BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Sarah’s pov If I had known that spilling one drink would destroy my life, I would have stayed home that night. Instead, I stood in front of a cracked mirror wearing the ugliest dress I had ever owned, convincing myself everything would be fine. I didn’t have much of a choice. This scholarship was my only chance of getting into college, and missing the event wasn’t an option. It was just one night. Go in, stay quiet, avoid embarrassing myself. Leave before anyone notices me. What could possibly go wrong? Mom walked into the room. “How do I look?”, I said with a fake smile on my face. She came closer to adjust my dress and for some reason she kept fixing the same part over and over again, like she was trying to force it into looking expensive” I tried moving a little, then she snapped. The room felt hot and no, it wasn’t because the electricity in our cheap apartment had gone out. “Do you have any idea how important tonight is?” she muttered while fixing my hair. “Just don’t embarrass me, Sarah” And that was the last thing she said to me before I left the house. Her words replayed in my head the whole ride there, not a “have fun honey” or “be careful” just “don’t embarrass me”. The closer we got, the more nervous I became. I kept looking down at my dress, wishing Cinderella's fairy godmother would appear and switch things up. I stared out the window, as the houses got bigger and bigger like something from those fancy 2000,s movies. Lights everywhere, slow music playing, cars parked looking all shiny and sparkly, and let me not even get started on the people. The ladies in designer outfits that cost more than my entire rent and the guys laughing like nothing in their lives had ever gone wrong. Everyone looked accomplished and there I was stepping out of a cheap taxi. “Your name miss?”, a huge man standing by the gate asked. “Sarah”, I said, then I added “Sarah Michael” He scanned through the list and for a second I thought he wouldn’t find it. My chest tightened and I was already panicking inside, Then he stepped aside. “Welcome”, he said as he led me through the entrance hall. The moment I entered everything changed. The lights, the atmosphere, even the air smelled different. It reminded me of some fancy expensive perfume I couldn’t pronounce. I stood near the entrance pretending I was waiting for someone while people walked past me like I was invisible. Some bumped into me and instead of turning around, they just glanced at me and looked away. Well, that was rude but I couldn’t blame them. I guess I didn’t match the picture in their heads. “Don’t embarrass me”, moms voice replayed in my head. I sighed. Tonight couldn’t be that bad. I just needed to survive the night, that was all. “Okay Sarah, you’ve got this,” I said to myself. The plan was simple. Just stand somewhere, don't say much, and avoid doing anything stupid. I could do that. I started walking, even though I didn’t have a single clue where I was going. I spotted a group of girls making some videos in the corner. I tried standing close enough to seem like I belonged. Well, that was a disaster because the moment one of the girls spotted me, she whispered something to the others and they all laughed. I could feel their eyes scanning through my outfit. “Ew, why’s she here?”, “Who invited the homeless girl”. I felt humiliated, I turned away quickly pretending something else caught my attention. That’s when I felt something, sort of like, a shift? I couldn’t explain it but at that moment, something in the atmosphere changed. The room got quiet, like the people were paying attention to something or rather someone. I followed their eyes without thinking twice, and there he was. I didn’t see him clearly at first, just a tall muscular figure moving through the crowd like he didn’t belong there. I got a glimpse of his face and at that moment I knew he wasn’t like the others. Everyone else seemed too loud, with their fake laughter and posh accents. But him? He looked bored. Like being there was the last thing on earth he wanted. I noticed someone tried grabbing his arm, laughing about something, but he pulled away a little. Not in a mean or rude way, just uninterested. Like he didn’t give a F*ck about whatever was going on. I don’t know why but for some reason I felt drawn to him. Maybe because he looked just how I felt. Like he was out of place, didn’t fit in, or just didn’t belong. Suddenly our eyes met. I should’ve looked away. That's what normal people do in situations like this, right?Just look away and pretend as if nothing happened. But I didn’t, rather I just stood there staring. And for a moment I forgot how to be normal. He looked at me and gave a weird look, like he was trying to understand what exactly was wrong with me. Then he started walking towards me. My heart started beating so fast, I thought I was gonna have a panic attack. No way. He can’t come to me! There’s literally so many people here. It can’t be me! And then he stopped right in front of me. Up close, he looked even more real. Not perfect perfect, just unfairly attractive, in an annoying way. “You realize you’ve been staring right?”, he said. His voice wasn’t so loud, but it sent shivers down my spine. “I wasn’t, I said quickly. That was an obvious lie. He gave me one of those detective looks. “Okay, then you’re just really bad at hiding it”, he said. I opened my mouth to say something, but words failed me, so I just stood there looking stupid in silence. “You looked like you were forced here,” he said. I let out a breath. “Isn’t it obvious?” “A little bit”, he said. He glanced over my shoulder for a second. “You keep checking the door”, oh s**t. I didn’t even realize I was doing that. I looked down at my hands. “I just got here,” I said with a soft tone. “Mhm”. He responded, like he wasn’t buying any of it. I felt really small just standing there. Like I was doing something wrong, even though I had no clue what it was. Without thinking, I spoke again. “You don’t seem like you want to be here either”. I regretted my words the second they left my mouth. Who did I think I was? Little Miss Know it all or something? But surprisingly, he didn’t get angry, he smiled. “Finally, someone notices”, he said with a sarcastic expression on his face. Something about that made me feel a bit bubbly on the inside. Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from behind us, which caught the attention of everyone. I turned quickly, trying to figure out what it was. Before I knew it, someone shoved past me really hard. And at that moment, my life flashed right before my eyes. I lost balance and slipped. I tried reaching for something, anything to hold on to but there was nothing there. And then, I fell forward. crashing into him. Different liquids splashed all over me. My hair, dress, and everything else around me. The glass hit the floor and shattered, and suddenly the room became dead silent. My heart stopped. “Oh no no no no”, I said as I stepped back quickly, my hands shaking. I…I’m so sorry”, I stammered. I was too ashamed to speak. People were staring now, of course, they were. I just wish the ground would open up and swallow me. Mom's voice replayed in my head “Don’t embarrass me”. Oops, already f****d that up, too late. I slowly looked up, scared to see his reaction. “I didn’t mean to”, I said. And to my surprise, he wasn’t angry or annoyed. He just stared at me, like something had changed and things just got interesting. For a while, neither of us spoke, and in that moment I felt the shift. I couldn’t fully process it yet, but I knew one thing for sure. This night was definitely not going how I planned and that scared me more than anything.