Chapter 87
Celeste
I was so nervous. The Masquerade Ball was in about an hour and while I, Celeste, had been banned from going, I, Rose, had not. Jack had already left so I was free to start getting ready.
The dress I had picked out was my most daring by far. While I didn't much like the limelight, nobody there would know that I was Celeste. All they would know is that I was Matt's girlfriend. And Matt's girlfriend had to live up to those standards.
The dress was blood red, dripping in glittering fake rubies. Gold embroidery swirled around the rubies, looking like magic spells. It had what started out as a sweetheart neckline, but it dipped almost to my navel. It cinched at the waist before becoming a proper ball gown.
I had almost gone with red heels, but it had been nearly impossible to find a pair that matched the red. It was always just a shade off. So I had decided on black heels, but it honestly didn't matter. No one would be seeing my feet anyway.
It hadn't been my intention to be going in a super sexy dress like this, but I felt positively, for lack of a better word, evil in it. And that's the role I was going to play tonight. I had decided that Matt didn't deserve to be broken up with over a messaging app. I was going to do it at the ball.
Learning about werewolves had only hardened my resolve. I didn't want 'Rose' to be a distraction. If Matt got hurt because of me, I didn't know what I would do with myself. I had to do this. For him. I put my hair into a half-up, half-down hairstyle. The down portion of my hair fell in soft waves down my back while the rest of it was pulled away from my face, meeting in the back and being held in place by a hair piece that resembled a gold dagger.
For my makeup, I had decided on a black smokey eye with gold to make it pop. Not that anyone would see it behind the gold mask, but I would have felt unfinished if I hadn't done anything. My lips were a deep red to match the rubies.
When I was satisfied with my hair and makeup, I shimmied into the dress. Once I was finished, I took a deep breath to steady myself and looked into the mirror. I saw a stranger staring back at me.
The woman in the mirror looked nothing like me. She had curves in all the right places, a true femme fatale. She looked like she ate men up for breakfast and would be hungry again before lunch. The person in front of me definitely wouldn't mind breaking someone's heart.
More than that, she was beautiful. She would never need to hide behind baggy clothes and hoodies. I was honestly having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that the image before me was me.
Unshed tears burned behind my eyes. I blinked rapidly, willing the tears away. I didn't want to ruin my makeup. I also didn't have time for a low self-esteem breakdown. I would just have to come to terms with the fact that I was beautiful another night.
I took another deep breath. I was ready as I ever would be. It was time to go to the ball.
The campus had really outdone themselves. I guess with the attacks on campus, the staff had wanted to provide the students with whatever they could to take their minds off of it. The theme this time, other than masquerade, was ‘Faerie Forest.’
Fairy lights were strung up near the ceiling in such a way that they looked like stars. Fake pines lined the walls, the chairs were shaped like mushrooms and the tables looked like tree stumps. It was like I had stumbled into an enchanted forest.
Most girls were in shades of browns and greens. Some had ventured into light pinks. But I was the only one wearing red. I stuck out like a sore thumb.
I could feel my cheeks heating up, but then I turned and saw Matt. Everything else around me disappeared as I focused solely on him. He was wearing a red silk tunic to match me, which were tucked into tight as sin riding pants. A gold circlet adorned his head, a matching gold mask beneath it. He looked the very part of a fae prince.
I started walking toward him, feeling as light as air. If my heels weren’t tapping the ground, I would have thought I was floating.
People parted before me as I made my way to him, their voices just background noise. I was sure they were talking about me, but I didn’t particularly care at that moment. All that mattered was getting to Matt.
As if in slow motion, Matt’s head turned toward me and at the look on his face, I knew I had chosen the right dress. A dark heat filled his eyes as they roamed over my body from head to toe. It sent an answering heat straight to my core. God, giving him up was going to be hard.
“Rose,” his voice was a breathy whisper as I reached him. “You look amazing.” He took my hand and bowed low over it, kissing the top gently.
I stifled a curtsy as I gave him my best curtsy. I wobbled on my feet only a little. “You look amazing as well.”
Matt gave me a dangerous smile. “May I have this dance?”
I looked around us. Literally no one else was dancing. They were too busy mingling or getting refreshments. “I don’t think the dancing has started yet.”
“We’ll start it then,” he said easily and pulled me to the dance floor. I could feel everyone’s eyes on us. But that feeling vanished when Matt wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him.
Our bodies were flush against each other. Though the dress was thick, I could feel how happy he was that I was here through it. I pressed my lips together to keep a moan from slipping out.
He swept across the dance floor like he had been dancing all his life. We twirled around and around, faster and faster until everything around us became a blur. As the song came to an end, he lowered me into a dip.
When he pulled me back up slowly, our faces were mere inches away from each other, our breaths intermingling. If I didn’t stop it, I knew he was going to kiss me. And if he kissed me, it was all over. I would never be able to do what I came here to do.
“Rose,” he whispered my name again and the longing in it nearly broke my heart.
“Matt, I…” my voice trailed off as I watched Matt’s eyes focus on something behind me. I turned to find Jack sauntering over. My heart rate spiked. What was he doing here? He said he wasn’t coming.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? How is the happy couple?” Jack asked and I knew from the cruel tone of his voice that he knew. He knew all about Rose and Matt. And he somehow knew that I was Rose.
“What are you doing here, Jack?” Matt asked stiffly as he nonchalantly pushed me behind him. He was trying to protect me. He just didn’t know that he couldn’t. Nothing could.
“I just wanted to stop by and check in. Especially since my little sister decided to sneak out of the house and attend the ball, even though she knew she wasn’t supposed to. You haven’t seen her, have you?” Jack asked, but he hadn’t taken his eyes off me. I knew him well enough to see exactly how angry he was. This was not going to end well.
“Celeste is here?” Matt asked, worry creeping into his voice. “I haven’t seen her, but I promise I’ll keep an eye out.”
Jack laughed, throwing his head back like it was the funniest thing ever. “You really haven’t seen her?”
“No, I haven’t. What’s going on, Jack? You’re acting weird,” Matt said and I started to back away slowly. I was scared that if I moved too fast, it would set Jack off.
“I”m acting weird? You don’t know the half of it. Should I tell him or do you want to do the honors, Rose?” Jack asked and I froze. Matt turned to me, confusion clearly written over his features.
“I…I…” I stuttered, but I couldn’t get the words out, couldn’t force them past my lips. Tears gathered around my eyes before falling, trailing down the mask and onto my face.
“What is going on?” Matt demanded to know and I couldn’t look at him. I should have known that this was going to be a disaster. Quite frankly my whole life was. Why should this be any different?
“Yes, Rose, what’s going on? Or should I say Celeste?” and in two quick strides, Jack ripped the mask from my face, yanking so hard that it snapped the elastic. A collective gasp rose up from our audience and I quickly brought my hands to my face, hiding behind them like a coward.
“Celeste?”
