When the doors of the elevator finally open after what seems like an eternity, Ana hurriedly steps out, intent on taking the stairs down and returning to Alice's side, only to freeze on her spot, eyes widening in surprise and ears ringing with a forbidding ding as she takes in her surroundings.

Finds herself not in the entrance of a hallway, but inside a room.

Did she get out on the wrong floor?

Ana hesitates for only a moment, her hand on the frame, before she steps further inside the room, the alternative of returning back the way she had come and risk running into the brown haired boy with his lingering gaze and sly smirk making her feel ill at ease.

There's surely another exit point here. What hotel room is not connected to a staircase? she tries to convince herself.

She walks further in the room, cheap sneakers shattering the silence as they make a squeaky noise against the expensive marble.

The elevator doors slowly close behind her.

"Hello?" She calls out softly, eyes flickering around the empty space. "Umm... Is anyone here?"

Her words are greeted by silence.

She lets out a sigh to find the room unoccupied, but her relief is short lived, and soon overshadowed by a sense of growing dread in her stomach, an unease, as she truly begins to take in her surroundings.

The room is large and lavishly decorated, but obviously lived in, she realises, as she walks around, taking in the pillows and sheets that are tossed around haphazardly on the bed, stepping over the rolled tissue papers littering the floor carelessly along with several glasses and empty bottles of alcohol.

She turns round and round but finds no door, no staircase to lead her back to the floor below.

Ana's hand curls tightly against the strap of her bag, suddenly feeling the weight of her phone inside and wishing that she would have exchanged numbers with Alice sooner rather than wait until the last moment, at least then she could have called her friend —

Oh, no.

Her eyes widen with distress when she thinks about Alice, for the other girl must have surely noticed her absence by this point and was perhaps worrying over her sudden disappearance.

Her eyes flicker towards the elevator, shoulders drooping, a resigned sigh escaping her lips.

"You have no other choice, Ana," she murmurs to herself. "Do you want to miss the bus? Don't be a coward!"

Ana knows that she might very well run into the strange brown haired boy again, for all it felt like an eternity to her, she had barely spent over five minutes in the room, and so chances were likely that the boy was where she had last left him.

Her neck prickles uncomfortably at the thought.

She begins to walk back the way she had come, only to suddenly stumble, arms flaying wildly as she crashes on the floor on all fours with a soft oomph, the empty wine bottle she had inadvertently stepped on rolling towards the elevator with an ominous clatter, her eyes following it, widening in sheer horror at the telltale sign of the elevator doors opening.

"—just trying to accuse Master Leo."

She hears a nasally voice speak loudly from inside the elevator.

"No, Rose!" Another voice snaps, more posh sounding, more intimidating. "I cannot take any risk. I usually let Leo run around wild, but today I will not accept any mistakes. This engagement might be a business deal but even so the Nazyalenksys' won't accept their daughter being insulted so openly."

Before Ana can even think of moving, the elevator doors completely open, and two women walk in the room, going rigid in their spots when their eyes fall on her sprawled form.

Ana only blinks up at them, like a rabbit caught in a snare.

There are two of them, but Ana can feel a marked difference in their stature.

One of the women is clearly the subordinate, dressed in a formal black skirt and blazer and standing two paces behind the other, older woman, who is dressed in an extravagant gown and is staring down at Ana's sprawled form on the floor as if she were something disgusting under her diamond studded heel.

"Who are you?" The older woman hisses, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the room, red lips curling back in distaste.

And as if she were a statue coming back to life, Ana quickly jolts back to her feet, smoothening her dress with shaky hands. "I-I..." she stutters, no words escaping her mouth, eyes as wide as that of a deer.

The older woman's nose flares in anger. "Speak, girl!" she commands, imposing and impatient.

"I... I'm Ana." She finally replies, throat feeling dry as she gulps down her fear. "Ana Winters."

She immediately bites the inside of her cheek, realising her mistake the moment the beautiful older woman looks at her sharply, akin to a shark smelling fresh blood.

"Winters?" She frowns, before turning to her formally dressed companion. "Rose!" She snaps. "Do we have any family by the name of Winters on the guest list?"

The formally dressed woman, Rose, quickly types something on her tab before her eyes narrow to slits and she shakes her head. "No, my lady."

She watches the two women exchange a silent look, before the older woman, moves her eyes up and down Ana's form, calculating and watchful, making Ana fidget under the intense scrutiny.

"You are one of them, aren't you?" The older woman questions sardonically.

One of what? Ana thinks, confused eyes darting between the two women, before they turn big in horror. Did they think her a thief?

But before she can explain anything, the older woman is waving her arm dismissively, "I do not have the patience to deal with the likes of you."  She spits, sharp eyes searching the room. "Where is my son?"

Ana blinks. "Your son?"

"Yes." The woman snaps impatiently. "Where is Leo? Isn't he here yet?"

"I-I don't know who Leo is." Ana replies, unable to make sense of the conversation. "I —"

The older woman barks out a laugh, high and cold, making Ana shudder. "You don't know who Leo is and yet here you are, standing in his room oh so comfortably, waiting for him like a good little whore!"

Ana gasps at the accusation, eyes widening, cheeks burning red with humiliation. "E-Excuse me?"

The older lady raises a perfect eyebrow, lips curling in a mocking smile."Did I say something wrong?"

Ana's heart begins to hammer against its cage, an ache in her throat like she's swallowed glass as she lets out a trembling exhale. "T-there's some misunderstanding, ma'am," she croaks. "I was looking for the ladies room and there was a boy who —"

"And the only bathroom you found was here, in Master Leo's suite?" The subordinate named Rose interjects, eyes flashing with a knowing look. "What a poor coverup! I would expect something better, especially for a girl with a... proclivity such as yours," she says delicately, eyeing Ana's worn backpack and shoes with something akin to disgust.

Her eyes snaps towards the subordinate, shaking her head. "I- I'm not lying,"Ana chokes out in disbelief, tears beginning to gather in her eyes. "I'm not, I'm not that ... please!"

"What are you doing in his room then?" The subordinate hisses, toad-like face red and splotchy, eye twitching in her anger. "We have no Ana Winters on the guest list. Tell me, whom did you come to the party with?"

The subordinate's question makes the older lady tilt her head in curiosity, dark humour swirling in her eyes. "Do you have an answer, girl?"

Ana nods vigorously, wipes the wetness on her cheeks with one hand and opens her mouth to explain—

("The security is really strict at such events," Alice whispers. "If a name is not on the list, then no matter who you are, you cannot gain entry."

"Then won't you fall into any problem if they get to know the truth?")

She stops short. The words to prove her innocence dying on her tongue once Alice's face flashes before her eyes. Knows instinctively that should she reveal the truth then the other girl would find herself in much deeper trouble.

And how could she throw Alice under the bus? Alice, who had shown her kindness and offered Ana a chance at friendship when no one else had done so before.

She could not, would not!

And so Ana simply shakes her head once, silent, lowers her eyes to hide the tears in them, lip trembling as she fails to catch the hitching sob of her next inhale.

"I thought as much." She hears the older lady drawl, disgust dripping in every word. "This coy, innocent act is nothing but a facade these days, don't you agree, Rose?"

She hears the click of heels coming towards her, flinching violently when her chin is forcefully raised.

"They all look and act the same, Lady Cassandra," the woman named Rose replies, sharp nails digging in Ana's skin as she raises her lowered head. "Girls like her are always hoping to elevate their status by trying to seduce the heirs of powerful families by their honeyed tongues," she spits, rolling her eyes before she lets go of her face with a jerk.

Ana sniffs, eyelashes wet with tears, but she doesn't dare reply back, because there are old lessons already sunk inside her skin. She simply presses the back of her hand to her mouth, hand quaking.

"You're passable at best," Lady Cassandra drawls, all prim and elegance."But did you really think you could seduce my son looking like that, you little harlot?" She snaps coldly, voice rising, a frigid mask on her face."You would dare sneak into his room, waiting for him like a whore with her legs spread."

"Stop," Ana whispers, despairing, achingly soft, shakes her head as if trying to rouse herself from a nightmare.

And what a nightmare it truly is!

"Never mind that a son from the Kozlov family wouldn't look at someone like her, let alone touch!" The subordinate snarls, a smirk on her lips.

It's a misunderstanding, Ana wants to choke out. I'm not. I'm not a —

But their words are akin to little blades that continue to shred her apart.

"I should have you dragged out by your hair for daring to spoil my darling son's engagement party." Lady Cassandra announces, and Ana stares at her in horror, sees the way the older woman's eyes soften at the mention of her son.

"But it is a big day for my son and I, and so, I will be merciful to you. Leave!" Lady Cassandra commands sharply.

Ana knows she is shaking, should try to not be so blatantly scared, and yet she is unable to stop the sob that tears out of her chest, high and violent.

"Leave before I call for my guards and have you  thrown out of this hotel like you deserve!"

Ana doesn't wait to listen to anything else as she  stumbles past the two women and towards the open elevator which closes shut behind her, head lowered, their vile allegations lingering along the nape of her neck.

The elevator doors don't even open completely before she finds herself running through the empty hallway, her steps echoing ominously, the dim lights in the corridor appearing darker than before, casting shadows as she runs.

A whore. The two women had thought Ana to be a whore.

Their words continue to resonate in her head, a slow growing poisonous seed beginning to take root, a melting sort-of feeling in her heart.

She should have known this place was not for someone like her, should've  known that a poor orphan from Oklahoma did not fit into the high society parties of New York,

should've , should've—

Ana runs head first into someone, broad and thick and man, forehead hitting a hard rock chest, and she stumbles, would have fallen if not for the large palms that reach out and grip her hips, dragging her into a cage of arms, fingers splayed wide and warm over the low of her back, her nose burying against someone's chest.

Her pulse rockets, a tremulous beat beneath her skin, but she keeps her eyes shut and head lowered, frozen yet again, too afraid to even raise her head and look.

Air brushes the top of her cheek, as if whoever it is, is leaning over her, his voice so rough and deep and warm it makes her shiver unconsciously.

"What are you?"

She hears a low whisper, soft with disbelief and weighted with ... something she is unable to name.

Ana's chest jerks, just once, a painful breath at a too innocent question, an echo in her skull.

A whore.

She chokes back a sob, and pushes herself away from the man roughly, before twisting away from his outstretched hands as he begins to fall.

In the dim light and through tear filled eyes, she catches only a flicker of his broad, sharp jaw, and straight nose before she is running.

In the lobby she pushes people aside, not caring about anything but wanting to leave but her steps falter when she reaches close to the double doors that lead to the ballroom.

She feels a little pang of shame for not having said goodbye to Alice, sweet Alice who had been so good to her. Her first friend. In a moment of weakness, she contemplates returning and finding the girl.

Unbidden, a voice resonates in her ears.

Whore

.

.

.

She doesn't turn back.

.

.

.

Later that night, on the bus ride, Ana huddles in her seat, glassy eyes staring out the window, a hitching sob stifled beneath a trembling palm,

belly aching and heart full of grief. She cries and cries, before her eyelids begin to flutter, tired, and she falls asleep, unbeknownst to the fact that her life had been altered in more than one ways that night.