Red(63)

Felicity couldn’t believe her luck. She scrambled out from under the desk, snatched the paper from the printer tray, and ransacked the office for extra gold envelopes. After three horrible minutes, she finally located one in the filing cabinet next to the Miss Scarlet crown. She stuffed Gabby’s question inside, scrawled a number four across it with a Sharpie, and slipped it into the box. Then, with the ripped, oily papers balled in her fist, she bolted out of the office and up the stairs.

As she crouched on the landing, panting, she heard her mom emerge from Celeste’s office and open her own door. “I could swear this was locked,” she mused aloud. “I must be going crazy.” Felicity fled before Ginger had time to think too hard about it.

She raced across the second floor, pounded down the stairs on the other side of the building, and burst out into the spring twilight. As she cut across the lawn toward the parking lot, Felicity could barely keep from skipping. Sure, she’d had a few very close calls, but the questions were swapped, and now she could execute her plan. She did a little jig next to Yoko before collapsing into the driver’s seat. She was only fifteen minutes late to pick up the twins. If her mom got home before her, Felicity could easily attribute her delay to the boys losing their shoes. I am a criminal mastermind, she thought as she plunked down her lip-gloss-smeared bag and turned on the car.

It was only when the Sharks in Heaven album started blasting through the speakers that she realized she’d forgotten to swap the music for her tap routine.





17


     SATURDAY, MAY 29


Felicity woke to the strange experience of hearing her own name on the radio.

The DJs at KRED were in a festive mood. “As we all know, Scarletville takes these competitions very seriously,” said one DJ. “We’re expecting a tremendous turnout at City Hall—all seven hundred Miss Scarlet tickets sold out twenty-three minutes after they went on sale.”

“Several of these girls competed in the Miss Ruby Red pageant five years ago, including winner Madison Banks and first runner-up Felicity St. John,” added the other DJ. “I can’t wait to see them go head to head again this afternoon. We also have some promising newcomers to the scene. Who will take the crown? Join us at two o’clock as we broadcast live from City Hall.”

Two o’clock—that was only five hours away. Felicity’s stomach tied itself into a series of complicated knots. Five hours from now, she’d be waiting in the wings, ready to act the part of a pageant girl for the very last time. Six hours from now, she would take Gabby down in front of the entire town, and the blackmail would finally end. Seven hours from now, if all went well, she’d be a titleholder armed with the money she needed for art school.

Or everything could fall apart.

Her door burst open, and her brothers came barreling in. “Lissy, you’re on the radio!” Tyler announced.

Felicity rolled over and shut off her clock radio as Andy climbed onto the bed and bounced up and down on her feet. “Are you going to win?” he demanded.

“I hope so. Do you want me to win?”

“I guess, but not as much as Mom. She really wants you to win.”

Felicity smiled grimly. “Yes, I know.”

As if she had been summoned, Ginger bustled into the bedroom, carrying a breakfast tray adorned with a tiny vase of flowers. She kissed Felicity on the forehead and deposited the tray in her lap. “Breakfast in bed for my beauty queen!”

Felicity looked with dismay at the scrambled eggs, buttered toast, fruit salad, and orange juice. The gesture was sweet, but she wasn’t sure she could force any of the food down.

“Thanks, Mom. You’re the best,” she said with a wan smile. She took a small bite of toast. It tasted like dust in her mouth.

“Make sure you eat all the eggs. You need extra energy today.”

Felicity reached for her napkin and found a sky-blue envelope tucked underneath. “What’s this?” she asked.

“It came in the mail for you. Call me when you’re done showering, and I’ll do your hair and makeup before I go over to City Hall, okay?”

Ginger herded the twins out of the room as Felicity tore open the envelope. Inside was a handmade construction paper card decorated with a child’s drawing of twelve girls in evening gowns. In the middle stood the winner, a glitter glue crown on her head and a bunch of flowers in her hand. Underneath, in careful block print, she was labeled felicity.

Inside, the card read:

Dear Felicity,

Good luck in the Miss Scarlet pajent! I can’t wait to see youre beautiful dress. I am youre biggest fan. I am sure you will be the pretiest one. I really really really really hope you win!

Your friend,

Katie Vaughn

Felicity’s stomach lurched and twisted dangerously, and she pushed her breakfast tray aside. She wanted nothing more than to have Gabby thrown out of Scarletville, and she was just starting to come to terms with exposing Rose. But she had completely forgotten about Gabby’s little sisters. Katie was in Andy and Tyler’s class—Felicity saw her all the time when she picked up the twins from day care. She was small for her age, with cartoonishly large eyes, long brown pigtails, and an adorable gap between her front teeth. Picturing her little face made Felicity feel even sicker, and she tucked the card out of sight under her duvet. She tried to banish all the empathy from her mind and replace it with steely resolve.