Auralia stared at her cousin in shock, wondering what the hell was going on. However, the girl didn't give Auralia a moment to breathe as she shut the door and hurried over to Auralia.
Bouncing onto the bed, the teen dumped a bunch of goods onto the bed. "Spill the tea."
"What?" Auralia asked in confusion.
"Don't act dumb. I know you're dating Alexander Erza." The girl said, grabbing a magazine before handing it to Auralia. "This is you, isn't it?"
Auralia looked down at the magazine, seeing that it was one of those tabloid type magazines. But that wasn't what shocked her. It was the blown-up grainy photo of her and Alexander eating ice-cream on the front cover of a magazine.
"I-" Auralia looked back up at her cousin, at a loss for words.
She didn't know how to explain everything. How was she meant to explain that they were just in an arranged marriage and were coming back from a forced lunch date. Thankfully, Madison didn't seem to know about the arranged part as she interrupted Auralia's thoughts.
"Is this why Grandmother is upset? She found out you were secretly dating Alexander." Madison's brown eyes widened in excitement. "Does Grandmother disapprove of you two dating? She did hate that I had a crush on him."
"You what?" Auralia exclaimed, a tornado of emotions spinning inside of her.
"I had a crush on Alexander." Madison answered, blushing slightly. "But it was more of a celebrity crush. I like him as a fan, you know."
"Oh…" Auralia said as she finally processed everything. "Grandmother isn't upset with us dating, it's something else. And I think grandmother was upset about your crush because of the age gap."
"Yeah but I was never really serious about it…" Madison grabbed a small tub of ice-cream she had dumped onto the bed earlier. "So, are you two dating secretly? You haven't answered the question."
"Um…yeah." Auralia smiled awkwardly.
Madison smiled widely. "So, it is a secret! Can't believe my cousin is dating the hottest man alive."
"Um-"
"Don't worry about it." The younger girl said before eating a spoon of ice-cream. "You're the best choice for a man like him. Want some?"
"Hmm…" Auralia took the other spoon lying on the bed.
"So, when are you making everything official? I want to brag to my friends. Jenny is going to be so jelly. Girl thought she had a chance. Haha."
"Saturday I guess…" Auralia replied, seeing as it was going to be their first official date as a "couple."
"Wait seriously?! What are you guys doing?"
"We're going to an art gallery and then having lunch."
"That's a little boring but I guess adults are like that. I would have gone to the amusement park…" Madison mused, silent for a moment. "Anyway, do you have your outfit planned?"
"Not yet. I was planning on asking your mother for help since it is my first time going to an art gallery and I-." Auralia said sheepishly.
Madison's eyes suddenly blazed with excitement as Auralia said those words. Grabbing Auralia's hands, she squealed, "Auralia, you have to let me help instead!"
Auralia felt a chill go down her spine as she stared at her cousin wondering if it was a good idea. It seemed she had unleashed some kind of formidable beast.
"I guess you can…"
"Great!" Madison clapped her hands in excitement. "We'll go shopping tomorrow."
"But you have school and-"
"No buts. You can just pick me up after school. You can drive right?"
"I only have a license for a motorcycle." Auralia answered awkwardly. "And I'm not sure how your parents will feel about you riding on one."
"Who says they need to know." Madison smirked.
"No way!" Auralia glared back. "Besides, where are you going to put the shopping bags?"
"Party pooper…" Madison pouted before sighing. "But you have a point. Guess we'll have to ask one of the drivers."
"This isn't really necessary, you know. I have enough clothes here to choose from."
"I know you have nice enough clothes…" Madison paused for a second, turning her head away. "I just kind of wanted to bond with you and um show you off to my friends…"
"I'm not an object to show off…" Auralia muttered.
"I know!" Madison turned her head back to face Auralia, a wave of redness spreading through her face. "I just think you're really cool and want to show my friends your coolness…Aghh that sounds so stupid!"
Auralia chuckled, patting the younger girl on the head. "Alright I see what you're talking about. We can go window shopping then okay."
"Fine. By the way, Auralia, if Grandmother wasn't upset about the whole secret dating thing, what is it?"
"Well um…"
Auralia couldn't exactly say the real reason, the truth probably going to break her little cousin's heart. But a lightbulb lit up as Auralia thought about the engagement part.
"Alexander and I were planning to get engaged." Auralia pointed at the tabloid photo. "We actually went to talk about it with Grandmother and Mrs. Erza that day."
Madison's eyes sparkled suddenly. "OMG!! This is like a freaking soap opera! You need-"
Auralia put a finger on the girl's lips to shush her. "It's getting late so I'll tell you next time okay."
Besides, I haven't had the time to think of a proper explanation. Auralia thought to herself. I need some more time to straighten things out before I say anything more.
"Come on Auralia." Madison pouted "You can't expect me to go to bed after learning about this all."
"If you go now, you'll be the first to learn about the date on Saturday."
"No detail left out?" Madison mused in interest.
"Fine." Auralia held out her pinky. "I pinky swear."
"I'm not five you know." But despite Madison's words, she crossed her pinky over Auralia's. "You better not break this."
"Promise."