"HE WANTS ME TO BE A STRIPPER!?"Well, it wasn't exactly a stripper costume, but the light blue blouse and harem pants at first reminded her of a badly paid belly dancer. She could hear the clink of the chains attached to the pants, and feel the frilly material of the top. But Ananya only had herself to blame for this.
When the topic of Fearfest cropped up in a phone call back home, Ananya never expected her brother to take such interest in it. From the moment it left her lips, she should've known she would've regretted it. How was she to know that Adarsh would want to bring her misery-- I mean, "help" his sister by picking out the very costume she had been avoiding for
years? It was true that she loved Princess Jasmine from Aladdin, but it wasn't really appropriate for her to walk around in
that, not to mention Ananya simply didn't believe she had the body or beauty of Princess Jasmine herself to pull it off.
But here she was, standing outside the mail room with a half opened parcel in her arms, the barest hint of blue poking out of the edge of the box, almost like it was taunting her. Ananya could hear her brother's voice now, telling her that he knew she wasn't going to dress up for some creepy Halloween tradition, and that he only wanted to "help" her.
That cheeky little bastard even slipped in a small card with nothing more than a winky face on it! Ananya wondered how long it would take to angrily stomp her way back home to Arizona. Probably a while, but the satisfaction of hitting Adarsh on his head would be worth it. Ananya closed the box in her hand completely, making sure that the costume inside wasn't poking out anymore before walking back to her room with the intent to toss the damned box under her bed and pretend she'd never seen the thing.
In contray to the fair Indian woman that lacked confidence in her own body, Gianna strutted down the sidewalk wearing a Grecian Goddess
costume that showcased her legs, stomach, back, and shouders. As if the cold temperature didn't bother her, she did not wear a sweater or jacket to keep her comforted and warm. There was something relieving about the brisk wind against her bronze skin. The temperature would surely drop as day turned into night. Did she mind? No. Her body turning numb from bone-chilling weather was the least of her worries.
Gianna had already sent some of her little birdies with her luggage to the bus. Tomorrow was her birthday. Just another day that reminded her that she was still alive and had goals to achieve before time stopped. Her weekend would be full of relvery, fun, and... decision making. If there was one skill the Delphina Sovereign had mastered it was the art of acting. Regardless of how much she felt mentally and emotionally, she would make people believe what they wanted to believe. The tyrant on campus who will change the status quo in her favor and the favor of all those who followed her lead. The world was her stage, she was one of the star actresses, but the phantom that constructed the play was an insane man that held information beyond anyone that walked campus, that was the son of a super that was seen as nearly a god, the Infi-Knight, and whose actions were unperdictable giving him an advantage over her and those she cared about. To say these past two weeks she had a lot on her mind was an understatement.
You're going to be my new plaything.Since that night on the roof, she hadn't bumped into Tristram again and no soul knew what she was going through.
With you still alive, I don’t have to worry about those pesky friends of yours poking their noses where they don’t belong.What was his plans? How was she and her companions interfering? There were unanswered questions that she knew would never be answered. She thought she had the upperhand. No, it wasn't like she let her power get to her head... she just knew no one had a mind like her's. A mind that learned from a mastermind boy whose thoughts were beyond his years. Vincent.
All the people worth living die and the rest of us? We live to suffer.Abandon Lucas Farweight. Cut him down to size for me.Why not Brenna as well? What was Lucas doing that made an insane man deliberately want her to get involved? Her designated puppy who was rather simple with his intentions. Gianna knew cutting Lucas out of her life would do more damage for the both of them than good. There was no good in losing a friend. But, to lose his trust and friendship or to lose him to death himself like she did with everyone else? If there was one thing Gianna knew about Lucas, he had so much to learn before he could handle beasts like Tristram.
The entire time she walked down the sidewalk, her heels resounding in the area, her eyes were glued to her phone checking her notifications for the Delphina Times, her emails, and all things social media. Her head went up to a loud yell that involved the word:
Stripper. "
Kinky. Your boyfriend got you something special?" Gianna acknowledged the gorgeous Indian woman, who so happened to be walking right beside her.
How did Ananya let herself get so distracted so she couldn't realise anyone was around? She almost jumped out of her skin as she heard the low purr of a tanned
Goddess beside her. It took a moment to register what exactly was said to her as Ananya gaped in surprise. It wasn't just the costume she was wearing that made her seem like a Goddess, but she seemed to hold the power of one.
And this time, Ananya knew exactly who this Goddess was.
After the whole drunken party event, Ananya was a little more aware of the things that were brought up on the school's social media page. She was only caught by Lucas at the beginning of the party trying to sneak in because she didn't exactly know who Gianna Daniels was prior to the party. Of course, Ananya had heard of the gorgeous Queen of Delphina, but to know enough to pass off as a friend? The fact that Ananya thought that the plan would work made her cringe everytime she remembered that evening.
"No- Er," Now Ananya found herself in a predicament. How exactly was she supposed to explain her surprised shout earlier? She couldn’t just tell Gianna that her brother sent her a skimpy Disney princess costume. That would sound way too weird. And we’ve already established that lying was not Ananya’s forte, so that was out. So what did she do?
She gaped like a fish trying to scramble enough of her coherent thought to form a single answer.
"
If it makes you feel better, 90 percent of females that go here will dress like they work the pole." Gianna took a moment to put her phone in her purse, before bringing all her attention to the girl she had yet to learn the name of. "
'Merica. The place where the only clothes girls can find at costume stores are practically underwear. I'm Gianna, by the way. I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of meeting you before."
Ananya swallowed, planning her introduction carefully but...
"And I'm mortified, but you may call me Ananya." A joke was always good when introducing yourself, right? She closed her eyes, wincing as she regretted her introduction straight away. How was she so bad at this!? This wasn't like her! Last time, she could blame the drink for her awkward mouth, but what now?
"I erm, don't have a boyfriend." Trying to refer back to earlier, Ananya then gestured to the box in her hand,
"it was a joke sent by my brother, he just likes to meddle a lot." Gianna perked her body at the word joke. "
Today is going to be full of 'jokes'. Can I have a look? You had me at the word stripper. You can't just scream that outloud without assuming someone will get curious. In this case, me. I'm curious." Reaching the entrance door, Gianna held it open for her and offered, "
We can hide from the public eye if you'd like." Cupid's Pysche intently stared at the foreign beauty, while she added, "
Ananya. What a pretty name. I'm sure you'll have a boyfriend soon enough. Men like 'em exotic."
Ananya made an unsure sound, hesitant to follow Gianna through that door, but it would be too rude to just leave her like that. Plus, would it even be okay for her to tell the Queen of Delphina no? She reluctantly walked through the entrance awkwardly with her grasp on her parcel tight. Deciding to ignore the exotic comment, she continued.
"I was over-reacting, er- it's just a Princess Jasmine costume that I never expected." To prove her point, she opened the box enough to pull out the pants, carefully handing it over for Gia to inspect before pulling out the top. The
costume itself was a pretty blue, an off-shoulder top with gold trimmings with... something that should've resembled pants. It was sheer, the shorts just covering the important bits but leaving nothing to the imagination. Ananya cursed her brother.
"
Ooooh. I love it. Yes, you'll definitely try it on for me." Anya was smart to watch her words around Gianna. If there was one thing about Gia, she was a wild card. For the most part, she could be civil, but who knew if the one time you told her 'no' she let all hell loose? Taking the safe route was always for the best when it came to a woman, who hid most of her intentions and emotions from the majority of people behind a smile. The tall beaut handed the box back to Anya and gestured for her to continue to lead the way. By the looks of Gianna's expression, Anya wasn't going to lose her anytime soon.
Was she bonkers? Or was Gia so blissfully unaware of Ananya’s discomfort? Maybe she got off on making others uncomfortable. Ananya pressed the box against her chest as if she was trying to hide its existence.
”I- I’m sorry- I don’t think- I’m not very, err,” she sniffled, taking a moment to figure out what she could say that would not incur the wrath of the tall villain from beside her.
“Comfortable? Yeah, err, not very comfortable with that. Comfortable with wearing this outfit, I mean.” And wearing this in front of a beautiful woman like Gianna Daniels, but Ananya was not going to admit that out loud.
Gianna contemplated Anya's words briefly, as if deciding what her fate would be. "
Fine. I won't force you to wear that, but please know that you wear the outfit not the other way around. No one was born with confidence. This is coming from personal experience." Rather than continue walking forward, the Delphina sovereign stopped in her tracks and turned her body to face her new companion, "
Here's your options because I will not be happy if you don't come in with some kind of festive attire. It's the holidays, everyone should live a little and enjoy themselves. You can take me to your room and I will make a costume out of your attire, this is assuming you do not want to give your brother's gift a chance, or you can come to my room and I'll give you something." She nodded at her thoughts, already thinking of the clothes she has that would look lovely on Anya, "
I'm a bit taller than you, but I'm sure I still have some clothes left over from my highschool days. And I promise, I'll cover the parts on your body that matter. So what's it gonna be?"
”I was never aware that I needed a costume for Halloween this year.” Usually Ananya would hide herself in her room during the festive period if possible, but after opening the video and watching the deranged clown speak, she was almost positive that she wanted to attend this year. Ananya stepped through another set of doors, waiting and keeping it open with her arm long enough for Gia to pass through. She eyed Gia’s attire as she made her decision. Surely the Queen of Delphina would have a spare costume – especially something that wouldn’t cause her to freeze outside.
”If you wouldn’t mind, maybe we could go back to your room? I love Princess Jasmine as much as the next four year old, but I don’t think getting hypothermia is worth it.” She sniffled again, nervously waiting for an answer.
"
You're with me, so of course you need a costume." Nodding at her decision, Gianna led the way to her bedroom, usually open for anyone who wanted to visit her. The lights were dim when they entered and the room itself had a romantic tone to it. Perhaps it was because of the candles laying about? Or the pink sheer drapes? Or the fact that the room itself was lighted red (so it can be assumed Gianna changed the lightbulb to give her room this type of color). No, she wasn't trying to seduce anyone, this type of atmosphere was more therapeutic than anything and it smelt like chocolate.
Going straight to her closet, assuming Anya would take a seat whereever and make herself at home, Gianna went for one specific dress that was at the far back."
A outfit can be whatever you want it to be... so I'll let you decide." Gianna pulled out a dress bag and unzipped it slowly.
Eventually, she revealed a surprisingly
elegant dress for someone like her to wear, which had a
mask hanging from the hanger. "
Junior prom was a masquarade. You could be a vampire or a witch depending on your mood? I no longer fit it but hey, it's one of the finer things I own."
It was already decided as Gia lead Ananya to her room. Anya wasn’t sure whether she was more surprised, or anxious. Surely this wasn’t a bad thing, right? Maybe making friends with the Delphina monarch wasn’t a bad idea. Ananya didn’t care much for the Delphina versus Mayweather feud, at least from what she’d heard about it. Why should some feud between schools matter when her focus was to master her abilities to help her people back home?
”Thank you,” Ananya sat herself down on the edge of the bed as she looked around the room curiously, taking note of the differences between the two rooms.
Ananya’s side of the room was pretty bare, nothing except for a few post-it notes to help remind her of homework or future events and two picture frames on a desk nearby her bed. Here, in Gia’s room Ananya felt like she was intruding on someone’s private space. It felt intimate, and the smell of chocolate almost caused her stomach to flip, reminding her that she was starting to get hungry. When Gia pulled out the dress from its bag, Ananya forgot about her hunger.
”It’s beautiful,” She stood up, walking towards Gianna to touch the material of the dress. The black fabric brushed her palm, and when she saw the mask she fell more in love.
”You have a really nice style.” It was an understatement, the Queen in front of her was more than just stylish, but it was all she could say.
”Are you sure I can wear this? It’s awfully pretty and I wouldn’t want to ruin it…” She chewed on her lip.
"
A beautiful dress for a beautiful girl. Someone needs to put it to good use, might as well be a girl I could tell my mother would've loved." Gianna handed the fairly conservative girl her dress and then temporarily dismissed herself, "
I'll wait outside. Just let me know if you need help or anything." And without further ado, Anya was left alone inside of Gianna Daniel's bedroom.
Ananya smiled, feeling a pang in her heart when Gia mentioned her mother. She took the dress carefully, as if it were a new born child, before gently placing it over the bed. She thanked Gia once more before she could leave, hoping that the Delphina monarch knew how grateful Ananya was for the dress. As she slid out of her clothes, Ananya wondered what her own mother would’ve thought about the dress. She thought back to her own time at high school, wondering whether it was a good idea to have skipped out on the prom and parties before when she didn’t have to spend her time dealing with her heritage.
As she slipped her hands through the lace sleeves of the gorgeous dress, a thought suddenly struck her. She had the dress and the mask, but what about the shoes? Thinking about her wardrobe, Ananya realised she probably didn’t have anything that would work with the dress she had, unless flat shoes with the sole on the verge of falling apart counted. Biting down at her lip, her eyes landed on Gia’s wardrobe.
’Would it be bad if I peeked inside for shoes?’ Probably. Ananya wasn’t even sure if Gianna and her shoe sizes were even the same, but it was worth a try, right? Swallowing her nerves, she pulled the dress up just enough for her to step forward on the carpeted floor towards the closet.
She peeked inside, hoping to find Gia’s collection of shoes nearby but almost cursed her luck to see that it was just clothes.
’Maybe it’s a little further in…’ Ananya pushed past the clothes. Her feet pressed against one of the wooden planks, and almost tripped as the plank moved up due to her weight.
’Of course I’d end up breaking something, I can’t get away with this.’ Ananya regretted her choice to snoop inside Gia’s closet tenfold as she kneeled down carefully, hoping to see if she could fix whatever problem she had caused. As her hand reached out, her eyes spotted something dark under the plank. Curiosity got the best of her as she pushed the plank up just enough to see a singed file hidden beneath the floorboards.
Ananya almost cursed under her breath as her eyes scanned the file. She delicately took out the file, eyes widening as she noticed a name scribbled at the corner of the cover.
”Eliana?” The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite put a face to the name. Wasn't she mentioned in one of the Dear Sophia articles? Before she could consider opening the file, Ananya realised that a picture had fallen out of the folder as she had picked it up from its hiding spot. With the intent to hide the picture back into the folder where it belonged, Ananya couldn’t help but take a peek at the picture. It was of Gia and a good looking man together. Ananya couldn’t recognise the man either, cursing herself for her lack of knowledge, but she did notice how
happy Gianna was in the picture. She looked even more beautiful in the photo, the look of genuine happiness suiting the queen. Ananya felt a pang of guilt hit her in the gut. She was definitely not supposed to have seen this – any of it. Letting out a shaky breath, Ananya quickly slid the picture back into the file, before gently setting the file back in its place and then covering the file with the plank.
Quickly leaving Gianna’s closet, she dusted Gianna’s dress to remove any indication that she had been snooping around where she shouldn’t have been.
”Er-“ She headed towards the door, opening it a smudge to peek her head out through the door to find Gianna.
”I- I’m done.” She couldn’t shake off her guilt as she avoided Gia’s eyes.
Her guilt was translated as bashfulness. With her hazel orbs, Gia surveyed Anya's figure , taking in all of her. Keeping quiet for a second or two, the slender woman walked past the Naga and opened up a case on her dresser that held her make up. Rummaging through her case, she quickly pulled out a deep, rich burgundy lipstick that would go well with Anya’s skin tone, while emitting elegance and regality. The Naga was going to spend today with the best person on campus anyways (she had no choice). Might as well make her look absolutely divine. Approaching the girl, Gianna opened the lipstick case and whispered, "
Keep still and open your mouth like this.” The senior displayed with her lips how Anya should make her mouth, slightly ajar, so she could apply the lipstick perfectly.
And then, Gianna painted Anya’s lips to add to her ensemble. "
I should’ve asked first, but I needed to see this color on you. Now you can tell the world you indirectly kissed me.”
Closing her case, Gianna gently grabbed Anya’s arm and turned her body to face the body mirror. In less than a minute, Gianna was able to apply moose in Anya’s hair to give her an erotically untamed hair-do that draped to her left side. Finishing everything off with the mask. Gia added, "
I suppose you need shoes... I don’t think you’d fit mine, do you have anything?” In a sense, Gia wanted Anya to feel beautiful. When a girl puts time into their looks, they take in their features, and Anya had plenty of features she could gloat about but didn’t. If there was one thing she hoped to achieve by the end of tonight, it was giving Anya the attitude to strut her beauty rather than hide it away.
Ananya’s cheeks grew dark at the mention of the indirect kiss. Did that count as a first kiss or was that just a joke? She couldn’t figure out how to respond to Gia, so she resorted to gaping like a fish. It worked, because Gia was able to finish perfecting the make-up over Ananya’s tanned features. By the time Gia was done with fixing her hair, Ananya felt different. She had to admit that Gia had done a really good job, as she almost didn’t want to touch her hair fearing she would ruin Gia’s hard work.
”Thank you, so much!” Her cheeks were still flushed from the earlier comment, but there was a grateful smile on Anya’s features. The guilt still ebbed away inside Anya, for snooping around where she shouldn’t have. She felt so bad she was almost ready to confess what she had done, but the fear of Gianna’s reaction stopped her. She sniffled, looking down again before answering Gia.
”I- I don’t have any heels, but I do have some flats in my room.” Hoping to escape her guilty conscience - and maybe the fact that she may have just had her first kiss, indirectly, with the Delphina monarch - Ananya scurried out of the room, taking quick steps towards her own room on the next floor and to grab any pair of shoes she could find. She didn’t have many to choose from, but she was able to find a very old pair of black professional
shoes with the smallest hint of heels that she had forgotten about.
Slipping them on, she refused to think about how she had no reason to poke around Gia’s closet now that she had found some appropriate enough looking shoes. She took her time to return back to Gia though, unsure whether to return or to just carry on to the bus. Was Gia even waiting for her? Part of her hoped not, so she wouldn’t have to be reminded of how happy Gia looked in that photo. The photo didn’t seem like it had been taken long ago, but comparing how Gia looked in the photo to how she was now, it seems like she’s just not that happy anymore. Ananya could only wonder why - maybe it had something to do with that guy she was with in the photo. She knocked on Gia’s door when she finally arrived, opting to speak through the door.
”Gianna? Er, if y-you’re still in there, shall we head for the bus?”Gianna wasn’t in her room, though. Instead, she tapped on Anya’s shoulder, "
You walked right past me. Yes, let’s go. Have you met Lucas Farweight or Brenna Lancaster yet? Well if not, you’ll meet them soon. I absolutely adore you. I’m sure they will too.” and with that Gianna led the way, making sure her new pet snake followed her to the bus where she sat right in front of Lucas and Brenna, ignoring Elijah, who sat in the back, entirely.
"
What do you guys think? Doesn’t she look gorg?”
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