Page 82 of The Big Easy & Other Lies
“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?” Livvie snapped.
His head shot up. “I had no idea she was going all superspy in my room, okay? Why would I think she’d go in there looking for anything, much less those sketches? I never told her I had them.” He knelt in front of me. “I’m so sorry, Cam. It was an accident, I swear.”
Since I had no comfort to offer him, I rested my head against my knees again, trying to force a path through the panic that had consumed me since stepping into the workroom. Livvie sat down beside me. I knew she was dying to rip into Rhett again. Eventually, she rested her hand against my back, rubbing it in comforting circles. I’d seen her mom do that to her little brothers when they fought with each other.
“I’ll go with you to tell Mrs. Broussard,” she said. “Angelique is going to pay big time. I know this sucks, but Mrs. Broussard approvedyoursketches for the line, not Angelique’s.”
“I’m not telling Mrs. Broussard.”
The hand on my back stopped, and I straightened. Everyone stared at me like I’d lost my mind.
“What?” A single, angry syllable from Livvie.
“I can’t,” I said.
“You have to,” Rhett argued. “If you’re worried about retribution or something, don’t be. It’s going to be completely obvious to everyone what happened. Mrs. Broussard knows they’re your designs.” He paused and shook his head. “Why would Angelique do this? She had to know she would get caught.”
“To humiliate me.” Anger flared again. “She took everything I did but she used satins and silks and leather and lace. My stuff would look like Walmart clearance against it.” I sat up and pushed my fingers through my hair. “Your cousin is drinking from a deep well of crazy, Rhett.” I regretted it as soon as I said it. I couldn’t begin to understand how it felt to never be good enough for her mom; mine had made me feel like I was all she ever needed. But I was bone-tired of being Angelique’s target.
“I guess the plan was that no one would know until she unveiled it that night. It wouldn’t matter when it all got sorted out later because it would have automatically meant I no longer had an original design, even though I wasn’t the one who copied.” I shook my head. “I would look like I did the cheap knock off. I think she figured that the school-wide gossip would be in her favor even if the administration knew the truth. And since it’s not for a grade, they can’t do anything to her. She’ll have plenty of time to put a real show together for her capstone evaluation.”
“Cam, listen to me.” Livvie drew a deep breath, like it was a major effort to calm herself. “I know you don’t like dealing with stuff like this, but this is one of those moments where you have to dig deep and deal with it because Angelique tried to break you. This isn’t mean-spiritedness. This is calculated destruction. If theonlything you do is tell Mrs. Broussard, you’re letting her off with way less than she deserves.”
She climbed down to the ground to face me, her hands on her hips. “You can do this, Cam. You can.” She pointed at the dark house behind me. “Look at how far you’ve come with Delphine. You’ve got the guts. Don’t let Angelique get away with this.You can do this,” she said again, jabbing my knee on the last part for emphasis.
“No, I can’t,” I said, holding up my hand to forestall her next argument. “I made a promise.”
She groaned and collapsed back onto the steps. She knew my deal with keeping promises. “Why would you do that? To who? Why?”
I shrugged. “I’d tell you but then you’d have to kill them.” No one laughed. I sighed. “It was the right thing to do.” For Amber, anyway.
“Angelique wants to ruin everything for you,” Bran objected. “No way is keeping quiet the right thing to do.”
“I’m not protecting Angelique,” I said. “And that’s all I’m going to say about that.”
Rhett spoke up for the first time. “What can we do? Because you can’t miss the chance. Whatever you need, I’ll help you. Including kneecapping Angelique.” He didn’t look like he was joking.
“I’m putting up Rococo Punk.”
The four of them exchanged confused looks. It was the first truly funny thing I’d seen all night, and I smiled.
Livvie tugged on her ear. “I thought you said Rococo Punk. That’s not a thing.” She looked to Rhett for help. He shrugged.
“It’s been a thing since I designed it last year,” I said. “It’s inspired byTear Girl,only not so costume-y.” Livvie still looked bewildered. “Imagine if Gwen Stefani went fairy tale, only even more over the top.”
Rhett took a seat beside me, careful not to sit too close. “Can you do it in less than two weeks?”
I shrugged. “I already have the designs and a ton of salvaged fabric. I can work on it in theater arts.” Amber definitely wouldn’t tell me no. “I’ll have to tell Delphine that I’m putting the Audubon search on hold and then sew like crazy every day, but it’s three looks, not eight.” Even saying the words overwhelmed me. Three looks in two weeks that were good enough for Aidan Helm’s impeccable eye? I fought down the resurgent panic. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“I think it sounds amazing,” Chloe said.
With an effort, Livvie composed herself. “Don’t call off the search for Mr. Hooty. Rhett and I will handle it.”
“Definitely,” he said. “And I don’t even deserve to ask this, but can I see the Rococo Punk sketches? I won’t take them or anything. But if you’ll let me, I’ll try coming up with more music for it. I know Baroque music pretty well. I can find something to fit.”
“She wouldn’t be having to do any of this if it weren’t for you,” Livvie snapped.
Bran sighed. “He didn’t make Angelique steal the sketches. This is on her. Lay off, Livvie.”
