Who Made You a Princess? (5 page)
Someone knocked on the door and pushed it open. “Is this the Department of Deportment?” Lissa asked in an oh-so-bright tone.
“I need a curtsy lesson, please. Or is that next door in the Department of Dweebery?”
“Now it starts,” I said to the ceiling.
“Where’d you learn to do that?” Gillian crowded in behind her. “It looked really good.”
“Everybody learns it in freshman etiquette.” I rolled over as they draped themselves on the furniture, which in our case was
limited to two beds and two desks with ergonomic chairs. “Along with which fork to use, how to address a head of state, and
how not to embarrass yourself in front of a room full of people.”
“Failed that one, I bet.” Lissa rooted in the fridge and started tossing out Odwallas.
I caught a strawberry lemonade and cracked the cap. “I’d have paid more attention if I’d thought I was going to actually use
anything in that module.”
“You did, though,” Carly pointed out. “Last June, remember, when I got that award? You told me what to say to the mayor. And
then he asked me to call him Gavin anyway.”
“But you didn’t have to curtsy to him.”
“True,” Carly acknowledged. “But I know who to come to if I ever have to meet Mac’s parents.”
“You could ask Mac,” Gillian said. “I’d buy a ticket to watch her curtsy to anyone.”
“I wish we
could
ask Mac,” Carly said. “I never thought I’d say this, but I miss her. She’s really solid under all the fireworks and attitude.”
“She wouldn’t have said anything stupid to Rashid,” I put in. “She’d reduce the Secret Service to ash in one second and have
him groveling at her feet, begging her to let him buy her a Caribbean island in the next.”
They all laughed, and Lissa gave me a sideways glance. “So how come you never told us you used to know him?”
“It never came up. And I forgot he existed until my mom told me about him in an e-mail.” I willed the blush back down to where
it came from.
“It is a little weird, though,” Gillian said. “His singling you out of the crowd like that.”
“Not to mention recognizing you when you didn’t recognize him,” Carly added.
“He was just dazzled by my beauty, and Vanessa wasn’t there to upstage me.” I congratulated my clever self on my airy tone.
“But it’s no big mystery. My mom sends his mom my school picture every year. Maybe she showed one to him.”
They seemed to accept that, and then they pounced on Gillian, demanding the scoop on her love life. I lay on my back, my gaze
on the plaster border of Greek keys on the ceiling and my mind on a pair of dark eyes.
Make that two pairs. Both brown, both full of intelligence and humor and the knowledge of the power they had over girls.
Just yesterday, I’d wanted with all my heart for Danyel Johnstone to look at me as though I were his dream come to life.
But he hadn’t. The prince had.
And what was I going to do about
that
, I’d like to know?
L
ATER IN THE EVENING
, the girls dragged me to Room 216 for the first prayer circle of senior year. You’re probably wondering why I went when I
was so sketchy on the subject of religion. But the truth was, I kind of liked it. It reminded me of my grandma in a weird
way, even though she’s been singing alto in heaven for five years now. It felt safe to be there, and it reminded me of my
promise to myself that I wouldn’t be an island anymore.
After we cleaned out the room (who were they going to get to do this when we weren’t around next year?), we dragged in chairs
from classrooms they’d migrated to. We still had a couple of minutes to go before seven, and Jeremy wasn’t there yet, so Gillian
amused herself at the little spinet while we waited.
Gillian, in case you didn’t know, is at Spencer on a music scholarship. She’s not only brilliant at science and math, but
she’s a concert pianist who never gives concerts. Oh, she practices in the music rooms because that’s what music students
do, but the girl could fill the auditorium downtown at the Opera House if she wanted. She and Yo-Yo Ma, tearing it up. I could
see it now.
So when I say she was amusing herself, it was with some dead German guy’s concerto that involved fingers moving so fast they
blurred as they executed intricate runs up and down the keyboard. How she remembers all those notes is a mystery. Probably
the same way she remembers chemical formulas and how to start Pascal’s triangle. As Carly would say, it’s a gift.
The door opened and Jeremy came in, looking over his shoulder as he held the door. I smiled at him and then turned to see
who else was with him. Usually it’s just us the Tuesday night before term starts, because Gillian doesn’t go around putting
up her signs until later in the week, so I wasn’t expecting anyone else.
Which is why, when Lady Lindsay MacPhail walked into the room, sheer disbelief froze my smiling lips to my teeth.
Gillian lost her place in the concerto and came to a crashing halt. Carly said something really high and loud in Spanish and
flung herself at Mac. At which point everyone started talking at once.
“I can’t believe it! What are you doing here?”
“This is prayer circle, right?”
“Mac, you look amazing. Tell me that’s not a Dior.”
“Gillian, you got your hair cut!”
“Dude, do these chicks always tweak like this?”
Carly dragged Mac over to a chair, so the rest of us followed to hear what miracle had brought her back. I grinned at the
sound of her accent, plummy and posh with just an edge of a burr on her
r
’s. I suppose you can take the girl out of Scotland, but you can’t take Scotland out of the girl.
“Tell all,” Carly demanded. “Now, before I split a seam.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad to see you all again,” Mac said. “Mummy and Dad fought it every step of the way,
because I’m supposed to be prepping for Oxford, but I asked them, what makes you think I’m going to uni in the U.K.? What
if I want to go to Harvard?”
“You do?” Gillian asked. “I didn’t know that.”
“I don’t, but what if I did?” Mac retorted. “I might want to go to Stanford or Princeton or any number of places, and all
they can see is stuffy old Oxford because both of them went there. And then there was the David situation. If you don’t think
I made the most of
that
, think again,” she said with a dangerous smile, tossing her red curls over one shoulder. “In the end, since I have to come
back for the trial and probably for a—what do you call it? An appeal?” She looked at Gillian, resident
CSI
expert, who nodded. “They finally concluded I might as well come over for the term. Mummy promised she’d come for the trial,
too, for moral support.”
“What about your dad?” I asked.
Mac leaned forward a little. “Just my opinion, of course,” she said, “but I don’t think he can bear to see David. He never
has, you know. He’s being typically Dad and hiding from anything that’s unpleasant.” She snorted and sat back. “Like it’ll
go away.”
“Well, I’m going to pray for him,” Gillian told her. “Come on, everyone. Let’s get started.”
Mac shook her head. “I’m not the praying sort. You can pass me by. I just came to find you all since Carly wasn’t in her room.”
Gillian and Lissa exchanged a smile, as if they knew something the rest of us didn’t. I couldn’t imagine what, but if Mac
could speak up, so could I.
“Me, too,” I said. “Not the praying kind, I mean.” I paused and looked into my friends’ faces. “For now.”
“Cool.” Carly gave me a big grin.
“Wait a second.” Gillian looked at Mac. “How’d you know Carly wasn’t in her room?”
“I went in and had a look ’round, obviously,” Mac said.
I tried to puzzle this out. “You have a key to our room?”
“Oh, were those your things? I thought those orange Dolce & Gabbana pumps looked familiar. The dorms seem to be very crowded
this term, and since I came in at the last minute, pulling strings all the way, they’ve put me in with you.”
“Cool squared!” Carly gave this idea the thumbs-up.
I felt like leaping to my feet and heading for the Admin office at a dead run, howling “No!” every step of the way. Since
when did they put three people in a room designed for two? Especially when one was Mac, who took up more than the usual person’s
amount of space.
“Isn’t that going to be a little tight?” I asked, keeping it light and friendly. “I mean, I know how much you travel with.”
“That was before, when I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t bring my motorbike helmet this time, for instance, since the
likelihood of being invited to one of Brett’s wineries is fairly low.”
“I wouldn’t put money on that,” Lissa said with a glance at Carly.
“So I ditched all the suitcases and just came with two trunks. They’re vintage—Dad’s had them in the attic with all the other
clobber from the last couple of centuries. They function like closets when they have to.”
“And I’m happy to share my wardrobe with you,” Carly told her. “My side of the bathroom cabinet, too.”
Okay, this was making me sound like I resented her being there and I was some kind of space hog to boot. Both were the last
impressions I wanted to give.
“We’ll all share,” I said with a big smile. “It’ll be fun.”
Then, to my relief, Gillian called us to order a second time and they got down to the serious business of praying. When Lissa’s
turn came, she gave us a big grin and pulled her MacBook out from under her chair. She flipped it open and pressed Play on
a movie that was cued up on the screen.
The video started and the first thing I saw was a close-up of Danyel’s face. I realized my jaw was hanging open and I shut
it with a snap. How soon could I get a copy of that video? Then I realized what I was looking at: He’d joined us
au virtuel
at prayer circle.
“Lord, thanks for bringing all my friends safe back to school without running into anything or the cars stalling out on the
hills. I hope You’ll bless them while they hang together at Your feet to pray. Be with my buddy Kaz, because he’s pretty disturbed
these days.” He took a deep breath. “Be with my friend Lissa and give her strength to deal with…stuff, and I hope we’ll feel
Your presence with us as we go to classes and start the new term. I pray you’ll work in Mac’s heart and Shani’s too, because
wow, Father, I can’t imagine getting through a day all by myself. Help them to come to know You. In the name of my big brother
Jesus, amen.”
I was so stunned about somebody addressing the Big Guy on my behalf, that Lissa had closed the notebook and begun praying
before I could even react.
“Father God, thank You for all my friends who walk beside me while Your angels have my back. Thank You for bringing Danyel
here via e-mail, and Mac via British Airways. I know You want me to learn the power of discernment, Lord. I really need it
when I deal with my parents. I don’t know what’s going on there, but when You tell me, I hope You’ll give me the strength
to do whatever I need to. Maybe You could put it in my mom’s heart to stay around home a little more. She says it’s fund-raising
for a good cause, but it can’t be so good when my dad’s so unhappy. I pray for Your spirit on them, Father, and on me, especially
when I’m around Vanessa Talbot. Amen.”
Whoa. Lissa’s parents were having troubles? Yuck. That couldn’t be good. I wasn’t really sure about this prayer thing, but
I sent up a silent request to the Big Guy that they’d work it out. Not that I knew whole bunches about parents working things
out. I assumed mine did, because they always seemed normal when they were around me, and extended absences were just part
of who they were. I’d gotten over wishing they’d stick around and be a family with me years ago.
Maybe that was why I was so determined to be the perfect friend with the people in this room. They were my family now. They
seemed to like having me around, and with the possible teensy exception of Mac, I felt the same about them. But Carly liked
Mac, and I liked Carly, so for her sake, I’d try.
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