"What do you think of this dress?"

The clang of hangers brought my attention to where Kath was standing. She held up a frilly pink dress with a small cleavage and many folds. It looked strapless, but there were so many frills it was difficult to tell where the dress started and ended.

"Why so...pink?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I'll be blushing the whole night. Might as well dress to match the color of my eyes, right?"

"Blushing from Matt? Or from dancing?" I smirked at her from where I sat on the bench outside the dressing room. Setting my phone in my bag, I stood to help Kath with the pile of dresses she was juggling.

"Oh, probably from the alcohol," she giggled. "I heard Mike's going to try and spike the punch."

I rolled my eyes. "That's a bit cliche, don't you think?"

"Coming from Mike, no, not really." She dropped the dresses she didn't want on the bench. "How are things between you two, anyway?"

"Tense," I admitted. "I got him scolded by both Professor Haynes and Alvarez."

"Alvarez, I can understand, but Haynes? Since when does she yell?" Kath questioned.

"Since Mike put gum on her chair, apparently," I scoffed. "Why are you asking about Mike, anyway?"

Kath winced. "I was just worried about you, Adrienne. After all, you and Mike..."

"That was a long time ago, Kath," I snapped, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Maybe Mike hasn't moved on, but I sure have. I'm not sure we'll be able to mend that crack again."

"You never know." Kath led me towards the cashier line. "People change."

"Tell me when Mike does."

"Sure," she sighed. "But that doesn't just erase him from your past, you know? He'll always be there."

"I know," I grumbled under my breath. "That doesn't mean I think about him every second of my life, though."

"He does," she stated. "And sure, he's a bit pushy and all--!"

"Pushy?" I exploded, drawing eyes towards me. I blushed, and once they all twisted away, I glared at Kath. "Mike's not just pushy! He doesn't know when to stop pushing boundaries, Kath! He's pushing my boundaries with what he calls banter!"

Kath remained quiet for a few moments, pressing a fake smile onto her lips in front of the cashier. Once she was finished paying for her graduation dress, she and I both slipped into the food court, ordering and sitting at a corner table.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I didn't mean to push you about Mike. I knew you guys had a tense relationship after...everything that happened. I just thought that maybe...I don't know, you guys would make up."

"When he's ready to apologize, let me know," I said. "But apology accepted. I know how you feel about Mike, anyway."

"He has changed, though," she admitted, thanking the waitress that brought the fries we ordered together. "He's more flamboyant than before. And he has adopted a habit of calling girls who don't go out with him 'whores'."

"That's Mike," I scoffed, chewing on a fry. "People change, for better or for worse."

"Yeah, but why are we talking about Mike?" Kath grinned. "Graduation is coming up. Are you excited to finally wash hands with Professor Alvarez?"

"He's not that bad, Kath," I giggled. "Sure, he intimidates me and gives me terrible anxiety, but he's not a horrible monster. At least, not how you think he is."

"I always wondered why he seemed to favor you," Kath mused, picking the salt off her fry. "Out of curiosity, what do you guys do when you're alone?"

"Nothing much," I shrugged. "He just gives me some favors to do for him, like the interview. Sometimes he just asks me to bring things to other teachers or go over some work with him."

"Has he ever...touched you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like...you know, just brushes or taps on the shoulder?" Kath dropped the tomato she didn't want on her sandwich on my plate, eyeing me. "Has he ever done those?"

"Yes." I frowned at her over the rim of my sandwich. "Why are you asking?"

"Just curious," she answered quickly. "I told you: Alvarez favors you. I was just wondering..." she paused for a moment, then shook her head, chuckling. "Never mind. It's stupid."

"What?" I quirked an eyebrow at her. "What's stupid about me and Alvarez?"

"Nothing," she replied briskly, taking a large bite of her sandwich. "He's married, anyway. I don't think it's what I'm thinking."

I didn't ask her again what she meant throughout the time we ate lunch, but that didn't mean I didn't think about it. What had she been insinuating? That Alvarez was taking advantage of me? Kath knew better than that, but I suppose it would be a plausible thought, considering that whenever he talked to me, we were alone...with no one else.

Maybe that's why Mike thought I was using him for grades, I thought. But I know myself better than Mike and Kath do. Alvarez is married, and I wouldn't use him for grades. Besides, he's not my type...not like Lazareth, at least.

In my mind, I saw the same, lion-like, beady eyes and clean, tan skin. I saw the dark, bushy hair and careful, almost cruel-looking smirk. Lazareth was anything but cruel, though. He was sweet, polite, and if not, a bit awkward. He was good at making my heart do exercise, though.

"You've been quiet for a while," Kath noted. "Did I offend you?"

"Of course, not!" I waved her worries aside, squeezing her hand. "I can see why you and Mike both thought that the nature of my relationship with Professor Alvarez was more than...well, professor and student, but I promise, Kath, it isn't. I'm not stupid."

She smiled. "I know you aren't, Adrienne. I'm just worried about you, especially when it comes to men."

"Did this worry start after...you know what?"

"Yeah. That's when your panic attacks started." She grimaced. "Have you been taking your meds, by the way?"

I nodded. "Gryffin would kill me if I wasn't."

Grinning, we clinked our glasses. 

"Ever the protective brother, huh?" Kath teased. "What did he say about Noir?"

"Lazareth?" I blurted. "Oh, um, he doesn't...know?"

Kath's eyes widened. "You didn't tell him?" She hissed.

I shook my head, a silly smile tugging on my lips. "No. I knew he'd freak out. Especially since he idolizes Lazareth."

"Yeah, he does," she agreed. Then, she frowned. "Wait, Lazareth?"

"Yes..." I drawled. "That's his name...?"

"You actually got permission to call him by his first name!" Kath exclaimed. She grinned maniacally. "How? Did he tell you? How was he? God, I didn't even ask about the interview! How did it go?"

I giggled, patting her head. "It went well. Quickly, but well. He was very open with me..." I blushed, and Kath noticed.

"Did he flirt with you?" She asked, her voice raising an octave higher. Surprisingly, it didn't attract the attention of the other people dining.

I bit my lip, chewing so that I could taste the liquid iron once again. "Uh, yeah, he did. We actually exchanged phone numbers--!"

"You did WHAT?!" Kath propelled herself into my face. Her dark eyes resembled those of someone who hadn't slept for days. They were bloodshot and her veins trickled towards her pupil.

"I...gave him my number," I repeated meekly, leaning away from her.

Kath stared at me for a few moments, then slowly receded back into her seat. I heard her sigh and drop her head into her hands. When she did finally look back up at me, her eyes were back to normal, and she had a soft smile on her face.

"Adrienne and Lazareth, that has a good ring to it," she murmured, shaking my hand and squeezing. "Are you okay with this? With him?"

I pulled at my lip, smiling coquettishly and looking away. 

"He's different, Kath," I said. "I know he's a billionaire, and even though I'm still terrified about the media, he spikes something in me, you know?"

"I know." She beamed. "I know that feeling. I'm happy for you, Adrienne."

"It's not like we're together, though," I quickly added. "He just gave me his phone number because he thought I was interesting...? Does that mean anything?"

"Hell yeah!" Kath piled our plates. "He thinks you're interesting, right? Well, soon, he's going to go from curious to thinking of nothing else but you. Just watch."

"I don't think that's good for a billionaire," I chuckled. "But maybe? I'll see how this goes. I've never had relations, even platonic relations, with anyone as famous as him. Not since Mike..."

"Forget Mike, Adrienne," Kath ordered. "You have a new...acquaintance, soon friend, then maybe-boyfriend. I have to ask, though: are you ready for the publicity that comes with dating a billionaire? Especially one as famous as Lazareth? Paparazzi practically follow him to the bathroom!"

"I know," I sighed. "I'm scared of that bit, but I'm hoping he keeps our meetings lowkey, you know? I don't want any fame."

"Well, I'm not sure how that will go," Kath grumbled. "Noir bathes in publicity, literally! There's always something new about him every day in the newspaper. It's like he's an open book!"

"He actually isn't," I blurted. "When I spoke to him during the interview, he admitted that he didn't usually take interviews because he was always asked questions he didn't want to answer."

"Like his love life?"

"What do you mean?"

"In all of his interviews, Noir always laughs around answering questions about his romantic relationships," Kath mentioned. She pulled her phone from her purse, pulling up a fan page of Lazareth. There were videos of him on a seat with a popular nightly or daytime show host, laughing and smiling his dimpled smile. "This isn't the Wikipedia page for him, but it's more reliable in a way cause it's run by an ex-employee of Noir."

"Really?" I gaped at the page. "How did they get away with it?"

"She," Kath corrected. "And I'm not sure. I guess Noir doesn't keep tabs on who writes articles about him. He could have BDSM fanfictions on him for all he knows or cares."

I shook my head, blinking. "Okay, firstly, literally nobody asked if he does BDSM. Secondly, why wouldn't he care?"

"He's a billionaire, Adrienne. He has more important work to do than reading the fantasies of a sixteen-year-old girl," Kath sneered. "I've read some of them and trust me, it scars you!"

"Now you're getting off-topic," I teased, shoving her shoulder playfully. "To any person, it looks like you have a crush on Lazareth Noir."

"I do not," she scowled. "But he is interesting...anyway, where was I?"

"The BDSM fanfictions?"

"No, before that."

"The fan-page?"

"Oh, right!" 

Kath clicked a few buttons on the webpage, and soon, a transcript of an interview Lazareth took with Moonlight popped up. She scrolled down a few paragraphs to Lazareth's answer to one of the questions.

 "This is after Yasmin Page asked Noir about his love life," Kath explained, eyeing me as I read the paragraph. "You can see it, right? Lazareth laughs his way through the question and mutters something. It's practically gibberish!"

"It does look like that," I observed. "But maybe he's just a private person?" Although that contrasts greatly with the overt answers he gave me during our interview.

"I did manage to find one time when he spoke of his relationships, though," Kath said. "He admitted that he's pansexual, but that's about it. It's why he donates to charities supporting coming out."

"That's all he's said about his love life? That he's pansexual?" I asked. "I mean, granted, that is a lot as it is, but really? No mentions of any past relationships?"

"None." Kath clicked the button on the side of her phone, the screen flickering black. "I have to ask you though, Adrienne, are you prepared to enter his world? Even after you said you wouldn't?"

"I wouldn't say I'm completely ready," I mumbled, still trying to process what I just read. "But he's giving me a chance to know a different side of him. Everyone else only knows billionaire hot-shot Lazareth Noir. Apart from maybe his past relationships and his family, who else knows the person behind the mask?"

"You're right," Kath agreed. "But a word of caution before you see him again?"

I frowned. A word of caution? Why would she caution me against Lazareth?

"Okay...?" I raised my eyebrow. "What is it?"

"In the world of billionaires, nobody is your friend. Be careful."