CHAPTER 10

 

 

Mom, Holly, Beau, and Chace were staring back at me. They had pushed the people aside to stand behind the last row of chairs. I had no idea how they had travelled all the way to Paris but I didn’t much care. They were here, they were seeing everything I was.

It was amazing.

Looking closer, there were more recognizable faces. Jane’s parents – both of them – were standing with my mom. Next to them was the grumpy old guy and a few other members of the fashion council.

I leaned over to Jane. “Your parents are here, look.” I pointed through the crowd and she gripped my waist even tighter than before.

“On my God. They’re here. They are really here,” she whispered.

And that’s when the tears started falling in earnest. We soaked up our applause before sweeping our gowns around to return back to our alleyway.

But we didn’t get far. The moment our show was officially closed, we were swarmed by people from the audience. Business cards were thrust our way, along with requests for meetings and contact details. Famous people demanded to know where they could buy the clothes – they were even happy to wait and get them off the models.

If it wasn’t for Beau, Chace, and Holly coming to help keep them under control, we might have drowned in the sea of people.

Every Girl Inc had officially arrived. And we were set to take over the world.

It took us two hours to get everything back to normal. After the crowd let us go, we helped the models change back in their clothes and thanked them profusely for their help. At least we knew the French word for thank you. They seemed just as happy as we were.

Still wearing our silver dresses, we were in the alleyway and finally alone with our loved ones.

Well, almost. The grumpy old guy and his fashion council buddies approached us first. “Miss Winx, I have to say congratulations. I’m impressed.”

“Thank you,” I said sincerely. “If you didn’t change your mind about our business, we wouldn’t have been able to come.”

“You’re welcome. But, tell me, why aren’t you inside in the tents?”

I could have lied. I probably should have lied. But I didn’t. “We were kicked out because we didn’t have real models for the show.”

He didn’t even bat an eyelid. “I should have known. Don’t ever change, Miss Winx. This industry is ready for a shakeup.”

Well, I was totally the girl for that.

After the fashion council left, I was embraced by my mom and Holly. “How did you get here?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Davis called and said their private jet was leaving for Paris and we could come with them if we wanted to,” Mom explained happily. This was her first time overseas too. I knew what it meant to her.

“And we wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Holly added.

“Where are the kids?” I asked, suddenly in a panic. My brothers and sister could get up to all sorts of trouble without strict supervision.

“Mrs. Reed is looking after them. They were very annoyed about missing out.”

I’m sure they were.

Ethan and Billy were probably plotting their revenge as we spoke.

They stepped away so I could speak with Chace. He had hung back, staying pretty quiet. “What did you think of the show?”

He grinned. “I’ve never seen a fashion parade before. It was actually pretty cool.”

“Thanks for coming.” My cheeks blushed as his eyes wandered over me, taking in the stunning dress. He was wearing a suit, it looked pretty darn good on him too.

“I was worried you might start throwing innocent books at people. Thought somebody better look out for you.” His light blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

I got the feeling that Chace would be around to look out for me for a very long time. It made my knees go a little bit weaker under the heavy dress.

Beau was just finishing up with Jane, both of them blushing after a cute little awkward hug. Bless them.

But the true reunion in that alleyway was between Jane and her parents. Jane had absolutely lit up when she saw them in the crowd. Even now, she was still luminous.

I gave her a wink and she nodded in return. In a way, we both got what we wanted that day. I was officially a fashion designer, my clothes loved by everyone. Jane got the attention of her parents – probably even their utmost respect too. I was so happy for her, just as much as she would be for me.

It had all started with a fashion design competition and two strangers – one who could design and one who could sew. We had no idea what it would lead to.

From there, Every Girl Inc hadn’t just flourished into a successful business, it had cemented our friendship and inspired our future. At that moment, I had no doubts in my mind that we were going to revolutionize the industry and achieve everything we set out to do.

And none of it could have been possible without a little fashion fraud.