Red(52)

Felicity giggled. “I didn’t know you took journalism.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty fun.”

“Is Gabby in your class?”

Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but she’s been totally slacking lately. She was supposed to be my partner for this project a few weeks ago, and then she bailed on me at the last second, so I had to do the whole thing myself. I heard she’s working on some huge exposé for this internship application for the Chicago Tribune, and Mr. Armstrong likes her ’cause she writes for the paper, so he lets her do whatever she wants. She just sits there in the corner with her headphones on and works on it every day during class.”

“An exposé? What kind of exposé?”

“I don’t know, she won’t tell anyone. It’s some big secret thing. She says it’s a case study, and if anyone knows what she’s doing, it’ll skew the results or something.”

Jonathan kept talking, but Felicity wasn’t paying attention anymore. A finger of cold was creeping down her spine. A secret case study. She had no idea what Gabby was writing or what she was trying to prove, but Felicity knew one thing beyond a doubt.

She was the case study.

She had spent so much time trying to figure out what Gabby had against her, what she had done to deserve the kind of treatment she was getting. But it wasn’t personal. There was no grudge, no jealousy, no malice. Felicity was just a convenient lab rat, running through the maze Gabby had built for her. Gabby was ruining her life, hurting her friends, stealing her boyfriend, controlling her like a puppet, all for the sake of a stupid internship application.

Felicity felt something snap inside her, and her hands balled into fists under the table. Screw her mom’s instructions about finding a way to make the blackmail work for her. She was done being compliant and letting her enemy destroy her world for no good reason.

It was time to take Gabby down.

As the ponytailed artie squeezed by their table on her way out the door, a plan came to Felicity all at once, fully formed and beautiful. The mayor had been trying for years to find Rouge-o-Rama and close its doors for good. And now that Felicity knew there were other places she could get her hair colored, it no longer mattered to her whether the salon’s location remained a secret. If she had to drive to Caldner every few weeks, so be it. It would be a tiny price to pay if she got to see Mayor Redding run the Vaughns out of town. Plus, exposing the salon would destroy Gabby’s credibility with everyone in Scarletville. Once the whole town knew the enormity of the secrets she’d been keeping, any rumor she spread about Felicity would just look like a desperate attempt at retaliation.

All Felicity needed was an audience with the mayor. So it was a good thing she’d see him at the pageant just one short week from today.

“Felicity? Everything okay?” Jonathan’s voice seemed to be coming from miles away.

She took a deep breath and pulled herself back to reality. “Yeah,” she said. “I’m great. Just … sad that the fries are gone.”

“We can get more. Want to? You haven’t tried the curly fries with curry ketchup yet.”

Felicity’s phone beeped, and she dug it out of her bag.

HAYLIE: WHERE ARE U? ivy & i are worried.

FELICITY: not coming back. i’m fine, don’t worry. have fun. talk to you tomorrow.

HAYLIE: WHERE DID U GO??? UR NOT COMING TO THE PARTY???

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” asked Jonathan.

Felicity turned off her phone and dropped it into her bag. “Everything’s perfect,” she said. “Curly fries sound amazing. It’s on me this time.”

Hours later, Felicity and Jonathan were deep in a heated discussion about whether painting a canvas one color constituted “making art” when they noticed that the staff of Fry Me to the Moon was wiping down tables and stacking chairs. The colored lightbulbs above their heads started winking out in sections. “Sorry, guys, we’re closing,” April called as she scrubbed the counter. “You’re going to have to take your debate somewhere else.”

It didn’t seem possible that they’d been talking for four hours, but a chicken-shaped clock on the wall confirmed that it was one in the morning. Felicity stood up to put Jonathan’s tux jacket back on, then groaned at the way her fry-filled stomach strained against her dress. “It’s officially your fault if I’m too fat to fit in my pageant gown next week,” she said.

“Don’t even try to pretend it wasn’t worth it.” Jonathan held the door for her, gently touching the small of her back as he ushered her through. His hand lingered for just a moment longer than necessary, and Felicity found she didn’t mind at all.

As she settled into the truck, she realized how exhausted she was from the stress of the day. She leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes as Jonathan drove back toward the highway. What seemed like moments later, he touched her shoulder, and she was shocked to see that they’d already reached the Scarletville town limits. “Am I taking you home, or is there a party you want to go to?” he asked.

Felicity didn’t want her evening with Jonathan to end, but she couldn’t very well show up at Haylie’s party with him. “My car’s in front of Mamma Leoni’s,” she said. “Can you just drop me off there?”

“Sure. Will you be okay driving, though? You seem really tired.”