Love, Lies & Legacy- chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

After dancing, Fabiola and I went into one of the cabanas and talked. Later some other girls who seemed to have lost their dates joined us. We talked, laughed and gossiped about everything under the sun, or more appropriately everything under the neon lights.

"So since your escort is Darius, that means your families are not fighting anymore?" asked Mireille with a distinctive French accent.

"I guess so. I do not know Darius that well," I said while putting a chocolate covered strawberry in my mouth.

"One question, I heard that Jesse was supposed to escort you? What's with the change?" asked Tegan.

"I thought no one knew I was coming?" I asked, surprised by all the rumors.

"I heard that Jesse was going to escort a girl named Sienna. We never thought that you would actually be a member of the Masenfer family," Tegan continued.

"Oh I see. Well my aunt told me that she already planned an escort for me. I personally thought that Jesse was the guy. But the guy that waited for me outside my dressing room was Darius. I was surprised myself," I said. I wanted to tell them the fact that Jesse was my boyfriend. At least that's what I thought. But I kept my mouth shut and hope Fabiola will keep hers too.

"I told you that Jesse was going with Lexy," said Lisette.

"How long have Jesse and Lexy been together?" I asked eagerly.

"God, I don't know. Their relationship is constantly on and off. It's hard to keep track. But nobody cared that much about Jesse after Darius resurfaced," said Tegan while finishing her margarita.

"Resurfaced?" I asked.

"Yeah, Darius has been gone for 2 years. He just came back last April," said Lisette.

"He just left Elexer Academy and went into hiding all of a sudden. The only time we saw him was at last year's Eternal ball. After that, he was gone again," said Mireille. The words said by Mireille made me wonder how much secrecy is Darius hiding from me.

"Elexer Academy?" I asked naively.

"Elexer Academy is one of the most prestigious all boy boarding school in Europe. It's located here, near the sea border between France and England. Jesse goes there too," said Lisette while checking her reflection on her Chanel compact.

"Jesse never told me he went to the same school as Darius. That figures, I never told him I knew Darius. Well at least I thought I knew Darius," I said, confused by my own words. The girls just stared at me with quizzical looks on their faces. "Whatever. So Jesse knew Darius?"

"Well yes, they did go to the same school together and they both are members of the society," Mireille said.

"So tell me about Lexy," I said, trying to change the subject.

"You mean Lexy the leggy Miss-I-do-not-want-to-talk-to-you-because-I'm-a-supermodel-and-you're-not-worthy-of-my-time, slut of the year?" said Tegan nastily.

"Is she that bad?"

"Positively! She is so self absorbed and she treats Jesse like an accessory," Fabiola sneered.

"All this talk about Lexy is killing my party mood. Could we change the subject? Or better yet, lets dance," said Lisette enthusiastically. All of us stood up and headed to the dance floor.

The girls and I talked and danced all night. Having a wonderful time being a rich privileged teenager. My new friends are exciting, fabulous and extremely fun to be with. It was an honor to be with them that night.

After dancing, all of us headed for the bar for another round of drinks. Just then Darius appeared looking ravishing and surprisingly sober. You think a guy like him would be totally wasted by now.

"Ladies, may I talk to Sienna for a while?" he said charmingly. The girls giggled and nodded for approval. Darius took my hand and took me to the second floor balcony as the party was almost to an end. In my semi drunk state, I could still enjoy and embrace the beauty of standing at that balcony, overlooking the Parisian hills. But I was still cautious when around him.

"Are you enjoying yourself with the girls?" Darius asked while leaning on the balcony edge.

"Yes," I said, it seemed the only word that could come out of my mouth that time. Being near him, made my anger start to boil up.

"Has your unexplainable anger towards me subsided?" he asked guardedly.

"I don't know," I said under my teeth, sounding a little too harsh. I could not understand why am I seething in rage when I'm near this boy. Maybe it's because of Jesse not being honest with me or maybe in was my uncontrollable lust towards him that made me mad.

Darius gave me a look that I could not decipher and walked away, closing the glass door behind him. What is his problem? I decided to stay at the balcony for a while, away from everything and everyone. I tried to calm myself down, to think of the responsibility of the society on my shoulders or the problem I was having with my so-called boyfriend.

After 15 minutes of alone time, I heard a very loud noise that made me startled. I looked up and saw beautiful fireworks being shot up in the air. The dark sky was suddenly alive with color. The glass doors opened and Tegan, Mireille, Fabiola and Lisette walked to me.

"I just love fireworks!" said Mireille cheerfully. Tegan then handed me a glass of Martini and all of us raised our glasses.

"To Sienna Masenfer, welcome to the glamorous world of Eternelle Situation De Trio," Fabiola cheered.

"Welcome Sienna!" all of them squealed while clicking our glasses together as the fireworks worked their magic. All 5 us leaned against the balcony edge, enjoying the fireworks, happy that we had each other and satisfied with tonight's Eternal Ball.

When the fireworks were on, I heard a sound of a gunshot being fired. The girls just stood there, admiring the firework, oblivious about the gunshot. At first I thought it was one of the fireworks but then I heard it again, which seemed to be getting closer. The second gunshot startled the girls, Mireille screamed of fear as we all ducked down.

I was completely terrified and I could see my friends are too. The gunshot came from inside the châteaux but I did not know where. Lisette was in the verge of tears as another gunshot was fired.

"Girls! We need to get out of here. It is not safe," I said as the voice of screaming teenagers could be heard from inside. All of them were speechless but they understood.

"On the count of 3, everyone run to your rooms or find your escort. Make sure you are with someone!" I almost shouted over the fireworks.

"1, 2, 3! Run!" I said, trying to be brave for my friends. But inside I was scared to death. All us ran to the glass door. Inside the chateau was filled with screams and everyone was running frantically. I ran aimlessly down the hall, my heart beating faster and faster. I was scared, I did not know where to go and I was alone. In all that chaos, there was only one person I wanted to be with and that person was……