𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫

𝐦𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧

"Jesus, Del! Did you really have to use all of the hot water!" Aurélie yelled at her sister from the bathroom. Last night felt like a fever dream.

Aurélie finished her makeup, grabbing her dress and walking next door. It was her turn to be painted by Susannah.

"Elle, you look absolutely stunning in that dress." Aurélie smiled at Susannah, careful to not ruin her stance. "You think?"

"I know," Susannah stopped painting for a second. "You know, you remind me a lot of your mom." "Yeah, everyone tells me that. I honestly thought I looked more like my dad," Aurélie said up straighter.

"I mean, like, your personality," Susannah laughed. "Really? I feel like my mom is the complete opposite of me," Aurélie laughed.

"When we were in college, Sabine Dupont, at the time, was quite the catch." Aurélie blushed at Susannah's words. "My mom? Really?"

"Yeah. Every guy was falling at her feet. She would get an entire round of drinks for our friend group from guys around the bars," Susannah smiled, remembering the good times. 

"I mean, she's pretty, but wow! I guess I got the good genes!" Aurélie laughed.

Susannah smiled as she began to paint Aurelie. "So how has it been seeing everyone again?"

Aurelie inhaled, that was definitely a question she was regretting.

"Um, it's been...different, I guess. Everyone has changed a lot. Your boys have grown a lot too, in height and maturity. Surprisingly," Aurelie joked about the last part.

"I know, they have, haven't they? But so have you, Elle. You are so grown up, and I want you to know how proud I am of you. You've managed to do so many great things in your 18 years of life, and I am so grateful to be apart of your life."

Susannah's eyes were getting teary, and Aurelie couldn't help but sniffle. Susannah was special to Aurelie. She was the woman Aurelie would call up when she couldn't talk to her mom about things. She meant the world to Elle, she was her role model.

"Suze," Aurelie got up from the stool, and embraced Susannah in a tight, but gentle hug, wiping the corners of her eyes, the latter doing the same.

...

The night of Aurélie's birthday, Belly asked Cam to take her to the ball. So Aurélie stood by herself in the bathroom, the only girl without a partner. "Elle, don't worry about it. We'll keep you company," Belly assured the girl.

"Yeah! I'm sure you aren't the only one without a date," Cam shrugged. She looked over at them, then pointed to everyone around them. "I'm pretty sure I am. It's fine though."

"Hey, guys!" Shayla greeted the blonde girl as she and Steven walked over. "Hey, Shayla! You look gorgeous," Aurélie grinned at her. The group of new friends started talking as Paige made her announcement.

"Attention, everyone! Please welcome our debutante waltz instructor, Ms. Covington! All the way from Ms. Covington's School of Ballroom Dance in Newton," Paige raised her eyebrows, excitedly.

Everyone clapped for the old woman, "Thank you, Paige. As you all know, the waltz is the most highly anticipated part of the ball," she clapped her hands together, "So please join your partners now..."

Aurélie looked around, wondering what to do. "Hey, where's your escort?" Nicole noticed her alone, and was kind even with the events of yesterday.

"I was gonna ask Mason, but we know how that turned out. And anyone else would be messy," Aurélie said, knowing Nicole understood what she meant.