Homecoming Queen (21 page)

DJ laughed again. “I might go to the dance, but I doubt that I’ll be doing much dancing. If I’m able to walk without crutches, it will involve a cane and a walking boot. Not exactly a graceful setup.”

Bonnie smiled. “Well, we’re just glad to see you’re doing well. And, once again, we wish you the best.”

Soon the media was on its way to a car wreck on a nearby interstate, and the girls were inside The Chic Boutique, which was closed for regular business. Voices were being raised as twenty Crescent Cove High School girls now competed for clothes.

DJ, of course, knew that this wasn’t only about clothes.

DJ and Madison reached for the same red dress. “Just because you hogged the media,” Madison snapped, “doesn’t mean you get to hog the best clothes too.”

DJ was pretty sure that she’d reached first, but she pulled her hand back just the same. No way was she going to get into it with Madison. Not with a broken leg and cracked ribs. “Sorry,” she said casually. “I was just looking for something that would be easy to try on over my walking cast.”

“Excuse me,” said Eliza as she snatched the hanger from Madison’s hand. “But DJ gets first pick today.”

“Says who?” Madison turned and glared at Eliza now.

“That’s okay, Eliza,” said DJ quickly. She thought she could see actual smoke shooting out of Madison’s nostrils now. “She can have it.”

“No, she can’t,” said Eliza in a pleasant but firm voice. She pushed the red dress toward DJ. “Go and try this on.”

Madison stepped directly in front of Eliza now. “Look, Miss I’m-So-Sweet-Southern-Belle, I don’t know what makes you think you rule the world or that you can take over our town and our school and everything, but some of us are getting sick and tired of you and the rest of your
Carter House girls.”

Eliza blinked. “Well, now, Madison. Let’s not lose our heads over a silly little red dress.”

Madison grabbed the dress, pulling it so hard that DJ heard a tear.

“What’s going on here?” demanded Louise Bristow. She was part of the fashion show committee and a friend of Grandmother’s.

“I think Madison is in a bad mood today,” said Eliza innocently. “DJ had picked up this dress first. She thought it would be easy to put on because of her broken leg and all. Madison got angry because she wanted the dress for herself. And now she has just torn it.”

Louise scowled at Madison. “Let me see the dress.”

Madison handed it over.

Louise adjusted her glasses and peered closely at the dress then shook her head. “Madison Dormont, you
have
torn this dress!” Now Louise held the dress in the air and called out loudly. “Girls, girls, everyone needs to be quiet and listen to me for a moment. Most of the clothes you will be wearing are design originals. Isn’t that correct, Katherine?”

Grandmother nodded. “Yes. Very expensive design originals. As I already mentioned, they were part of Fall Fashion Week, which was held last spring.”

“And you need to handle them with care,” said Louise. “Madison Dormont, in an ugly display of temper, has damaged a dress. What do you have to say for yourself?”

All eyes were on Madison now, but she just glowered at them with her arms folded across her chest and said nothing.

“Well!” Louise looked seriously angry now. “I am therefore dismissing Madison from the fashion show,” she declared. Several gasps were heard, and then Louise continued. “Let this be a warning to all of you. If you girls cannot get along, and if you cannot act like ladies, you will not be part of this show. Is that perfectly clear?”

The boutique owner unlocked the front door, and with a dark frown for Madison, she waited for the angry girl to stomp out of the shop. “There,” she said as she closed and locked the door then made a pretense of brushing off her hands. “Good riddance of bad rubbish.”

Some of the girls laughed, but others — particularly Madison’s friends — looked around uncomfortably. And before long they all returned to selecting clothes, with a bit more care now.

“I see a scene with pig’s blood coming for someone,” DJ said under her breath to Taylor.

“Hey, we should watch that movie tonight,” said Taylor.

“Sounds good,” said DJ, “but I have a date.”

“Oh, right.” Taylor picked up a slinky black top and examined it more closely.

It took a while, but finally it seemed that everyone had at least one outfit. Some of the girls, like Eliza and Taylor, had three outfits. This had been Grandmother’s doing. She hoped to get them a little exposure for next weekend. DJ got to beg off with just one, saying that it would take her forever just to change into that. She had decided on a sophisticated camel-colored cashmere knit dress. “It doesn’t really go with this,” she teased as she held the dress above her blue boot. “But maybe I can get some brown spray paint and give the boot a makeover.”

When they were done with the fitting and practicing walking the runway at the historic Keller Tavern where the fashion show would take place the next Saturday, Taylor drove DJ home. Casey had gone next door to Starbucks to meet Garrison. DJ thought Taylor was acting slightly odd, like something was wrong.

“So, how was your date with Nick last night?” asked DJ, hoping to find out what was bugging her.

“Great. I like him. He likes me.”

“I’m glad that Madison didn’t get to lay her claws into you today. She looked like she had murder on her mind.”

“Someone should tell that girl that anger is unbecoming in a homecoming queen candidate.”

“Yeah, I’d nominate someone like you to do that.”

Now there was a lull in the conversation, and DJ wondered once again if something was troubling Taylor. It wasn’t like her to be this quiet. Not without the radio or CD player going.

“Uh, DJ?” Taylor finally broke the silence, but her voice sounded slightly odd now. Almost as if she were being sympathetic and very un-Taylor like.

“Huh?”

“I want to tell you something, except that I really don’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s about Conner . . .”

“What about Conner?”

“He was at the game last night.”

“I know.”

“With Haley.”

DJ bit her lip as she tried to wrap her head around this bit of news. “You mean Haley was at the game and Conner was at the game? Like they met up there and sat together?”

“Not exactly. More like they
came
together. They
sat
together. And they
left
together.”

“Oh.” DJ imagined Conner and Haley . . . together at the game . . . and after the game . . . and she didn’t like what she was seeing.

“I know that you think I’m the Queen of Mean and that I’d really get a kick out of hurting you, but that’s not true.”

“I don’t think that.”

“I just thought you should know.”

“Yeah.” DJ felt a lump growing in her throat. “Did you see anything else? I mean, that you think I should know about?”

Taylor didn’t answer. She pressed her lips together and looked straight ahead.

“What?”

“I saw them kissing in the parking lot before they got into his pickup.”

19

CONNER WAS AT CARTER HOUSE
when Taylor and DJ pulled up. His pickup was parked in front, and he was sitting on the porch steps, with his head literally hanging.

“I’m going in the back door,” said Taylor as she gave DJ the keys. Then she got DJ’s crutches from the backseat and set them next to the opened passenger door, pausing to put a hand on DJ’s shoulder. “Hang in there, invalid girl.”

DJ just nodded then slowly got out of the car, slowly put the crutches into place, and slowly made her way to the front porch. Conner was standing now. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his head was still hanging. DJ knew what was coming.

“We need to talk,” he said as she slowly approached him.

“I know.” She nodded and paused on the walk. “And I want to make this quick, okay?”

He seemed confused now. “Sure, okay.”

“You’re a great guy, Conner,” she began, determined to hold back the tears that felt just seconds away. “And I really like you. But it’s not really working anymore. And I think it’s time to break up.”

He blinked. “You want to break up?”

She nodded, swallowing against what felt like a rock in her throat. “I think it’s for the best. Don’t you?”

He nodded now too. “Someone told you about Haley and me, about seeing us together last night, didn’t they?”

She just shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, Conner. Haley is a sweet girl. And you guys were together long before I came along. And — ” She knew that she couldn’t go on without crying. “So, I just think it’s for the best. I need to go in now.”

He moved, and she slowly made her way past him, slowly clumped up the stairs, and after what seemed like several years, finally made it to her room, which was thankfully vacant. Even the bathroom was vacant. Then DJ threw down her crutches, fell down on her bed, and cried.

Monday came too soon. DJ had had a day and a half to recover. Or to try to. Everyone at Carter House had been very nice and understanding. Even Grandmother, although DJ had no idea if she knew what was going on.

Now DJ had to face the real world. Her plan was to put on a happy face and pretend like all was well. She’d already told her friends that she had broken up with Conner. And it was the truth. She’d also gone to church with Rhiannon yesterday. And, it wasn’t easy, but she was doing her best to trust God with the whole thing. Like Rhiannon kept reminding her, “The heavenly Father knows best.” DJ hoped that was true.

“You sure you want to drive today?” asked Taylor after they were all in the car.

“Are you worried I can’t do it?” DJ stuck the key in the ignition.

“No,” said Taylor quickly.

Casey had already nabbed the passenger seat. And probably because Taylor was still feeling sorry for DJ, she didn’t even make a fuss about it.

“By the way, I won’t need a ride home after school,” said Taylor.

DJ just nodded and turned the key.

Casey attempted small talk, even telling them that she and Rhiannon were going in to see the drug counselor after school. “I’ll have to miss volleyball practice,” she said. “But I guess it’s worth it.”

“Of course it’s worth it,” said Taylor.

“Good for you for following through,” added DJ.

Somehow DJ made it through the day. She smiled and joked and acted like everything was fine. She skimmed over the article about her in the school paper, wincing slightly at the photo where she still looked kind of beat up.

She’d spotted Conner only once all day long, and that was in passing. Thankfully he hadn’t been with Haley. After school, DJ wasn’t too surprised when Haley didn’t offer her a ride to the pool. Not that it mattered, since DJ had her own car back. Actually, DJ was tempted to give up swimming, just to avoid Haley, but her therapist had mentioned how much stronger her leg was getting and how the swimming was certainly speeding her recovery. So DJ decided to tough it out.

To her relief, Haley wasn’t anywhere to be seen at the pool. She’d probably done the early morning practice instead. Well, that served her right. Haley had told DJ that she didn’t like getting up that early, but it seemed fair that she should sacrifice something for taking Conner away from her. Or had she just taken him back? Did it even matter?

“Hey, DJ,” said Caleb as he climbed down from the lifeguard stand to help with her crutches again. “It looks like you’re moving a little faster.”

She kind of shrugged. “I guess . . .”

“Feeling down?”

“I guess I’m just getting fed up with all this.” Naturally, she couldn’t tell him about Conner. Let him assume it was simply her physical condition.

“Don’t worry. It won’t be too long before this is just a memory.” He grinned. “Hey, I saw you on the news.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. My grandmother was furious at me for going slumming that day. Who knew I was going to be on TV?”

“I thought you looked cute.” He winked. “And much prettier than those plastic-looking girls running for homecoming queen.”

She laughed as she eased herself into the water. “I’ll be sure and send them your regards.”

“Have a good swim.”

All that week DJ wore her happy face and went to classes and acted normal — even more friendly than usual. And when she felt discouraged, she tried to remember to pray.

But by Thursday afternoon, she was down. Really down. She knew she was just feeling sorry for herself, but it seemed that everyone except her had a life. Taylor and Eliza were still duking it out for homecoming queen — and Madison was being more unpleasant than ever, mostly to Taylor and Eliza.

DJ thought everyone in the school must be sick of the whole election by now. Eliza probably had the title in the bag, not that anyone really cared. DJ just hoped that Madison didn’t arrange to have a bucket of pig’s blood dumped over Eliza’s head. Or worse. Perhaps Eliza’s daddy should hire a bodyguard for the weekend.