Run Away

“Ok, I need to go and style the other band members. You stay here, relax while I rush about, and make them pop.” Darcy instructed. What was I supposed to do for the next few hours?

“Oh, and don’t ruin your makeup, or I will punish you worse than Jet.” She threatened, which meant I had to obey. I knew enough about Darcy to know that if I smudged the makeup, she would kill me.

She left, and I could only ponder what I was doing with my life. I could be anywhere now, but instead, I am dressed up like a princess about to attend a Ball. But I am prohibited from making a scene with my prince charming because of geopolitical competitive things that I don’t even understand. I just want to go to the Gala with my boyfriend. Is that so much to ask?

Since I had nothing else to do, I set my alarm and slept awhile.

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I awoke to my alarm screaming and contemplated throwing it across the room to deactivate it. But then I remembered why I had set it. If I didn’t go now, Stephanie would likely kill me. That was if Darcy didn’t first.

I quickly checked over my look in the mirror in case I had drooled and ruined the makeup. I was praying it wasn’t the case, but given how solid my sleep was, I wouldn’t be surprised if I did. Once I was satisfied that my makeup was still perfect, I made my way over to Stephanie’s room.

I knocked on the door.

“Come in.” I heard Stephanie yell.

I opened the door and instantly saw what Darcy had been up to. Noah had a red wig on that was tied back into a ponytail. I don’t know how, but Darcy had made it look like his actual hair was being pulled back. He wore a simple cream dress that suited him and contrasted further to make his hair, or should I say wig, pop.

Jet's long black wig stretched way further down his back than the rest of ours. He was wearing a gloomy, gothic black dress with webs on the fabric. It almost looked like he had just come out of a horror movie. That being said, it was somewhat mysterious and cool, which were two of his defining traits, only missing the arsehole aspect of him.

Luca had the shortest wig of all of ours. It was brown and somewhat frizzy. He was wearing a light blue dress that had some detailing but was very simple overall. Overall, his look gave a comfortable vibe, which once again suited him way too well.

I’m sure if I were attracted to girls, I would have been enthralled by all three of them. I know that the dress idea predated Darcy’s involvement, but it seemed she took far more pleasure in this than any of us.

“Hey shorty, are you sure you’re a guy?” Jet asked, mouth agape.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I clenched my fist.

“Well, I don’t want to sound like a queer or nothing, but I’d kinda like to make love to you.”

“Are you quoting a movie?”

“Maybe, but also, I mean it. You actually look cute. Darcy did an amazing job.” Noah and Luca also nodded in agreement.

Jet signed a good job to Darcy. I have no idea where he found the time to learn a few signs of sign language. Obviously, I had a guess as to why he was learning it. But then again, I had to admit that the pace at which he was learning was quite astounding. Maybe Jet had a knack for languages.

“Great, I’m glad I left styling to Darcy. You all will be the talk of the red carpet tonight.” Stephanie commented. “Now, on to other business. As you know, tonight is a major press gathering. So I need you all to be on your best behaviour. I won’t be at the gala, so please behave.” She begged.

“So we can misbehave and not get caught?” Jet joked.

“Try it, and I will kill you. Just because I’m not going to be there doesn’t mean I’m not watching. The bar where the delegates are will be streaming the entire event live. So I will know.” She replied.

“You heard her, Best behaviour.” I reiterated to mainly one person.

“Why did you look at me when you said that?” Jet replied, looking shocked.

“Why do you think?”

“Hey, I’ve seen the light. A goddess taught me the joys of reserving myself to just a single person. So I won’t go and seduce single ladies any longer.” I was beginning to get even more curious about what the hell Darcy did to him. For Jet to change this much overnight, the girl was scary.

“Why do I doubt that?” I replied, still somewhat suspicious.

“Daddy issues probably,” Jet replied.

“Jet…” My eye twitched, ready to kill him.

“Shorty, sorry, Blake…”

“Luca!” Luca added with way too much positivity, which immediately killed all animosity in the room.

“Everyone forgets about Noah.” Noah wept in the corner of the room.

I know the lot of you haven’t had any media training, so for the love of God, don’t say anything inappropriate. There will likely be questions about your outfits, talk about them. You may also get asked about the song, and anything that isn’t a ‘nothing answer’, divert, divert, divert. Got it?

“If in doubt, don’t answer the question,” I responded confidently, trying to prove I could be trusted so she would get off my back about Marco.

“No, that’s not what you do, divert. Ramble about how you are just so excited to be here, and it’s a dream come true. Can you all do that?” She asked.

“Yes, Mrs. Branbull,” we all responded to Stephanie, as if she were a teacher lecturing us.

Okay, good, you're all sorted. Good luck and make some friends. Just make sure you aren’t flirting with the competition. Right Blake?” She specifically emphasised that, and I just rolled my eyes and nodded.

Great, not only did I have to deal with Jet, but I was also dressed as a girl attending a gala, and the head of my delegation was harassing me about my relationships.

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End of Chapter 10