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she found herself wanting to cut Emma's head out of the picture. Which would have been
impossible without cutting the much-taller Ellie out.
She took the shot and handed the camera back. "Are we ready?"
Emma sat at her desk to apply her fake eyelashes. "For what?" Emma asked.
"To go." Lizzie gestured to the door. Was she missing something? Hadn't she just endured
getting ready for a dance that they were already thirty minutes late for? Anne was probably
freaking out thinking Lizzie had abandoned her.
"Not without our escorts," Emma said.
Lizzie met Ellie's eyes and mouthed, Escorts?
Ellie shrugged.
There was a knock on the door, but before Lizzie had a chance to ask who it was, it swung
open.
Dressed in a black tuxedo, Edward spun once in the doorway and stopped with a ta-da!
"Ladies, your penguin has arrived."
"There were no tuxedos in the Regency period," Lizzie said.
Edward made a forlorn puppy-dog expression and batted his ridiculously long eyelashes at
her. Lizzie began to feel like she had actually kicked a puppy. He turned around, head defeated,
and shuffled out of the room like he intended to go back home.
"Oh fine, you look great," she said, relenting.
He spun back around with a triumphant smile.
"You look perfect," Emma said, standing and extending her arm to Edward.
"As do you, Blondies." Edward gave Emma's hand an overly demonstrative smack of the
lips. He gave Lizzie a wink. "You, too."
"Blondies?" Lizzie asked.
"You know," Edward said. "Ellie. Emma. Blond roommates. Blond E's. Blondies."
"You guys have a duo nickname?" Lizzie asked Ellie, not bothering to hide the accusatory
note in her voice.
"It's not a big deal," Ellie said.
"Yeah," Lizzie said, irritated. "It's nothing." Of course Ellie wouldn't think it was a big deal.
Ellie never thought anything was a big deal. Aliens could land on the White House lawn, and
Ellie's expression wouldn't change.
Lizzie loved Ellie's easygoing nature. Whenever Lizzie was ranting about bad water pressure
in the bathrooms which had been changed thanks to her investigative article or lack of
diversity in the school's library books another thing that had changed thanks to her Ellie
always had a calming, positive thing to say. But now Lizzie was beginning to wonder if Ellie
thinking that nothing was a big deal meant Ellie didn't care about her at all.
"I can come up with a nickname for you, too," Edward offered.
"A nickname for who?"
Lizzie's head snapped up at the sound of his voice Dante's voice coming from behind
Edward in the doorway.
"For Lizzie," Edward said, stepping aside.
It almost seemed like Dante had to duck to step into the room, and Lizzie begrudgingly
admitted he looked every bit as dapper and dashing as a Regency lord would in his evening coat.
Dante's eyes met hers, and he stilled, studying her, his lips opening as whatever he had been
about to say died on them.
Lizzie felt her neck grow hot. Why was he looking at her like that? Had Emma messed up
her hair and makeup? Or was he thinking he didn't want her there? That had to be it. Why else
would he be staring at her?
"Earth to Dante," Edward said as he punched Dante's shoulder.
Dante broke his gaze away and turned to his friend. "You were saying& a nickname for
Lizzie?"
"I don't answer to nicknames," Lizzie said quickly.
"Isn't Lizzie a nickname?" Dante asked.
Lizzie scowled. "Let's go already."
"We're missing an escort," Emma said as she took Dante's arm and rested it at the crook of
her elbow.
Lizzie was starting to feel a little sick to her stomach. Between how weird things felt with
Ellie, and Dante somehow being a part of this group, and now the way he looked at her, she
didn't want to be here. Which was unfair this was her school, her haven, and she didn't even
feel welcome.
"Rick is running a little late," Edward said.
"I don't need an escort." Lizzie barreled out the door and down the hall, blinking quickly.
She was not crying. She wasn't. Not if she had anything to say about it.
* * *
Before Lizzie even reached the open gymnasium doors, strains of string music crept outside.
Combined with the chirping crickets, the warm night, and the smiles of her classmates, her
frantic heartbeat finally slowed to a reasonable pace. She picked up her muslin gown so the hem
wouldn't drag over the grass as she walked the remaining hundred yards into the gym.
Her breath stilled.
She'd remembered half-listening as Anne excitedly talked about fake columns for the
interior. There had been yards of white canvas piled next to Anne's desk for days. The
gymnasium was now a Regency ballroom. She wouldn't have believed it possible. Her impulsive
announcement had become a time portal in Anne's hands. They'd been transported to the time of
the Academy's namesake.
Candlelit chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Elegant fabric was draped along the walls.
Gorgeous, ornate stands lined the walls, offering punch in elegant crystal bowls. Her classmates [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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