Page 20 of Iris
Like Emmie.
Just a dance?
To me it sounds like danger wrapped in pretty.
Something I don’t trust.
Not anymore.
CHAPTER
SIX
Iris
By the time we hit the fifth dress store, the most exclusive in Sabine, my heart’s down at my toes.
Mom peruses the racks of dark colors, and this Season, the dresses don’t follow a stylistic choice. Some are romantic, others sophisticated, and some have a slightly different take on last Season.
There is only one theme to follow this Season.
Dark.
And don’t get me wrong, I like dark colors. But I like them my way.
Rue tags along, eyes glued to her screen of her phone as Queen Bee’s disguised voice talks about the barbeque, the Monarch’s leaked list of potential Luxe’s, and her predictions.
I go to snatch the phone to turn it off when Mari stops me. “I’ll take her for some gelato.”
“Gelat-who-now?” Rue sniffs. “I want pizza.”
“No pizza,” I say.
But Mari whispers loudly, “Maybe pizza if you’re good.”
“And I’ve got practice, so I’ll help.” Dahlia offers me a small smile, and I want to yell at them both to stay.
I don’t want to be left alone with Mom in this hellscape. She’s holding some horrendous thing that’s more frill than dress, and I’m not about to be caught alive or dead in it.
“Look at this, Iris,” Mom says with a gasp, eyes shining. I don’t think she even notices my sisters leave. “It’s stunning.”
“I’ll resemble a cake covered in mold,” I say, wrinkling my nose.
She reels back like I slapped her, and guilt bites me.
The last thing I want is to upset or hurt her, but we don’t have the same taste, let alone have the same life goals.
Mom looks around, then at me. “Iris,” she says with a hiss. “Be nice. These dresses are handmade and imported from overseas.”
“And ugly,” I point out.
She frowns.
“Mom…” I touch the gauzy soft netting that reminds me of the veil from the first ball, my only ball, and it glimmers. If this was my dress, I’d pull it apart and make it into something amazing, something me. “It’s pretty, but it’s not…me.”
She shakes her head. “Why do you need to make everything so difficult, Iris? From turning down dances—and don’t think I didn’t notice at the ball—to hiding out at the barbecue, you’re doing everything you can to make this hard for Heath.”
For Heath?
