Page 163 of Wicked Promises
“I never thought I’d be going to prom,” I admit. “And you’re sure you don’t want to go?”
“As much as I’d love to watch you slow dance with Caleb, I think I’m going to pass. I’d rather just help you get ready, then go home and watchThe Breakfast Club.”
I roll my eyes. “Eli’s still…?”
Well, I wouldn’t know exactly what he’s still doing, since she’s refused, formonthsto talk about it. She suffers in silence.
“Try this on,” she orders, shoving the bag into my hands. “This is going to be so much better than the masquerade ball for you.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Is it?”
“Yeah, because Caleb is in love with you and you’re in love with him, and things have been… Good. Like, painful to witness good.”
She has a point—about the painful to witness part anyway. Dad was released from prison shortly after David, Lydia, Tobias, and Claire were arrested. Mom was sent to a rehabilitation center, where she remains to this day, and Claire is in a juvenile detention center until she turns eighteen. Tobias surprised us by turning on everyone viciously, supplying evidence he had stored over the years.
Turns out, the ex-public defender knew just what to keep in order to incriminate… just about everyone.
It was impressive.
I stayed with Robert and Lenora. It was a decision the four of us made tearfully in the living room. All of us were a crying mess by the time the conversation was over. But the way they accepted Dad into the fold like he was part of their family, too? It broke my heart and healed it at the same time.
And Dad…
I let out a sigh, closing myself in the bathroom.
He knew me as a child. Ten years old, seeing only the good in the world. Now he has a seventeen-year-old daughter.
I’ve been through the foster system and survived.
Came out ahead, if you ask me.
Caleb is a stage five clinger—and I mean that in the best way possible. Once we returned to school, everyone magically backedoff. He’d cast a magic spell. That… and hockey season was in full swing.
Fall semester was nothing compared to the spring. With the possibility of the state championship on the line, it seems like everyone is waiting breathlessly for the result of each game.
All Hail King Caleb. I snorted at the first person who said it, but it was a thing.
“Margo,” Riley calls, knocking on the door. “Do you need help?”
I jump. Whoops.
“One second.” I change into the dress, pulling the straps into place and struggling to zip it on my own. It fits like a glove—small miracles, since Riley is a size smaller than me.
When I open the door, her mouth drops open. “Damn.”
It’s a halter top with a deep V neckline, similar to the one Riley wore to the last dance we attended. This one is beaded, glittering. From my hips up, it’s skintight. The silky fabric goes to the floor, but it’s the slit that ends halfway up my thigh that’s the real showstopper. Paired with skinny, strappy heels?
I kind of feel like a warrior princess. But also?—
“I feel like I’m going to throw up. How many people are down there?”
“Just…” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t think about it. It’s just Caleb and Hanna, Iris, your foster parents and dad…”
I swallow. “Is that all?”
Iris has suddenly found herself in our circle. Along with the shocking revelation that Hanna and Caleb were half-siblings, and Hanna was pretty obviously attached to me, everyone involved decided that she shouldn’t be kept away from us. Caleb and I have been including her on our weekend dates.
What started as Iris waiting in the car, staring stoically ahead, soon became her getting out of the car and chatting with Robert and Lenora on the porch. That transitioned into stayingfor a drink or dinner. And it wasn’t too surprising when Iris dropped off Hanna to go out with Lenora and Robert.