“I knew you didn’t really want to come to the party, so I didn’t want you to show up and then find Jackson off in a corner with Lexie. But then you never came, so yeah, I guess he and I ended up hanging out most of the night. But it was only so Lexie wouldn’t. All we did was play Guitar Hero. That’s it. Nothing happened between us.”
“But what about all the things people were saying?”
“People are idiots,” Holly replied. “What’s worse is that my friends thought I’d do something like that. Even Ivana and the girls believed what they heard. It didn’t matter that they were there and saw for themselves that nothing happened. Em, nothing happened. I would never do that to you.”
“I know that,” Emma said quietly. “I really, really do. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain. And I’m sorry for not coming to the party and for not even letting you know that I wasn’t. It was totally rude of me. I wanted to come—I really did—but it turned out to be a crazy weekend. My parents found out that my grades, well, stink, and they grounded me. And you know my mom. She’s like the homework police. Going to a party was not happening.”
“You were grounded? That’s it?” Holly sounded relieved, almost happy. “Why didn’t you just tell me? I thought you didn’t come because you didn’t like me anymore.”
“You made such a big deal about me coming to the party, so it was hard to…” Emma wasn’t sure how to finish. She didn’t want to upset Holly again.
“I guess I just missed us,” Holly admitted.
“Me, too,” Emma agreed. “Look, I’m sorry about Ivana and the girls getting mad at you, especially because you were looking out for me.”
“No, you’re not,” Holly said with a half smile.
Emma laughed. Holly was right. She wasn’t all that sorry about that part.
“But no worries. I spoke to Ivana, and she spoke to Lexie, so we’re all cool again,” Holly said.
“Oh, um, good,” Emma said.
Holly unwrapped a fresh piece of sour green-apple gum and popped it in her mouth. “You know, it used to be so great when it was just you and me. But I really like Ivana and the other girls, too. But I’m not totally clueless, and I know you don’t like them.”
“Maybe we just have to figure out how to be friends, I don’t know, differently than we did before,” Emma suggested.
Holly nodded. “Definitely, because I really hate the other option, don’t you?”
“Totally,” Emma agreed. She couldn’t imagine her life without Holly. Holly knew all of Emma’s secrets—well, almost all of them.
Emma started to wonder if she should tell Holly about Allegra Biscotti and everything that was happening with Madison magazine. Maybe sharing what was really going on for her would help them feel closer again. They had always shared their hopes and dreams.
But something stopped her. Even if I asked Holly not to tell anyone, what would happen if she let something slip to Ivana and the ’Bees, like she did about the sketches of Jackson that day at Bloomingdale’s? Did sharing something important and personal with Holly automatically mean that it would get passed along to Ivana? Emma wasn’t sure of the answer.
“Whew!” Holly said. “I’m glad that’s over. I’ve had a stomachache the whole week!”
“Me, too!” Emma laughed. Together they examined the bubble gum T-shirt. Emma told Holly all about the cool band tees she’d made, and Holly filled her in on some of the more creative costumes at the party. The halls were almost empty. Emma knew her father would be expecting her at Laceland, but it felt so good to be hanging out with Holly again that she just couldn’t leave.
“Hi, Holls. Hi, Emma,” cooed a girl’s voice.
Emma and Holly lifted their heads to see Lexie walking slowly yet confidently down the hall, hand in hand with Jackson.
“Hey Lex, hey Jackson,” Holly said as they passed by.
Emma just gaped. Holly turned toward her. “I’m sorry, Em. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“No biggie. He’s probably a jerk anyway,” Emma said when she found her voice again. But they both knew she still thought Jackson was the furthest thing from a jerk. She couldn’t help but be shocked that Jackson went for Lexie. Even though she barely knew him, she had a hard time imagining that Lexie was his type.
“Look, I got to go to work. It’s part of the grounding deal.”
“Okay.” Holly looked uncomfortable. “Ivana is supposed to come over later to study. Any chance you want to come, too?”
“Not at all,” Emma said with a smile.
“That’s what I figured,” Holly said, also smiling. “I’ll call you tonight.”
The girls quickly hugged, then went in their separate directions.
By Friday, Emma still hadn’t heard a peep from Paige. Nothing. Silence.
She had spent the week studying and obsessing. She was getting really good at both. She took the Western civilization exam that afternoon. She didn’t do perfectly, but she thought she might have done well enough to make it into the class.
She arrived at Laceland a bit later than usual that afternoon. The office was silent.
“Where is everybody?” Emma asked Marjorie as she slid out of her puffy, gold down vest.
Marjorie rolled her lips to evenly distribute the frosted pink lipstick she had just applied and then inspected herself in her hand mirror. “Your dad is at an after-school conference for William, and Isaac’s out making deliveries. The phones have been quiet today, too. No important calls, if you know what I mean. How about you?”
Emma frowned. “Nope, not a single one.”
“I wouldn’t take it to mean anything, honey. People like Paige Young have a limited attention span. They can only focus on the most urgent things in front of them. I’m sure she’ll be in touch soon—probably when she needs something.” Marjorie stood up to put on her black felt coat. “I’ll be back in half an hour.”
Emma settled herself in Marjorie’s chair. She opened up her bag to see what schoolwork she could get a jump on, so she wouldn’t have to spend the entire weekend studying. She and Holly had made plans for Holly to come over and watch a movie on Saturday afternoon— just the two of them—and Emma didn’t want there to be any chance that she’d have to cancel. But as she considered her options, she realized that her brain was tired from studying and taking the test. Maybe I’ll just color in some of my sketches from this week’s rounds of the Game, Emma decided.
She pulled out her sketchbook and then leaned over to dig deeper in her bag to find her pencils, which were all stuck at the bottom. She heard the sound of the front door opening.
Emma lifted her head and almost fell off the chair.
Standing right in front of her, immaculately dressed in a gray wool slim skirt and a deep-purple boat-neck blouse with kimono sleeves, and with her hands on her hips and an unmistakable glare directed at Emma, was Paige Young.
“How was school today, Allegra?” Paige asked.
Chapter 16
No Longer In The Margins
Emma was too shocked by Paige Young standing in front of her—calling her “Allegra”—to breathe, much less say a single word.
“The look on your face,” Paige said coolly, “is pretty much all the proof I need to know that I’m one thousand percent right.”
“I…uh…” Emma faltered.
“Wow. Wow, I can not believe it,” Paige said, more to herself than to Emma. “Usually I l-o-v-e being right—it’s one of my favorite things—but until a few seconds ago, I was still hoping that perhaps I was wrong about this one. It would’ve been a whole lot easier if I had been wrong—for the both of us,” Paige said, looking right at Emma.
“How did you find out?” Emma asked quietly.