Beauty (33 page)

That was weird. Where was my family? I crept down the stairs, checking over my shoulder every few minutes. But by the time I reached the kitchen, there was no doubt about it: I was the only one home. There was a note from my mom on the kitchen table.

Molly,

We took Seth to visit Grandma. Didn’t want to wake you.We’ll be back before your big dance tonight!

Love you,

Mom

I slumped down into one of the kitchen chairs. I knew I should be happy I didn’t have to hide my face all day, but suddenly all I felt was very, very alone. I missed my parents. I missed Kemper. I missed my old life. I glanced at the clock hanging above the refrigerator. I had a whole day before I could go beg Dharma for it back. Groaning, I leaned back in my chair, letting my head dangle over the edge. What was I going to do by myself for an entire day?

Out of the corner of my eye, something caught my attention. Something blue and white and feathery, sticking out from under the kitchen counter. I bolted upright. The Cinderella mask! I’d never been able to find it after I wore it that night. “Spaghetti!” I called out as I went over to the counter to unwedge it. “Did you bury my mask?” Spaghetti padded into the room, his tail wagging as he looked up at me with his big brown eyes. “Of course you did.” I laughed. Spaghetti was always dragging our stuff from one room to the next. It drove my mom crazy.

Laying the mask on the kitchen counter, I smoothed my hands over it, trying to work out the wrinkles. It really was beautiful. The feathers were silky, and midnight blue and silver sequins had been sewn in an elaborate design across them. I couldn’t believe Judith had made this. It reminded me a little of the shirt she’d made for me, and I cringed as I remembered how I’d balled it up so carelessly in my backpack. How could I have done that? Who was that girl who had called it homemade and scorned it behind Judith’s back? Not me. Or, at least not the me I wanted to be. Suddenly I had an idea. I had this face for one more day. Just enough time to undo some of the things I’d done. I raced upstairs, grabbing my backpack to get Judith’s shirt. But when I pulled it out, something else came with it. The yellow ribbon, from Dharma’s bike.

I felt a gasp escape my lips. How had that gotten there? Hadn’t I thrown it out at the Cahills’? I felt the ribbon slip out of my grip, catching the light through my bedroom window as it fluttered to the ground. Maybe I’d just imagined throwing it out. Or maybe Mrs. Cahill had found it and put it back in my backpack. Or maybe …
maybe
what I’d known all along, deep down, was true. Buried somewhere in all of this was true magic. Carefully I picked the ribbon up and slipped it into my desk drawer. I’d keep it, I decided. So I never forgot what happened these past two weeks.

I spent the next few minutes carefully ironing Judith’s shirt, making sure every single wrinkle was steamed out. When it was ready, I changed into it, smiling at how it fell just so against my body. It was a perfect fit. Judith really knew what she was doing. Going out to my bike, I hopped on, hoping desperately that I did too.

Fifteen minutes later, I arrived at the mall. I felt energized, ready, and as I paused in front of a window next to Haute, I smiled happily at my reflection. My hair was windblown, my cheeks were pink from the exertion of the bike ride, and my eyes were glowing with a newfound purpose. I looked casual, yet beautiful, and Judith’s shirt couldn’t have suited me more. Squaring my shoulders, I stalked into Haute, throwing every ounce of confidence I had left into my walk.

Renee was behind the counter, ringing someone up. “Molly!” she exclaimed when she saw me. “I’ve been hoping you’d come back. I have a whole bag of stuff saved for you over here.” She finished with the customer and came out to give me a hug. “Just give me one second and I can dig that bag out for you… .”

“No,” I said quickly. “That’s okay. I didn’t come for clothes today.”

Renee gave me a curious look. “Then what’s up?”

Holding my arms in the air, I did a little spin. “
This
,” I said, gesturing to my shirt. “Don’t you love it?” Renee nodded eagerly, reaching out to finger the shirt’s silky material. “It’s Judith Endow, the newest designer in town, and I just had to come find out if you guys were stocking her yet.”

“Judith Endow?” Renee asked, wrinkling her brow. She circled around me, examining the shirt.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of her,” I gaped.

Renee paused, clearly deciding how to respond. Finally, she flashed me an oversized smile. “Of
course
I’ve heard of her, Molly. It’s my
job
to hear about the hottest new designers.”

“Oh, good! So you’re already stocking her?” I bit my lip, trying to keep from laughing.

“Well … no. Not yet. But we’re planning on it, for sure.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” I smiled. “Here, I have an idea.” I grabbed a shirt off a nearby rack and went back into the dressing room, changing into it. “You keep this,” I told Renee, tossing her Judith’s shirt. “The tag has Judith’s name and phone number on it. I mean, I’m sure you have her contact info already”—I smirked—“but could be good to have a prototype, right?”

“Right,” Renee said quickly. “Definitely.” She laid Judith’s shirt carefully out on the counter. “I’d been planning to call her today anyway. I want to get some of her inventory in ASAP.”

“Great,” I smiled. “I’ll come in to see it soon.”
You just probably won’t recognize me when I do
, I added silently.

I was on a high when I left Haute. It felt so good to use my beauty for someone else for once. Knowing these could be my last few hours with it, all I wanted was to do more. I thought about this past week, about all the other people I’d been nasty to. An image of Anthony Herman’s defeated face flashed through my mind. Suddenly, an idea began to spurt up in my head, faster than a weed. Picking up my pace, I started toward the other end of the mall—and Notes For All.

Notes For All was the music store at the mall. My dad had taken me there during my short-lived flute phase, which had ended after I blanked during a concert and completely fumbled my solo. But I still remembered the guy who ran the store. He was young and scrawny and, if I recalled, unbelievably nervous around girls. Nervous enough, I was hoping, that he wouldn’t be able to say no to my face.

As I headed across the mall, I pulled my phone out. There was another person I had to apologize to. I opened up a new text to Karen Baker. I had a feeling that, unlike most of our school, she wouldn’t be at the game.
I’m so sorry about last week, Kar. Total PMS! Sit w/ me @ lunch Mon?
Her reply came within seconds.
Sure! I KNEW it had 2 b PMS! Good luck w/ crowning 2day!
I dropped my phone back into my bag, feeling good. There was no need to tell her I hadn’t been crowned. The way our school worked, she’d find out soon enough.

I paused outside Notes For All, shaking out my hair.
Here goes nothing
, I thought. The door jangled as I stepped inside. The store was empty, quiet, the scrawny guy I remembered from my flute days up on a ladder stocking violin bows on a high shelf. “Hi,” I said, walking over to him. He looked down, his eyes widening when they landed on me. I gave him my most flirtatious smile. “Would you be able to help me”—I glanced at his name tag—“Matthew?”

“Um, yeah, sure, of course.” Matthew’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat as he climbed down from the ladder. “What can I do for you?”

“You see, I have this friend,” I began. “He loves to play the drums and desperately wants to buy one, but he just can’t afford it. I was hoping that you might know of some sales going on for drums? Or maybe some very long payment plans?” I fluttered my eyelashes at him, stepping a little closer, so my arm brushed against his. I’d never flirted this blatantly before, but I reminded myself that it was for a good cause. And besides, if tonight went like planned, guys might never melt into puddles at the sight of my face again. It was now or never.

“Well, we do have this friends and family plan,” Matthew said nervously. “It’s supposed to be only for friends and family, you know, but …” He trailed off and I stepped even closer, smiling up at him. “Y-you could be my friend,” he finished.

I beamed up at him excitedly. “That would be great! How does it work?”

“Well, you get sixty percent off your purchase, and then the rest is paid on a payment plan. Ten dollars a month, for however long it takes to pay it off.” I nodded thoughtfully. I knew Anthony had a job at the local pizza place in town. He should be able to handle ten dollars a month no problem.

“I’ll do it,” I said. I dug the three hundred dollars I hadn’t used on Hayley’s and my shopping spree out of my bag. “And I’ll start the payment with this.”

Matthew helped me pick out the perfect drum, and he even threw in drumsticks and some music books for free. He set up the delivery for the next day, and included a note about the payment plan with it. I tried to picture Anthony’s face when a real live brand-new drum showed up at his house. I smiled. There would be no more air drumming for him.

I was on my way out of the mall when my phone buzzed in my bag. I pulled it out.
Where r u
??? Hudson had texted.
U missed the game! And the crowning!

I sighed. I couldn’t ignore this one too.
Wasn’t feeling up 2 it
, I answered, carefully measuring out my words.
So sorry.
Did u win
??

I was just climbing onto my bike outside when my phone buzzed again. I pulled it out, expecting a reply from Hudson. But this text was from Kemper.

All right
, she’d written.
We can talk. Come over?

All Grown Up and Only One Place to Go

KEMPER WAS IN her room when I got to her house. She was sprawled out on her bed, leaning against a fuzzy orange pillow she’d had forever, a colorful quilt tucked around her legs.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey.” She kept her eyes on the sock she was knitting, her needles flying through the air.

“Can I sit?”

“Mm-hmm.” She nodded toward the foot of her bed, and I sat down hesitantly, wringing my hands in my lap. I hated feeling this nervous around my own best friend, like I had to measure each of my words.

“I hate this,” I blurted out.

Kemper glanced up. “Me too.” But she had this look on her face as she said it, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. She wasn’t the one who got us here.

“I’m an idiot,” I said. “I’m such an idiot.” She didn’t object, so I kept on talking. “You have to understand, Kemper. For so long I had hated who I was, and then suddenly, just like that, I was someone else. Someone so much better. And I got consumed by it. So consumed that I lost who I used to be. The real me. At first I thought, good riddance, you know? But then, when she was really gone, I realized just how much I missed her. That Molly might not get free clothes or gifts from guys or a seat at a window table in the Morgue, but she had something so much more important. She had you. And no amount of clothes or seats or even”—I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice from shaking—“Hudsons could ever replace that.”

Kemper was quiet for a minute. I could hear the soft
click-clack
of her knitting needles in the silence. “That was quite a speech,” she said finally. “Is that another new skill you’ve acquired, Molly? Sweet talking?”

“No,” I balked. “I mean it, Kemper. I want things to go back to the way they used to be. I miss you. What can I do to make you believe me? I’d do anything!”

Kemper cocked her eyebrows. “Anything?” Her eyes took on an excited gleam. “Interesting …”

“Oh God.” I slapped my hand to my forehead. “What did I just get myself into?”

Kemper grinned devilishly. “Fine. If you’ll do anything, then call Ashley and convince her that you’re Molly’s plastic surgeon, and that you think she could use a much better nose.”