Chapter 18: Girls just wanna have fun

Christopher came over for dinner next day. And he looked like he’d love to come again the day after, but Melia was unfortunately working late.

So she invited him for a brunch instead.

“It’s just a simple yoghurt parfait, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Melia. I bet you could make a dry bread taste delicious if you wanted.”

C: “And this is marvellous. I like the combination of pistachios and pomegranate. What else did you use?”

M: “I can’t give away my culinary secrets just like that, can I?”

C: “And what if I take you to a nice restaurant tonight? Would you be more willing to share your secrets then?”

M: “Oh, I can’t. It’s Millie’s birthday.  I have to be there, you know.”

“But if you’re still free during the weekend, I’ll gladly come.”

Mel was weirdly excited about her weekend plans. She tried to persuade herself that the reason behind her anticipation was all the good food she was about to try. But she knew it was only partially true.

Luckily, Camilla’s birthday party distacted her from those stomach-flipping, knee-bending, sweat-inducing thoughts about the date with Chris.

First, they had a cozy little house party with cake and confetti, because that’s what family tradition dictated. Camilla’s friends from school, Castor and Damon with their families  and even Alexander showed  up (he and Camilla didn’t cause any trouble this time.)

“Responsibility, is that you?”

Camilla had mixed feeling about adulthood. She loved the sudden freedom, but she was also a little worried. Were adults allowed to cause as much trouble as teenagers were?

Nobody in the family could quite help her with that. But they could at least help her with the second part of her birthday party – the fun part.  Castor’s wife Annabeth helped Melia organized a ladies’ night out at the Oasis Springs, where the family lived. They were sure Camilla would love it.

Serena and Isis with their mom Annabeth at Solar Flare.

Eira was supposed to come with them, but she changed her mind. Nightlife was not very appealing to her at her age and she didn’t want to ruin the fun. She also wasn’t feeling that well.

Dory stayed home, too, since she was too young to go clubbing. She didn’t mind, though. She had a wonderful alternative plans to compensate.

D: “That cluster over there kinda reminds me of you, Alfred.”

D: “It’s assymetric and ugly.”

A: “And it’s also close to something that resemble a hairy monkey. Just like me.”

D: “Hahaha, okay. You win this time.”

There’s nothing like stargazing with your goofball best friend.

Meanwhile in Oasis Springs, adult Rossini girls were having wonderful time in lounge. They had some fancy drinks, danced and flirted with a few men, exchanged some woohoo tips and shared innocent gossip.

They also looked absolutely stunning while doing all that.

Camilla was happy to see her niece Isis. They were around the same age so they bonded over the experience of becoming an adult almost immediately.

Isis: “You don’t have to pretend that you never had juice before. Not in front of me.”

Devi skipped the juice completely, but she liked the place. Mostly because music was good and musicians even let her try their guitar.

Annabeth, on the other hand, got bored pretty quickly and stayed attached to her glass for the rest of the evening.

A: “I’m getting old for this.”

Melia enjoyed a couple of drinks, but she spent most of the evening daydreaming about her weekend plans.

‘I wonder what is Chris planning with me. Nice restaurant, that’s like a dream date! But there are no restaurants in Willow Creek. And what will I wear? I don’t want to overdone it. I need to keep it simple. Casual but attractive. Like Chris. He always looks so…’

But none of it mattered to Camilla. Thanks to the final trait she obtained, this was a perfect place for her. Company of others was great. And meeting new people was even better.

And she met a lot of people that night. She knew her outfit was to blame, but she didn’t care. She would never admit it, but she liked the attention of all those men (and women).

“Hey there, gorgeous. Do you come here often?”

“Not at all! It’s my first time here, actually.”

“I thought so. I would definitely remember you if it was any other way.”

“My name’s Dominic. And I’m a DJ.”

“Camilla. Nice to meet you.”

Dominic kept her company for the rest of the night. They danced and talked through the night, he even invited her to see one of his shows in Windenburg. Camilla ensured him that she would love to see his show but it wasn’t very likely that she’d travel so far away anytime soon.

But they had quite a good time together nevertheless. And before they realized it, morning came and it was time to go. Camilla didn’t want the night to end, but not even she was able to stop the sun from rising.

Or her body from asking for some sleep.

“Why have you betrayed me, body?”

She felt like dying from exhaustion and hangover. Her head was painfully pulsating with every heartbeat, her eyes were burning from inside her skull and the whole world was spinning round.

But as far as Camilla was concerned, it was still the best night ever.