Ed’s jaw dropped. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?” I asked innocently. “Come on, we’ve got to start drills.”
11
Beth
“Beth!”
I glanced up from the book I was reading as I heard Star call my name. I was home, settled in an overstuffed loveseat in what my mother liked to call the formal living room. This had sort of become known as my room, as it had no TV, no video games, no Alexa, nothing that generated any distractions from what I was working on.
Mary took to her bedroom, the twins preferred the great room off the kitchen along with my mother and Star was rarely at home these days, so this had become my solitary space where I could do homework or read. Or sometimes think about ways we could track down my father and make him give us some of the money back.
Currently, I hadn’t come up with a single idea for that problem.
“In here,” I called out.
Star came rushing into the room, her face flushed.
“Is it true? That there was some plot to hurt you?”
I laughed. It still seemed so absurd to me. Although I supposed it wasn’t given the position it had put Fitz in. If he’d gone ahead and hit Wick, really hurt him…he had no clue the trouble that would have rained down on his head.
Not the least of which would be from his parents.
It wasn’t lost on me that Fitz was always held to a higher standard. It wasn’t enough that he performed well athletically, academically and socially. He had to do all of that and be completely above reproach.
In a society where, despite his wealth and privilege, he was still a young black man.
Fitz was always swimming upstream. It made me wonder if sometimes he just got tired.
Star bumped my hip to move me over and sat next to me.
“Tell me,” she insisted.
“They didn’t want to hurt me. Just send a message. It was like you said. They petitioned Miss Havisham to toss me from the fashion show, but she refused. So they wanted to bully me into giving up.”
“And you said no, right?”
I laughed again.
“No, I immediately wanted to quit. As much as I love you, watching you showcase Vera Wang prom dresses is not my idea of a fun night. But Fitz wouldn’t have it. He threatened Wick and told him everyone better back off. Then he insisted I go through with it.”
“I was going to wear Badgley Mischka, but now I’m going to boycott in protest. I’ll get Chas to boycott, too. In fact, I’ll get the entire senior class to quit.”
“Calm down,” I said taking her hand and squeezing it. “You’re not boycotting. You’re going to wear your pretty dress down the runway proving, once again, you are the most beautiful girl in school and I’ll get to announce it with a smile.”
“Idowant to wear the pretty dress,” Star admitted. “I hate how shallow that makes me.”
“You’re not shallow. You’re honest. I’m sure it’s going to begorge.”
“What are you going to wear?”
Fitz and I had discussed this when I was at his house. I definitely did not want to wear the pretty dress.
A - I didn’t want to be compared to Star.
B - I didn’t want to be compared to Anne.
