it was party time after the wedding ceremony which was beautiful to say the least. alexandra stood immediately out with her dress getting a ton of compliments and high praises which made her feel horrible because that was not her intention. she and grant's cousin valerie had a discussion about it and everything was fine.

valerie wasn't upset at all. she thought alexandra looked beautiful and luckily her dress didn't take away from her special day. the wedding was perfect. felix was still pissed about the seating arrangement so he asked oliver to switch with him. he didn't want too but he went on and ahead and did it which caused him to sit beside venetia. there was some... tension between them but nothing that kept oliver up late at night

alexandra was sitting beside grant drinking a glass of champagne elegantly as she watched valerie and her now husband zayn dance.. they were slow dancing the night away to a thousand years by christina perry. they looked magnificent together. alexandra could tell they were deeply in love as they looking in each others eyes with faint tears running down their faces. alexandra caught herself smiling as zayn carefully wiped her tears away without messing up her makeup

alexandra leaned over to grant, "they are so cute." she cooed making him look at her with a faint smile. he just sat there watching her in complete awe. oliver saw from afar and began balling his fists together under the table

"you think you'll get married someday?" grant asked as alexandra kept her eyes onto the beautiful married couple. "i haven't gotten that far into thinking about it yet." she answered quickly

alexandra is still a young teenager. marriage isn't even on her mind at the moment but she has always wanted to help decorate a lavish wedding or maybe even design wedding dresses. after their spotlight dance, the couple gave a tear jerking speech to each other then their parents on both sides did along with grant.

after that, valerie did the bouquet toss which alexandra ended up catching which shocked her more than anyone. everyone was then on the dance floor except for alexandra. she just sat back watching everyone have fun. she and grant had a dance together when a slow song played but after that she was ready to sit down

"what are you doing over here by your lonesome?" she heard felix ask as he sat beside her. she shrugged, "just hanging low." she replied with simplicity

"later tonight, we're going to go for a swim. are you in?" felix asked, she quickly thought about it for a second then nodded, "i'm in."

felix smiled before kissing her nose then heading back to the dance floor. alexandra ended up sneaking away from everyone heading upstairs to her room. she quickly sighed before plopping down onto her bed staring at her ceiling. she laid there with her eyes closed for who knows how long up until someone knocked onto her door which made her sigh, "come in."

oliver walked in to see her laying on her bed. she quickly got up to see it was oliver which made her happy considering they really didn't get the chance to talk much during the ceremony

"what are doing up here all alone?" he asked with his hands behind his back. "i just needed to get away from everyone and think." she quickly admitted to him with a light tone

"i'm assuming it has something to do with erm your dress?" he asked with puppy dog eyes making her squint her eyes in confusion.

he shrugged his shoulders slightly, "i kind of overheard you and valerie's conversation." he said going to sit beside her. alexandra shot his a disappointing glare which caused his heart to drop

"oh so you were spying on me." she snapped making him look at her with a loss of words. she quickly laughed playfully hitting him

"i'm just messing with you!" she made him chuckle. alexandra then got serious, "i just still feel awful about it. the thought of taking her amazing day away from her because of a dress i put on just makes me disgusted with myself."

oliver could tell this was something that has been on her mind since the ceremony. "but why stress about something that doesn't matter? she wasn't upset with you plus you look amazing, i think you are just overthinking this."

alexandra began to ease up after hearing him say that. she chuckled looking down at her lap then back at him, "you're right."

"the minute you stop overthinking upon everything, your life is going to be way less stressful than you make it." oliver advised her grabbing her hand making her freeze

"you scare me." alexandra quickly muttered making him frown, "scare you?" he asked curiously

"you always know what to say and it just...." she shrugged quickly then began speaking again, "it just feels like you know me better than i know myself sometimes."

oliver began getting nervous, "well you know i just think you are the best fucking person on the planet and being around you makes me feel like i'm reading a novel." he stated causing her to blush like no other. he had such a way with words that made him ten times more attractive

"have you talked to your mom lately?" alexandra asked making oliver shift onto her bed. she quickly stuttered, "w-we don't have to talk about her if you don't want too!" she assured him

oliver shook his head, "you're good erm no i haven't talked to her in awhile but she-"

suddenly, emily and piper bursted through the door making alex gasp. "hey babes!!" emily yelled as alexandra got up going over to hug them

"what are you guys doing here?" she asked. "felix invited us over! said something about a late night swim later tonight and said that we were having a little sleepover tonight!" piper said making alexandra smile

oliver awkwardly scratched his head before getting up, "i'll talk to you later alex." he said quietly before leaving the room. they watched him leave.

piper quickly frowned, "you know it never hit me until now but i think i know him from somewhere.."

"who oliver?" alexandra asked making piper nod her head. "where is he from again?"

"prescot!" alexandra answered. piper gasped, "holy fucking shit!! yeah i went to school with him." she announced making emily turn her head in shock, "no way!"

"yes, oh my God it all makes sense to me now."

"wait what was he like? was a weirdo back then too?" emily asked making her and piper laugh but alexandra just glared at them both, "stop it. it's not funny." she stated making them stop laughing

"i think he is even weirder now than he was in pre-k plus high school." piper stated with a shady remark making emily snicker. alexandra crossed her arms, "okay. okay i'm sorry." piper raised her hands in defense

a few hours later, the teens were having chicken fights in the huge pool. grant didn't stay for obvious reasons plus he had some business to take care of tomorrow. oliver sat near the pool with only his feet dipped into the water watching as alexandra was sitting on felix's shoulders playfully fighting with farleigh and venetia

she ended up knocking venetia down in the water. "YES!!!" felix yelled raising his arms so alexandra could give him a high five. she then fell back going to the bottom of the pool then coming back up to the surface. "c'mon round 4!!" farleigh yelled but alexandra quickly combed her fingers through her wet hair

"you guys go ahead i need a break." she breathed as she begin swimming over to oliver who looked so bored yet innocent as ever. she quickly sat her wet arms onto to his dry legs as she placed her chin onto her arms giving him a small smile

"why are you over here by yourself?" she asked playfully flicking water on him making him flash her a smile. "just erm don't think i belong"

"but you do!! c'mon." she reached out for him to step into the pool but oliver hesitated. she nodded her head, "it's okay. i got you, i promise." she assured with ease

suddenly everyone came over to them. felix quickly grabbed her from her waist earning a yelp. "so piper here tells us that you two grew up together." farleigh messily stated to oliver making him nervous. he quickly looked over at the girl with furrowed brows then his facial expression immediately changed. he looked scared as shit

"it didn't hit me until later. i looked through my old yearbook and then came across your name!!" piper said loudly making oliver uncomfortable. farleigh smirked towards oliver before evilly speaking, "did you bring the yearbook?"

"i actually did!" piper stated with laughter. "okay guys c'mon let's continue our chicken fights!" alexandra said but venetia cut her down. "no wait i want to see." alex glared at her

"c'mon let's go get it." farleigh said getting out of the pool then assisting piper. they then wrapped towels around themselves and ran into the estate. they all started talking. alexandra quickly sat beside oliver. "hey, you okay?" she asked but he didn't hear anything she said. his ears were ringing and it felt like the world was closing in on him

farleigh and piper quickly ran out going to sit on the chairs near the pool. "ollie! you okay?" felix called out which made him turn his head. "erm yeah i'm i-'m good." he stuttered. felix quickly got out of the pool along with the rest and ran over to look at the yearbook with them. alexandra stayed beside him.

oliver breathed heavily, "are you okay?" she asked as they began laughing aloud which caused oliver to feel sick. his mouth began to get dry plus his eyes started dilating. alexandra just studied him but she knew something was off.

she quickly got up running over to them, "okay guys c'mon that's enough." she reached for the yearbook but farleigh playfully pushed her away as he flipped to the next page causing emily and him to laugh even harder. "ollie you were an adorable child!! piper what was he like growing up?" felix asked which was enough to make oliver quickly storm off. silence was in the air as they all watched him disappear

"piper i think you need to go apologize to him." alexandra called out making piper frown, she was embarrassed being called out by alexandra of all people. she didn't feel like it but she sighed putting her hands up in defense, "okay, fuck. i'll go talk to him."

she quickly got up and ran into the house. she figured he was upstairs. it was completely dark in the house which made the moon illuminate through the windows. silence ran throughout saltburn as everyone was asleep. just as she was entering felix's room, she was immediately grabbed by her neck then pushed against the cold wall. oliver had a tight, firm grip on her neck making her eyes widened due to sheer fear

he towered over her with his face inches away from hers. "are you going to keep making a mockery of me?" he asked calmly tightening his grip to the point where her airway was closing. she started quietly choking trying to get something air but he wouldn't allow it.

"answer my question." oliver demanded quietly which scared piper. he had this sinister look in his eyes. this wasn't the oliver that piper grew up with. he quickly loosened his grip then removed his hand from her neck making her quickly bend down and choke for air

"no.." she gagged, "i'm not." she said fearfully. he bent down to her level looking into her eyes. he then patted her cheek, "good girl." he said before casually walking into his room then closing the door

i know this book is a slow burn and is getting boring but i will be doing everything in my power to bring more drama and suspense into it. i love you all thank you!! hope you are all staying safe especially with some of these winter weather conditions around the states!! i love you guys 🤍