Ruby Reinvented Page 16

  The audience is still standing and clapping when Mr. Zabar hands the microphone to me. The lights dim a little bit, and the crowd gets quiet.

  I squeeze the microphone tightly, leaving sweaty handprints all over it. I take a deep breath, and when I blow it out, I realize I’ve blown right into the microphone. I hear some giggles from the audience and come this close to throwing the mic back to Mr. Zabar and bolting off this stage.

  But then I remember why I’m here. “Thank you so much. I, uhhh, I hope you like the dresses.”

  Thunderous applause.

  I loosen my grip on the microphone a little bit. “All of these original designs are on sale tonight. We’re having an auction to raise money for a very special project, the Jack and Diane Sullivan Memorial Observation Deck. The observation deck will be designed by Connor Sullivan, and it’s going to be built off of the science room, right here on Midcoast’s campus. All proceeds from tonight will go directly to this special project.”

  More applause.

  “It’s super easy to bid on the dresses. Just go to Designs by Bea dot com on your phones, and follow the instructions. The bidding will go on for the next twenty minutes. Thank you for your support.”

  I can’t think of anything else to say, so I give the microphone back to Mr. Zabar. “Thank you, Bea! Beautiful designs for a beautiful cause. Let’s take another look at them, shall we?” He then describes each dress as the model wearing it walks up and down the stage one more time. I glance over at Holly’s friend Tess, who’s monitoring the website just offstage. She gives me a thumbs-up, then waves me over.

  “People are bidding.” She scrolls through the designs on her laptop, seeing how much they’re going for and who is bidding on what.

  The music is still on, and the models are still strutting across the stage, Mr. Zabar enthusiastically highlighting the details of each dress yet again.

  “Six minutes left,” Tess says.

  I stand behind her and look over her shoulder. “How much have we made so far?”

  “A lot.” She scrolls down and shows me the total amount bid so far.

  “That is a lot.” I feel hot tears stinging my eyes. “But it isn’t enough.”

  I wonder if I should put Mom’s dress on. It would probably give us an extra boost, but then I realize that I’m way too small to fit into it. As I scan the models to see who might be the same size as Mom, there’s a tap on my shoulder.

  “Bea, there’s someone here to see you,” Mrs. Kearney says.

  Maybe it’s Connor. Maybe he’s forgiven me and he wants to support the fashion show and he’s come to thank me for raising money for the observation deck. My stomach does a little jump as I picture him standing backstage.

  I run one hand over my hair to smooth out the flyaways and smile at Mrs. Kearney. She steps aside and motions for me to follow her to the dressing room.

  It’s not Connor.

  It’s Ellie.

  And next to Ellie are my parents.

  Chapter

  34

  WE GOT HERE as fast as we could,” Mom says.

  I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out.

  Dad wraps me in a hug, and I breathe in his leather jacket. Every muscle in my body instantly relaxes. I feel like I’m five years old again, crawling into bed with my parents when I had a bad dream.

  “So how can we help?” Mom asks.

  As much as I’d like to, I can’t stay in this moment forever. I pull myself away from Dad and grab Mom’s dress off the hanger.

  “Would you wear this?”

  I gently hand her the dress. Mom holds it out in front of her and tears pour out of her eyes.

  Dad’s holding her hand, not saying a word, and when I look closer, I see that he’s tearing up too.

  “Why are you guys crying?” Now I’m crying again. Crying is like yawning. Once someone else does it, I have to also.

  Mom’s shaking her head, dabbing a tissue to her eyes.

  “Are you upset with me?” I ask.

  “No, of course not.” Mom’s laughing and crying at the same time. “Why would you think that?”

  “Uhhhh, because I told everyone you were dead?”

  Now Dad’s half laughing, half crying.

  “Bea.” Dad kneels down next to me. “You’re such a great kid, and you’re turning into a wonderful young woman. Despite us, I think.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Mom’s back on the stool next to me. “What Dad’s trying to say . . .” Mom swallows. “We haven’t been the best parents, hon. And we’re really sorry.”

  Oh boy. Now she’s sobbing. And it’s all my fault.

  “No! Mom, Dad, that’s not what I think—”

  “We know you don’t, Bea.” Dad takes my hand. “And that’s what makes you so special. You never once thought that maybe we were the problem. But we were. We are.”

  “No, you’re great parents.” I squeeze Dad’s hand.

  “We love you very much.” Dad squeezes back. “But we could do better.”

  “We could be involved more,” Mom adds. “We will be involved more.” She and Dad are having one of their psychic conversations, and he’s nodding as she talks.

  “I’m really sorry. About the dresses. I just never knew—” Mom stifles a sob. “I just never knew that you had this amazing talent. I guess I was too wrapped up in my own stuff.”

  “We both were,” Dad says.

  “Well, you guys have important jobs.”

  “Listen to me.” Mom’s dark eyes look directly at me. “Nothing is more important than being your parents.”

  There’s a knock on the dressing room door, and Tess peeks her head in. She does a double take when she sees my parents, but then her eyes fall back on me.

  “Three minutes thirty-five seconds,” Tess says.

  “Go.” Mom unzips her jacket. “We’ll meet you backstage.”

  I throw off my shoes and hold them in my hands (only Mom can run in heels), bolt out of the dressing room, and slide down the hall in my stockings. I arrive at Tess’s side just as the music’s ending, then I slip back into my shoes, floof my hair, and, as gracefully as possible, walk onstage toward Mr. Zabar.

  Mr. Zabar’s obviously a professional, because he looks at me as if I was supposed to be there. “Ladies and gentlemen, Bea Miller!”

  The crowd cheers again, and if I wasn’t so distracted, I probably would have turned as red as the runway.

  I take the microphone from Mr. Zabar, and the crowd quiets down.

  “Thank you.” I’m holding the microphone too close to my mouth, and the feedback makes my ears vibrate. I bring the microphone down to chest level and try again. “Thank you. It’s so nice of you all to come and bid on these dresses. As you know, we’re raising money for an amazing observation deck to be built right here on campus. This is an important project to me, and to my friends.” I motion to the models who are lined up next to me.

  “Another thing that’s important to me is my family. Sometimes I forget that because—well—because my family isn’t like most families. And that’s why it’s not always easy to talk about it. . . .” I stop and look at the audience. Now that the house lights are on, I can see the entire auditorium. Summer’s parents are seated a few rows back, and I almost drop the microphone when I see Connor sitting next to them.

  “I know now that families aren’t all the same. Some families aren’t even families at all. They’re really good friends who become your family, who take care of you like family. And that counts too.” I stare right at Connor, but he doesn’t look at me at all. His program is open in his lap, and he’s leafing through it.

  “On this special day, I’d like to introduce you to my family.” Whispering fills the auditorium, and almost everyone starts looking around. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my dad—Zack Miller.”

  Dad enters from stage left, at which point the entire room bursts out in applause and whoops and cheers. I can barely hear what he says when he
comes up and hugs me.

  I peek around him to where Mom is waiting backstage. She’s wearing her dress, and my jaw becomes unhinged from the rest of my face when I see her because I’ve never seen her look so amazing. This is what happens when fashion wears a person, instead of a person wearing fashion.

  I whisper to Dad and give him the card that I made up about the dress—just in case. Then I hand him the microphone.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he begins. “Our feature design is worn by my wife, the one and only Celestine Cruz!”

  Mom struts down the runway, smiling and waving to the crowd. The audience is on its feet, stamping and clapping and screaming loud enough to drown out the music. I glance at my models, who are looking somewhat shell-shocked. I guess I’ll have some explaining to do.

  As soon as Dad starts talking, you could hear a pin drop. “This vintage-inspired, sleeveless, lace overlay has a gorgeous silver grosgrain ribbon at the waist. Sequins line the fitted bodice for the look that will make you shine brighter than the brightest star.”

  Dad continues to read from the card, and Mom walks back and forth on the runway, spinning and twirling and giving the crowd quite a show. Cell phones are out and flashing, capturing the star power of Mom and Dad. After Dad reads all the words on the card, I whisper in his ear, and he nods.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, bidding on this divine creation will last for ten minutes. So get those phones ready. The highest bidder will not only receive this spectacular dress worn by Celestine Cruz, but you’ll be giving the kids here at Midcoast a gift that will serve them for years to come.”

  The Zack Miller smile lights up the stage. “And as an extra bonus, Celestine and I would be honored to treat the winning bidder to dinner. Restaurant of your choice!”

  I look at Dad and cock my head. That wasn’t in the script. He winks.

  Tess gives me the thumbs-up from backstage, and I nod to Dad.

  “Okay, folks. Bidding is open!”

  The glow from cell phones lights up the room. The music starts up again, and Mom continues with the runway walk, this time escorted by Dad. As they walk past the other models, Mom and Dad give each of them hugs.

  I sneak backstage to find Tess frantically typing on the laptop.

  “Good gravy,” she says. “We’re racking in a ton of cash here. It’s gone crazy!”

  I look over her shoulder. “How much time left?”

  “Three minutes four seconds.”

  I stand there staring at the screen. It’s moving so fast that I can’t even see what the bids are.

  “You’re not going to believe this.” Tess scrolls through open tabs on the laptop. “We’re getting bids from outside of school.”

  “What?” I squint at the computer. “What does that mean?”

  Tess smiles. “It means the auction’s gone viral.”

  More numbers scroll in, and Tess never takes her eyes off the screen.

  “How much time do we have?” I bite my fingernails.

  “Less than one minute. The bids are still pouring in. And not just for that one dress. The bids are going higher for all the dresses.”

  I peek out of the curtain and hold both hands up. Somehow Dad knows what I mean. Maybe my parents’ psychic conversations are rubbing off on me.

  “Ten seconds left to bid!” Dad yells into the microphone.

  “Whoa,” Tess says.

  “What?” I hover over her.

  “That’s it!” She sits back and takes a deep breath. “Here’s the winning bid. And it came from someone here at Midcoast.”

  She shows me the number on the screen, and I stumble backward. It’s a big number.

  I practically skip to the stage and take the microphone from Dad.

  “The winning bidder is Denise Sholl.” A lady from the audience stands up and shrieks.

  “Come on up here, Denise.” Dad holds his arms out for a hug. I’ll bet Denise never ran so fast in her life.

  “Congratulations to Denise,” I say into the microphone. “And thank you, all of you. Because of you, Midcoast Academy will be lucky enough to be home to the Jack and Diane Sullivan Memorial Observation Deck.”

  The crowd is on its feet again. I scan the heads of the audience, eager to see Connor’s reaction. I find Veronica and Eric, but the chair next to them is empty.

  Connor is gone.

  Chapter

  35

  ALL THE MODELS gather backstage after the fashion show.

  I introduce my parents to my friends, who are freaking out a little. I think Katie might puke again. She pulls me aside.

  “Why didn’t you tell us? I thought you didn’t have parents!”

  “I’m really sorry.” I purse my lips, trying to figure out how to explain. “It’s just that kids at my old school only pretended to like me because of my parents, and I was afraid it would happen again.”

  Katie doesn’t say anything for a minute, but her eyebrows are pinched, so I can tell she’s thinking.

  “I guess I understand that,” she finally says.

  “Thanks.” I smile.

  “Eeek! Your dad is so cute.” She’s bouncing up and down, takes one look at me, and then stops, folding her hands in front of her.

  “It’s okay, Katie. You’re allowed to be psyched to meet them.”

  “Oh good, because I totally am.” Then she lets out a squeal and joins the other girls.

  After apologizing to the other models for the big surprise and giving the same explanation I gave to Katie, I leave them to change out of their dresses. I walk Mom, Dad, and Ellie to the lobby. They’ve been traveling for the past twelve hours, and they’re exhausted. I know they want to go to their hotel and collapse.

  “Thank you for doing this,” I say as I hug Mom. “I’m sorry you had to cancel your taping. I know a lot of people were counting on you.”

  Mom touches my nose. “You were counting on me.”

  After Dad gives me a huge bear hug, Ellie takes my hand.

  “You should be proud, bubela.”

  “Thank you, Ellie.” And I don’t just mean for the nice compliment. I hug her as tight as I can, and they walk outside toward their waiting limo.

  “See you tomorrow!” I yell, and I don’t even care who sees me waving to a limousine.

  I collect my friends back at the dressing room, and we make our way to the cafeteria to grab a snack.

  Within seconds of walking through the doors, I’m being swarmed. Kids I don’t know are pushing and shoving to talk to me.

  “I can’t believe your dad is Zack Miller,” Timmy gushes.

  “Yeah, I thought your parents were dead or something,” Shane says.

  Before I can answer, Holly and a bunch of her friends have become my Midcoast bodyguards.

  “Give her some space,” Holly yells. “Sheesh.”

  “Yeah, let the poor girl get some food,” Tess chimes in.

  Holly winks at me, and she and Tess shoo most of the kids away, whispering as they go.

  “Thanks for that,” I say.

  “Of course. I don’t know why people are making such a big deal.”

  And this is why I love Summer and her family.

  “Have you seen Connor?” Summer asks Holly.

  “No, but that was really nice what you guys did for him.”

  I hope he thinks so.

  After things calm down a bit, Summer and I join the end of the food line. Kids are definitely looking at me differently. In fact, they’re definitely looking at me, period. Which isn’t something they did much of before today.

  Just as we’re close enough to place our order, I feel a tap on my shoulder.

  “Hi, Bea.” It’s Cassandra, with a huge grin on her face. She’s got one hand on her hip and the other hand is holding a gold Coach clutch, which is a fabulous bag, but it completely clashes with what she’s wearing.

  “Uhhhh, hi.” If she hadn’t said my name and tapped me on the shoulder, I would have sworn she had me mistaken for somebody else.
>
  “So listen.” Cassandra touches me lightly on the arm. “About that whole Connor thing. I’m really sorry I made such a big deal out of it. It’s so totally obvious that he likes you and not me.”

  She’s being very nice to me. Too nice.

  “So, can you forgive me? Friends again?”

  Before I can think about responding, my thoughts are flooded with Sophie and what I overheard that day at my party. How long do I have to act like Ruby’s best friend?

  All of a sudden Cassandra has Sophie’s face. But instead of feeling angry or upset, I feel perfectly calm looking at her. I know exactly why she’s being nice to me today, when she hated me yesterday. “I’d like to be your friend, Cassandra, but only if you want to be friends with me.”

  Cassandra flashes a lip-gloss-coated smile. “Of course I want to be friends with you.”

  “Are you sure it’s me you want to be friends with, and not my parents?”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Cassandra’s lips get pouty.

  “It means that I’d like to be friends, but you may never meet my parents. You’ll be friends with me. Not them.”

  “But if we’re friends, I’ll meet your parents eventually.”

  “Maybe not. Is that okay?”

  Cassandra’s smile is gone, and she’s back to giving me her usual glare. “Why are you making such a big deal of this?”

  “I just want to make sure that you want to be my friend for the right reasons.”

  “And so because of that you’re banning me from meeting your parents?” Her voice is higher and louder than it normally is. “What about Summer? Is she not allowed to meet your parents either?”

  “Summer wanted to be my friend long before she found out who my parents are.”

  “Yeah, well, you didn’t steal Summer’s boyfriend,” Cassandra says under her breath.

  Summer rolls her eyes. “He was never your boyfriend, Cassandra. He—”