Violet^^

"What happened to your eye?"

"Uh.. well my.. friend mistakenly.. slipped his hand and punched me in the eye. It's nothing, really."

"You suck at lying."

"Who said I was lying?"

I roll my eyes and inspect Theo's black eye. It looks really bad. I really wonder who would do that to him, Theo's such a nice guy.

"This friend of yours sounds like an ass."

"He is," Theo nods his head, looking around the dusty museum. I feel someone looking my way so I turn around. Oh look, it's the queen.

"Do you want something?"

"Yeah," Violet nods her head. "Can I talk to you for a second? In private?" She says in her sugar coated voice that instantly makes me suspicious. I look at Theo and smile, letting him know that he can leave.

He narrows his eyes at Violet and walks away.

"So, do you sing?"

"Nope," I look at her weirdly. What kind of question is that?

"Well we have this singing contest tonight, you must have heard," she smiles sweetly, "And, we are short on participants."

"I don't sing," I confirm.

Her blue eyes twinkle.

"Okay."

Something is suspicious. I walk back to Theo and we continue our tour around the museum. I can't help but wonder- something is definitely up with Violet. I'm going to have to look out for myself.

. . .

It's evening and we're sitting around the bonfire again. The stage in front of us is decorated beautifully and I sit next to Theo.

He looks excited, he can't stop smiling. I don't feel the same way. Something doesn't seem right.

"I'll be back," I say standing up. Theo mumbles an okay and I leave. I walk behind the stage, everyone's in a fenzy. Some are practicing and other's are cheering them. My eyes fall on the paper next to the grand table. My heart stops beating.

25. Alya Zaynub and Zayd Aaraiz-

Little do you know

What in the name of God is this?

And with Zayd?!

I walk to Violet. She's the host to the program and I'm thousand percent sure she's the one behind this.

"Hey, I clearly said I didn't want to participate."

She turns to me with a smirk in her cherry red lips and looks at me in mock pity.

"But you said that you wanted to participate. I clearly remember that, Alya."

"But-"

"I can't do anything anymore, the schedule has already come out. I'm so sorry." She smiles at me, her blue eyes shining evilly.

I get out of there and search for Zayd. He's with his friends, smoking behind the trees.

"Zayd," I call out.

He turns around to look at me with his stony expression that melts the second he looks at me flustered state. His gaze turns soft. I briefly look at River and Chase who're looking at me in curiosity.

"I.. I need to tell you something." I look at River and Chase one more time, thinking if I should tell it in front of them or not. I decide to tell him in front of them.

I explain everything to him. He throws the cigarette on the ground as he hears me and steps over it, his eyes have the cold fire in them as always.

"That bitch," he grumbles uder his breath.

"This is going to be fun," Chase and River smile at each other. Talk about useless friends.

"She won't cancel the names, can't you do anything? Please," I tell him softly, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes. He shakes his head.

"That bitch is crazy, she won't cancel the names. It's simple- we won't go there when they call out our names."

"It's easy for you to say that. They don't make fun of you," I say exasperated. Of course he wouldn't know how it feels to be made fun of. It hurts, so much. How would he know, after all he is amongst them.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know," I whisper looking away. I wish I was home, away from all these. Tears of frustration prick my eyes and I focus on my breathing. What did I ever do to her, why me?

"Can you sing?"

"I'm not singing."

"That's not what I asked."

"I guess," I sigh. I really don't want to go to the stage and sing. Maybe it's better if we don't go when they call our names. They always make fun of me, it won't be anything new.

Zayd suddenly grabs both my arms and turns me to him, forcing me to look into his eyes that are calm as hell.

"Calm down babygirl," he starts, "We have two hours in our hand. How about we practice and if you think you can do it, we'll perform. If not, we won't show up when we're called? Sounds good?"

I nod my head and look at him. How did he manage to calm me in a matter of seconds is beyond my knowledge.

"Aw, look at them, they're so cute," River says in a high pitched voice and wipes his imaginary tear. Chase smiles at us.

Zayd glares at both of them and grabs my hand in his huge warm ones, pulling me out of there towards his tent. He motions me to sit down and he settles down next to me before taking his phone out.

I heave a long sigh.

The music starts.

. . .

I look at the ridiculously high heels I have on, how was I supposed to walk in these? River said my legs would look 'sexy' in these. I'm pretty sure I'll end up falling and breaking my legs in these. I don't even want to know whose these are, River probably got them from one of his infinite lovers.

I had a full sleeved red dress on- it was fitting at the waist and flowy afterwards, reaching up to my knee. I had a black stockings on and a black headscarf to match it. I had put on little more make up than I usually do, I used eye liner and red lipstick. They made me feel a bit more confident.

I come out of my tent with wobbly legs, I honestly don't think that I will be able to walk in these.

"Damn."

I jump on hearing Zayd's voice, I didn't know he was waiting for me outside. I take my time to look at him, he has a white button down shirt whose sleeves are rolled backwards and a pair of black pants.

I gulp when I see the first few buttons of his shirt are undone. Not wanting anyone else to see what I am seeing, I take a step towards him and reach the buttons. Once his shirt is buttoned, I smile to myself. He doesn't object.

"Babygirl's jealous," Zayd sings.

"You wish." My cheeks burn and I look at my feet.

"I'm anxious," I tell him. Even with the high heels, I have to look up at him. My eyes fall on his midnight black hair falling over his forehead, I resist the urge to run my fingers through it.

"You don't have to be." His voice is rough, a contrast to the look he's giving me.

He leans down and gives my lips a single peck. My eyes widen.

"Let's show them what we've got."

I nod, still dazed. On my first step, I almost fall down. If it weren't for Zayd's arm around me, I'd mess up the dress. My heart flips in my chest when Zayd grabs my hand, shaking his head at me.

Hand in hand, we walk to the stage.