How To Salsa in a Sari (18 page)

The Road to Success Is Always Under Construction

“Listen
up. This is important.”

Issa was rudely awakened on Saturday morning by a sun-drenched figure standing over her.

“Who?” Issa reached up to shield her eyes from the flood of sunshine in her room. She'd gotten to bed well past midnight last night after a serious calculus session intermingled with secret phone calls to Rake. “What are you doing in my room?”

“We need to study for that English test.” Cat was tapping her foot, holding a stack of books. “I'm sick of my room. I thought we could do it here.”

Issa had overlooked one thing in her quest to get off grounding. She would actually have to spend time with Cat.

“It's freaking early,” Issa mumbled, and burrowed deeper into the comforter.

“Look, I didn't pay attention the first three months of class. I have no idea what we covered. I know you got As that whole time and I need your help.”

Issa opened one eye. Cat was being honest and admitting she needed help.
Twilight Zone.
Was she dreaming?

Another shake and the warm down comforter being pulled off her assured her this was no dream.

“All right, all right. Give me, like, an hour. I need to get ready.”

Cat rolled her eyes. “Ten minutes. I'll put the coffee on.”

Twenty minutes later, Issa strolled into the kitchen hoping Cat had gotten bored and left. But no, she was sitting at the kitchen table, stack of books spread out, her half-pound Sony Vaio laptop in front of her, half-finished cup of coffee in her hand.

“Nice outfit. Your coffee's over there.”

Issa glanced down at her outfit. Was that a real compliment? It
was
a nice outfit. Cashmere fitted hoodie, denim mini and black furry platform boots.

“I have the same shoes,” Cat commented as Issa took a seat, coffee in hand. “So comfy, right?”

“Uh, so where do you want to start?” Issa didn't know what to make of Cat's new attitude toward her. She wasn't even going to try to figure it out so early in the morning.

“Well, here's the syllabus. And I brought all the books. Plus the Cliff's Notes. Why don't we go through and discuss each reading? I'll take notes and print us each a copy when we're done.”

Issa actually thought that was a pretty good plan. And was surprised Cat had come up with it. “Sure. Okay. Um, the first reading was—”

“Pride and Prejudice.”
Cat held up a copy of the book. “Let's make sure we know all the study-guide questions. Who was Pride and who was Prejudice?”

Issa started to give her standard answer of Elizabeth being prejudiced against Mr. Darcy's wealth, but Cat cut her off. “See, I think Mr. Darcy has too much pride and Lizzie—”

“Hold on.” Issa held up her hand. “I thought you hadn't done any of the readings.”

“Duh.” Cat rolled her eyes. “The book is freaking long. I saw the movie with Kiera Knightly and that hot English guy.”

Figured. The only thing Cat looked like she'd ever read was
Cosmo Girl.
But still, Issa was a tiny bit impressed Cat had an opinion on
Pride and Prejudice.

“What did you think of Mr. Bingley?” Issa asked.

“Total loser.” Cat giggled.

Issa almost laughed too. First time she'd heard anyone refer to a literary figure as a “total loser.”

Cat continued talking. “I mean, if he loved Jane, why the hell did he listen to that snooty sister anyway? I mean, if he's going to follow the crowd all the time…then…”

Cat stopped talking and looked away. Issa could feel the tips of her ears flaming. Both she and Cat were guilty of following the crowd and Cat seemed aware of it.

“Yeah, good thing everything worked out in the end, right?” asked Issa softly, touching the worn cover of the book in front of her.

“Definitely. I think things usually work out in the end. Maybe not like the main characters wanted, but definitely for the best.”

Issa swallowed. Everything worked out in stories, true.

“You know,” Cat said after a brief silence, “I'm pretty glad neither you nor I are doing the whole Snow Queen thing. It's not really that great. You win one of these, and then people expect you to win all of them.”

Issa smiled weakly. “Right, it's pretty silly. I don't know what I was thinking.”

Cat was going to be doomed as a social outcast once Issa won the Snow Queen crown. The Belles would make sure of that.

Issa took another sip of coffee to squash the queasy feeling in her stomach. “Okay, let's get back to this. What was the next book?”

Cat passed her a copy of
To The Lighthouse.

 

The morning of the English final rolled around too soon. Issa watched Ishaan as he came in and took a seat. He seemed to have chosen the farthest possible desk from her. Neither he nor Gigi had called her even once to apologize. She took a swig of her coconut latte. This was not the time to get thinking about them.

“God, I am so friggin' tired.” Cat arrived and set down her venti mocha on the edge of her desk. “Damn, don't tell
Papi
I used the Lord's name in vain.”

Issa laughed. Cat could be really funny when she tried. “I think we're ready.”

Issa and Cat had studied nonstop for the exam for the past week. Cat had gotten a major case of the nerves the previous night and Issa had assured her everything would work out fine.

Alisha had been eavesdropping on them and pretending not to. Issa had laid it on really thick.

“You're going to do so well. And we're going to New York City to get these amazing gowns!”

Cat had smiled weakly. “I'm going to hurl.”

This morning she wasn't nearly as green, but still looked nervous. “I'll be so glad when this is over.”

“Make that two,” Issa muttered, but she didn't completely mean it. She hadn't understood what had been happening over the past few days. She and Cat had been perfectly civil to each other, skillfully avoiding controversial topics. Cat hadn't brought up Adam even once and Issa made it a point to not mention the Snow Ball. It was almost as if she and Cat were…friends?

Not possible. Cat would go back to hating her in a few hours.

“Good luck,” Issa couldn't help but whisper to Cat as Professor Kidlinger started passing out the exams.

“You too.”

As Ishaan turned to pass the stack of exams to the person behind him, he locked eyes with Issa. He looked confused when he saw her talking to Cat.

Issa looked away. No distractions. Her Prada gown and Snow Queen crown were calling her.

 

“I don't believe it. I still don't believe it!” Cat's excitement was practically spilling out of her as she, Alisha and Issa perused Bergdorf Goodman on Friday.

“Both of you. Perfect scores. I don't know how you did it. Except for massive cheating, huh?”

Issa shook her head. In her wildest dreams, she hadn't imagined
both
she and Cat would ace that final. Professor Kidlinger had personally come up and congratulated her and told her how proud she was. Then she'd done the same with Cat, but Issa had felt no jealousy. Cat had deserved it. She had organized all the study sessions and she had gone without sleep for four days for that prize.

“I'm so proud of my girls.” Alisha was smiling as she held up a red velvet Guenivere-esque dress.

Issa's smiled faded.
Her girls?

“I like that!” Cat pointed at Alisha's gown. “Are you going to wear something like that for the wedding?”

“You know, I hadn't thought about it.”

“Oh my God, we totally have to go to the Vera Wang store. She makes the
best
wedding dresses. Right, Issa?”

Issa's mood continued to darken. Vera Wang? Wedding? Not if she had anything to say about it.

“Sure,” she answered shortly, and gestured toward another rack. “I'm going to look at the Pradas.”

Alisha and Cat barely seemed to hear her as they continued to chatter about the wedding. Issa, feeling left out and sad, barely registered the pile of dresses she collected in her arms.

Half an hour later, she had tried on every Prada gown. She didn't like a single one. This day was not turning out like she'd expected. She'd imagined an exciting trip to the city like she and Alisha used to make. Laughing and giggling. Having fabulous desserts for lunch. Buying cute shoes from independent boutiques.

Instead Alisha and Cat had been practically joined at the hip. Like mother and daughter. They seemed to like the same clothes and kept finding things they had in common. Like they both thought
Gigi
was the best movie ever. Issa had argued that if there was a best movie ever, it was once and for all
Legends of the Fall.
They had both laughed and said Brad Pitt was no match for Maurice Chevalier.

Issa sighed and ventured out of the dressing room. This shopping trip was looking to be a bust. She hadn't found anything close to the dress she'd been looking for. Everything she'd picked up was drab, boring and ugh.

Cat poked her head out of the dressing room. “What do you think of this? It's Ellie Tahari.”

She stepped out and twirled.

Issa gasped. It was the dress from her visions. The emerald-green satin gown with shirred off-the-shoulder straps. Cat's creamy skin practically seemed to glow against the dress.

“It's gorgeous!” Alisha said from behind Issa. “It's perfect. Doesn't she look amazing?”

Issa had to admit Cat did look great. Her tiny, size-2 body held the Tahari dress perfectly. But it wasn't a dress for Cat. It was a dress for Issa. It was a dress for a Snow Queen.

“Yeah, it's pretty perfect,” Issa muttered. She was ready to leave. This trip should have been made with the Belles, not Alisha and Cat. But it was too late now. Cat had her dream dress and Issa knew she wouldn't find anything better. Maybe she would find something else in New Joliet.

Cat caught Issa's eye in the mirror as Issa gazed jealously at the dress. “Actually, I don't think it's my size. Iz, why don't you try it on? I have a feeling this will look amazing against your skin.”

“But—” Before Issa could protest further, Cat had ducked back into the dressing room. Within seconds the dress was in Issa's arms.

Issa hesitated for a second. Did she really want Cat's pity or sympathy or whatever it was? Curiosity got the best of her. She slipped into the dressing room and slid into the dress.

The shimmery green material floated around her in a haze. She'd undergone a transformation. Her skin glowed, her hair fell just right over her shoulders, the mermaid hem of the gown highlighted her curvy figure perfectly.

The gown had made her into a star.

She shyly opened the dressing room door. “I think it's too tight.”

Cat's and Alisha's expressions assured her it wasn't true.

“That's it. That's the dress for you.” Cat pointed at her. “You're getting it. My dad would insist.”

“But—”

“Say thanks to Cat,” Alisha prodded.

“I—but, you sure?”

Issa was afraid of the game Cat was playing. Why was she being so nice?

“Of course!” Cat smiled in response. “I saw this great white one that I think would work for me. Iz, do you want to see it?”

Issa felt like she was suffocating in her guilt. Why, oh, why was Cat being like this? Why was she treating Issa like family now? It had to be just an act to get on Alisha's good side. There was no other explanation. “Sure, let me get out of this.”

Issa felt guilty tears trying to squeeze themselves out of her eyes and she hung the dress back on the silk-covered hanger.

“Figures, huh?” Cat twirled in an ivory gown with a tulle skirt. “Look at us. Two major babes in totally hot dresses. And neither of us is going to be the Snow Queen. It'll go to that Jenni chick who's never worn a dress in her life.”

Issa looked anywhere but at Cat. “Right, neither of us. Major babes. What a shame,” she mumbled.

“Maybe next year.” Alisha smiled and lay a hand on Issa's shoulder.

Issa smiled weakly at her.

“I am so proud of you,” Alisha whispered, and kissed Issa on the side of the head. “Now that you babes have your dresses…gelato time!”

Just one more day. One more day and all this would be over.

Suddenly she found herself wishing the Snow Ball would never happen. A lot of people were going to be hurt: Cat, Diego and most of all Alisha. And it would be all her fault.