“I can’t this weekend. It’s the Bloom. I told you...that flower sculpture competition I was entering?”
“Jesus, Tahira—this is bigger than any flower-arranging contest. Others would kill for an opportunity like this. This is the big leagues. The break we’ve both been waiting for.”
I glanced over at my friends sitting on those massive rocks. They were still all looking at the horizon. The sun had painted the sky orange and pink and was casting a golden hue over the endless fields around the property.
“Tahira,” Matteo said emphatically. “Think about what’s important. A rooftop party with the biggest names in fashion in the city. Not flower arranging in butt-fuck nowhere. This is your dream.”
Was it? I didn’t even know. I exhaled long. “I can’t let down my friends.”
“Yeah. Your friends areGiaandI. We can’t do this if you don’t, and you’ve known us a lot longer. Think about it tonight—I’m calling you tomorrow morning for your answer. Unblock my number, okay?”
I disconnected the call. This timing sucked so bad. I leaned against the barn to think. Should I stay for the Bloom? Or would thisDashStylething be a better use of my time to get my dream? Because thiswasmy dream we were talking about—the dream that I’d had since the beginning of time. The Plan was my path to succeed, and everything I did was supposed to serve the Plan.
Entering the Bloom was for the Plan, but it was a sort of Plan B. This Dasha thing was closer to my original Plan A.
But it wasn’t just about the Plan anymore; it was also about my friends. How could I leave Juniper and Rowan? They would never forgive me if I left the Bloom team.
I looked over at the breathtaking sunset over the farmers’ fields, and at my new friends, who’d come to mean the world to me. Was all this something I was willing to give up? Even for the Plan?
22
SOFT EYES AND HARD CHOICES
Ididn’t give my friends details about what Matteo had said—just that he’d wanted to run an opportunity by me, but it wasn’t that important. Rowan looked doubtful, but he didn’t pry. So I climbed up on the rock next to him, put my arm around his waist and my head on his shoulder, and watched the rest of the sunset with my boyfriend and friends, all while trying my best to forget the decision I needed to make later.
It was pretty late when we finally packed up our things to leave. As we were getting into Rowan’s car, Juniper said, “I can’t believe it’s already Tuesday, and the Bloom’s in four days. Do we need another meeting before Friday?”
“I don’t think so,” Rowan said. “I don’t anticipate a problem—now that the frame is welded.”
“Thanks for getting your dad to help us,” I said to Leanne.
Leanne smiled. “No need to thank me. You guys are in great shape. Honestly, you’re way more prepared than we were last year. You three”—she looked at me, Rowan, and Juniper—“are a powerhouse. I’m only sorry I won’t get to be there with you.”
She glanced briefly at Gia, who of course had her face in her phone, and rolled her eyes.
I knew what Leanne was thinking. When we’d agreed to this, Gia had seemed so committed to the Bloom. She’d wanted to meet Christopher Chan as much as I did. That was before she met Cameron, but that shouldn’t have mattered, should it? All this hard work that Rowan, June, and I were doing was going to benefit Gia, too, if we won.
It wasn’t the first time Gia had flaked like this. I loved Gia and her enthusiasm and her cheering me on, but she wasn’t the most reliable person. I had always known this about my friend, and it had never bothered me before. Now, it was annoying.
But who was I to get mad at Gia for half-assing her contribution to the Bloom? I was right now thinking of dropping out altogether. And I’d be taking Gia with me if I left. Talk about flaking.
We said goodbye to Leanne, and Gia had Rowan drop her off at Cameron’s on the way home (no surprise there). Once the three of us were alone in the car, Rowan asked, “So, June, that was okay?”
“Yeah, it was fine, why?”
His gaze was on the road in front of him. “Nothing. Just...I want you to be happy. I know things will be tough in September. Let me know anything I can do for you.” He was such a good brother. He was such a great person.
He was so different from Matteo. Rowan did respect my success, just like Matteo did, but he didn’t sit around wondering how he could leveragemysuccess for his benefit, like Matteo did. Like Matteo was still trying to do. Obviously, he only wanted me to do this Dasha Payne thing to advancehisplatform, not mine. Matteo wanted those millions of followers looking athim.
But even though I knew I was being used, I was still sort of grateful that Matteo’s legwork this summer had opened up this opportunity for me. I’d spent the summer flower arranging and getting lost in Rowan’s eyes. I’d been neglecting my social media platform.
I googled “Dasha Payne” on my phone from the back seat of Rowan’s car. She’d been a successful Instagram model and urban lifestyleinfluencer for a while, but she’d really catapulted into internet fame in the last six months or so. She got a ridiculous number of hits on her blog posts, her sponsorships were numerous and valuable, and her famous friends were influential.
I’d be nuts to turn this down. Could I do both the Bloom and this? The competition was on Saturday morning—I could rush to Toronto right after it to make it for the profile. But then I’d miss the Friday photo shoot. The profile was supposed to be for people in the photo shoot. I didn’t see how it was possible to do both.
Juniper went straight into their house when we got home, but Rowan lingered on the driveway. “Did you want to hang out a bit?” he asked. He could obviously tell there was something on my mind, but I wasn’t ready to tell him about it yet.
It was late, and the sky was pure black. Clouds had moved in, so the millions of stars weren’t even visible. The empty black sky was as disconcerting as the millions of stars.
