Tales & Time (Lost Time Academy #1)(26)

“Madi, darling friend who is badass and beautiful. Please let me dress you for tonight. Like PLEASE,” she asks in an overly dramatic way that makes me laugh. You can’t help but love this girl.

“Alright, nothing too slutty though,” I warn her, and she grins at me. I have the feeling she didn’t hear a word of what I said past the part when I agreed to let her dress me.

“Put on those tight, black, high-waisted skinny jeans you have,” Tavvy tells me as she goes through a box of clothes she had hidden under the bed.

“How do you know what clothes I have?” I ask her.

“I love fashion. I looked through your clothes on the first day to check there wasn’t anything worse than that grease-stained hoodie,” she says, not exactly apologising, but I don’t really mind, if I’m honest with myself.

“My mum gave up years ago trying to help me understand fashion or what to wear. I’m happy in that hoodie,” I tell her as I strip out of my clothes, leaving just my underwear on and pulling out the skinny jeans from the drawer under the wardrobe. I hate these ones, they are so tight, but they were Quinton's favourite, if I remember right. Not that I have anyone to impress, so...

“Your poor mum. Don’t worry, I will not give up on you just yet,” Tavvy says and then holds up a tiny little lacy top in the air for me to see. There is no back to the top, only the front which looks tight and like it will show off everything that my jeans don’t cover up. I glare at her and shake my head as I take the top from her and pull it over my head, thinking this is better than a dress. Tavvy steps behind me as I look in the mirror, deciding that it doesn't actually look that bad. Tavvy undoes my hair from the plait and helps me shake it out, so it flows in curly waves all over my shoulders and down to my waist. I slide my flat shoes on, ignoring the little eye roll from Tavvy before she looks at the high heels of hers next to me, and I know she would prefer I try those on considering we are the same size. That is not happening. I would break my neck or worse with my luck.

"Damn, you look awesome! I'm so good!" Tavvy says. "I would suggest a little make-up, but you know what, you have naturally long eyelashes and perfect skin anyway. So, no need."

"I don’t know, it is a little revealing..." I drift off as someone knocks on the door, and I sigh as Tavvy opens the door. Ella is stood just outside in a black dress that is far more revealing than anything I could wear, and suddenly I feel a lot better. "Never mind."

"What are you doing here?" Tavvy asks, crossing her arms.

"We should walk together to the party," Ella suggests, and Tavvy laughs like Ella is crazy.

"You just want Madi to introduce you to the brothers," Tavvy says, and Ella grins, her dark red lipstick making the look seem more sinister than you would expect her smile to be.

"Whatever her reason is, let's go," I say, shaking my head at her and then suddenly remembering why I wanted to go to this party in the first place. I run back to my bed, using my body to hide the phone as I pull it out of the pillow and stuff it into my bra, the only place I can quickly think of.

"Seems new girl might be more interesting than I first thought," Ella muses, glancing at the little part of the phone that is sticking out. I quickly push it down, watching Ella to see what she will say next.

"Don't make me put you to sleep," I warn her. Not that I have a clue how to do that again.

"You have control over it already? I doubt it. But don’t worry, I won’t say a word," Ella says, walking down the corridor. Tavvy and I look at each other, knowing neither of us trusts her, but there really isn't much we can do about it right now. I shut the door behind us before walking down the corridor next to Tavvy.

We get to the end of the corridor and, instead of walking anywhere, Ella pulls open a random door which reveals a set of stairs. Tavvy follows Ella in first, and I go in behind her, pulling the door shut behind me before following them up the stairs. There are four flights of creaky, dark stairs before we get to the top where it opens up into a big empty attic room that looks like it stretches for ages. Ella doesn’t step off the top step, she instead pulls a key out of her bra and holds it in the air. There is a flash of yellow light, and then Ella is gone.

"Creepy magic," Tavvy mutters and steps up to where Ella was just stood. "Hold my hand so we both go in together."

"Go in where?" I ask her slowly, still moving closer.

"The party," Tavvy says with a laugh, holding out a hand to me. I slide my hand into hers and step onto the top step next to her as Tavvy pulls out the white key we have from her bra and holds it in the air. There is a bright yellow flash again, and then we are no longer stood on a step looking at an empty room, we are on the same step looking into a massive party. There are flashing lights, loud beating music and dozens of students dancing, drinking and laughing. Ella stands tapping her foot near us, clearly bored of waiting for more than a moment. I let go of Tavvy's hand and step into the room, enjoying the warmth of the room and the feeling of just being someone normal. No one looks my way, too lost in themselves.

“Dammit, the brothers aren’t here yet,” Ella shouts over the music, and I roll my eyes at her, ignoring the stab of disappointment I feel that they’re not here. I spot a table of drinks, dozens of bottles lining it, and I head straight for it. Now this is a party. I could use a drink, or a few, to loosen up and have a good night. Everything has been stressful since I got here, so heartbreaking, and I just want to do what normal teenagers do. So, drinking and then dancing until I forget who I am is the plan.