The Clumsy Designer

"The last time you introduced me to someone, they ended up being a freak Jem," I said. Pointing out the obvious fact from the last time he set me up with someone. Turns out that man was pretty much mentally insane or at least had some deep trauma from women, which, fortunately for me, I realized this when I agreed to have a second date. I told him about the fact that I never got to meet my mother, to which he started laughing like a maniac and telling me about how lucky I was to not meet my mother. He was wrong about that. I wanted to meet my mom more than anyone in this world.  “Don’t worry, this time there’s no pressure for you to actually date him. He’s a really nice and friendly guy, so he’ll be really understanding,” Jeremy reassures, winking at me. I faked a gag and almost immediately, my phone rang. "Wait, I have to pick this up. Excuse me." After looking at the caller, I didn’t hesitate to answer it. "Hey Theia, what's up? Why did you suddenly call?" I asked, even though I have no problem with her calling me anytime of the day. "Just missing my favorite niece, that's all," She said, cracking up a laugh. I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see me; if Ametrine were to hear this, she would’ve taken offense. But, my ears were enjoying the ego-lifting words, so keep them coming! "So when will you visit us here in Tennessee? Brian misses you." She says, referring to me and Ametrine's only cousin on my mother's side. "I miss that little guy too, maybe after my finals? My schedule’s really packed, especially having that fight with Patri. I really need to show him that I can do this."  Last year, I had fought with my Patri just to tell him that, unlike Ametrine who pursued Business Administration on her course and graduated with flying colors, that was something I didn’t want to do. Although I'm back to zero again, I don't mind it. Because finally, I got to pick the course and dream I wanted. "I'm sorry Theia, but I have to go. Talk to you soon!" I hung up the call, and then looked at my friend Jeremy. "Don't worry, I got you." He finally says, before walking away and leaving me alone. Letting out a sigh, I scrolled through my contacts and saw my stepmother, whom I call mom. She's sweet and nothing like those evil stepmom stereotypes. Facetiming her, I waited for her to accept the call. "Hey sweetie, how are you?" Immediately hearing her sweet voice upon her accepting the call. "I wanted to check up on the twins and Nitey, I already miss them." I said, groaning. "You called at the right time, but Nitey has his cute little eyes engrossed on the television so he probably wouldn't give you any of his attention." "It's fine, what about Gold and Jade?" "Blue!" They screamed simultaneously. Then mom's face was pushed aside as both of them were trying to squeeze their faces into the frame. "I already miss you both. How's school?" "Everything's fine Blue, at least for me. Not sure about Jade though." Gold says, looking at her twin teasingly. Jade only blushed and rolled her eyes back, not saying anything back. Gold is outgoing, cheerful, and a people's person. On the other hand, Jade is quite reserved, only speaks unless spoken to, and very shy. But the thing I love about both of them is that they always look out for each other, no matter what. Despite their personalities, Gold is more submissive while Jade is more dominant. But enough about my two younger twin sisters. "But in general, both of you are okay, right?" I asked. "Yep." "Yup." They both said at the same time. Giving them a smile, I nodded. "Well, I have to hang up now, I have to do something. I'll call later, and make sure Opal's head isn't still stuck between her books." I said, reminding them. "Sure, we'll take care of that puppet," Gold says, winking at me. "Don't call her that Gold," I said, with seriousness. "Ugh it's true anyways, bye Blue!" Gold mumbled underneath her breath as she hung up her phone, but I could still hear it. Placing my phone back inside my pocket, I walked towards my dorm building and stopped a few inches before the door. Awestruck, I secretly stared at the well-known jock in our dorm building. Lucifer Miller. He was nice. But when he's with his friends, he has this other persona that I don't like. And from what I know, he takes a Business Course, not sure what specifically, but it’s something related to business. Removing my eyes from him, I tried my best to enter the building without them noticing me. "Nice to see the next richest girl soon in this building." Cai teased. Mentally rolling my eyes, I blocked their voices out and continued my way inside. === Staring at our family picture, I felt a gush of happiness run through me as I thought of them one by one. Growing up as the second child of Dimitri Stephano Holmstrom, having a half Greek and American business magnate as a father was and still is a blessing. Though I couldn't deny the fact that he was truly a man w***e in the past. Good thing he met my step-mother, Gheniese Grant, an Italian baker, when I was younger. She opened up a big bakery back in Athens, Greece last year, just before I left. And about my biological mother? I didn't even have the chance to meet her. All I know is that she died when I was still young. Ametrine, my eldest sister, was lucky enough to meet her before she passed. I didn't know how to react when I learned about it. Sure, I was sad that I would never get to meet her, but I didn't cry. Instead, I focused on myself and my family. And about Theia Aliana, she's the elder sister of my mother and her son. Brian is Ametrine and my only cousin on her side. We weren't close, and the last time we saw them was when I was ten years old and Ametrine was twelve.  I first met her when Patri told me about my biological mother. Sadly, it didn't end well that day because Theia Aliana was kicked out of our house after her and Patri had a heated argument. Theia Aliana and Ametrine weren't close. But it seemed like she knew something about Theia that she didn’t want me to know about. Ametrine was and is always rigid around her, she only gave small smiles whenever I’d drag her along to Tennessee to visit them. Patri didn't know about it, and I refused to let him know as sometimes he was too dramatic. Other than Ametrine, I also have five more other siblings. Carnelian, Opal, Gold, Jade and Tanzanite. We were all close whenever we got the chance to be around each other, but sadly, my only brother and I weren't that close because, other than the fact that our age gap was so big, I was always just really busy. But when I have free time, I make sure that I spend it with them. My thoughts were then cut off by a beep coming from my phone. Fr: Jem He agreed, he'll see you on Saturday. I gave him your number btw. Groaning, I didn't reply and just sat down at my study table and continued finishing up my runway project. Ever since the principal announced that Parsons School of Design- the school I'm currently in, that Michael Burke, the current CEO of Louis Vuitton will be attending, I've been working extra hard on my portfolio. And that fact alone made me more excited about what was to come. Grinning to myself, I then sketched my own designs hoping that he would be able to notice these. === "My head hurts!" Nichole said, whining as I took a seat next to her. "Not my fault, it's not even the weekend and yet you decided to party like an animal last night. Come to think of it, where's Rham?" I asked her, looking around the classroom. Good thing she didn't arrive late for our first subject this morning. Our professor is a nightmare and I'm worried about that gay friend of ours. "Here!" Rham answered, entering the room with a fresh look. Then as soon as he got close to both of us, he pulled on Nichole's hair. Not too hard, just enough to bring her back to reality. "Ouch b***h, what was that for?!" She exclaimed and was about to pull his hair too when I went to the middle. "Hello, I'm here too. Mind sharing why you're irritated at her?" I queried. "Yeah, what did I do?" Nichole asks too. "Ugh, try asking me what you didn't do. Girl, you called me at midnight demanding me to pick you up at a f*****g gay club. I went there and you weren't even there anymore. What the f**k happened to you?" Rham asks, placing his hands on both sides of his hips and staring at Nichole. With Nichole sighing, she apologizes. "I'm sorry, okay? It was just, I couldn't accept myself and Joshua's break up last week. It was just all too sudden, you know?” She paused before continuing. “So I was walking home last night from Starbucks when I saw him entering that f*****g gay club. I was concerned and so I followed him. I was stalking him the whole night, and before I knew it, I was drunk and got emotional with the bartender. I called you, and I was waiting outside when the same bartender suddenly pulled up and told me he would be glad to drop me off," She finishes. My mind fumbles as I take in everything she just said. "What the hell, Nichole?! You shouldn't be accepting rides from strangers. What if he was a rapist, scammer, or a part of some kind of mafia?" I said with obvious concern in my voice. "He was kind, and then poof I didn't even have the chance to ask for his name," she says shortly. Rham clicked his tongue repeatedly before sitting next to me. And as the bell rang, our moody Professor came in. "Prepare your pen immediately, and I want your seats to be three meters away from each other. We're having a quiz!" Internally groaning with the rest of the class, I took my pen out, sighed, and got ready for the test. This is going to be a long day. === Having an early dinner with Jem, Nichole and Rham, we all decided to eat at a fast-food restaurant since we were too lazy to find something fancy to eat at. "So how was last night? I texted you and you didn't reply?" Jem asks Nichole, breaking the silence. "I'll tell you later," she says, stress evident in her voice. Munching down on our food, we all got into a happy conversation about planning to take a two-day trip to Miami once our exams were over. Our other friends Bullet, Andrea, and Max couldn't make it today but they agreed to join our short trip. Jeremy is a law student, Nichole, Rham and I are design students, Bullet is a medical student, Andrea is starting her modelling career, and Max is a business student.  We all have our own busy schedules, but we make sure to still spend time together when we can. They’ve been friends since high school, whilst I recently joined them last year when I moved out of home to study design. I don't regret any of it, because I met them. Most of my friends back home only befriended me because of my status, and here in the US I wasn't eye candy to the press because I'm not the heiress of our business, Ametrine is. And I don't mind, we don't have that type of envious relationship. Thinking of my older and beloved sister, I made a mental note to call her once I arrived at my dorm. "It’s going to be hard to believe this, but our dear Blue here has finally agreed to let me set her up again," Jem says, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Ooh... I'm excited about this." Nichole says, wiggling her eyebrows. I gave her a glare, "I'm not."