank you” he said with a nod and a tight lipped grin

I got up from my chair and walked over to the back of the gallery through the large door that led to a room bigger than the front of the Gallery. It held other paintings, some of them packed to be shipped or collected by their buyers and others waiting to be placed on our walls. I picked up his painting and luckily it wasn’t too large or heavy and I walked back through the door over to the tall man.

"Here you go, do you have somewhere nice in mind to hang this“? I asked politely

"Actually, it’s for my gran, she always loved being outside, the trees, nature and all that so I got it for her birthday”

"Oh wow, what a lovely thought, I’m sure she’ll love it, how old is she?”

“Oh, she’ll be 92 in two days”

“Aww well I hope she has a lovely birthday”

"Yes, I’m hoping so, it’s hard to buy something for a woman who doesn’t like to be spoilt, she doesn’t like a fuss, or too much money spent on her”

"Well, that’s a good thing, means she’s humble” That’s a rarity these days

He smiled even wider as his eyes locked onto mine ”Yea that she is actually, she’s very humble and very kind”

I smiled at his obvious tender respect for his Gran and we both just stood there smiling for a moment, until I abruptly broke the silence ”Well, I better let you get back to your day Mr Lawrence” giving him a nod and returning to my desk.

"Yes of course, well thank you miss?”

"Oh, Vanderwood, Lelanna Vanderwood" I smiled kindly

“Lelanna? well that’s a very pretty name, well Lelanna Vanderwood, I’m Heath Lawrence” he said holding his hand out for me to shake, I put my hand in his and shook it lightly ” It’s been a pleasure to meet you Lelanna”

“And you too Heath”

He let go of my hand and made his way back to the entrance of the Gallery, giving me one last look before he walked out of the door. I exhaled deeply and sat back in my chair. I shook my head and got back to the invoicing and a few moments later the door opened again and as I looked up, I saw Heath walking back through the door, I stood up in surprise to see him again ”Mr Lawrence, is everything ok with the painting?”

"Uh yes” he replied as he walked toward the desk ”umm I.. Sorry this..” he looked all flustered, his hand running through his short hair

“Is everything OK?” I asked once again feeling concerned

“Well, I was about to drive away but I didn’t want to not without asking you if perhaps… maybe you would...let me take you out sometimes on a date?”

I was taken aback by his request and suddenly feeling shy ”Oh… why? I mean you don’t know me?”

He chuckled ”Well isn’t that the point of a date? to get to know someone”?

I chuckled back at my own stupid comment and nodded ”yes I suppose that’s true” and I knew I couldn’t let this handsome man walk out without agreeing to at least one date. ”Sure, yes that would be nice”

A big smile appeared on his face as I grabbed a business card from the desk and wrote my number on the back and handed it to him ”that’s my number, just give me a message when you would like to go out”

He took the card from me and looked at the number before turning his gaze back to me again ”Thank you Lelanna you’ve just made my day, and I’ll definitely be seeing you soon”. He walked back toward the door opening it and looked back at me

“See you soon Lelanna”

“Bye, Heath”.

As soon as the door shut behind him and he was out of view I slumped in my chair and let out an excited squeal. I laughed quietly to myself at how unexpected it was. I got back to my work feeling elated at the thought of going om a date with him.

By the time my shift was over it was time to lock up for the day. I shut and secured everything down and made my way back home it was 6 in the evening now and although the sun was still shining there was a slight chill in the air. As soon as I got home, I ate my dinner and headed up to my room.

I got dressed into my pyjama shorts and top and retrieved my phone out of my bag before getting comfy into bed. I looked at my phone to see I already had a message from Heath.

"Hi Lelanna, its Heath. it really was great meeting you today, I hope your still up for that date?”

“Hi heath, of course, I look forward to it”.

I set my phone down on my bed with a smile as I was about to close my eyes when I heard my door open and saw Sam popping his head around.

"Sam, have you only just got back? It’s eleven at night!”

"Yep, it’s been a long day... been at the Palace since 7am”

"Wow Sam, what’s with all the really long days?”

"It won’t always be like this once we get the hang of things more, we just need to learn the ropes, and there’s a lot to learn” he said with a tired sigh.

“Well, are you back there tomorrow?”

“Actually nope, Alpha gave us the day off... rest day he called it” he said with a tired chuckle

"Well sounds like you could both do with a break“.

"Yea we sure do..” anyway what’s up with you?"

"Huh what do you mean?”

“You just look... I don’t know extra chirpy"

“Uhh I’m always chirpy Sam”

"Yea but you seem a bit. I don’t know I can’t put my finger on it”

“Well actually if you must know I met a really handsome man today, he came in to buy a piece of art for his grans birthday"

“Riiiight"

"Well, we started chatting and then he asked me out” I said grinning

“Oh, what’s his name?”

"Heath Lawrence.. He’s tall, handsome, manly” I described him, daydreaming

Sam laughed ”Alright Lil’s take it easy... so when is he taking you out then?”

"I don’t know yet, we haven’t decided“.

“Well, when you do go out with him, just be safe, don’t be naïve, be careful and be safe”

I rolled my eyes “Sam I know... I have been on dates you know”

"Yea I know Lil’s but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you each time”

"Aww Sam” I got out of bed and walked over to him, giving him a hug" I do love that you worry about me.. what would I do without my big brother”

He smiled and hugged me tightly ”What would I do without my awesome little sis”.

I let go and ruffled his hair.. well enjoy your rest day tomorrow Sam but I’ve got training in the morning so I need to get some sleep”

"Ok well goodnight, Lil’s”

“Night Sam”.

I was rushing to get into my shorts and top for training before quickly stuffing some eggs and fruit in my mouth while running out of the door, I had felt a bit lazy when I woke up this morning, so I ended up taking too long to get out of bed, so now here I am jogging quickly to training. I took my place on the mats with the rest of the team ready for Gabel’s instructions.

"TODAY” he calls loudly ”WE’LL BE DOING DEFENCE IN WOLF FORM… SO LET’S GET MOVING” he yelled as we all lined up behind him following him to the forest boarder. We had a girls and guys section already set up with two separate tents for us to undress with privacy then one by one we all trotted out in our wolf form. We were told to stand in two lines facing each other and we would be paired up with the wolf in front of us.

I chuckled to myself with my wolf as we saw we were paired with a guy called Chris who was actually quite arrogant, he would sometimes get too cocky in thinking he was the best in the team, but seeing as he failed the last task, we had I knew he’d go full force today to prove himself.

His wolf was slightly bigger than mine, his being a dark muddy brown and black eyes. He did look really intimidating, his Wolf was also quite broad, and you could see his wolf muscles tense under the fur as in his human form he was tall and very broad with a hard chest and arms, he was only 19 but he’d looked older, and he towered over most of us in the team. My wolf Was a dark grey with light silver whisps trailing across my back and my tail and my eyes a bright blue. Gabel blew his whistle when it was time to get in our defence modes and attack. Of course, we weren’t allowed to bite or hurt each other, this was just to build up our strength and stamina.

Me and Chris circled each other he gave me a playful growl which earned him one in return. I knew he wouldn’t attack first so after we circled a few times and I saw his body relax I quickly got low on my front paws and jumped up smashing my head into his chin which took him by surprise and caused him to fall back a few steps, while he was trying to regather himself I did it again... he became flustered and unsteady on his paws, I took the opportunity to bash hard into his side, knocking him over on the floor, I stood over him to assert my dominance and my win in this round.

He looked up at me and gave a little whine, not a hurt one, just of wounded pride and out of respect and acceptance that I had taken him down, I nudged his head with mine, and trotted back into a stance and while he got back into his. We had to keep going, round after round, learning new tricks, moves, learning from our previous mistakes that had gotten us knocked down. He’d managed to get me down on the second and third round by using his strength to knock me back, in the third round my bottom half went all the way over my head, but after many rounds of tackling each other, becoming very competitive we were now in our fifth round, feeling tired and achy as our wolves tongues were hanging out of our mouths parched with thirst when Gabel finally blew his whistle for us all to stop.

We bowed our heads to our opponents then all trotted behind the tents to shift back into human form and get changed.

When we were done, we all jogged back to the training grounds before being dismissed by Gabel. I grabbed my water and my bag from next to the mats when Chris approached me all shiny and sticky with sweat holding a big grin on his face ”That was an awesome few rounds Vanderwood, I knew it was going to be fun going up against you"

I laughed ” Same to you Chris, getting my ass over my head was definitely a winner" I shot him a smile with a wink…

He laughed back at me ”Oh I was howling inside, but I didn’t hurt you though, did I?”

“No, don’t be daft Chris I’m not made of China, it was all good fun”.

"Good, good, but you really do have fire in you Vanderwood and anyone that gets to spar and practice with you is lucky you’re a truly skilled opponent, your definitely someone I’d want next to me in a battle”

I looked at him with raised brows at his compliments ”Wow thanks Chris, I’m glad you do and ditto, you’d definitely be tough to take down”

I started to walk off the training ground with Chris walking beside me “So um” he hesitated

“Yesss?”

“Well would you like to go out sometime?” he quickly blurted out taking me off guard. A lot..

"Um don’t you have a girlfriend, Chris? Uh Natalie I believe her name is?”

He chuckled nervously ”Well actually we broke up”

“Oh no way" I exclaimed, they had been together for about eight years now and they always seemed really in love

"Yep, we broke up sooo, I’m single!” He said a bit shyly

"When did you break up?”

“A week ago!”

“A WEEK AGO... CHRIS" I swatted his arm in annoyance ” You can’t move on after a week Chris, it’s not like you just dated a couple of times, I mean you must love her still surely?”

“Well..uhh. I..” He stammered

“Ugh Ok Chris, first of all I AM flattered, your very handsome of course and a great guy, but a week is nothing and you can’t even answer my question properly... so I think really you need to deal with you and Natalie first, I mean surely whatever it is you guys can work it out… right? he stayed silent, his eyes wondering thoughtfully. before we parted on the path to go our separate way’s I pulled his arm turning him to face me ”you don’t just give up Chris if you still love her then you certainly don’t go on ANY DATES. Ok? sort things out with Natalie”

He gave me a small smile and put his arm around to pull me into him giving me a tight hug, I put my arms round his torso and hugged him back ”Thanks Vanderwood I do miss her I guess I should speak to her.. but for what it’s worth I asked you out cause your fuckin hot and badass”.

I let out a muffled chuckle as his big arm was covering most of my face. ”thankyou” I muffled

He let go and looked down at me “Any guy would be fuckin lucky Vanderwood to call you his, so don’t settle for anyone less than someone that puts you on a pedestal… understand?” he gave me a firm look

I smiled up at him in awe ”Yes ok Chris, I’ll keep that in mind ” I rolled my eyes and he laughed.

“Ok well I’m serious, and any prat hurts you… let me know, ill sort them out” he said winking and flexing his bicep and I laughed at his cockiness and nudged his arm

"Later Chris, I hope it goes well with Natalie” I said stepping back to turn away

"Later Vanderwood" he grinned as he walked away.

I did actually plan on just staying in bed for most of the day and lounging around the house with my day off, but looking through the gap in my curtains I could see how bright and sunny it was outside I grabbed a pair of loose shorts and a sports bra, grabbing my phone and earphones I headed outside pulling my hair into a messy bun I stepped outside and blasted my music on my phone as I set off into a jog toward the path that trailed across our forest boarder it was a long narrow winding path with trees overlooking on one side, it was just outside of the village so it was usually quiet apart from other runners and warriors patrolling the area.

I listened to my music as I breathed in the warm dry air, focusing on the light breeze across my skin I was already so hot I felt as though you could probably see steam rolling off of me. I’d been jogging for about an hour when I reached home again, I showered and got dressed into a strappy white sundress with little blue flowers that fitted my curves but just beneath my bum it flowed out a little just resting on my thigh,

I slipped on my flat sandals and left my hair semi wet to let it dry in its natural waves. I grabbed the bag which had all the little gifts I had bought for Florence and went to the Palace. I saw Gabel at the big black gates, he gave me a nod and let me in without question as I was so close to the family. I walked through the enormous empty halls, stopping to ask one of the housemaids if they knew where Florence was

"Yes miss, she’s in her room, would you like me to escort you” she asked in a sweet quiet voice.

"Thank you but its ok I know where her room is”

I walked into Florence’s room, marvelling at how big her room was. As soon as you walked in there was a little sitting area, two long light flower patterned blue chaise lounges sat across from each other with a cream deep arm chair filling a gap on one side, with a white shabby chic table sitting in the middle. there were two white cabinets along the wall with little pots of roses sat on top of them if you walked through the large alcove that was just behind the chaise lounges you would see her queen size poster bed with white silk curtains lightly tied back at either side of her bed hanging from the wooden frame beams.

Her room was huge and was so soft and elegant just like she always was ”Florence! I called out, It’s Lelanna are you in here?” and straight away the bathroom door opened, and Florence emerged with a wet cloth in her hand and a bright beaming smile.

She was pretty and very dainty, she had pale olive flawless skin and pretty bright silky blonde curls that fell effortlessly beautiful past her shoulders “Lelanna” she excitedly squeaked, she ran over to me, and we embraced each other in a tight hug. ”What are you doing here”.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Florence I haven’t visited for some time ”

She tried to brush me off with a tut as if to say, ’don’t be silly’ but I stopped her ”BUT I’m going to start coming more often, as often as I can, ok? I promise” I informed her as I placed one of my hands lightly on her cheek, she nodded happily as she took my arm in hers and we walked over to the chaise lounge.

"I can’t believe your here Lelanna It’s so wonderful to see you”

"And you, look at you, your still as beautiful as ever”

“oh” she blushed “stop it” she giggled “anyway my brother tells me your kicking ass at your training sessions, and that he says that you’re top of your class”

I rolled my eyes ”uhh well that’s kind of him but I don’t think I’m top of the class but I am doing well though, so far I’ve made good progress but there’s still so much more I have to work on ..but anyway” I said grabbing the shopping bag and handing it to her ” I bought some things for us to do together"

she opened the bag and gasped ”OH Lelanna you didn’t need to do that, but thank you… how about I order us some drinks and we get to painting our nails”

"Yesss definitely”

She called from the phone in her room down to the kitchen and asked for two fruit smoothies to be bought up to us. we sat on her floor and started painting each other’s nails, I went first painting hers as we gossiped and caught up on each other’s lives and I’d forgotten just how therapeutic her aura was, she was always so calming.

Even though she had spent months so close to death and ever since then she rarely left the Palace, but she was still a bright ray of sunshine, so calm but bubbly at the same time. She told me that out of the many friends she used to have only two still come to visit her now and that the rest had given up long ago and stopped calling on her.

She looked a bit saddened as she told me but then perked up as she mentioned Layton walked around the garden with her every evening before he went to bed, and they would spend the whole time talking. She had told me that her mother, the Luna was teaching her skills on running a kingdom just in case Layton spent too long finding a Luna when he takes over as Alpha. She mentioned that she saw Sam a lot now and that he and Layton would always join her at lunch time so they would eat together, and she would help them occasionally with paperwork.

When we’d finished painting our nails, we decided to take a walk in the garden and when I say garden, I mean like 50 gardens that surrounded the Palace. They were all layered with different flowers and statues, fountains, ponds with little stony winding paths that wound through each one. We walked arm in arm slowly as we kept talking, we had been walking through the garden for about an hour when she said she needed to go back inside from feeling tired and needing some rest, that’s one affect her illness had on her, tiredness overcame her especially when it was hot like today. I walked her back to her room and we both lay on her bed till she fell asleep.

I left her resting when I made my way back through the Palace, it was relatively quiet apart from the odd housemaid here and there coming out of a room or scuttering past me, but it wasn’t eerily or cold it was actually quite peaceful and the large bay windows let all the light shine through the Palace which made it look pretty as it bounced off of the crystal chandeliers causing little sparkling shadows all across the high walls and shiny floors.

“Lelanna?” I stopped in my tracks at familiar voice and turned my head round to see Layton in a white shirt, sleeves rolled up to his large biceps and tailored trousers.

“Oh! hey Layton” I answered feeling caught off guard “I was just visiting Florence"

He walked toward me eagerly ”Oh wow I bet she liked that, thanks Lanna”

"It was my pleasure, she was a bit worn out though so she’s resting”

"Well thanks for seeing her Lanna, I know it would have made her day”

I nodded with a smile ”You ok? you look like you’ve been working… Sam said your dad had given you both a few days off”

“Uhh yea” he said running his hand through his hair ”I just had to help on a few things, my mum and dad are planning a few weeks’ vacation soon, so I need to be prepared for some of the meetings that’ll take place when they’re away”. Now he was up close he actually looked a bit tired and dishevelled.

“Working hard huh?” I asked questioningly

He let out a tired chuckle ”yep pretty much I’ve got to say I’m glad for the days off we’ll have”

“Well, why not start that now? is there anything else you have to do today?”

"Uhh no, actually we’re all done"

"Well, you can either get some sleep or you can come with me” I aid raising my brow giving a little mysterious grin.

He smiled curiously at me “What do you have in mind?... I’m not really in the mood to see people and deal with loud shit”

“Nooo! I got somewhere in mind”

“Then I’m yours Lanna, come, let’s go”

He held out his arm for me to take as I left the Palace and I lead him through the village and down to the field. I looked at Layton who was smiling and he looked at me,

“Damn I haven’t been here for years!” It was quiet, just the water trickling and the occasional chirping of birds nearby. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the grass to sit down.

We sat across from each other letting the sun warm our skin. We casually chatted a little bit as he told me how overwhelming he had been feeling now he’d realized how much work was involved in being an Alpha, admitting that he had taken everything his mum and dad had been doing all these years for granted. ”Luckily though they’re not pressing me into taking the Alpha role on anytime soon, I definitely don’t feel ready yet and there’s still some things I need to get in check first”

"Like what” I asked, interested

“Uhh just things, things that I want and need in my future, things that are important to me” he said thoughtfully

"Layton, I know you and I know whatever it is, you’ll figure it out, and if you need help along the way, you have us” and by us I mean me, Sam and Florence”.

He smiled widely “I know” but he looked down at the grass as his smile faded.

I leant forward crossing my legs in front of me and started picking daisies to make a daisy chain and I could feel he was now watching me ”I’m making a daisy chain! you never seen one?”

“No” he chuckled “I haven’t”

“Well here let me show you” I picked some more and started showing him how to do it, as we sat crossed legged opposite each other in silence just listening to the nature around us.

We spent all afternoon there, but Layton had to go back, so we left reluctantly as we walked arm in arm away from the field and back to the village, he said he’d walk me home and of course I didn’t rebuff him, it just meant I had longer with him and his delicious scent.

We got to the gate at my front garden., and I unlooped my arm from his and he looked at me ” Are you going to the dance tomorrow?”

“Of course, are you”?

“Yes, he smiled ”well good, I get to see you there then”

“Yea you will” I tilted my head to the side and smiled sweetly

“I better keep my eye on you then, I’ll bet you’ll look stunning, and men will be queuing up to dance with you” his words sent a wave of excitement through my body just at him calling me that!

I gave him a little laugh to cover my butterflies and I gave him a playful squeeze as I hugged him ”I’ll see you tomorrow Layton”

“See you tomorrow my girl” he winked as we both parted ways.

******

Tonight, Is the summer dance at the village hall. They hosted one every year and I always love them It was another chance for us to have fun and forget our responsibilities of everyday life.

I packed my stuff for the dance and walked to Lola’s as we had already agreed we’d all get ready together at her house.

We all giggled and sang away in Lola’s room with all of our stuff sprawled out across her room, our dresses, makeup as we all drank our wine.

Dakota: ”So who’s hoping for a cheeky kiss tonight”? she giggled

Lola:” well actually I wouldn’t mind having a nice snog with Jay” she laughed wickedly as she poked her tongue out.

“Ewww” we all shouted, throwing pillows at her playfully.

Lola: “Well maybe I’m hoping for something that will never happen... cause every time I think he’s going to I end up getting my hopes up for nothing”. she looked down at her glass of wine as If thinking back to all the moments she felt he might show some interest in her

Dakota: “Aww Hun, forget him, if he’s not going to make it clear if he has feelings for you then… perhaps it’s time to call it quits on him and move on”.

We all nodded in agreement with Dakota.

Dakota: “I hate to say it but having feelings for any of the popular guys is just going to get you hurt and disappointed, I mean they’re clearly having too much fun with all the attention they get to want to get into any kind of relationship”.

Lola looked at us and sighed “I know your right I suppose it’s foolish to have any feelings involved when It comes to any of them, I just can’t help how he makes me feel when he’s around me and when he talks to me”.

I know that feeling all too well I mumbled in my head. Unfortunately, I’ve let myself develop feelings that are way too strong to be able to crush them and act like they never existed. For me now, it’s way too late to go back cause no matter how hard I tried to squish my feelings for Layton, they always resurfaced every.single.time!

I shook myself out of my thoughts and took another sip of my wine “Well girls, that got depressing quickly lets have some more wine and get our dresses on, we have to leave soon anyway and weee need and deserve an awesome night tonight... so no waiting around for any certain guy and no pandering after them, tonight is just about us girls having fun, drinking and lots of DANCING”!

We all raised our glasses up in the air with a whoop and Lola turned the music up louder to get us back in the party mood.

We all got our dresses on and were finally ready to leave, my dress was black just off the shoulders with a low cut rim running down my cleavage and a long split going all the way up to my left leg reaching the top of my thigh, my hair curled and wrapped in a lose bun at the tip of my neck on the left side with loose curls cascading around my face and my diamond earrings glistening under the light. I felt good tonight, maybe it was the wine, but we all seemed confident, and the girls looked incredible.