Page 3 of Gilded Princess

“You used to tell me everything, Mary,” I murmur.

Mary huffs. “Yeah, when we were like eight. You tell Lainey everything now, so don’t act like it’s me who has changed.”

Shock stills my tongue. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I have a feeling my sister is going through something. My heart pangs at the hurt in her voice. “I’m sorry if you’ve felt left out. You’re my sister.”

“Yeah, okay. Look, I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you later.”

As soon as the last word leaves her lips, she ends the call. I pull the phone away from my ear and feel my eyebrows reach my hairline. She didn’t even give me a chance to reply before she hung up.

The summer sun feels heavy as it beats down on my back. I love summertime. It’s the season of possibility and spontaneity. And this was supposed to be our summer. The one we’d been dreaming about for years.

We survived high school at one of the most prestigious all-girl academies in the country, and we had three months to revel in our accomplishments until we had to buckle back down and get to work on our degrees.

St. Rita’s All-Girl Academy is a tradition in my family. All the girls attended, and for the most part, I didn’t mind. I lived in a luxury dorm suite with my cousin and sister for years. And since we’re all attending St. Rita’s University, we’re staying in the same suite. A perk of being a legacy member, I guess.

I tap my phone against my lips as I walk toward my favorite coffee shop. It’s not too far from our dorm suite, and they have a new iced tea flavor every week from May to September. If I wasn’t busy teaching adorable little girls ballet three days a week, I’d work here just for the free coffee perks.

I know I can’t ask Lainey to go with me. Not only is she out of town, but she just went through some seriously scary stuff, and she needs time to rest and recharge. And honestly, I’m proverbially eating popcorn and watching her romantic entanglements play out.

And Mary’s out, obviously.

I guess I could go alone. Despite the masks required to enter the event, I have a good idea of who will be there. It’s generally the same group of people my age who attend every year. One of those legacy things. Lots of girls from St. Rita’s—high school and college. Plus, the school has a lot of affiliations with other private schools around the country.

Every year, the private school board council throws a masquerade ball to raise money for a different charity. This year they’re focusing on saving the rainforests, which is something I can get behind. The music’s usually good and the food is always excellent. I could do without the monotonous small talk from random adults who don’t actually care about the answers to the questions they ask.

Plus, there are only so many times I can binge-watch shows on Netflix.

I roll my eyes, annoyed with myself. It’s not like I don’t have other friends, just none as close as Lainey and Mary. I suppose now is as good a time as any to strengthen new friendship bonds, though.

With my mind made up, I quickly tap out a text to Blaire Hawthorne. If anyone knows the theme, it’s her. That girl is like a real-life Gossip Girl, but without all the secrecy—she lives for drama.

I slide my phone into the pocket of my cream and light green linen skirt. The breathable fabric swishes against my thighs as I walk the last few feet to the cafe.

A blast of air-conditioning greets me as I walk inside and get in line. I wave to Amanda, the barista at the counter, just as I feel my phone vibrate with an incoming text.

Blaire: Madison, babe! I hope I see you at the Enchanted Forest masquerade tomorrow.

Enchanted Forest. Okay, I can swing that. A flicker of excitement blooms. I do love a good theme.

Madison: See you then!

I pocket my phone again as the line moves forward, my mind already spinning. I’m going to have to call my favorite designer and seamstress and see what she has in stock. Dolores is in her mid-sixties, but her eye for fashion is incomparable. And luckily for me, she took a liking to me when she volunteered for our middle school theatre production. She did the costuming, and we bonded over our shared love of high fashion and French truffles.

“Hey, girl. Surprised to see you here. I thought you’d be in Europe still,” Amanda says, pulling me from my thoughts.

My answering smile feels tight. “Ah, yeah. Change of plans. Turns out, I’ll be in the city all summer.”

“I guess you’ll get to try all the flavors this summer then, huh.” Amanda smiles. “What’ll it be today?”

That gets a wide smile from me. I’ve been coming to this coffee shop for a long time, and just about every time I’m here, Amanda is working. We’ve gotten to know one another over the years. “Too true. Busy today?”

Amanda nods and adjusts her daisy-printed apron. “Yep. Just getting over a little rush. And we have blueberry green tea today. I know that’s a favorite of yours.”

I chuckle and adjust the strap of my crossbody purse, peeling it off my sticky skin. “You know me so well, Amanda. Okay, I’ll take one of those, large, please.”

“You got it.” Amanda turns around and pours my drink from the carafe on the counter behind the register. A few seconds later, she spins to face me and slides the to-go cup and straw on the counter. “That’ll be four seventy-four,” she says with a smile.

I shove my hand into my purse to grab my wallet, but I come up empty-handed. I open it wider and peer inside, moving a few things around as if my pink wallet will magically appear behind my lip gloss.

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