Empire High Betrayal (Empire High #3) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,63
make me dance with her to all the songs. I didn’t know whether I was smiling or about to cry. “Yeah, that sounds good to me.”
Justin clapped. “This is going to be perfect. Fingers crossed Halloween doesn’t end with you naked and alone in the middle of the city.”
I half laughed half groaned. “I will never get in a car with Isabella again. It’ll be fine.”
“It’s showtime,” Justin said and spread his hands. “Let the shopping begin!”
Chapter 21
Friday
Kennedy disappeared behind a rack of clothes and I followed her out of earshot of Justin and Mrs. Caldwell. The clothes were all glamorous. But I really didn’t know a thing about fashion. I’d leave all that to Justin. What I really needed was to talk to Kennedy. We used to hang out all the time, and now that I was living at Matt’s we didn’t get to see each other nearly as much. And there was a question I needed to ask her that I didn’t want anyone at school to overhear.
“Hey, have you heard from Felix at all?” I asked.
She shrugged. “No. Why?”
“I really need to talk to him. I’ve texted him a few times, but he never responds.” Besides, it would be better to talk to him in person. Even though he hadn’t been to school all week, I assumed he had probably heard the rumors about my engagement ring. Everything that happened at Empire High seemed to travel like wildfire. Except for Felix’s whereabouts.
“Felix’s parents mostly live abroad and sometimes he disappears for a couple weeks at a time when he visits them,” said Kennedy. “I don’t think he gets international texts.”
“Oh. So he’s visiting his parents?”
“Yeah, probably. What do you need to talk to him about?”
“I just want to clear the air.”
Kennedy lifted up a pair of pants that could only be described as genie pants. I wasn’t even aware that pants like that were made outside of costumes. But the material was definitely not cheap polyester.
“Do you think he still likes you?” Kennedy asked.
“I don’t know.” Not if he’s heard the rumors. I really, really wanted to talk to him in person before he heard about Matt. “Do you still like him?” I’d been dancing around this question with her ever since we’d met. She’d denied it. She’d changed the subject. She’d laughed. But I never quite believed her.
“Nunca. Have you read all those contracts your dad gave you yet?”
Nice try, Kennedy. I wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. “No, I’m still going through them.” I’d been through the whole dating one. There wasn’t really anything weird in it. And for some reason it made reading the other considerably less appealing. “Just a nunca on the Felix thing?”
“Yeah, it’s a nunca from me. These would be perfect, wouldn’t they?” Kennedy asked and held up the genie pants.
“Yes…but let’s circle back to my question real quick. Are you sure you don’t still like Felix?”
“And these would be great for your costume,” Kennedy said and pulled out a pair of leather leggings.
They would indeed be perfect. But she was avoiding the question. “Kennedy, I think if you have feelings for Felix…”
“Oh, are we talking about boys?” Mrs. Caldwell asked. “Tell me everything.”
Kennedy laughed. “There’s not much to tell. Brooklyn keeps trying to set me up with this boy at school. And I keep telling her I’m not interested. Rob on the other hand? I very much like him.”
“Robert Hunter?” Mrs. Caldwell asked. “Well, that’s perfect. He’ll be at the Halloween party too. I’ve always wanted to play matchmaker.”
“He will be?” I asked. Did Matt and Mason know that?
“Of course. The Hunters come every year. Robert and James practically grew up in our house. They’re over all the time. The last few weeks have been so busy for them, I haven’t seen them much. But they all already RSVP’d. It’ll be so good to see them.”
“Mhm,” Kennedy said and glanced at me. Her face screamed what the hell is happening?
I shook my head as discreetly as possible.
“I’m going to figure out a way to give you and Robert a moment alone at the party,” Mrs. Caldwell said. “Oh, the hairdresser is here. Do you two have any idea what you want to do for your new hairstyles?”
I kind of liked my hair the way it was. But Mrs. Caldwell looked so excited. And I was trying to prove that I belonged in this world just as much as Isabella. I thought about all the girls at Empire High.