Page 16 of Royally Ruined

Me:Is Darien there, too?

Gina:Not sure. Haven’t seen anyone I know but Thorne. Gave him a piece of my mind—said I’d sue him, don’t think he believed me. Asshole, as if this isn’t partly his fault for letting that dick in the club ... I doubt I need to say it, but thanks for helping out. I’m not sure I’d be as pretty as a corpse.

She sent a little heart. My belly was flipping too much to let her take the seriousness out of her message with emoji.

Me:I shouldn’t have let you go off with him.

Gina:Please. Like you could have stopped me. Besides, I’m fine. You’ve always been my guardian angel.

She’d called me that before, back when I could pretend the club was just a phase in Gina’s life.

She’d had a lot of regulars when she began. The customers loved her energy, the way she seemed to love her job. But one of them turned out to be unhinged. One night he’d cornered her in the parking lot, demanding she see him outside of work. I’d spotted him trying to pull her into his car—and I’d jumped into action.

Luckily, the guy was a coward. With me and Gina both shouting at him, he’d given up and driven off. I could still recall the way my heart had pounded ... how I’d been convinced that this was it, Gina would see the light and quit the club. We’d both get our lives back on track.

Sitting in her car as we recovered, I’d asked her if she was okay. “Of course,” she’d laughed. “I have to be. That guy won’t be the worst person I meet here.”

“Gina, if you quit dancing, you won’t have to meet men like that at all.”

She’d smiled at me. “Why would I quit? I get to be onstage, people treat me like a star, and I get to spend time with you. You’re my best friend, my guardian angel. What more could I want than this?”

Remembering that night, I shivered in the present and clutched the phone. Gina was the sister I’d never had. She’d struggled with a rough home, and my mother and father and I had welcomed her into ours anytime she needed it. I couldn’t count all the nights she’d slept over. We weren’t blood, but we were as good as you could get otherwise.

Gina had been through enough pain in her life. I’d promised myself I’d never let her be hurt again.But she did get hurt,I reminded myself.I let it happen.And now we were both in danger.

Me:Listen, you need to stay low and not tell anyone about tonight.

Gina:As if I would. I’m not that stupid.

Me:I’m going to have to vanish for a little while, too. It looks bad for me. Real bad.

Gina:You’ll come out of this sparkling.

That made me swell up with more memories. When we were in the fifth grade, Gina and I had to do a project on the solar system. We’d spent all night on it, thinking we were super clever for making the planets out of day-old doughnuts my mom had left over from the bakery.

After Gina went home, I’d found my inner genius and decided to cover the whole thing in glitter. It looked great—but I’d made the crucial mistake of forgetting that glitter is the herpes of crafts, and once I picked up the display, I’d covered myself in sparkles.

And then I’d covered the bus.

And my homeroom.

And every kid who got too close in the hallway.

Gina had dubbed me the Sparkle Queen, hammering it home when we landed an A in science class, in spite of how much every teacher and student hated me for that damn project.

But she’d been right. I’d come out sparkling.

Me:Love you.

Gina:Luv ya, too, babe. Can you tell me where you’ll be hiding?

Pulling my knees into the jacket, I hunched on the toilet. Her question made me think about what Costello had said before I’d flipped out and hid in the bathroom.I’m supposed to be his date ... but who’s getting married?It was hard to picture a guy like Costello at a wedding—though he probably rocked the suit look.

Me:Vermont.

Gina:Bring me back some maple syrup.

Still smiling, I put my phone in my skirt pocket. Standing at the sink, I quickly splashed my face. My cheeks dripped, and as I looked closer, I saw there were a few dots of dried blood on the ends of my hair.

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