What happened next in the alley was truly glorious.
I was probably the only person in the world who could say that sentence without feeling the least bit dirty. But it was true. It was glorious. In fact, I am fairly certain if anyone had been looking in our particular direction, they would have seen the golden glow of my transformation beaming through the gap of the brick walls.
Kevin applied one last dab of lip gloss onto my bottom lip with his icy fingers—alright, they weren’t icy, but they totally should have been—just as Queenie was finishing fastening the back of my gown.
I spun around, sending the gold folds of my skirt shimmering. ‘I don’t know how to thank you two. I—’
‘We’re not finished,’ Queenie said in a clipped tone.
‘You’re not?’ I asked. ‘I mean, I don’t have a mirror, but I feel finished.’
‘I had an idea last night,’ Queenie said, turning me back around, ‘after I dreamt I smothered you with a pillow.’
I nodded. ‘I have weird dreams too. I once had this dream I was flying with Ryder, our capes rippling in the wind—never mind.’ Stupid Kevin inhibiting my free speech, but then again, I did have a good feeling about the make-up. I approved of all his colour choices. Suddenly, thin fabric wrapped around the top part of my face. ‘Queenie,’ I said slowly. ‘This isn’t the part where you kill me as a couple, right?’
I gasped as Kevin held up a mirror in front of my face.
I was … I was … so … very, very beautiful. The golden toned make-up was exquisite. The soft intricate up-do was near heartbreaking. And the thin shimmering gauze with its tiny golden gems over my eyes was mysterious, and lovely, and unexpected, and—
I leapt at Kevin, throwing my arms around him. I’m not going lie. Once I felt the wooden stiffness of his body, I kind of regretted it. But I was so happy!
I let go, and spun on Queenie with my arms wide.
‘No,’ she said with a finger point.
I swirled in a circle. ‘Again, how can I ever thank you two?’
Kevin answered first. ‘I would like to take a picture of you like this in a glass coffin.’
I froze mid-swirl and looked to Queenie. If I wasn’t mistaken, I may have seen the tiniest of concern crinkles in between her brows. ‘Well, Kevin.’ I stopped to clear my throat. ‘Why don’t we just table that idea for a little while, and I’ll see if I can think of something better.’ Yup, my hugging him was definitely premature.
I grabbed the small bag with my sidekick outfit off the pavement. I had brought it, seeing as I had no idea what the evening might hold. I cleared my throat. This next part needed to be handled delicately. ‘So, where are you kids off to now?’
Queenie answered, ‘Inside.’
‘Oh, that would be super, but Bart didn’t get you guys invitations,’ I said with a frowny face.
‘I was invited,’ Kevin said. ‘My family is always invited.’
‘Queenie, can I speak to you a moment,’ I said, gently grabbing her elbow. ‘This is kind of awkward, but you need to ixn-ay on the evink-ay because I may be doing some ime-fightingcr-ay … oh, this hard,’ I said, scratching my forehead above the gauzy mask. ‘Kevin’s got to go. He knows too much. And things are probably going to happen tonight.’
‘Things you’ve included Bart in but not me.’
‘What? No. It’s not like th—’
‘Really.’
Ugh. I hated dealing with couples who had just broken up. ‘Well, you can still be in on everything. Do you want me to tell you what’s going on?’
She said nothing, which I took to mean yes. I peeked over my shoulder at Kevin, but it seemed he had gone into stand-by mode, so I launched into a hurried description of everything that had happened.
When I was finished, Queenie said, ‘Idiot.’
I sighed. She and Bart really were made for one another. ‘I am so shocked that you would say that,’ I said, dryly. ‘I realise that there a may be a few places where things could go wrong, but—’
‘Do you really think so little of yourself that you would just dive right into whatever your father has planned tonight?’
‘No! It’s not like I’m going to stick my head into a lion’s mouth or anything. And what’s he really going to do to me with all those people watching?’ My mind did flash to the runaway float, but … but … okay, he was surprising me these days with the lengths he was willing to go to. ‘We need information, and this is the only way I know how to get it. And I have to make sure Pierce doesn’t get hurt. Besides, if my father’s going to this kind of trouble to send me a message, he’s going to find some way to deliver it, no matter where I am.’ No need to tell Queenie about Nepal. All these people telling me I should go to the other side of the earth was starting to hurt my feelings.
‘Ryder would never approve of this plan. Choden would never approve of this plan. Because there is no plan.’
‘Queenie, this is something I have to do.’
‘No, it’s not.’ She crossed her black-gloved arms across her chest. ‘That’s just something people tell themselves when they do stupid things.’
This sucked. Disapproving Queenie was even worse than misanthropic Queenie.
‘I don’t know how to explain it,’ I said, looking up to the sliver of sky between the buildings. ‘I have this vision of us all working together, like we did that night at the prison. Ryder, Choden, you, me, Bart. Fighting crime. Eating samosas.’
‘Random.’
‘Sorry. I’m hungry most of the time. But the vision has us working together to make the world a better place. We all belong. That vision can’t come to life without Ryder, and I know there is something more going on with her. Most likely something to do with my father.’
She recrossed her arms over her chest.
‘Everybody thinks this is going to be a disaster, but you’re forgetting, I took the lead on thwarting—’
‘The crime of the century, so you keep saying.’ She sighed. ‘Even if I were buying into your dream, you have to know we were lucky that night at the prison. Very lucky. And we had Choden and Ryder with us.’
‘Well,’ I said with a confident nod, ‘here’s hoping my luck hasn’t run out.’
She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘Appropriate. A death euphemism.’
‘I really wish everybody would stop talking about my dying. I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree,’ I said, not meaning that at all, and trying to think of a way to make her agree.
She didn’t answer.
‘Well, I guess I will just go inside now,’ I said without moving.
Still nothing.
‘Oh, come on. No Go team! I’ve got your back?’
Nothing.
‘Break a leg?’
I felt my pretty bronzed shoulders droop. I shuffled my way towards the mouth of the alley. Right before I turned the corner, I looked back at Queenie. ‘Just wait. You’ll see. This is really the right move.’