EVERETT’S POV
Mother’s parties always felt like funerals with too much booze, to me.
Probably because I could see through the fakeness of multiple friends and family who rarely reached out unless they needed help urgently.
Or in this case, when they attended parties my mother hosted to lessen her boredom.
The mansion was too bright, the forced laughter too loud. But it was the smell of the thick perfumes mixing into the air that irritated me the most.
I arrived late on purpose.
My date, Lia’s, hand rested lightly on my arm as we stepped inside the colourful room. Her grip on my arm felt possessive but I ignored it. I let her have it solely because she looked beautiful.
Glancing sideways, I took in the soft waves in her dark hair, and the way the pale blue dress clung to her luscious
