Page 121 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

She hooked her arm with Jesse’s and Naomi came up to my side as we made our way through the corridors to the ballroom.

Naomi leaned in to speak to me for no one else to hear, “at first glance, I know it looks like their and our attire matches. But the stars belong to only the moon, and I tend to like a little light in my darkness.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

DOROTHEE

Clapping could be heardaround us, coming from our families joining tonight’s event.

I grinned at Jesse, whose arm lay around my waist, and we waited another moment before we unfroze from our finishing position. Turning to the faces of our families standing on the sides of the ballroom. The place was truly packed.

Our dance group started separating, taking off to join their families for the welcoming speech of Headmaster Shaw.

“Since the age of twelve, I dreamed of being in one of the top classes to open tonight’s ball. And it felt spectacular,” Maisie grinned beside me, breathing heavily from dancing.

“It was fun, and Jesse didn’t even step on my foot this time,” I teased, feeling the mentioned person poking me in the side with his finger.

“I heard that,” he shot back.

As I searched for my parents in the crowd, I noticed two girls running towards Maisie with their arms already open to embrace her.

“Mai!” The brunette and blonde girls called before they both slammed into her, all three of the girls laughing.

“You look like a princess,” the taller, blonde one of the two girls, who looked one or two years younger than us, said. She turned to look at Nathaniel standing by their side. “And you weren’t too bad, either.”

“He was definitely better than at Aunt Helena’s wedding,” the brunette agreed with her.

The blonde girl gasped excitedly, “He truly was, we should call him Twinkle Toes from now on. That’s better than Grumpy Bear.”

Nathaniel smiled tightly at the two. “I’d prefer if you two would simply use my name instead.”

The two girls shared a look before both of them shook their heads in synchrony. “Not a chance, Twinkle Toes.”

Maisie suddenly laughed, earning a look from Nathaniel. She leaned in to press a quick kiss to his jaw. “Well, your fate is sealed, my love.”

She turned and grabbed the girls’ hands, pulling them in my direction. “This is my roommate and dear friend, Dorothee, but everyone calls her Doe.”

The blue eyes of the beautiful blonde girl widened, “she does look like a doe.”

Maisie pressed between the girls and hooked an arm around each, affectionately. “Doe, these are my two lovely sisters, Daniela and Valantina. Dani is the one who shares my beautiful blonde hair, and Val is the only person in our family who’s even shorter than I am.”

Valantina pressed her elbow into her older sister’s side. “Well, the difference is that, in comparison to you, I’m still growing.”

Nathaniel appeared behind Maisie, placing a gentle kiss on her temple, hugging her swiftly from behind. “I’m saying hi to my parents, see you in a bit,” he told her.

“Say hello to your mum from me,” Maisie replied, smiling. The love she had for her boyfriend’s family was as clear as day.

“And he really doesn’t have a younger brother?” Daniela asked dreamily after Nathaniel walked off into the crowd, towards a gorgeous woman that I assumed was his mother, who pulled him into a tight hug.

“Brothers,” Valantina corrected her sister.

“Nope, but he has plenty of cousins,” Maisie answered, looking over to where the woman waved at her, smiling from ear to ear.

“Really?” Her sisters asked hopefully.

Maisie turned back around. “Uh huh, but they live in Italy, and they only speak broken English.”

The both of them groaned in disappointment. “Don’t give us hope if there is none.”

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