Chapter 3

"Yes, absolutely. Molly did so well we have to celebrate."

They crowded around her, all talking over each other about the party.

Colin shoved me aside without thinking about it.

He just wanted the spot closest to her.

I lost my footing and cracked my forehead on the corner of the coffee table.

The sound it made was dull, and nobody heard it.

A knot came up over my eyebrow right away. I didn't say anything.

I got up quietly and let myself out.

Telling them would have changed nothing.

Besides, I still had tuition to earn.

At the Silverline Karaoke Lounge, I changed into my uniform and started working the floor, selling bottle service room to room.

Then I heard voices I knew.

I opened the door, and Molly stared at me.

"Audrey?"

I stopped.

Mom, Dylan, and Colin all turned at once.

Mom took one look at the uniform, and her face went hard.

"Audrey, are you trying to ruin your life?

"I know you scored a zero this year, but we agreed you were taking a gap year and retesting.

"You're smart. Is this what you want? Serving drinks for the rest of your life?"

Dylan frowned. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Colin grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the hallway.

"Come home. You start studying again tonight."

Looking at the three of them, I almost laughed.

They'd spent years trying to make me worse. Now that they thought it had worked, why were they so unhappy?

For the next several days they kept me in my room and watched me study.

Their attention was rare, and it exhausted me.

"Mom, is my dress ready?

"Today's the most important day of my life."

Mom came hurrying in with a garment box.

"Sweetheart, I had this made for you. Sixty thousand dollars."

Dylan produced a velvet case like a magician.

"And this is from me. A pink-diamond necklace. Half a million."

Colin refused to be outdone. "Look at mine.

"My mother took this antique tiara at auction. Over ten million."

Molly gathered it all up and dressed like a princess.

The princess got into a town car and left for the Citrine Grand Hotel with her court around her.

They forgot me in the house.

A while later, a message came through on my phone.

"Audrey, find your own way to the hotel."

I didn't argue. It was an important day, and I'd been waiting a long time to watch it.

By the time I reached the hotel on foot, my face was soaked and my shirt was stuck to my back.

Mom frowned when she saw me.

"How did you let yourself get like this? It's Molly's day. You're embarrassing us."

Embarrassing.

If I'd had any money, I wouldn't have walked the whole way.

I didn't bother explaining.

They'd never actually looked at me anyway.

Dylan found a server's uniform somewhere and threw it at me.

"Put this on.

"Don't sit at the main tables. Find a corner in the back and stay there.

"Don't get in the way of Molly's party."

The party started, and every guest lined up to tell Mom what a daughter she'd raised.

Then a commotion broke out near the entrance.

People started whispering.

"Isn't that the admissions director from Northstar Institute of Technology?"

"That's her. And the man beside her is from Eastborough."

"That Sutton girl must be something. Pacific Harbor sent someone all the way from Calden."

Molly listened to all of it, glowing, and looked over at our family.

"I told you. I did incredibly well. I really might be the top scorer in the country."

Colin's parents had Molly's hands in theirs, already in love with her.

"Our Molly's really something. Once you pick Northstar or Eastborough, Colin will have company."

They'd said those exact words to me once.

The directors from Northstar, Eastborough, and Pacific Harbor pushed through the crowd toward Molly.

"Audrey Sutton!"

"Choose our school. We'll give you everything we have."