Empire High Elite (Empire High #2) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,81
hadn’t already.”
We both looked at each other and laughed.
“This is actually great,” Kennedy said. “We got Isabella’s shot at sabotage out of the way early. Now we can just relax and have fun.”
That was a good point. “Unless she’s planning more.” I sat down next to Kennedy on the bed.
“Why would she? She thought her first trick would prevent you from going at all.”
I nodded. “You’re right,” I said with a smile. But I was thinking about Anderson. And if there was a way to make sure whoever she was didn’t get fired for something she absolutely didn’t do.
“Your dad actually seems kinda nice.”
“Mr. Pruitt is not my dad.”
“Technically…”
“I never saw the results of the tests,” I said with a laugh.
“Fair enough. But he took your side over Isabella’s. No one ever takes anyone’s side over Isabella’s. Maybe he’s not so bad. He’s letting me visit now. And he’s going to replace all the clothes. He’s at least trying. He seems kinda nice.”
Nice? He’d immediately blamed her for destroying my clothes. But I bit my tongue. Mr. Pruitt was trying. I knew that. And yet…I was still uncertain about him. But maybe if I could convince him not to fire Anderson. If he took my side on that, then maybe I could finally let my walls down. Because he was trying. He did care. He was acting like the father I never had. And I was pretty sure that was a good thing. Maybe I’d just been fighting it off because Uncle Jim had felt like a father to me too. And as soon as I’d let him in, I’d lost him.
Tiffany, the timid server, rushed into the room carrying some black trash bags. “Mr. Pruitt said I needed to clean up…” her voice trailed off as she looked at the mess. “Oh my. I’ll get right to it.” She hurried over.
“I can help,” I said and started putting clothes in the plastic bags before Tiffany could stop me.
“This was probably cute,” Kennedy said as she started helping us too. She was holding a pink dress that would have looked amazing on her. I made a mental note that when Justin replaced it, I’d give it to her.
“It smells so gross.” I shoved another jacket into the trash.
Tiffany laughed.
“What the hell happened in here?” Miller said. My mother’s dress was clutched in his hands.
“Isabella,” I said as I grabbed a pair of pants by the leg where there was no pee.
He shook his head as he stared at the now stinky ruined clothes. He looked beyond pissed.
“Oh, you’re so lucky that you had a dress at the dry cleaners,” Tiffany said.
I guess she didn’t realize that the dry cleaner’s bag was years old and not from New York. Which was good. Because there was no other excuse for Miller to have my dress.
“Let me grab that so I can steam it for you,” she said and pulled it out of Miller’s tight grip. “You’re wrinkling it.” She laughed.
“Sorry,” he said.
I stood up as I put one of the torn pairs of leggings in the trash bag. “Who’s Anderson?” I asked.
Tiffany pulled my dress out of the dry-cleaning bag and turned around. “That’s me.”
What? My face fell. She was so sweet. And polite. But up here she’d laughed at our jokes. She didn’t complain about the dog pee. She was wonderful.
“Why?” she asked.
I swallowed hard. Why did Mr. Pruitt send her up here to help with this mess if he was just going to fire her? “No reason,” I said. “I actually need to run to the bathroom real quick. I’ll be right back.” Mr. Pruitt wasn’t a nice man. He was a monster just like his legitimate daughter. And I was going to give him a piece of my mind.
I practically ran into Justin as I beelined for the door.
“Careful, darling,” he said as he adjusted two large plastic containers in his dainty arms.
“Sorry, I need to…”
“What in tarnation happened here?” Justin asked. “All my clothes! And is that urine I smell?”
“Miller will fill you in,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Well I certainly have no problem with Miller filling me wherever he pleases,” Justin said and handed off the plastic containers to him. He winked at Miller. “But we don’t have much time to get ready for the dance. And it’s my understanding that I need to give two makeovers in the time I’d allotted for one.” He looked over at Kennedy.