Chapter 7 - Merely sophisticated

Friday night at 7:30 p.m., Emily texted Michael to meet her at the junction. Her mother forbade her from attending night parties, so after supper, she feigned being exhausted and told Rebecca she would like to go to bed early. As soon as she entered her room, she began planning her escape.

She thought of using the back door, but to do that, she had to go through the kitchen. It wasn't a good idea because her mother regularly watches TV in the living room until 10:30 p.m. every Friday night, making it impossible for her to enter the kitchen unnoticed.

Her phone, which was in the back pocket of her sweatpants, buzzed as she paced about her room.

"Hey girl, are you ready?" Giselle asked over the phone. "I just got to your place." She added.

"Don't come in!" Emily yelled.

"Why?"

"My mum. It'll be suspicious. I mean, you've never visited me at this hour."

Giselle sighed. "I'm coming in."

"No, Gee. Wait-" Giselle hung up.

Emily tried not to panic; Giselle was going to utterly wreck everything. A thud interrupted her train of thought and got her attention. Giselle was lying on the ground when her eyes darted to the window.

"This is so freaking exhausting." Still lying on the floor, Giselle said breathlessly.

Emily's face produced a small smile.

"Wait, you're still not ready?" Giselle sighed as she rose from the floor.

"I have no idea what to wear." Emily walked up to her closet and opened it. She looked through her clothes before pulling out a slackened, pale orange gown with balloon hands. She placed it on herself before turning to face Giselle and motioning for her to look at it.

Giselle gave a headshake. "Even my granny would choose something more sophisticated. Infact, where do you even get all these ancient garments?" She asked, walking to the wardrobe, and she began looking. She will occasionally scoff and mutter some words when she comes across some clothes.

"Where are all the clothes we just bought a few days ago?" Giselle scowled and Emily rolled her eyes and turned aside.

After fifteen minutes of a futile search, she grew weary and wanted to sit on the bed when she noticed a pair of sky blue palazzo trousers. She took it out and grinned to herself.

"You had this the whole time?" Giselle raised the cloth for Emily.

"I cannot wear that." Emily shook her head.

"And you most certainly aren't wearing that." She pointed at the lousy orange gown. "Come on! It's merely a sophisticated dress and I know you hate fancy stuffs, but this is perfect."

Giselle was wearing that intimidating expression, and in defeat, Emily sighed. She jumped to her feet and snatched up the palazzo pants because she didn't have time to protest.

Resuming her search in the wardrobe, she discovered a white turtleneck top and threw it at Emily with a smile who rolled her eyes, walking up to her privacy partition, where she put on the clothes, and to both their astonishment, they fit just right.

Giselle instructed Emily to take a seat in front of the mirror, and after she had done so, she began applying makeup to her face. She combed Emily's hair and held it up with hairpins, baring the open area of her neck.

Emily was incredibly stunning when Giselle was finished. Giselle didn't really notice how beautiful her friend was because of the vintage clothes she always wore.

She smiled widely.

She was relieved that they did not have to debate about it as usual, and she was proud of her friend's look. Emily was not one who liked stylish clothes or makeup.

"We're done here." Through the mirror, Giselle observed Emily.

"Yeah. We have to leave." Standing up, Emily grabbed her phone, sliding it into the pocket of her palazzo pants'.

"Exactly... How, though?" Giselle folded her arms out to her chest.

Emily paused for a moment. She moved to her window with an idea in her head when she noticed the discouraging height.

"We cannot jump down without breaking a bone; it is impossible." Emily shook her head. "How did you get up to my window?" Her brows furrowed.

Although her window was 15 feet above the ground, a tree thankfully fronted her window.

"Stand back." Giselle spoke out firmly.

Wondering what Giselle had in mind, Emily stepped to the side and Giselle retreated until her back struck the wall, and she positioned herself as though she were getting ready to run a marathon. Racing towards the window, she threw herself up through it, seizing a tree branch. She climbed to the tree and descended by the trunk. It was quite a piece of cake and it wouldn't take long for someone to figure out the fact that she could climb trees.

She turned to face Emily and mouthed the words, "Come on."

After taking a deep breath, Emily ran to the window and stepped on it before launching herself into the air, seizing the tree branch. Her lips curled into a smile, which was soon replaced with a frightened expression when she heard a cracking sound and realized that the branch she had been gripping tightly was breaking.

She began to sway quickly toward the tree, but despite her rapid movements, she was unable to reach the tree before the branch broke, and she fell with a loud thud. Her bones were terribly cramped as a result of the tree branches she was hitting herself against, which reduced her pace to the ground.

Giselle came running and lifted her. "Are you okay?" She asked, and Emily nodded.

They were leaving the courtyard when they saw Rebecca approaching them. It's likely that she heard the noise from inside, and they hid behind the bouquets and observed Rebecca as she walked over to the tree. She first glanced at the broken branch on the ground before turning to face Emily's window. She gasped. The window was wide open.

Emily squeezed her eyes shut as Rebecca rushed inside. Her mother would find out, and she would surely punish her. However, she was unable to let all of her efforts go in vain, so they both fled the yard and hurried to the junction.