in the silver dress. I watched the rest of the show with only half an eye. My pride and affection for Jill were too distracting, and honestly, most of the clothes I saw tonight were way too flashy for my tastes.
There was a reception after the show, where guests, designers, and models could mingle over refreshments. My little group found a corner near the hors d’oeuvres to wait for Jill, who had yet to make an appearance. Lee carried an enormous bouquet of white lilies. Adrian watched a waitress go by with a tray full of champagne glasses. His eyes were filled with longing, but he made no moves to stop her. I was proud and relieved. Jill, balance, and alcohol were not things we wanted to mix.
When the waitress was gone, Adrian turned to me, and I finally saw that earlier anger return. And, as I’d suspected, it was directed toward me.
“When were you going to tell me?” he asked.
It was as enigmatic as Trey’s earlier opening line. “Tell you what?”
“That the financial aid isn’t going to come through! I talked to the registrar’s office, and they said you knew.”
I sighed. “I wasn’t keeping it from you, exactly. I just didn’t have a chance to tell you yet. There were kind of a lot of other things going on.” Okay, I actually
“You apparently had enough time to pay the auditing fee, though. And enough money. But not enough to fund new lodging.”
I think what was more upsetting about this than the topic was the insinuation that I had somehow chosen to act in a way that would inconvenience him. Like I’d purposely subject myself to this if there’d been some way to avoid it.
“A onetime payment was easy to slip in,” I told him. “Month-to-month rent? Not so much.”
“Then why bother at all?” he exclaimed. “The whole point of this was to get me money to get out of Clarence’s! I wouldn’t be taking these stupid classes otherwise. You think I want to ride the bus for hours each day?”
“Those classes are good for you,” I countered, feeling my own temper rise. I hadn’t wanted to lose control, not here and certainly not with our friends witnessing everything. Yet I was appalled at Adrian’s reaction. Couldn’t he see how good it was for him to do something useful? I’d seen his face when he showed me his paintings. They’d given him a healthy channel to deal with Rose, not to mention a sense of purpose for him. And besides, it killed me to see how casually he could just toss aside those “stupid” classes. It was another reminder of the unfairness of the world, how I couldn’t have what others took for granted.
He scowled. “‘Good for me?’ Come on, stop being my mom again! It isn’t your job to tell me how to live my life. If I want your advice, I’ll ask for it.”
“Right,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “It’s not my job to tell you how to live your life—just my job to make it as easy as possible for you. Because God knows you can’t suffer through
“Come on, you guys,” said Eddie uneasily. “This isn’t the time or place.”
Adrian ignored him. “You have no problem making Jill’s life as easy as possible.”
“That
Adrian’s eyes were filled with emerald fire as he glared down at me, and then his gaze focused on something behind me. I turned and saw Jill approaching. She was back in the silver gown, her expression full of radiant happiness—happiness that plummeted as she got closer and realized there was an altercation going on. By the time she was standing next to me, all her excitement from a moment ago had been replaced by worry and concern.
“What’s happening?” she asked, looking between Adrian and me. Of course, she had to already know because of the bond. It was a wonder his dark feelings hadn’t messed up her performance.
“Nothing,” I said flatly.
“Well,” said Adrian. “It depends how you define ‘nothing.’ I mean, if you consider lying and—”
“Stop it!” I cried, raising my voice in spite of my best effort. The room was too noisy for most to notice, but a couple people standing nearby glanced at us curiously. “Just stop it, Adrian. Can you please not ruin this for her? Can’t you just for one night pretend there are other people in the world who matter besides you?”
“Ruin it for her?” he exclaimed. “How the hell can you say that? You know what I’ve done for her! I’ve done everything for her! I’ve given up everything for her!”
“Really?” I asked. “Because from what I can tell, it doesn’t seem like—”
I caught sight of Jill’s face and promptly cut myself off. Behind the mask, her eyes had gone wide with dismay at the accusations Adrian and I were slinging back and forth. I’d just told Adrian he was selfish and not thinking of Jill, yet here I was, continuing to engage with him on her big night, in front of her and our friends. It didn’t matter if I was right—and I felt certain I was. This was no time to be having this discussion. I shouldn’t have let Adrian bait me into this, and if he didn’t have the sense to stop things before they got worse, then I would.
“I’m leaving,” I said. I forced as sincere a smile as I could for Jill, who now looked on the verge of tears. “You were amazing tonight. Really.”
“Sydney—”
“It’s okay,” I told her. “I’ve got some things to do.” I groped for what they would actually be. “I need to, um, clean up the stuff Keith left behind. Can you get her and Eddie back to Amberwood?” This was directed to Micah and Lee. I knew one of them would step up. I felt no need to make any such provisions for Adrian. I honestly didn’t care what became of him tonight.
“Of course,” said Lee and Micah in unison. After a moment, though, Lee frowned. “Why do you need to clean up Keith’s stuff?”
“Long story,” I muttered. “Let’s just say he left town and won’t be back anytime soon. Maybe never.” Inexplicably, Lee seemed bothered by this. Maybe during all the time Keith had spent at Clarence’s, the two guys had become friends. If so, Lee owed me.
Jill still looked upset. “I thought we were all going out to celebrate?”
“You can if you want,” I said. “As long as Eddie’s with you, I really don’t care.” I reached awkwardly to Jill. I almost wanted to hug her, but she was so elaborate and magnificent in her clothing and makeup that I was afraid of ruining her. I settled for a halfhearted pat on the shoulder. “I meant it. You were breathtaking.”
I hurried away, half-afraid that either Adrian or I would crack and say something stupid to the other. I had to get myself out of there. My hope now was that Adrian would have enough sense to let the topic go and not make this night any worse for Jill. I didn’t know why the fight with him upset me so much. He and I had been bickering nearly since we’d met. What was one more quarrel? It’s because we’d been getting along, I realized. I still didn’t think of him in human terms, but somewhere along the way, I’d come to regard him as a little less of a monster.
“Sydney?”
I was stopped by an unexpected source: Laurel. She had touched my arm as I passed by a group of girls from Amberwood. I must have looked really mad because when I fixed my gaze on her, she actually flinched. That had to be a first.
“What?” I asked.
She swallowed and stepped away from her friends, eyes wide and desperate. A fedora covered most of her hair, which—I’d heard—she still hadn’t been able to restore to normal. “I heard . . . I heard you might be able to help me. With my hair,” she said.
That was another favor Kristin had done me. After letting Laurel suffer for a few days, I’d had Kristin put out the word that Sydney Melrose—with her dorm room pharmacy—might be able to fix what was wrong. I’d also made sure, however, that it was understood that Laurel wasn’t my favorite person and that it would take a lot to convince me.
“Maybe,” I said. I tried to keep my face hard, which wasn’t difficult since I was still so upset over Adrian.
“Please,” she said. “I’ll do whatever you want if you can help me! I’ve tried everything on my hair, and nothing works.” To my astonishment, she shoved some yearbooks at me. “Here. You wanted these, right? Take them. Take whatever you want.”
