Book 2: Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The next night was the engagement party. The first activity for the next eight weeks was upon us. This time around, we didn't have a stylist for our events like for the competition. It sucked not being able to see Melissa and catch her up on the stories for the week, leaving me to do the unfortunate thing and style myself. Luckily I had Bradyn because everyone knows I'm incapable of dressing up for stuff.

I had Jay drop me off back at the Hadid's so the girls and I could get ready together. Everyone looked fantastic with so much time to spare. The real work was going to be on me. I brought over some outfit ideas for Bradyn to choose from. Yes, they were dresses, not something I was keen on, but something Farah expected. We had choices between yellow, blue, or green cocktail dresses. Of course, Bradyn chose the yellow because it was bright, and she could subtly do my makeup.

"It's our first week, ladies. Are you ready? Kira, how are you feeling?" Twila asked, curling her hair.

Kira sighed. "A bit nervous, but I'm glad I'm here this time," she said. "There will be drinks, right?"

I laughed. "Yes, plenty. Try not to get too wasted. The rich drinks can be deceiving," I warn her. Sometimes you can't even tell if there's alcohol in them.

"I'm shocked you're taking this so well, A," Bradyn said, finishing up my makeup.

There was no choice but to be easy breezy about it. Regardless of how I felt, it was happening no matter what. Farah was going to make sure of that. My problem now was to keep my eyes on Kameron. It was unclear what she would do, but she would undoubtedly be the best dressed out of all of us, including Jenna. The way Kameron was about to put us to shame would be devasting. The boys won't be able to keep their eyes off her; I'm almost certain. It made me less excited about this party after all.

Once Bradyn was done with my hair and makeup, I slipped on the yellow cocktail dress. I wore silver jewelry and shoes to go with the yellow. I felt gold would be too much, and Bradyn thought the same. Speaking of which, they all looked good in their cocktail dresses. It was always lovely seeing Twila straighten and curl her hand because it wasn't often that she did that. It's safe to say we all looked great. Of course, before we left, we snapped a picture of ourselves and headed downstairs to the venue.

As we went downstairs, everyone met in the front yard, where we would take two separate cars to the venue. My parents, sister, and the rest of the Hadid family will be riding in one car; while the girls and I are in the other. As expected, Kameron came dressed, guns blazing. Her dress was gorgeous and sparkling from head to toe, even in the natural light. She came dressed better than the soon-to-be bride. That surely ruffled Jenna's feathers, though she was suddenly playing very nice with Kameron.

"You have to tell me where you got that dress!" Jenna cooed.

"It's custom-made, sweetie; I'll send you the details," Kameron immediately fixed her attention on me, swaying her way over. "My, my, don't you look beautiful?" She complimented me in her weird way. "Basic, but beautiful."

I gave her a weird look because I never knew how to respond to her. "Um, thanks." It was worded more like a question from how confused I was.

"Alright, ladies, let's get in the limo!" She yelled at the lot of us.

"Jeez, who died and made her queen?" Bradyn asked, not liking her attitude.

I laughed, following behind her as we all climbed into the limo. It's amazing how this seemingly small space fits the lot of us. It did, and of course, champagne was waiting for our troubles. My lips couldn't wait to wrap around it as Kameron wanted to make a toast to the bride-to-be. It confused me because Kameron wanted to get close to Cyrus, yet here she was, being super friendly to Jenna. Maybe that was her way of winning him over? She planned to steal him from right under her nose.

We toasted, and the champagne tasted heavenly while we made our way to the venue. The venue was gorgeous and huge! There were more people here than I thought, including members of Jenna's family. It was interesting seeing her interact with them, and she seemed more at peace with her family. Of course, she sat at a table with her family, Cyrus, and his family. The rest of us had our table, with the groomsmen having their table, but we'll get into that later.

After enjoying a nice meal, everyone got up to mingle with one another. Twila took Kira to meet some of her other friends, and then they went dancing on the floor with Bradyn. I, on the other hand, headed straight for the snack table. There was always a spread that I couldn't wait to dig my hands into, but I constantly got interrupted before I could put my hands in. Only this time, the interruption was warranted.

"You know, I expected to find you here," Cyrus said with a smile.

It was shocking to see him walking up and talking to me. Especially with Jenna around, but I couldn't say I wasn't thrilled. "Dude, it's a plethora of desserts; I can't resist."

He laughed, agreeing with me. "Well, can I interrupt you for a dance?"

My heart dropped, but I couldn't say no. Can I? "Um, sure," I say, taking his hand in mine.

We walked to the dance floor, and as we walked there, I spotted Jay talking and laughing with Kameron. It made me wonder what the hell they were talking about. Since when was Jay willing to speak to her? None of it made sense because he was adamant about not liking Kameron. However, he was casually talking to her and laughing. She worked fast when it came to her scheming. She was a lot better at this than Jenna was, that's for sure. That sneaky little bitch.

"Sense when did he like, Kameron?" I thought out loud, not realizing I was doing that.

"He doesn't; Jay's just nice like that," Cyrus responded to my thoughts.

I looked at him, almost embarrassed I said it out loud. Cyrus didn't know about my feelings for Jay. I hope I didn't sound too jealous when speaking my mind. If it did, there was no way to hide my feelings. I was jealous! I felt like Jay did when Cyrus took me out on a date. I freaked out on him back then, but now it was clear how he felt. My mind wouldn't stop wondering what they were talking about, but luckily I had a distraction.

Cyrus pulled me into him as we began to sway to the music. He smelled heavenly, and it surprised me that I hadn't stepped on his feet yet. It's been a while since I've danced, but doing it with Cyrus always put me at ease. However, Jay was the more coordinated one of the two. This was fun, and there was no Jenna in sight. If she saw this, she would have a fit for sure.

"It's been a whole year, and you still know how to do this so well, Autumn." He was enjoying himself here with me.

I cringed a little at my name coming out of his mouth. "Since when do you call me Autumn?" I ask with hurt in my voice.

"That is your name, right?" he questioned, spinning me around.

"Yeah, but you always call me A; what's with the change?"

It was a trivial thing, but Cyrus always called me A. From the moment I told him my name, he always went with A unless we were arguing. It was weird hearing this from him, but I get it. We weren't involved with each other anymore. Why would he call me essentially a pet name if we weren't going to be together? Still, it left a bad taste in my mouth, knowing we wouldn't be together. It felt like his calling me Autumn was the nail in the coffin.

Cyrus sighed, continuing to dance with me. "I don't say, A because it's more intimate between us. Which we won't be anymore," he said, turning me around and pulling me back into him. He leaned closer to my ear and whispered, "that is unless you want to."

I felt a chill go down my spine when he said that. Surely he wasn't suggesting we be intimate again? That option was on the table so long as I wanted to do it. Did he think that would be a good idea with Jenna? Wouldn't that also, in turn, make him a cheater? There were so many questions roaming through my brain that I could barely think. Cyrus wouldn't say anything like that unless he wanted it to happen. Did he want me to agree to sneak around with him?

There was no time to respond to him as I felt his arms unwrap from around me. Turning around, Cyrus started walking away before saying bye. What once was warm suddenly felt cold again. I didn't get to immerse myself in his body entirely, which was a good thing. Getting carried away in an open space like this was a bad idea. Yet, my body craved for him to wrap around me like that again. To whisper sweet nothings in my ear, sweeping me off my feet. The more I thought about it, the more I began to sweat profusely.

Wasting no more time, I grabbed a drink of water heading outside on the terrace to regain my composure. It was short-lived once I was greeted by my other companion, Jay. Every time he saw me, there was this big smile on his face. Though this time, it was a little less prominent. Something was bothering him, and he was going to tell me.

"You okay out here?" He asked, leaning against the railing.

I finished my cup of water, calming down. "I'm fine; what's up?" I asked to know why he was there.

"You fixed things with Cyrus, I see." I knew something was bothering him.

I shrug. "He just asked for a dance, that's all."

He wasn't buying that. "It doesn't seem like that was all to it, Autumn." He continued to pressure me. "What was that all about anyway?"

"What was with you and Kameron being all chummy out here? I thought you didn't like her?" I turned the tables on him.

Now there was no denying Jay's growth throughout the year. He was a different person than he was when I first met him. However, there were still hints of the old him in play. Jay was not good at hiding his jealousy, and I wasn't here to judge him for it. What he was feeling now was exactly what I felt seeing him laughing with Kameron. We were both complicated people, but our feelings were valid. It made it harder to be upset with him for assuming stuff when I was too.

"I don't, but it doesn't mean I can't be friendly," he explained exactly what Cyrus said. "Why are you questioning who I speak to?"

"The same reason you're questioning me," I say, shutting him up for a second.

He looked like he understood what I was saying, changing his tone to a calmer one. "Right," he says, looking away from me. "I'm sorry."

Jay walked up to me, rubbing his thumb against my cheek. Our relationship will always be complicated, no matter what we try to do. It was apparent we would be jealous seeing each other with other people. How were we supposed to have a friendship when we could barely stand seeing one another with other people? Luckily, we've done some maturing and decided to put much of this behind us. We were at an engagement party. There was no time to argue about petty stuff.

Jay smiled, grabbing my hand. "Let's not get caught up in this tonight, okay? We're supposed to be partying, so let's do that."

I nodded in agreement as he walked back inside. I followed behind but not too close so Cyrus wouldn't get the wrong idea. In the meantime, I was going to do some partying while we were here. We only had a few hours left, and I wasted my time dealing with Cyrus and Jay. Now, I made my way over to Twila and the rest of the girls, Twila giving me a concerned look. She could always tell when something was going on. Though this time, she was a bit of an eavesdropper.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked me, yelling over the music.

I rolled my eyes. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"It's only natural, though I did overhear your conversation with Jay." She admitted handing me a drink as the server came walking by.

Gladly accepting, I laughed that she was listening. "Of course, but now that I have a drink, let's dance!" I say with excitement.

I dragged the girls to the dance floor, inviting Jenna and her crew to join us. It was her engagement party, after all. She should be the one having all the fun, not me. Once this was over, I would ask Jay what he was talking about with Kameron. Or I could ask Kameron myself, but that would lead her to think I'm worried that she will win him over. Regardless, we were going to have a good time for Jenna.