Page 267 of Wicked Brutal

“Because I’m right?”

“Because you seem pleased about it.”

“I usually am.” She finds Becca a different neckline that somehow changes the whole dress. Then she looks at the black one Penny loved earlier. “No.”

Penny’s head snaps around. “What?”

“The fabric looks cheap.”

“It costs four thousand dollars.”

“I didn’t say it is cheap. I said it looks cheap.”

Penny stares at her. “I could kill you in this room.”

Bella smiles. “Not in that dress.”

Cat laughs. Penny looks betrayed. “You’re enjoying this.”

“Immensely.”

Eventually Bella turns toward me. “Your turn.”

She pulls a dress from the rack, and my smile slips. It’s fitted. Not obscenely. But enough. Cat sees it immediately, her eyes coming to mine. Becca notices next. Penny opens her mouth.

Bella doesn’t notice any of them. “This.”

I should say no. My bump isn’t big. But it isn’t nothing anymore — not without my blazer or sweater hiding it. Around the girls I don’t bother. But Bella doesn’t know. Still, the dress is beautiful. And I’ve spent enough of my life refusing things because of secrets.

“I’ll try it.”

The dressing-room door closes behind me. I change slowly. The dress slides over my body, and I turn sideways toward the mirror. There. My little bump.

My hand settles over it. “Hello, baby.”

I smile then drop my hand. Maybe Bella won’t notice.

I step out and Becca smiles immediately. “Oh, Ally.”

Cat looks me over. Penny considers the dress.

Bella frowns. “No.”

Penny throws her hands up. “You picked it.”

“I make mistakes.”

“You’ve spent an hour telling us you don’t.”

“I’ve decided to grow as a person.” Bella walks toward me. “The waist is sitting wrong.”

My heart stutters. She reaches for the fabric. Stops. Her eyes drop. My stomach turns to ice.

No.

Bella looks at my stomach. Then my arms. Back to my stomach. And every bit of color drains from her face. “Oh, fuck.”

I step backward. “No.”