Chapter 13
Iwas officially going crazy. That was the only explanation for the reason why I wanted to throw all of the beautiful Vepar women vying for the guys’ attention off a cliff. I had chosen to stay, to try and fight for the Vepar that I had come to care for. But the current trial was making me second guess my decision.
After the first trial we had all been put into a huge structure that I assumed was considered a mansion on Veon. I thought at first it would be better than the cell I had called home, but it was infinitely worse.
It was like I was in high school again, except all the girls I went to school with were a million times prettier and a million times bitchier than the ones I was used to.
I had been put in my own room, while the four remaining participants shared rooms. I quickly realized that this was for my own protection when I hadn’t been able to figure out how to make sure no one else could get in the room and I had made the mistake of exploring the house. When I had made it back to my room, all of my meager belongings were in shreds like someone had dragged sharp knives through everything. That night I had been accosted in the hall with a gorgeous blonde Vepar whose nails I found out could transform into claws. She had been about to impale me when a Vepar guard happened to pass by and stop her.
One of the few girls who didn’t seem like her goal in life was to kill me, the girl I had first sat next to during Trial 1, happened to see me shaking in the hallways afterwards and showed me how to successfully lock my room. She claimed that she was only involved in the trials because of the pressure her family had put on her to apply due to the prestige having Derrial, Thane, and Corran for mates would bring.
She seemed nice enough, but I had learned not to trust anyone on Vepar with the exception of the guys. After that incident, and the whole Zeni trying to get me to leave the planet one, I had decided to spend all of my time in my room when I wasn’t training or being forced to participate in group meals with the other females.
I hadn’t anticipated how much it would affect me though. Each of the girls was getting alone time with the guys for this trial. I had never been a jealous person, but just imagining what was happening on the dates had me going crazy.
I had been tempted to leave the safety of my room to find out how the dates had been going, but I hadn’t had the nerve. It was enough seeing them getting ready for them. Plus, I was sure that the girls would exaggerate anything that did happen.
Still a part of me worried. What if one of these girls caught their eye and they decided that I wasn’t worth the hassle?
I hated how these trials and my time with the guys had reduced me into such an insecure woman. I wished I was in a place where I felt more confident about my place with them.
They had been saying all the right things, and my heart wanted to believe them. My head just couldn’t get on board.
Tonight was my turn to spend time with the guys. While some of the girls had been on activities with them, I was going on a dinner date with them. I didn’t have a dress or any makeup or hair tools to get ready in my room however, so I needed to venture out into one of the common rooms to use one of the cylinders.
I headed out of my room when I couldn’t delay any longer, sealing the door shut behind me. I tiptoed down the hallway, a useless endeavor since I knew the Vepar had extremely good hearing. I had just about made it to the common room with the cylinder when I overheard some of the contestants having a conversation in the room next door.
“It’s only a matter of time before we’re back together,” Zeni was saying to someone else. “It was like no time had passed when I saw them. There was always something between us, something that defied logic. We’ve loved each other since we were young, that wasn’t going to change because of a little time on Earth.”
“But what about their relationship with the human?” another girl asked. I recognized her voice as Aery, another of the contestants.
Zeni scoffed. “They needed something to do while they were on Earth. Granted, I didn’t expect them to bring the little brat with them back home but Thane told me all about how she threatened to kill herself if they didn’t bring her with them. You know how Corran is, such a bleeding heart. He reluctantly convinced the others to bring her along. That’s why we’re doing this stupid thing in the first place, to get rid of her.”
“So you’re saying that the rest of us have no chance at all?” Aery asked, her voice growing angrier.
“I don’t recall you coming home two nights ago and telling me that you fucked them,” Zeni gloated in an amused voice.
“You didn’t...last night?” Aeryl said in an astonished voice.
“Of course we did. They couldn’t keep their hands off of me. I’m telling you, this will be all over soon and things will be back to how they were always supposed to be,” bragged Zeni, making my heart burn with her confident attitude.
“I may be wasting my time, but I intend to see this through to the end,” said Aery, her voice low and broken. I heard her getting up and walking towards the entrance so I hurried into the other common room where the wardrobe cylinder was waiting.
I leaned against the wall, rubbing at my chest. It hurt, kind of like I was having a heart attack.
She couldn’t be telling the truth. There was no way. She’d been trying so hard to get rid of me. It had to be because she was jealous. Just the thought of the guys wrapped around her gorgeous body made me want to scream. In that moment, I could understand how territorial they sometimes got. I felt like I was capable of murder.
I had to talk to them about Zeni tonight. I had to know what their relationship and their history was with her.
After taking another moment to recover, I dashed into the cylinder, desperate to get back to the safety of my room before the date. I pressed a button and couldn’t help but smile when my clothes changed right before my eyes. I was now wearing a gorgeous sapphire colored dress that reminded me of Derrial’s eyes. This one was short sleeved and more form fitting in the bodice area, something that my lungs hadn’t thought was possible based on how tight the corsets usually felt.The fabric also seemed to have sparkles built into it. This must be one of the outfits they used to dress up. It was beautiful, but I couldn’t help but wish I had a dress with a little less fabric to wear on a date tonight. I wanted to look so good they couldn’t help but want me.
My hair had been done in soft waves down my back and the machine had even managed to apply a light dusting of makeup across my face.
I decided this was my favorite Vepar technology. Nothing could beat it.
I rushed back to my room, wanting to make sure that I didn’t run across any of the other contestants and risk them messing up my look. Making it back without interference, I paced my room, anxious for the date to start and anxious for answers.
It was start time and an intercom in my room alerted me that I needed to head to the front to meet the guys as they weren’t supposed to enter the mansion...apparently whoever was watching the place had missed the guys sneaking in after the first trial.