Page 80 of Definitely (Maybe) Dating
Straight gave her a chance to pull on her tough-girl armor. Allowed her to protect herself from the impending hit she was about to take to the chest.
“The owner of the silo didn’t give the artist permission,” Jillian explained.
Piper shook her head. “No way. Reb—I mean, the artist—wouldn’t enter something that she knew broke the rules.”
Right? A strange sensation wove its way around her throat. Piper never said outright that Rebecca needed permission; she’d just assumed, after the run-in at Skye’s, that the girl would know. Plus, she knew from the beginning Rebecca had her eyes set on the prize. Not that Piper blamed her; it was enough money to secure a sixteen-year-old a leg up and off the streets. Then Piper remembered the photo in question—the one she’d come across going through the negatives from her camera.
It was bold and risky and so beautiful it had moved Piper to tears. It captured the strength and fear of what girls like Rebecca lived—what Piper had lived. She wished she’d had it earlier to use in her presentation and prove to those stuffy ladies how beautiful urban art can be and how art can provide girls a voice.
Then she’d gotten greedy, entering it in the contest without consulting Rebecca first. It was supposed to be a surprise, but had she asked Rebecca, this whole thing could have been avoided. God, this was all her fault.
“Rhett knows the property owner,” Darcy said. “And he said that he most definitely did not approve a three-story bird on his silo.”
“Rhett knew?”
“Margo told them the other night at Josh’s house.”
“Theothernight?” A bitter taste filled Piper’s mouth. “Josh knew about this?”
And he hadn’t told her. They hadn’t seen each other in a few days, but they’d spoken by phone. And he hadn’t said a word about the article or the silo—or any of the possible outcomes.
Piper sat down on one of the leather barrels chairs.Think. Think.
“We still don’t know what happened, and I’m not going to jump to conclusions. Until I hear the story from the artist and she tells me she broke the rules, I’m not even going to contact the board.”
And she wasn’t going to say Rebecca’s name and land her in trouble in case the paper had gotten it right. Rebecca was starting to open up and there was no way Piper would assume anything or point any fingers.
“What am I going to do?” she asked Darcy.
Darcy took a seat. “I can try to squeeze you in some afternoon in October. Maybe an early afternoon showing.”
“We’re right back to the permit issue, and it’s too late.” Skye wouldn’t have the money for the payment and those girls wouldn’t have a proper showing. Piper pressed her palm to her stomach, which was knotted with panic. “The girls are going to be so disappointed.”
And Rebecca. She could potentially be in trouble. Wanting to get the teen’s side of the story and give her benefit of the doubt, she dialed Rebecca, who answered on the first ring but said nothing.
“Rebecca?” There was a long silence. “Are you okay?”
“I screwed up,” the quiet voice came, and she could tell Rebecca was crying.
Ah, shit.“We all screw up. The good news is we can fix it.”
“I don’t know if we can fix this,” she said and in the background Piper heard banging. Loud banging. “Where are you?”
“Skye’s.” While Piper was relieved the girl was somewhere safe, the banging and shouting in the background had her concerned.
“Where is Skye?”
“Barricading the door.”
“Gotta go,” Piper said to her friends, leaving her camera bags, her purse—everything— behind and heading straight for POSH.
“What’s wrong?” Darcy called out.
“I think Skye’s getting herself arrested.” Piper jumped in her car and started the engine. Before she could back out, Darcy and Jillian were both inside and fastening their safety belts. “What are you doing?”
“Coming with you,” Darcy said. “In case you need someone to post bail.”
“No. This is my problem.”
