Page 65 of Evil Queen

Nikita

Ilooked at my reflection in the mirror and snarled. “I cannot believe you talked me into this.”

“Stop whining. Come out here and show us!” Colette called back.

At least a thousand times over the course of my years with The Royal Court, I’d heard Avery and Colette make plans to go shopping with Cherri, and every single time, I had the exact same reaction when they didn’t invite me.

Thank God.

But it was the Saturday of prom, and Colette randomly called me up and asked me what dress I was planning to wear, and when I told her I was planning to wear a nice pair of jeans and a button-up, I could hear her fall out of her chair. She immediately patched me through to a call with Avery, called it an emergency, and said she was on her way to pick me up. At first, I got annoyed, telling them I didn’t want to be a replacement for Cherri, but Colette lovingly told me that I could never replace Cherri, who “had a sense of fashion.”

Avery lovingly told me that she’d always secretly hoped I would go shopping with them because she thought I was cool. Colette jumped in, and they went back and forth for twenty minutes, talking about how amazing they thought I was.

Long story short, I was now standing in a dressing room with a ball gown on.

“Nikki, I swear to fucking god, if you don’t get out here, I’m gonna come in there, and it’s not going to be pretty.”

I chuckled at Jaxon’s gruff voice and even more at the sound of Colette groaning at his language. It was my compromise when I agreed to go shopping. I wanted to bring my best friend. The truth was, I was absolutely terrified to be on my own with Avery and Colette, especially doing something so painfully far outside of my wheelhouse as dress shopping. Colette was over the moon with the idea. Jaxon, not so much.

Taking one last look at the fluffy blue ensemble, I turned around and unlocked the door to the dressing room. When I opened the door, Colette and Avery screeched with excitement, but Jaxon had to turn away to prevent the projectile soda flying out of his mouth from getting on the expensive number.

“What?” I yelped at him. He looked back at me, fighting back a laugh, and I quickly dove into my cleavage for a blade and flipped it out. “I’ll cut you.”

“Oh, put that away, Cinderella,” he hissed.

“Okay,” Avery said. “It does not look as bad as he’s making it seem, but I’ll agree that it’s not really you.”

“Can I please just wear my pants and button-up?” I begged. “I won’t even wear a leather jacket.”

“Nikki, what you’re suggesting is an absolute sin. At least wear dress pants and a nice blouse or a suit if you’d prefer. I’m not letting you wear what you’d wear to an apple orchard to prom! I couldn’t call myself a friend nor an upstanding citizen of society if I let you do that.”

“I don’t have to wear a dress?” I asked.

“No! There are tons of prom ensembles that aren’t dresses,” Avery replied.

I flopped my arms out. “Then what the fuck am I doing in this!”

Given that Jaxon was still fighting back laughter, if not the associated tears, I didn’t even wait for a response. I immediately turned around and went back into the dressing room to start disrobing.

“Okay, wait in there!” Colette called. “Jaxy, come on. You know her better than any of us. Help us find something more Nikita.”

“Jaxy?” I called out. “Cute!”

Jaxon popped his hand over the top of the dressing room door, middle finger brandished before Colette dragged him away. I removed the dress and returned it to the hanger, then hung it on the wall.

“Nikki?” Avery called over the door.

“Yeah?”

“Hey,” she said, and her voice was quieter. “Thank you for doing this. She’d been looking forward to this all year, and then when everything happened, she didn’t think we’d be able to do it. I swear that every time we talked about prom dress shopping, she included you. You aren’t a replacement.”

“I can tell,” I said. “Thanks for including me.”

No other words passed between us, and none were needed. The Royal Court had always been an obligation for us, so learning how to just be friends was taking some serious practice, but we were getting there.

After about twenty minutes of flipping through my phone, Avery let out a yelp. “Oh my gosh! It’s perfect, but I’ve got a new plan.” She knocked on the door. “Nikki, close your eyes. We’re coming in.”

“Why would I close my eyes? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” I asked.

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