*** Gialsjay Timesday . ***

Spell to freeze time .
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With all kinds of thoughts about my mom's behavior running through my mind, I take out my Venetian swan mask and unconsciously play with it. The silk bind feels so soft under my fingers tips the diamond-like stones feel rough and hard.

"Kevin!! " someone exclaims in the distance.

I hear chatter in the background, but it all seems distant. I am lost in my world and was wondering what my mom was up to until someone bumps into me, and my mask falls down. I look around searching for the culprit but find none. I peer down to see my mask. It was in a rich rose gold color.

I pick it up and put it on, lest I lose it again. It made me feel different, like I was someone else. It gave vibes of a mysterious personality and a different aura surrounded me — or so I thought.

I turn around looking for Ingrid only to see her rushing off with her boyfriend, who is in an year above us.

Urrrgghhhh! She left me off to fend for myself. Again!

Oh wait, they talked, that was the chatter I heard. Oh, great!!

I drift off to explore this humongous house. The decorations were completely in red and gold, from the ribbons hung up to the tablecloth. The people around put their best foot forward and were in complete formal. I spot a photo booth set up by the balcony entrance, also following the same colour code with a few props. They draped the pillars in satin ribbons with lilies in the middle, and there were soft lights placed at the bottom of the pillars.

The whole aura of the place was overwhelming me.

The makeshift bar caught my attention. Maybe a drink or two won't harm me. I mean I know I shouldn't but I don't see my mom anywhere around. I sneakily go there. 

I was drowning myself in a glass of green apple martini, or so I believed it to be. It slipped in so smoothly inside my throat. It was nice and had a refreshing taste to it. Unlike the beer that most guys have, it didn't reek. I order another drink and hear someone calling out to me. I quickly try to gulp down my drink, and this one unfortunately burnt my throat. I put the glass down and see a little of it still left. I life it up to finish it, when someone places a hand on my shoulder.  

"Lilia, is that you?" says a familiar voice.

I turn around to see Mrs. Potts standing there gleaming. I try to hastily hide the drink behind me, but she spots it.

"Oh Lilia, since when did you start drinking?" She asks in an accusing tone. I feel bad, like I've let her down. She is like a second mother to me.

"This is the first time, I swear!" I say, my voice coming out croakier than usual. I was being honest. This really is the first time.

"You just turned seventeen and you are drinking. This is bad. You know better than this."

"I know, it was just this once," I say sheepishly.

"As long as you have it under control," she says, taking a sip from my drink.

She understands me like no one else and always supports me. As a kid, I was very sensitive and would end up fighting a lot with Ingrid.

One such fateful night after a fight with her, I ran away crying into the woods, only to realize that I lost my way. I was shouting out for help when I saw a pair of eyes suddenly popping out from nowhere. At first I thought it was a wolf or some wild animal, but it turned to be Mrs. Potts. That night she took me to her home, fed me, and gave me a place to rest.

Since then we have had a bond, a special connection between us.

"How are you dear?" she asks sitting next to me.

"I'm good, Mrs. Potts. How are you? Haven't seen you in quite some time. Where were you?" I ask. I really haven't since her since way before the trip to France.

"What can I say? I don't really go out that often. How was France?" She asks excitedly.

"What do I say? The hot weather over there had nothing over the guys. They looked like Abercrombie models. Just perfect." I say with a sigh, dreaming of them.

"Ah, how I wish I was young like you." This is another reason I like her, she is so fun to be with it and so unlike my mom.

"And also you've  got to meet my nephew I think he was somewhere around here," she says looking around for him.

"Oh!" I say, wondering why was she acting up like this, and how come I never met this nephew of hers? 

"Arrggh .... Where did he disappear? I better go search for him. Sorry dear, say 'hi' to Ingrid from me," saying so she gets up. My eyes also scan the room, looking for her nephew. Then I realise, I've never met him. 

"Why the hurry?" I question, hoping she'd give me company. I didn't really want to be alone here.

"Well, he isn't your normal teenager. He is quite a handful," she says, walking away with a sigh.

Well, maybe he is quite a flirt, or maybe he is a drunk !!?

Taking my glass of mocktail, thanks to Mrs. Potts, I roam around the halls. I meet a few people and exchange pleasantries. Though I still couldn't find the one I was looking for -- Emily Rose. My only best friend after Iddy. She is the Sherrif's daughter and is bound to be here.

I go exploring the house in search of her, instead, I spot a strange guy lurking in the shadows outside, he looks harmless, but I get a weird vibe from him.

I watch his movements through the french windows of the kitchen which connected to the garden outside and see that most of the time he avoids human interaction and doesn't really socialize with anyone.

He finally steps out of the shadows, and I glimpse him.

He is devilishly attractive with his dark hair falling on his face. His messy hair highlighting his sharp features and his eyes looked like they could capture anyone's soul, but then they seemed soulless.

He makes his way to the house but oddly takes a turn at the eleventh hour. He instead goes to the waiter and presumably says something because the waiter sprints away immediately inside the house. The strange thing was I didn't actually see him speak anything, not even his lips moving.

What can I say? I was watching him like an eagle because this guy creeps me. 

I train my eyes on the waiter waiting to see what'd he do.

The waiter comes back to him directly after a while, ignoring other people's calls. He hands him over his drink and the minute this guy walks away the waiter shakes his head as if he was dazed and confused. He holds his head as if in pain but quickly gets over it.

I think of following this guy because I swear I never seen him ever in our town and I practically know everyone over here credits to almost growing up in the same town where you were born.

But then, I try to ignore him and go in search of Ingrid hoping she found Emily. I step outside and the cool breeze fans my hair. I catch a glimpse of him from where I am standing. 

I see that he still is sticking only to the shadows. He catches me staring at him and gives me a hard glance, I for a minute glance away. He behaves in a peculiar manner when someone passes him. He backs away in a subtle manner, keeping his distance as if he'd catch some virus.

Weird!!

A girl or let me say Becca "the town slut" tries to make a move on him. She literally is a walking STD. She drags her finger over his chest and I'm sure she is saying something to seduce him. I roll my eyes, seeing her and her antics.

He clenches his jaw and looks like he doesn't really appreciate her presence. His hold on the glass visibly tightens, causing it to break.

She shudders and runs away from him. He lowers his face as if trying to hide it, and I wonder why?

I sit on a bench placed by the pool, trying to enjoy my non-alcohol drink.

"Lili, how are you?" asks someone, tapping on my shoulder.

I turn around to see it was Kevin's mom. I smile and exchange a few pleasantries with her. She leaves after a few minutes when the mayor calls her. 

Unfortunately, this stranger then falls in the line of my sight. I sit there behind the plants, trying to finish my drink when I see Mrs. Potts coming outside in a hurry, as if she was looking for someone. I get up thinking maybe she wants to talk to me but I sit back when I realize her eyes were focused on this strange stranger.

My eyes literally widen when I see her approach him and watch on as the color of his eyes change from blue to black. I rub my eyes thinking I was perhaps imagining it and open them only to see them walking away. I call out to Mrs. Potts to find how the hell does she know this stranger.

"Mrs Potts!!" I call out.

Upon hearing my voice, he also turns back and I can see his veins and his almost black eyes. The cuts formed on his hand from the breaking of the glass have also visibly healed except for the now dried up tiny specks of blood. Seeing my reaction, Mrs. Potts drags him away at a faster pace.

I would follow them, but I hear Iddy calling me.

"Lili. Mom and dad are making their announcement. Come on. !!"

Now what is it they had to tell. I think I had enough of strange things for today. First, this stranger, and now the fact that Mrs. Potts knows him.

Wait.

How does she know him? Is it...

A/N

Hey there readers. How are you all doing ?? The image above is of Lilia's mask for the ball. I hope you all like it.

My Wattpad crashed so I couldn't give a quick update. Extremely sorry for that.

Well can you give me your suggestion and feedback about this chapter?

Like. Comment. Share. Vote.

Until the next update

Love

~ Vaishnavi.