Elana
I have been ignoring every member of my family since that day at the house when I overheard what they had to say about me.
They'd all texted me, and I've been leaving all their messages on read, even though some of them were important. Today was going to be different though.
I was already feeling bad for ignoring Elaine's messages, but then again, my mother and siblings already knew that I was really close to Elaine. They probably were already pressuring her to find out where I was and the reason I left. Elaine is someone who doesn't know how to lie, so she probably has told them that she doesn't know, which is why they'd let her rest.
Today, I was going to reply to anyone who texted me. This night would be the night of our family's annual fundraising gala, and after my "sudden disappearance", I'm sure they would want to make sure I showed up and not embarrass the family any more than I already have.
I was prepared though. I was very ready for whatever they had in store, because I've already faced it for so long that they wouldn't be able to surprise me, but them? The Hayes family? They were definitely not ready for what I had in stock.
It was currently 12:42 p.m. and in a little less than eight hours, the gala would already be on, so I had to make sure everything was set.
"Elana, I really don't like your lackadaisical attitude towards this." Cherry looked at where I was seated in confusion. "I know you don't want to go for this, but please let's at least try to be the prettiest one there."
She looked in her hand and saw that she was holding a yellow sundress with white polka dots.
"Ughhh. There's nothing in here that matches the theme." She tossed the dress into the heaping pile of other tossed dresses and dropped down to the floor.
"Yup. And that's why I'm looking through all my accounts to see if I have enough money to go get something from the store." I nodded and kept scrolling through my phone.
I wasn't doing that. I was actually waiting for Xavier to reply to my messages.
I had already texted, double-texted, triple-texted, and octuple-texted at this point.
I had forgotten to tell him before about the theme of the event, and I was scared now that he would mess it up, so I texted him over and over if his outfit matched the theme, but he had to be busy because he hadn't replied to me and he always replied to me on time.
"What's the theme again?" Cherry looked up from the floor she was sitting, a little glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I have a lot of clothes. Let's see if I have anything that could possibly match it."
"I don't think you do, but even if you did, you're far taller than I am."
"Which is why heels exist. Now what is the fucking theme?" She snapped, enough to let me know she was serious.
If she gave me her clothes, they'll fit my body perfectly, seeing as we were the same size. The only problem was that she was 5'11 and I'm 5'7. It might not seem like such a big gap until I have to wear heels which I absolutely hate.
"The theme is Diamonds and Deja Vu," I replied with a little wince.
"And I ask again, what's the Deja Vu about? I really don't get it?" She looked like a vein was going to pop in her forehead as she got up, frustration written all over her face.
"It's just my mother's stupid play on words. It means absolutely nothing." I leaned back on the chair, already tired of it all.
How can I have found a solution to what I thought was the biggest problem of them all just to not even have an outfit to go mock them in?
Shit.
"I think I have jewelry you could use, but then the dress would be the major problem or do you think you…"
We both looked at my phone at the same time as it rang.
"Don't tell me it's Everest or your mom."
I picked up my phone and….it was not them.
"Hey babe."
We had fallen into a routine of calling each other pet names, just so we didn't break character in public.
"Hey, pineapple."
I still had no idea why he called me pineapple, but it was cute so I accepted it.
"I saw all your texts. I'm sorry I didn't reply. I was in a business meeting."
I mistakenly glanced at Cherry to see her mouth hanging open to the floor and her eyes about to pop out of her head. That was when it hit me that I shouldn't be making this call with my phone on speaker.
I instantly took it off speaker and walked out, just for Cherry to start following behind me and trying to eavesdrop on my call.
"Cherry." I laughed as I smacked her away.
"Are you with your friend?" Xavier sounded quite amused.
"Yes." She yelled out before I could say a word, and now I had no option but to put the phone on speaker.
"Hello friend." He laughed and continued speaking. "I already sent your dress and everything for the Diamonds and Deja Vu gala, and it'll be at your place in about ten minutes. And then by 7:40, I should be there to pick you up."
"Wait. You got me my outfit for the gala?" I gasped with my hands on my chest.
"Yeah. I got a special necklace that I didn't deliver though. I'll put that on you myself."
The call went on for another thirty minutes, and the moment I hung up, Cherry hit me with the question that had been on her mind.
"Who is he?"
"Don't worry. You'll find out at the gala." I winked, and that was all I was willing to share.
********
We finally made it to the gala after all the traffic we encountered, and I don't know if I was ready for what I met.
Every camera and microphone was in our faces, and we were struggling to push through them.
"What's going on?"
"Are you a couple?"
"Is he good in bed?"
"How did you choose her?"
Those were the questions that were being thrown at us.
Suddenly, like there was a wind, the crowd of media people parted to reveal every member of my family staring at me wide-eyed.
Now I'll know what they think about this. About us.