Elite (Empire High, #2)(66)

“But, Daddy…”

“No buts. Your dog did this. So you will share with your sister.” He turned to me, his expression void of the anger that had been there moments before. “Brooklyn,” he said and cleared his throat. “I wasn’t sure if you had hired someone to help get you ready, so I arranged for Justin to assist you. He’ll be here shortly. And I’ll have him order another of everything that was ruined.” He sighed like Isabella was as exhausting to him as she was to me. “Your friend can stay, of course. It’s the least I can do after this disaster.” He stepped forward and put out his hand. “I’m Richard Pruitt. You must be Kennedy Alcaraz. I’ll add you to Brooklyn’s list of approved visitors.”

For a second Kennedy just stared at his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she finally said and shook it. I swore she curtseyed, and the corners of Mr. Pruitt’s mouth ticked up ever so slightly.

“The pleasure is all mine. You two have fun getting ready. And if there is anything you need, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll be in my study.” He turned back around. “Apologize before you leave, princess,” he said as he walked past Isabella and out the door.

It looked like Isabella was going to explode.

The three of us just stood there awkwardly for a moment as Mr. Pruitt’s shoes echoed in the hallway.

“If you think I’m loaning you one of my dresses, you’re out of your damned mind,” Isabella said. “And I can’t wait to cash in on that favor you owe me.”

“What favor? Your dad came up here anyway. I don’t owe you anything.”

“Yeah, but I told him I made a mistake. That everything was fine. That’s what you asked me to do. And I did.”

What the hell was wrong with her? “You were supposed to do that before he came up here. I don’t owe you a thing.”

She shrugged. “Too bad. We had a verbal agreement, Sissy. Now you owe me whatever I want. I believe your exact words were…anything.”

“You should be thanking me,” I said. “I went along with your Sir Wilfred lie.”

She kissed the side of her dog’s head and put him down on the ground. “Which was your choice. I can’t help it if you’re a little slow. Make, Sir Wilfred.”

I was about to ask her what she was talking about when Sir Wilfred pranced over and proceeded to pee all over the pile of ruined clothes.

“What is wrong with you?” Kennedy said and held her nose closed.

“Me?” asked Isabella. “Absolutely nothing. I’m perfect if you haven’t noticed. Come, Sir Wilfred. I need to get ready for the dance.”

The fluffy dog lowered his leg and ran after his evil master.

“Stupid dog,” Kennedy said when Isabella left.

“Stupid Isabella.”

“Why’d you go along with her?” Kennedy asked. “The clothes clearly weren’t destroyed by that dog.”

I didn’t want to admit that I was scared of Isabella. That I was worried she’d actually kill me. I was pretty sure it was all in my head. And I needed to learn how to stand up to her if I was going to live here. “I’ve learned to pick my battles with her.”

Kennedy flopped down on my bed. “What do you think she’s going to do when she realizes your homecoming dress is in Miller’s room?”

I had completely forgotten. I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God. I couldn’t care less about homecoming. But I would have cried if something had happened to my mom’s dress. “She’s going to lose her mind. Well, she’d lose it if she hadn’t already.”

We both looked at each other and laughed.

“This is actually great,” Kennedy said. “We got Isabella’s shot at sabotage out of the way early. Now we can just relax and have fun.”

That was a good point. “Unless she’s planning more.” I sat down next to Kennedy on the bed.

“Why would she? She thought her first trick would prevent you from going at all.”

I nodded. “You’re right,” I said with a smile. But I was thinking about Anderson. And if there was a way to make sure whoever she was didn’t get fired for something she absolutely didn’t do.

“Your dad actually seems kinda nice.”

“Mr. Pruitt is not my dad.”

“Technically…”

“I never saw the results of the tests,” I said with a laugh.

“Fair enough. But he took your side over Isabella’s. No one ever takes anyone’s side over Isabella’s. Maybe he’s not so bad. He’s letting me visit now. And he’s going to replace all the clothes. He’s at least trying. He seems kinda nice.”

Nice? He’d immediately blamed her for destroying my clothes. But I bit my tongue. Mr. Pruitt was trying. I knew that. And yet…I was still uncertain about him. But maybe if I could convince him not to fire Anderson. If he took my side on that, then maybe I could finally let my walls down. Because he was trying. He did care. He was acting like the father I never had. And I was pretty sure that was a good thing. Maybe I’d just been fighting it off because Uncle Jim had felt like a father to me too. And as soon as I’d let him in, I’d lost him.

Tiffany, the timid server, rushed into the room carrying some black trash bags. “Mr. Pruitt said I needed to clean up…” her voice trailed off as she looked at the mess. “Oh my. I’ll get right to it.” She hurried over.