Red(58)

“You want me to tamper with pageant materials? I could get disqualified!”

“Only if you get caught. And you won’t get caught, will you?”

Felicity unfolded the white paper. It read:

As a redhead, I certainly understand the founder of Scarletville’s original mission. That being said, I think it’s incredibly important to have people with other hair colors in Scarletville. It’s small-minded and irresponsible to have a community that’s entirely made up of one sort of person. That kind of environment fosters intolerance and stereotyping. And there’s actually still a lot of that here in Scarletville, even though we’re not all the same. The way redheads are automatically placed at the top of the social hierarchy whether or not they deserve it is incredibly unfair. Many blondes and brunettes would probably excel in leadership roles in our community, but people just assume they’re not worthy and don’t even give them a chance. I mean, look at the girls in the pageant this year. There are at least twenty blondes and brunettes in our class, but none of them are up here today. The pageant committee is clearly biased toward redheads, and that’s just one example of the prejudiced behavior of our community’s leaders. It’s not right or fair. I think we all need to examine the way we treat people with other hair colors and make an effort to change.

Felicity gave Gabby an incredulous look. “You seriously think I’m going to stand up in front of the entire town and accuse my own mom and my mom’s boss of being prejudiced?”

Gabby shrugged. “Well, that’s your call. But you know what the alternative is.”

The wave of fury that crashed through Felicity was so strong it nearly knocked her over, and words burst from her mouth before she could control herself. “What is wrong with you? Do you seriously not see what you’re doing to me? This is not some fun little case study, Gabby—this is my life. This is my family. I am not your freaking experiment!”

Gabby’s face registered genuine surprise. “Who told you there was an experiment?”

“I heard you’ve been blowing off all your work in journalism to write up some secret case study for a stupid internship application. Can’t you see how messed up it is to destroy someone’s life for research? I’m a person, Gabby, and I never even did anything to you!”

“Keep your voice down,” Gabby hissed. “Do you want everyone to know we’re in here? And for your information, you are not the case study. You don’t know anything about what I’m doing.”

“You are such a liar. I bet you love playing these sadistic little mind games. I bet you enjoy every second of—”

“I’m the case study,” Gabby snapped. “Not you, you self-centered baby.”

Felicity stared at her. “How are you the case study? That doesn’t even make sense. I’m the one being tortured and blackmailed!”

“I don’t have to discuss this with you.” Gabby turned to grab the doorknob, but Felicity was faster and managed to block her way. She stared her enemy right in the eyes, and for the first time, she saw something other than sarcasm and contempt.

Gabby was uncertain. And Felicity suddenly understood something: Gabby needed her. For whatever reason, she needed her to say the words on this paper on Saturday. And that meant Felicity had more control than she’d thought.

“I won’t swap the questions unless you explain to me what you’re doing,” she said.

Gabby snorted, but Felicity could tell her bravado was faltering. “You’re totally bluffing. You’ll do whatever I want you to do, because you know I’ll expose you if you don’t.”

Felicity shook her head. “You don’t know me at all. You have no idea what I’ll do.”

They stared each other down for what felt like an eternity. It was so hot and musty in the closet that it was hard to breathe, and Felicity feared she might faint. But she stood her ground, the doorknob gripped tightly in her sweaty hand.

And finally, Gabby looked away first.

“I’m writing an exposé about Scarletville High for an internship at the Chicago Tribune,” she said quietly. “It’s supposed to showcase my investigative journalism skills. It’s about how people react when a brunette gets the kind of publicity and attention that’s usually reserved for popular redheads like you. All the stuff I’ve had you do made me visible in ways I could never have been on my own. And then I listened to the gossip, and I learned what people considered ‘acceptable’ for someone of my ‘status.’ ”

“What about this?” Felicity held up the interview question. “This isn’t making you visible. This has nothing to do with you. Now you’re just trying to humiliate me.”

“Why can’t you get it through your thick head that this isn’t about you? That has everything to do with me. It says I have a right to be given a chance in this ridiculous town. Someone needs to say it out loud, and nobody ever does. You know as well as I do that nobody in Scarletville gets treated with respect unless they have red hair. If you didn’t know that, you wouldn’t be so terrified of someone finding out what you really are.”

Felicity shoved the paper back at Gabby. “If you want someone to say this out loud, why don’t you say it yourself? Leave me out of your stupid crusade!”

“Nobody cares if I say it, Felicity! It’s always ‘Oh, look at the bitter brunette, she’s just pissed she’s not popular.’ People automatically listen to you. You can do whatever the hell you want, and there are never any consequences. God, you have no idea what it feels like to grow up in a place where nobody takes you seriously.”