CHAPTER SIX:PRETEND
1383 Words
NEVAEH’S POV;
“You need to wear the red dress.”
Kiera’s voice was decisive as she held it up like a sacred offering.
“I’m going to throw up,” I muttered.
Kiera flopped back on my bed, one leg hanging off the edge.“No, you’re not. You’re going to look amazing and walk in there with your chin up.
I blinked at the fabric. “It’s bright red. Are you trying to get me kicked out of the Colton residence? His mom already thinks I’m a w***e because I wore lipstick that one time.”
Kiera groaned dramatically. “First of all, you looked hot in that lipstick. Secondly, if she’s threatened by a pop of color, she should stay away from traffic lights.”
I half-laughed, but nerves still sat like rocks in my stomach. “Tonight’s not about looking hot. It’s about surviving two hours with a woman who once said my collarbones were dull.”
“I still can’t believe she said that,” Kiera muttered.
“She’s the devil,” I replied, deadpan.
I stepped into my closet and held up the blue wrap dress.
It was the same dress I wore to the mayor’s fundraiser last year, and no one commented on it. Which meant it was probably perfect.
Kiera peeked in. “No. Nope. Too ugly.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed a pale peach dress that Harold’s mom once described as subtle and appropriate. It was tight at the waist and loose in the sleeves, making me feel like I was being dressed for an interview I never applied for.
Kiera sat up. “Why are you even trying to please his mother? You hate peach.”
“I don’t hate peach,” I lied.
“You told me last year it made you look like an undercooked salmon.”
I groaned and threw the dress on the bed beside her. “Because if I wear black she’ll say I’m mourning my marriage before the wedding, and if I wear red she’ll say I’m trying to seduce a stranger.”
Kiera raised an eyebrow. “Okay but seducing the stranger sounds kind of iconic.”
I tossed a throw pillow at her. She caught it, grinning.
“Seriously,” she said, more gently this time. “Why are you still doing this?”
I didn’t answer. I turned back to the mirror and reached for the blue wrap dress instead, that peach dress wasn’t going to cut it. I knew Harry’s mom might find something wrong with it.
Kiera stood and walked over, her expression soft. “Why are you going to dinner?”
Because I’m engaged.
Because it’s expected.
Instead of answering, I changed into the blue dress.
Kiera didn’t say anything. She just sat back down, eyes trailing me as I fixed my necklace.
After a beat, she said, “Carter wouldn’t make you wear something to be accepted.”
I stilled.
“He’d probably let you show up in a t-shirt and still somehow fall heads over heels in love with you.”
“Stop it,” I said quietly. But the smile was already curling at my lips.
“He brought you flowers,” she said heatedly, like it was Exhibit A in a case she was definitely winning. “And coffee. Twice. I mean, who even does that anymore? Especially when he knows you’re engaged, Nevaeh, come on.”
“Carter’s just… persistent.” I whispered.
“You light up whenever we talk about him. You haven’t lit up like that in… I don’t even know.” Kiera pressed on. “Girlll… You’re falling.”
I met her eyes in the mirror. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
She smiled. “That’s okay. Just don’t confuse being tolerated for being loved.”
That hit a little too close to home.
The blue wrap dress hugged my waist and fell just past my knees. I paired it with the earrings Harold’s mom gave me last Christmas.
Kiera gave me a quick hug before I left. “Text me when it’s over. And if you need an emergency escape, I’ll fake a baking disaster and call you crying.”
“You’ve done that before.”
“And I’ll do it again,” she said with a wink.
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The mayor’s house was pristine in that cold, unlived-in way. The kind of place that looked better in photos than it felt in person.
Dinner was already set when I arrived, everything was in white. I was beginning to think color itself was banned from this house.
“Evening,” the mayor grunted without looking up from his phone.
“Good evening,” I said politely.
Harold gave me a quick, distracted kiss on the cheek and pulled out a chair for me.
How nice.
Harold’s mom walked in seconds later, already pursing her lips like the sight of me gave her indigestion.
“Lovely… What's that color? Blue?” she asked, like I’d arrived in crime scene tape.
I resisted the urge to apologize for existing. “Yes ma’am.”
She made a hmm sound and adjusted the plate charger by half an inch. “I suppose we all see color differently.”
The food was already plated. Chicken and rice. No sauce.
Harold tried to kick off a conversation about a new business proposal, which was exactly when his mother leaned forward and placed her manicured hand on mine.
“Nevaeh dear, we need to talk about the wedding colors.”
I blinked. “I thought we’d settled on green and ivory.”
“Well,” she said with a too-sweet smile, “I was thinking more champagne and gold. It’s timeless. And Harold looks better in champagne, don’t you think?”
Harry shrugged.
“I’ve spoken to the florist,” she added with a sip of wine. “She’s ready to adjust the palette.”
“I don’t want to change the palette,” I said, quietly but firmly.
Her eyes snapped to mine. “Well, Harold said he’s open to whatever I think is best.”
I turned to Harry.
He was scrolling on his phone. “Yeah, babe. It’s not a big deal. Green, gold… whatever.”
I clenched my hands under the table. They were planning a wedding that I was supposed to be starring in and somehow I’d been written out of the script.
The mayor barely said a word.
The rest of dinner was a slow, soul-sucking descent into hell.
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Harold drove in silence, one hand on the wheel, one checking his phone.
When we got to my street, he didn’t even park.
“I’m just gonna drop you off here,” he said, not looking up from his phone.
“Here?”
“Babe, I told you. I’m meeting up with the guys. Ethan wants to show me some new exchange thing.”
Right.
I opened the door, numb. “Thanks for the ride.”
He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “See you later, babe.”
And just like that, he drove off.
I stood there on the curb for a second, clutching my purse and trying not to cry. It had been a long day. A long night. My heart felt bruised. My ribs were tight.
The street was dark except for the streetlights flickering at the end of the block. I walked slowly, heels clicking on the sidewalk, the night air cold and sharp in my lungs.
I just wanted to get inside my house and take off this stupid dress, and pretend I didn’t want to die.
I was halfway to my front door when I stopped dead in my tracks.
At first glance it looked like it was a trick of the light, or maybe a large raccoon looking for dinner in my trash.
But as I drew closer I saw its shape fully. Its eyes, silver and unblinking, locked on mine. Not in a threatening way.
Its fur was pure white. This animal stood at a six feet height. By the time I was a few feet away from it, I realized what it was.
I opened my mouth to scream loudly because chat, there’s a big white wolf in my yard.
- Writer
