“But . . . what about Natasha?” I said, a swirling mire of desperation opening inside my chest. “If I tell her I gave that to you, she's going to send those pictures. I'm going to get kicked out.”
“Stop whining,” Noelle said. “It doesn't become you.”
She fastened an earring into her ear and then turned around, regarding me with an almost pitying smile.
“Wait--,” I started to protest.
Noelle brought her hands up to her lips. “Sssshhh,” she said, in an almost comforting way. “Look, just forget about that for right now, okay?” And then she smiled. “Now, did Whittaker ask you to the Legacy or not?” she said.
What the hell did that have to do with anything?
'Yes."
“Good,” Noelle said. “He gave you the necklace?”
“Yeah. What's that about?” I asked.
“You have to wear it. It's your pass to get in,” Noelle said.
Damn. Whoever heard of a party where the proof of invitation was a solid-?gold-?and-?diamond necklace? Who paid for this stuff?
“Let's do this.” Noelle nodded over my shoulder at Ariana, who reached into her closet and pulled out an incredible, shimmering gold gown in a clear bag. A gold mask with a white feather across
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one side hung from the silver hanger. She draped the dress across one arm and brought it over, holding it out to me. The gown took my breath away, even as the rest of me was still reeling from everything else.
“That's for me?” I said.
“Kiran guessed your measurements,” Ariana explained.
“Girl has a ninety-?nine point nine percent success rate,” Noelle said. “It's a talent.”
“I don't believe this,” I told them, overwhelmed.
Noelle shrugged. “I called in a favor at Roberto Cavalli. You can't exactly go to the Legacy in jeans and a T-?shirt.” She looked me up and down, amused. “We'll talk about this later.” She turned around and lifted her thick mane of hair. “Unzip me?”
I hesitated. 'You're getting undressed?"
“It's not like we sneak off campus in ball gowns, Reed. That would be a little too conspicuous,” she said.
“Oh.”
I reached out and unzipped her dress from the top all the way down her back. She stepped out of the gown, completely naked, and walked slowly over to her closet to slip into her silk robe. As she turned around I caught a glimpse of her angry red stomach scar. She didn't seem to be in a hurry to hide it--or anything else for that matter.
“Take it,” Ariana said, holdin
g the gold dress up.
'Yeah. Then go see if Kiran has any shoes that will match,“ Noelle said, then laughed. ”I think it's safe to assume she does."
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Gingerly, I took the dress from Ariana's arms. She smiled at me in a proud way. Like she was a mother dressing her little tomboy for the prom. I had no idea what to say. I knew I should thank them, but how was I going to walk out of here with absolutely nothing resolved?
“But-”
“We'll talk about it later,” Noelle repeated firmly. “Now go. We only have an hour before it gets dark.”