Red(38)

“I’m not really in trouble.” Felicity sighed. “I didn’t do anything illegal or anything. I just … I’ve got some stuff going on that I can’t talk about. But I promise it has nothing to do with you.”

“Is it stuff at home?”

“Not really. Just something I have to work out.”

Haylie was quiet for a minute. “Are you going to be all right?”

Felicity had no idea if she was going to be all right. People were gossiping about her and Gabby, and she still didn’t have a solid plan to take her rival down. But she just said, “Yeah. I’m going to be fine.” She reached out and linked her pinky through Haylie’s like they used to do when they were eight years old, and she was relieved when Haylie didn’t pull away. “I missed you, Hays.”

“You too.”

Haylie kept hold of her finger, and together they watched Bethany Chase obliterate Ivy’s teammate in the hundred-meter butterfly.





11


     WEDNESDAY, MAY 19


To Felicity’s dismay, people continued to talk about Gabby and the prom court throughout school on Tuesday. But on Wednesday, a senior on the football team was suspended for selling pot in the parking lot, and just like that, the prom court was old news.

By the time the last bell rang, Felicity was in high spirits. She hadn’t heard anyone whisper her name or Gabby’s all day. She was back in her best friend’s good graces. Brent was planning to sneak through her window for an after-dinner visit. And tomorrow, when she went to Rouge-o-Rama, she planned to gather some good dirt on Gabby by pumping Rose for embarrassing childhood stories. If all went well, she’d finally have some ammunition of her own when her enemy initiated the next battle.

Felicity stopped at her locker, then headed for the squash courts to meet Jonathan and take down the art show. He was already there, struggling to remove Gabby’s enormous painting from the wall. Felicity rushed over to help—taking down the hyenas felt symbolic of the way she hoped to take down their creator.

“Oh, hey, thanks,” Jonathan said as they lowered the canvas to the ground. “This thing is ridiculously huge. How’s it going?”

“Great. Everything’s going great. How’re you?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Pretty good, pretty good. Busy. I feel like there’s so much stuff I have to get done before graduation.”

“God, that’s only three weeks away, isn’t it? Thinking about leaving must be so weird.” Felicity removed the Skittles photograph from the wall and started peeling the adhesive strips off the back. “You going to prom?”

“Sort of. I mean, yeah, but I’m just bringing my sister Marissa. She’s a freshman, and this senior asked her, but my mom won’t let her go out with older guys. And it’s not like I had a date to bring, so she’s using me as her cover. It’s fine. I’m not really into the whole limo-corsage-souvenir-photos thing anyway.” Felicity glanced at the portrait of Lucia across the room, wondering if a transatlantic love affair was what stood in the way of Jonathan taking a real date to his senior prom.

Jonathan moved on to the next painting. “Oh, so I wanted to ask you—”

He broke off midsentence when Gabby walked into the room. Her presence altered the very quality of the air, thickening it and sucking out all the oxygen, but Jonathan didn’t seem to notice. He just said, “Oh, hey, Gabby, you here to pick up your painting?”

“Yeah, I thought I’d take it now so you don’t have to lug it back to the art room. I know it’s kind of unwieldy.” She smiled her hungry-cat smile. “Felicity, would you help me carry this to my car, please?”

Felicity’s good mood shattered. When Jonathan saw her face, he said, “It’s okay, I can help you, Gabby.”

“No, you look busy. Felicity can do it. Right?” Gabby picked up one end of her painting and waited for Felicity to grab the other. With extreme reluctance, she took it.

“I’ll be right back,” she said.

Gabby didn’t speak as she led Felicity through the gym wing. When they reached the bathroom by the weight room, she abruptly stopped walking, and Felicity crashed into the canvas, the corner jabbing her painfully in the ribs. “You can just lean this against the wall,” Gabby said. “We’re going in there.”

“I thought we were going to your car.”

It was amazing how small and stupid Gabby could make her feel with just one scornful look. “I don’t really need help carrying this, Felicity. I just need to talk to you, and I didn’t want to do it in front of Jonathan. Now get inside.”

Felicity did as she was told, but her heart was in her throat. One more day, one conversation with Rose, would have left her ready to fight back. But she didn’t have one more day. And that meant that yet again, she was completely unprepared.

“So, what do you want from me this time?” Felicity asked when Gabby had blocked the bathroom door shut. “A blood sacrifice? My firstborn child?”

Gabby crossed her arms. “Actually, I’m going to need your prom date.”

“I’m sorry, you need my what?”

“Your prom date. Brent. You know, tall redheaded muscular guy? Kind of dopey?”

Felicity couldn’t believe she’d heard Gabby right. “But what do you need Brent for?”