Elite (Empire High, #2)(73)

“I know that. But I’m just scared of what she’ll do when it happens.”

“Nothing to be scared of. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

“Not when I come home.” God, did I just refer to this horror house as my home?

“Maybe we can convince your dad to let us have a sleepover. Come on, don’t worry. Tonight is supposed to be fun,” she added before standing and walking over to Justin.

Isabella was going to kill me. I didn’t dare glance in the mirror again. Maybe if I pretended the crown wasn’t there, it would magically disappear. Just like Justin had magically made me look exactly like my mom.

Kennedy and I both changed. She didn’t seem at all concerned that Justin didn’t leave the room. I covered my chest awkwardly as I pulled on my dress. He walked over as I tried to reach around my back to pull the zipper up myself.

“I’ve got it,” he said and pulled it into place. “It fits you perfectly. And vintage is all the rage. You’re absolutely slaying this look.”

I looked down at my mother’s dress. Maybe it wasn’t magic that had made me look like her. Maybe I was just growing up.

“Twirl for me,” Justin said.

I pictured my mom twirling me around as we danced in the kitchen together and smiled. I turned in a circle and the dress flared up around me. It really was perfect. I felt like Cinderella.

“What in the hell?” Justin asked. “Oh my God, no. Just. No.”

“What?” I asked.

“Your shoes.” He lifted up the hem of my dress and stared at my Keds in horror. “You need to change them this instant.”

“But I can’t leave them here unattended. Isabella’s trying to ruin everything I own. Besides, I think they look kinda cool with the dress.”

“No,” he said with zero sass. He was all business.

“But, Justin…”

“No. Absolutely not. No one wears a crown with sneakers.”

“Isabella destroyed all her shoes,” Kennedy said. “She doesn’t have any other ones to wear.”

“Don’t you have like millions of dollars?” Justin asked. “I’m already late for my next appointment but I’ll literally go buy you a pair right now if the tip is right. And any tip is right because this is literally a fashion emergency.”

Kennedy grabbed his arm. “Her mom got her those. I think they’re cute, Brooklyn. It’s very rockstar of you.”

“You think?” I lifted the skirt of my dress and looked down at my Keds.

Justin looked horrified but then he pinched his face and looked away. “Very rockstar,” he agreed.

I knew he was just saying it to be polite, but I appreciated it none the less.

He clapped his hands to end the discussion. “No matter how sweaty you get dancing, don’t wipe your face. Blot it. It’s all about the blotting, ladies. Your makeup and hair should have no problem lasting through midnight.”

Midnight? It was the last Cinderella coincidence I could take. “Justin, you’re like my fairy godmother.”

“Did you just call me a fairy?” He put his hand on his hip. “Do you have any idea how offensive that is?”

“Oh…I…I didn’t mean…”

He laughed and leaned in to hug me. “I’m just kidding. Knock ‘em dead tonight. And call me before your next event. I’ll bring an even bigger tiara.” He winked at me as he let me out of his embrace. “I gotta run. I can’t believe you two made me late! I’m never late!” He grabbed his boxes of beauty products and hurried out the door.

“I freaking love him,” Kennedy said.

I laughed. “I’m 99% sure he’s gay.”

“Why only 99%? Girl, he’s definitely gay. There’s not a doubt in my mind. Trust me, I don’t want to date him. I don’t want to date anyone for a long time. I just meant that he’s the coolest person ever.”

“He really is.”

“But if he was straight, I’d marry him in a heartbeat. I love being pampered like this. That was so much fun. When can we do it again?”

I laughed. “Hopefully soon. I feel like we’re in one of those makeover shows.”

“Queer Eye for the Straight Teenager,” Kennedy said.

“We should pitch that idea to Justin.”

“We really should. I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick and then we can go?”

I nodded and she went over to the bathroom. Even she knew it was attached to my room. I bit the inside of my lip. Every ounce of me wanted to ask her about Felix. I’d heard her the other day when she said she always fell in love with drug dealers. Plural. And Felix and Cupcake were the only two drug dealers we knew. I wanted her to open up to me about it. But I couldn’t yank the information out of her.

Regardless of whether she wanted to tell me or not, I had a plan for tonight to fix everything. First I had to talk to Felix and apologize. He’d been avoiding me at gym ever since the fight at his house. The longer I had to think of it, the more I realized how much I was in the wrong. I needed to tell him I was sorry for leading him on. And then I needed to somehow get Kennedy and him to dance together. If she wouldn’t admit that she had feelings for him to me, maybe she’d admit it to him. Operation Felix. It had a name now, so I had to go through with it.