Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Hope
Technically past curfew, according to the other Littles who’d been at the dinner table with me.
Technically, I should’ve been tucked into bed, lights off, door shut.
But... technically… no one had told me that.
That was the strange part about not having a technically official Big or a Dom.
No one to sneak around. No one to text goodnight to.
No one to pretend you were asleep when footsteps passed your door.
It was certainly a lonely life, but tonight I would focus on the positives.
Tonight it was a good thing because I got to be the hero who helped pull off the prank.
The hallway was quiet when I eased open the door, the soft carpet swallowing the sound of my bare feet. My heart still pounded loudly in my ears.
I paused for half a second.
This was ridiculous. I was a grown woman sneaking out to commit glitter crimes.
A smile tugged at my mouth.
Correction. I was a Little pulling off the prank of the year while simultaneously making new friends.
Sometimes not being a grown-up was just the way to go, and the more time I spent with Perry, the more I believed it.
I slipped down the hallway and toward the large workshop room where I found the door open a smidge.
A faint sliver of light spilled into the corridor, making me hesitate only a second before pushing it wider.
“Finally,” a voice whispered dramatically from inside. “I was beginning to think you’d chickened out.”
I stepped in and shut the door quietly behind me.
The girl with the pink braids—Misty, I reminded myself—was perched on one of the tables like a mischievous woodland sprite. She held up a large, clear plastic container.
It shimmered. So much glitter!
“Oh my goodness,” I breathed.
“Biodegradable,” she assured me proudly. “And technically washable. Eventually.”
The room was clearly already set up for tomorrow’s workshop. It was one of the workshops I’d been very excited about attending before I was lured to the fluffy side.
“You ready?” Misty asked, hopping down.
I stepped further into the room, glancing around once more.
A slow, wicked thrill curled through my stomach.
“Hand it over,” I said.
Misty popped the lid and passed me a second container from the table behind her. Gold.
She kept the silver.
For a brief moment, we just stood there, staring at the perfectly pristine room.
“This is either going to be legendary…” Misty whispered.
“Or none of us will be able to sit for a week if they catch us,” I muttered.
She grinned.
And then, very gently, I dipped my fingers into the glitter and let it fall.
It caught the overhead light immediately, scattering across the dark wood of the nearest table like tiny fallen stars.
Misty gasped softly. “Oh, that’s pretty.”
“It is,” I crowed, feeling all floaty inside. “This isn’t a bad thing,” I told Misty as I looked up at her. “This is more like a blessing, don’t you think? We’re doing them all a favor by making it prettier.”
“It is a blessing,” she repeated before following my suit and dipping her hands into her container.
We moved carefully through the room, sprinkling just enough to be noticeable. Along chair backs. Across the podium. A faint shimmer dusted across the carpet near the entrance.
My pulse slowed as we worked and carefully turned the room into a glitter wonderland.
When both our containers were empty, Misty stepped back and turned in a slow circle, admiring the damage. “It’s kind of magical,” she whispered, her voice awed.
I followed her gaze.
Under the dim lights, the entire room shimmered faintly, like it had been kissed by something mischievous and eternal.
“They’re going to lose their minds,” Misty said.
I smiled. “Worth it.”
She looked up at me and grinned before holding her closed fist out to me to bump.
“Will you be okay getting back to your room?” Misty asked as we snapped the lids back onto the glitter containers and tiptoed toward the door.
“Uh-huh,” I whispered. “It’s quiet. I didn’t see anyone coming here, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.”
“Okay, good.” She leaned forward and gave me a quick hug, light and warm and unexpected. “See you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow.
I smiled at my new… friend as she slipped into the hallway. “Night,” I called softly after her.
She turned, walking backward for three steps so she could wave dramatically before disappearing around the corner.
The grin stayed on my face the entire walk back.
Going back to my room was exactly as uneventful as the trip there had been.
All in all?
Raging success.
And honestly… it was more fun than anything I’d done in a long time.
The kind of fun that made my chest feel loose and light.
Inside my room, I shut the door gently and immediately made a beeline for the sink. Glitter clung to my fingers like it had been stuck by superglue. I scrubbed. And scrubbed. And scrubbed.
It barely made a dent.
“Traitor,” I muttered to the gold shimmer embedded in my cuticles.
My shoes were worse.
After trying—and trying—and trying for far longer than was reasonable, I finally gave up and shoved them into the bottom of my suitcase, burying them under a sweater.
Just in case.
Then I changed into my jammies, grabbed my new bear, and climbed into bed, still buzzing faintly from adrenaline and fairy dust. I couldn’t wait to text Perry and tell him how it had gone.
I unlocked my phone, smile still firmly in place. And then it vanished.
I had two notifications. The expected one from Perry.
The other— from Troy.
I hadn’t thought about him once since I mentioned him—and Archie—to Tyrell and Lee.
Not once.
Not while laughing at dinner or while plotting glitter chaos.
He didn’t pop up while Lee, Tyrell, and Perry had walked me to my room and kissed me silly at my door.
Not even while sneaking through dim hallways or glitter-bombing the playroom.
A playroom reserved for a workshop I had been excited to attend.
.. but also Troy. He’d told me how much he loved tying up his submissives and watching them squirm.
Seeing his name now was like someone had reached into my chest and flipped a switch.
The lightness drained out of me so fast it made my head spin.
I stared at the notification without opening it.
My thumb hovered.
Because whatever that message said…
It belonged to a version of me I wasn’t sure I wanted to be anymore.
My throat tightened.
I glanced at Perry’s message first because I needed something warm before I opened the cold.
Perry:
Did you survive the glitter mission??? Did the room look sparkly??? Did you get caught???
A tiny, helpless smile tugged at my mouth.
I could almost hear his voice, bright and breathless, like he was bouncing on his toes waiting for me to tell him everything.
I typed back before I could think too hard.
Hope:
Mission successful. The room looks like a fairy platoon attacked it.
Three dots appeared instantly.
Perry:
You’re the bravest girl I know. Proud of you.
My eyes burned.
I swallowed hard and looked back at Troy’s name. Somehow, the phone felt heavier now.
Should I open his text, or ignore it? Could I pretend for one more night? My thumb finally tapped the notification.
And for a second, before the message opened, before the words could rearrange my night again—
I wished I were back on the picnic blanket with Tyrell putting sunscreen on my shoulders and Perry laughing at the ridiculous descriptions I gave the clouds. I could almost feel the phantom touch of their lips across mine if I thought hard enough.
Was this the answer I’d been looking for?
Troy:
Hey, want to meet Archie and me for breakfast before the workshop tomorrow? We missed you tonight.
Well damn. That was a shot to the heart. What on earth was I going to do?