34. Ivy Jade
Ivy Jade
Ithink this ride share driver was getting annoyed with me.
It took me a few minutes to get into and out of the car properly.
My dress was pretty fitted; the laced corset across my chest didn’t give an inch of breathing space.
The collar had a beautiful wide neck with lace at its edges, and the tulle skirt that billowed from my waist down gave me enough of a stretch that it wouldn’t kill me—not entirely.
Tallulah bought us all these cute little black velvet choker necklaces.
I’d never looked more different than I do right now, yet I was somewhat comfortable in my skin.
Except for sitting down, that was a challenge.
I ended up lying down in the backseat instead, and yes, the driver did have to come around to my side once he parked. I needed his help.
After purchasing my ticket and trying to run through the turnstile to get in, I looked ahead and saw the sheer horror of monsters everywhere. The crowds were packed, shoulder to shoulder.
I slapped my hand on my neck and collarbone area. Oh, my god! How could I forget my stupid flashing necklace? I looked left to right, and no flashing necklaces were for sale around me.
Fuck it.
I wasn’t sure where High Jynx would be, but I decidedly tried running in the opposite direction of the large Halloween crowds closing in near me. And I tried to skip through the monsters scaring the crap out of everyone. I’d rather not end up at the end of some chainsaw massacre right now.
Think, Ivy Jade. Think.
Backstage, I’d go there first. I bent over to take my heels off, to help with my frantic shuffling—I couldn’t run.
By the time I made it there, the door was locked.
I jiggled it a few times, but no luck. I circled the small building, trying to find another entrance or an open window.
I found another door and pulled on it, but it was also locked.
I rested my back on it, trying to think, but my ability to think left the building. Maybe High Jynx wasn’t here. Why would he be getting ready when it was dark out and the monsters were already on shift?
Luckily, someone came out, and I had to find my balance. I looked down and stared one of the monsters straight in the eyes, and ran inside.
“Hey!” Chucky shouted.
Thankfully, he didn’t run after me with his killer kitchen knife or try to bite my ankles.
I rounded the corner to get to the makeup vanity area. The lights were all on, and it felt less dangerous than outside. But it was eerily quiet.
I took a few more steps in, and there he was… High Jynx. His back turned to me. Hair disheveled. He looked so beautiful there. How had he not heard me coming in?
It looked like he was putting something away into a duffel.
“High Jynx!” I called out.
Right away, he turned around to face me. It was the same High Jynx I came to crush on: black boots, his black slacks loosely fitted, one suspender hanging at his hips and the other hanging from his shoulder; he was shirtless and had no makeup. I’d never seen him without makeup before…
His unruly hair feathered around his cut jawline. He looked surprised, the light leaving his eyes. When he saw me, it seemed to crush him. My heart dropped—
“Romeo?” I asked.
“What are you doing here, Ivy Jade?” Romeo… or High Jynx asked. My mind had a hard time focusing on who was in front of me. Was Romeo really standing there, half heartedly looking back at me, or did I just see who I wanted to see?
“Wait… You were High Jynx this whole time? Why—”
“I fucked up,” his tone was low and bristled. He turned back around to avoid looking at me, and he continued to pack his stuff away. “This week, this whole fucking mess is my fault…”
Comprehending the scene before me was complicated. My stomach twisted into a million knots. It can’t be the same person; it can’t be. I would have known. How?
With a pounding heart, I walked up to him, but he stepped back. A lump in my throat formed as I pulled away. “Why did you lie to me?” I asked, my shaking hands covering my chest.
“I couldn’t trust that you’d come back to me any other way, okay?
” he answered, looking down at his bag, twisting the shoulder strap into his hand.
“When I pulled you out of that ditch—the way you looked at me, the tattoo on your arm—it all triggered something inside me. I fucking panicked and gave in to the idea that tricking you into liking me was better than being honest, because having you hate me… it hurt too damn much.”
Romeo turned around, leaning back into the vanity, staring at me with those thick eyebrows. How did I not know Romeo and High Jynx were the same person? Maybe it was the burden of knowledge, but it was so obvious now.
The sarcasm.
The searing blue eyes and dark hair.
His makeup—those diamond eyes and painted lips—really was enough to change everything about his appearance, but the one thing that didn’t change was how he made me feel like I was strong enough to walk away from my parents and venture into something new. Something scary.
Only this time I wasn’t afraid.
“I’m sorry, I lied to you. I just wanted the chance to see you again and to get to know you better,” he said sternly, like he was mad at himself for even putting me in this situation. “That was a mistake, and I know you feel the same way.”
“It wasn’t a mistake.” I tried to catch my breath while easing my racing heart rate. “Well, the lying was a mistake, but not the end result! That’s all that matters.”
“The end result involves you getting married to Antonio. It’s obvious…”
“It’s not,” I argued.
“It is!”
“No! No, it’s not!” I raised my voice.
“Don’t do this to us,” Romeo gritted. “Don’t come in here and act like last night didn’t happen. You know who I am, and you know what I’m worth. It’s not what your family wants.”
“But it’s what I want!” I shouted.
“Yeah? For how long, Ivy Jade?” he said, getting closer to me. “How long will you survive out there with me in the real world until you realize how far down from your ivory tower we are?” Romeo raised his voice, not out of anger, but out of so much hurt.
The emotion sank into my chest, my lip trembling.
“What you said yesterday, that fucking hurt, but at least it was the truth, and that’s what I needed to hear. It’s better this way. You’ll be happier,” he said solemnly.
“I won’t be happier,” I furrowed, inching closer until our bodies met. “You don’t get to tell me what will make me happy. No one gets to tell me anything about myself anymore. I get to decide. Not you. Not Mami. Not anyone!”
Romeo looked off, further breaking our connection. “I’m not gonna say it again,” he warned.
This was beyond frustrating. I wanted to take him by the suspenders and bang his head against the wall. All my shock turned into anger. Anger that he wouldn’t listen to me. “I’m not going anywhere!” I crossed my arms.
“Ivy Jade…”
“No.” I shook my head.
Romeo tried to walk past me, forcing me to turn around.
I stopped right in my tracks, refusing to be booted out of here before I spoke my truth. I wouldn’t allow him to cut me off again like he did last time.
“Move!” Romeo ordered.
“I already told you, I’m not going anywhere, clown!”
“Why are you being such a brat!?”
“I don’t know? Why are you being so stubborn?” I said back.
Romeo clenched his teeth, his hands curled in frustration. “I fucking lied to you, Ivy Jade! I manipulated you! Why are you even still standing here? I don’t deserve you.”
“That’s right, maybe you don’t! But maybe I don’t deserve you either.
Have you thought about that?” I argued, poking my finger right into his chest. “You don’t get to fuck me and lie to me, then storm off like you’re doing me a favor.
I understand what you did was wrong, but running away from our feelings is an even worse decision than my marrying a man I don’t love. ”
Romeo towered over me, inching me backward until my elbows hit the door.
“We’re from different worlds, and you’ve been proving it to me this whole time. I was just too fucking foolish to see you for who you truly are,” he said with this devious, angry smirk I wanted to slap off his face.
I’d never been more enraptured by a soul like I was with his. I needed to make him understand.
“You’re just saying that because you’re scared,” I challenged him, narrowing my eyes into something fierce. “But I’m willing to push through that, because as much as I need to prove to you I’m different, I need to prove it to myself as well.”
I pulled my right earring off. Eight carats. Pink diamonds. I threw it across the room as hard as I could. Two hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars rolled along the floor and disappeared below a vanity.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Romeo asked, looking at me. “Stop that!”
I took my other earring off and threw it. My bracelet—gold with emerald-cut rubies—I unclasped it and let it fall to my feet—ninety-thousand dollars. “I don’t care if my parents cut me off, because I choose to be with you. Don’t you get it?”
He slapped the doorframe above me. “You’re fucking crazy!” he shouted. “You’re just delaying the inevitable. We won’t work—”
“Do you ever shut up? Or do you just want to hear your own insecurities repeated out loud?” I asked.
Ro looked rigid, shaking with anger or frustration, both of us about to burst into a fit of flames.
“This is who you are and who you tried to hide. You’re not afraid of monsters; you’re afraid to be yourself,” I said, quoting him.
“You said that to me! And yes, we may be from different worlds, but we’re still the same fucking people—judged for who we are, and afraid to be ourselves.
” I pulled up the sleeve of my dress, showing him my tattoo.
“I’m not going back to that… I’m not hiding myself away to make other people feel better.
And that includes you, Romeo Scott.” My eyes welled, and he was starting to become a blurry mess.
We stood motionless, breathing heavily, staring at each other like animals lost in the dark.
I couldn’t read him anymore. His face was just shocked. I didn’t know if he was angry, sad, or what the hell he was, because I think I scared the hell out of him.
He looked down at me. “Your heels are missing,” he muttered softly.
“I took them off to run to you…” I said. “I wanted to tell you I was sorry for treating you like shit yesterday.”
His eyes stayed secured on mine, and they glistened. One of my tears rolled down my cheek, and he caught it with his thumb.
“I think you stepped on bubble gum,” he said softly.
“It was worth it.” I held back a smirk.
“Was it?”
“Yes,” I answered, “because I’m in love with you,” I said, time standing still. I swear I was falling backward, my stomach flipping like I was tumbling down into the ditch where he first found me. But it was better. It was like falling upwards into his arms instead.
I love Romeo Scott.
I love High Jynx.
And above all else, I loved that our life would be our own, and nobody else’s.
“You mean that?” He lightened up.
“You’re my dark prince, my dark knight; of course, I love you,” I said, holding onto his suspenders. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tightly against his chest. His hands threaded the back of my hair as our foreheads touched.
“My Princess…” he said, his voice cracked. “I’m in love with you, too…”
He kissed me, long and hard, and I felt the world slip away below my feet. I didn’t need a fancy house or money. I didn’t need diamonds or private jets.
He brought out the real me. The one who always dreamed big, but was too afraid to leave her own castle.
And that was something money could never buy.