Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me ✓

[ 32 ] New Year's Eve

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• C H A P T E R T H I R T Y T W O •

If I have one way to describe the days of the occurring months, it would be uneventful. Undoubtedly, I began to frequently attend the school's library during lunch periods as a way to avoid seeing anyone.

Occasionally, I would bury myself in countless studies in order to improve my grades. Moreover, Evangelina and Anthony would often invite me to eat lunch with them at the cafeteria but I always ended up rebuffing their proposals much to their dismay.

The library has become my second home so much so that Anthony, who has always loathed spending time at the study room, would frequently tag along to keep me company. Since I have gotten so engrossed in my new study routine, I barely notice the days of school slip away and in an instant, christmas break comes along.

Once I accepted my mom's wedding attendance request set to occur on New Year's eve, she's been nothing but excessively ecstatic to the point where she would constantly apologize for her previous actions at the restaurant when she introduced me to her fiance.

Throughout christmas period, she's been busy making her wedding preparations and sending many invitation cards to family members and friends. Prior to the event, she mentioned that I was allowed to invite two close friends to the wedding with me. Given that Anthony and Evangelina have been the only two people with whom I've mostly been interacting with lately, I didn't think twice of inviting them.

By the time the day of the wedding ceremony rolls around, I am viciously faced with the cold reality that all hopes of a reconciliation between my parents will never come to pass which causes me to feel slightly agitated and gloomy.

Hence, my dress up preparation takes a lot longer than I had anticipated. After tedious hours of rummaging through my wardrobe to find an appropriate attire for the occasion, I end up settling for a sleeveless bourgogne dress comprised of a split on the side and a halterneck that exposes my collarbones. Subsequently, I style my hair in voluminous curls with the help of my curling iron before putting on some black ankle strapped heels.

"Emery, your friends are here to pick you up." Upon hearing my dad's call from downstairs, I am instantly reminded of the arrangement my friends and I made to arrive at the wedding together in the same car ride.

As I throw a quick glance at the clock disposed on my nightstand, it dawns on me that it's already past three o'clock whereas the event is set to begin in less than an hour and a half. It's not until I inspect my attire on the mirror that I come to realize that I forgot to put any makeup on.

Ugh.

There's no point enhancing my facial features with makeup or else we'll all be late. Before I can grab my purse on my bed, there's a knock on my door followed by Evangelina's voice from the other side, "Emery, what's taking you so long? We're going to be late." she notifies in a frank tone before barging into my room.

I'm certain we both share a similar expression once each of us take the time to appraise our attires before I come to the conclusion that she must have a crew of makeup artists who always glam her up to look so gorgeous at events.

She's dressed in a strapless knee-length lavender gown with heeled shoes with a purse in her hand of the same colour. Curly strands fall on both sides of her face with the rest of her hair kept behind her shoulders and tucked behind her ears as silver barrettes help to secure them in place. And whoever did her makeup deserves to be praised for their artistry.

"Wow, Emery you look so pretty, I love that dress on you and . . ." she fails to finish her sentence as her perusing gaze holds mine. "Wait, you didn't wear any makeup on? Emery, haven't you attended a wedding before?"