"I can explain," Jia stated only for her grandmother to raise a hand to silence her.
"No need, I`ve all too aware of how you other cousin acts and I know that she provokes you and no the other way around."
"To be fair grandmother, Jia had every right to react the way that she did." Roy defended his cousin.
"Why? What did she do? "
Jia recounted the events of the exhibition and her grandmother looked thunderous. The subject of Mother`s day and her mama was painful for her too. Whereas Jia lost a mother, Laurel had lost her daughter. One that she cherished and loved very much.
"I will be having a word with Camilla about Isabelle, don`t you worry."Laurel gritted out.
"Can we be there for it?" Jia asked eagerly.
Roy elbowed his cousin who yelped and glared at him.
"No, it isn`t right to scold one`s bad behavior in front of an audience. However, we will need to be having a family meeting about your attitudes towards each other."
Jia folded her arms, "I'll stop when she stops."
"Of course. Now, back to the subject at hand."
Jia groaned and fell backwards as Roy watched with amused. He shook his head at her antics as Laurel continued, "Because I am the Chairwoman of the Society, I will be making a speech which means you will be doing it for me."
"Will I have to write it out?" Jia asked from her place on the floor.
Taking pity on her, Laurel shook her head, "No, I've already written it down, however, I will make a few changes to accommodate you and all you have to do is memorize it."
"Great."
Laurel cleared her throat, "Secondly, I know that don`t have a gown and I hardly expect you to wear the same dress twice, people will think we don`t have dresses for you."
"I'm not going to like this next bit, aren't I?"
"I have arranged a last minute dress shopping for you this afternoon. Madam Eleanor's is expecting you at 1:30 PM."
Jia shot back up, "But that`s another thirty minutes from now!"
Laurel arched a brow at her granddaughter, "Then you`d better leave quickly. I`ve already made the necessary transportation arrangements. There should be a ship waiting for you at the entrance of Saton Knights Academy as we speak."
Jia groaned as her grandmother turned to Roy, "You will escort her and chaperone her tomorrow. The Ravenpoint Guards will be in charge of your security tomorrow."
"Yes grandmother." Roy said.
Jia groaned, "Ravenpoint Guards? Really Grandmother?"
Laurel gave her a stern look, "With the Emperor on the loose, I will not take any chances on my Heirs. You will be protected if it is the last thing I do."
"Fine."
"Now, smile dear Jia, don`t let me down tomorrow. I will be emailing your speech at 3 so dress fitting and speech practice this afternoon."
"I also have Dance rehearsal this afternoon." Jia pointed out.
"Then you're busy, perfect. This is the time for you to learn how to multi-task." Jia groaned and fell back again," Now have a great time my dearest grandchildren. Bye."
"Bye grandmother," Both teenagers yelled as the called ended. Roy leaned back on his hands and chuckled at Jia who was still lying on the floor groaning and shaking her head.
"I do not envy you." Roy commented as Chase entered the room with a bag of food.
Chase cast Jia an amused smile as he walked over to his table and left his food, "Am I interrupting something?"
"Do you want to be a girl for one day?" Jia stopped groaning and turned her head toward Chase, who was now moving to sit beside her head.
Chase paused, "Not particularly."
"Jia, no Body Tansferant spell," Roy scolded her.
Jia spluttered, "What? It was just one time!"
"Yeah and you nearly got into trouble for it."
Jia rolled her eyes, "The operative word being nearly."
"Do I even want to know?" Chase asked.
Roy shook his head, "No. And for future reference, if she asks you or any of the other boys to be someone else for a day, say no. Trust me, you`ll be very thankful."
"Okay."
Jia then pushed herself up and grabbed her phone before standing. She stretched before moving over to Roy`s bed.
"You`re leaving now?" Roy asked.
"Yep, gotta get a head start," Jia answered as she grabbed her bag back form Roy`s bed and strapped it on," You`ll take care of the mess right?"
Before Roy could answer Jia left the room.
"Great," Roy mumbled as Chase burst out laughing.
Once outside of the Academy, she walked down to the entrance where as her grandmother predicted, a ship was waiting for her. Once inside, it ascended and took off. The lightning sorceress took out her phone and dialed Rose`s number. She picked up on the second ring, "Hey, are you free?"
Rose`s image appeared to be smiling, "I`m heading to the Mall to buy new shoes, why?"
"Great, meet me in front of Madam Eleanor`s."
Rose pouted, "The dress shop? Why? I promised my mother I wouldn`t go there for another three weeks."
Ja rolled her eyes, "Because if I have to suffer through pins and needles for hours then at least someone who appreciates shopping can be there to keep me company."
Rose burst out laughing, "I`m on my way."
It didn`t take long for her to reach the Mall, the Ship`s Pilot said that he was asked by her grandmother to take her back to school when she was done so Jia didn`t have to worry about her ride back to school. She entered the Mall and made her way over to Madam Eleanor`s where a whole bunch of beautiful dresses stood out in the displace window. Her mother use to come to this dress shop when she was little so Jia equally had to love it even if she didn't like dresses. Going to places her mother once went to made her feel close to her again.
She was led over to a nice couch by an assistant, where she could sit and drink while waiting for Madam Eleanor. All around her, women of different ages and statues moved around, standing on Display Platforms trying out new dresses and drinking fruity drinks. Madam Eleanor`s was famous for being the best dress shop in the fifteen kingdoms. When Rose finally arrived, they sat and drank soda while the red head filled her in on her plans.
"So the day before Mother`s day was my registration, now, I have my first interview this week," Rose filled her in.
"And you`ll pass it, no doubt about it," Jia reassured her.
"I`ve never been in a Pageant before, "Rose confessed, "I don`t why you guys convinced me to try."
Jia rolled her eyes at her friend, "Rose, you`re the daughter of Innovators and Inventors, you have tones of ideas to better society, you`ll do great."
Rose smiled at her, "Thank you and don`t think I`ll be doing this by myself, you and the girls are roommate bound to help me."
"Of course, we`ll be your personal assistants the whole day."
Rose giggled, "Don't let Fiona hear you say that. "Rose warned her, "She'll flat out refuse to help."
"She wouldn`t," Jia insisted.
"Oh yes, she would."
"Lady Jia, we`re ready for you, "Another assistant said as she appeared beside their seat. She was nice lady that had lime green hair and was clutching onto a tablet against her silver uniform shirt.
"Great, go and try on this dress, "Rose urged her. Jia put down her drink and stuff before moving to the Display Platform. As soon as she was on, her clothes vanished in a flash of pink glitter and she was suddenly in a tight pink gown with a sweet heart neckline and bejeweled bodice.
"Oh, that`s… something, "Rose spoke up. Jia watched her friend blink and frown with distaste. She really got her. Pink was her color but the dress style wasn`t her.
The assistant frowned as well but explained the process, "These dress was selected by your grandmother, she asked that you try all fifteen dresses before making a choice."
Rose stuttered, "F-fifteen d-dresses!"
"That is just the Ceremony Dress, right?" Jia asked for the sake of Rose who was looking even more shocked as the assistant kept talking, "Yes, you have to also try out fifteen Lunch dresses and fifteen Evening Cocktail dresses."
"Okay, that is an insane amount of dresses." Rose pointed out.
"And we have to do this quickly before rehearsal." Jia said miserably.
Rose fell back against the couch, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that."
"Shall we try out dress number two?" the assistant asked kindly.
Jia nodded, "Yes, please."
They went through the ceremony dresses as Rose outline the time line of the pageant and the different categories that she would need to prepare for. This conversation lasted until it was time for the lunch dresses and that is when Rose asked if they would be wearing matching outfits to the Dance performance at the mixer, which Jia said no. Clary wanted each girl individual style to be highlighted during the dance.
"I can`t believe you`ve been training since Mother's Day for this performance." Rose stated.
"And we`re going to rock the dance floor. "Jia cheered with a fist pumped.
"Heck yes, Clary`s dance moves are very cool."
"And seductive." Jia added.
Rose shrugged, "Well, seducing men is part of our allure."
Jia looked thoughtful as the seventh Lunch dress appeared, "I thought our hair and bodies did the trick already."
"Honey, having the right equipment and knowing how to use them are two different things. "Rose said as she leaned forward and took a sip of her soda. Jia studied the dress and nodded. It was blue and knee length. It wasn`t too tight and easy to breath in. She was hopeful that she could sit and eat lunch in it.
"Please don`t ever say that again."
Rose rolled her eyes, "I`m just excited to see you make your speech tomorrow. This a first for me."
Jia turned to face her techno friend, "How come?"
"Because now I can confidently say that that is my friend, who is a Noble Lady, making a speech in an important event, "Rose explained.
Jia chuckled and nodded in agreement. She then tried out dress number eight before moving on. Two hours later,Jia and Rose left with three dress in hand and with Jia feeling more exhausted than ever with Rose in agreement. Dress shopping was seriously exhausting.
They left the Mall after spending an hour looking for the perfect shoes for Rose. They made it back to school with minutes to spare so they went up to the dorms and Jia changed before going to the Dance Studio. Kyra and Clary were already there and warming up.
"Hey, what happened to you?" Clary asked.
"Emergency dress shopping," Jia answered as she began her warm up. "By the way, I`ll be out all of tomorrow for the Debutants Festival."
"Family roped you in?" Kyra deduced.
"Yep, my grandmother is adamant that I make several appearance this year."
"Does your dad know?" Clary asked, already knowing that her father would be against his daughter making public appearances.
"I don`t think so," Jia confessed. Now that she thought about it, she wasn`t too sure that her father knew, otherwise he would have insisted that the Elites protect her tomorrow or better yet, have someone else make the appearance and not her. Her safety was his priority and she hadn`t made a lot of public appearance over the past few years unless the Elites and him were there.
Clary put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it, Jia glanced at her and ran a hand over her mouth," Hey, don`t worry. I`m sure everything will be fine tomorrow."
"Yeah," Jia agreed with a nod.
They then began rehearing until dinner time before Rose sent her to bed early. She checked her phone for messages from her father and was a bit unsettled that he hadn`t sent her any messages just hours before her public appearance.
"When was the last time he called me?" Jia muttered to herself.
"Everything alright?" Zoey asked as she came into their room with a towel wrapped around her head.
"Papa hasn`t spoken to me since last weekend, after our trip with the Saton Knights boys," Jia answered, "I`m just a bit worried because I think grandmother went behind his back to have me out tomorrow."
Marcellus had called to check on her and ask her about the party. She told him everything except the part about the Fair Folk and Tristan. Some things are just not worth telling your over protective father.
"If you`re hesitating because of what's been happening lately you can back out." Zoey suggested.
"But then I`d be a coward."
The blonde shrugged, "Better a live coward than a dead fool."
Jia gave her small smile and messed with her phone as Zoey moved to sit in front of her on her bed," You know, you can admit that you're a little scared because of the situation with the Emperor. No one expects you to be fearless all the time."
The white haired teenager shrugged," That`s not something people tell me every day. I`m supposed to be fearless. To push the boundaries of my magic but to always exercise caution. Won`t going tomorrow go against that? I`ve always wanted freedom to be a normal teenager but I`m afraid these days of what my freedom will cost me."
"I`m sorry Jia, I wish I had the answers. All I can tell you is to trust your instincts. I`ve seen that your instincts always save your life."
Jia ran a hand over her mouth before pursing her lips and the gravity sorceress watched her friend stare at her phone for a very long time before nodding.
"I`ll go tomorrow but I will send a message to let him know what`s happening," Jia decided as she typed out her message and pressed send. Zoey nodded and stood from the bed and let her roommate settle in before she switched off the room lights and let her rest.
She went out and saw the other girls sitting around the common area. Clary was on the kitchen counter, Fiona and Rose on one couch while Kyra on the other couch, "Why are you all up?"
"I don`t feel good, about tomorrow," Kyra admitted.
"You too, huh?" Zoey questioned them as she moved to take a seat near Kyra and take off her towel before combing her hair with her fingers.
"I know this appearance is big and it's for her grandmother but with what`s been happening with the Emperor…," Clary trailed off.
"She shouldn`t have to do this, "Fiona pointed out.
Rose pursed her lips, "If we had doubts, we should have told her before she slept."
"So we`re just going to let her go?"
"I didn`t say that."
"So what are you saying?"
"You should have talked her out of going today." Clary said as she folded her arms and stared hard at Rose.
Kyra shook her head at Clary, "No one can talk that girl out of doing anything remember? Jia`s plain stubborn and head strong."
"So what can we do?"
"None of us are going with her tomorrow because we`re not Debutantes or Nobles." Zoey pointed out.
"But someone else is," Rose pointed out," Roy."
"I`ll get my phone," Zoey said as she stood and headed back to her room as Rose turned to Fiona, who arched her brow at her, "What?"
"We`ll all talk but you need to put pressure on him to get his friends in to protect her."
Fiona`s jaw dropped, "Why me?"
"Because those guys respect and fear you."