Chapter 3 CHAPTER 3
Aurora’s POV
Professor Alaric looks at me with concern etched in his eyes. I can see the wheels turning in his head. He probably thinks I need to return to the hospital to see the doctor.
“What are you saying, Aurora?” he nudges gently. “You couldn’t have been here before, right? I mean, I would have noticed. I have been a professor here for years now.”
“I know,” I breathe. “But when I saw…”
I allow my speech to trail off, realizing how stupid it will sound. His gray eyes come back to me, searching, curious. And the way he leans forward, like…
“Aurora?”
I blink, looking up at him. “Never mind.”
Professor Alaric gives me a strange glance before nodding. “And you should go to the party.”
“What party?”
“The one the kid invited you for.”
“No!” I say a little too harshly. “I can’t possibly… they are…”
“Aurora,” he sighs. “You have been out of the hospital for two weeks now. I am the only friend that you have in the whole of Paris. That has to change. You cannot regain your memories by sitting at home round the clock.”
“I am not sitting at home round the clock,” I shoot back. “I take Jayden to the park and the nursery, and I am here at Veridian.”
Alaric rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
I shake my head. “I don’t need friends.”
“You should think about it, Aurora,” he murmurs, walking around to get behind the wheel.
“I don’t even know the address,” I mutter, getting in too. “He mentioned some La… something thing.”
“The Lefevre mansion,” Alaric says, pulling out of the driveway. “Callum sent me the address. He pleaded that I give it to you. And the Lefevres are generally welcoming. You should find their daughter, Cassandra, equally sweet.”
I doubt I will. Still, I give it a thought—for Alaric’s sake. “What about Jayden? Who is going to watch him? You know I can’t afford a nanny now since the college hasn’t paid.”
“I’ll watch him.” Alaric looks up at me. “You know I love the kid. We will have so much fun together without you.”
“Alaric…”
“The choice is yours, Aurora. And you will still have all the time to make friends, so you can decide to sit this one out. I’ll understand. But I’ll still send you that address.”
In five hours, I find myself standing in front of a towering building that has me swallowing. I should turn around because I have a bad feeling about this. Loud music blasts from the inside, muffled by the thick walls.
The porch is lined with students laughing, red cups in their hands. I can’t find him anywhere.
“No, Aurora,” I whisper harshly to myself. “You are not going to look for him. That is not why you are here.”
And besides, Callum didn’t mention anything about his broody friend coming. Still, there is an unfathomable thrill pulsing in my veins as I adjust the straps of my tote bag on my shoulders before taking a deep breath and sauntering towards the porch.
The doors pull open even before I reach them, and a middle-aged man in a white and black uniform flashes a tired smile my way. “Welcome, Miss,” he says like a mechanically rehearsed speech. The music is louder from this point, but it doesn’t trump the blood roaring through my ears.
“Would you like me to take your coat?”
“Oh… I…” I stammer, then press my lips tight before trying again. “I didn’t come with any. I thought…”
“Welcome,” he says again, this time with way more fatigue, before stepping out of the way to let me through.
Nodding with an uncertain smile, I move further into the room. It smells of liquor, but mostly wealth. I try to make it not get to me as I stand there in the middle of what looks like the living room but is five times the size of mine, my hands still on the straps of my bag, holding on to them for dear life.
A few eyes flicker in my direction, and I seem to shrink further into myself each time it happens. I can read the laughter in their eyes, the way they gaze at my outfit, and then curl their lips.
Alaric was wrong. I should never have come.
I turn around to head to the door when suddenly, Callum jumps in front of me, a huge grin on his face.
“Oh my God!” He laughs, shaking his head. A red cup sits in one hand while the other is outstretched, but never quite touching me. “I actually didn’t think you would come. This is…”
“I shouldn’t have come, Callum,” I sigh, trying to step around him. “I mean, I look totally out of place.”
Everyone is dressed in minis—short skirts, short dresses, makeup, elegantly curled hair, and heels. And there is me, in my long pleated brown skirt, an old sweater I found in my things when I woke up at the hospital with a dark bloodstain on the elbow that refuses to wash out no matter how many times I try, and white Converse that, let’s face it, are probably more brown.
“What do you mean?” Callum drawls, turning me around and pulling me with him further into the living room. “You look good. It’s Aurora, right?”
I blink.
“Em… I asked Professor Alaric. Now, don’t be mad at him.”
I stop, narrowing my eyes. “Why would I be?”
This is when I realize that we are no longer in the main living area. Instead, we are in another section of the mansion. It looks like a living room too, but it is smaller, cozier, and has cute chairs.
VIP is the word that first comes to mind, even if it should be practically impossible to have a VIP section at a house party. Right?
A red flush appears on Callum’s face as he scratches the side of his head. I think he always does that when he is nervous.
“Oh,” Sophia, the girl from earlier, calls from one of the couches arranged around a coffee table. She raises her eyes in pleasure, her perfectly manicured nails hanging mid-air.
“It is the girl from class. Callum, you did so well inviting her over. I didn’t think she would actually fall for it.”
I look at Callum. “Fall for what?”
“Come over, honey,” Sophia drawls, waving her hands. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
