Genesis Girl (Blank Slate #1) - Jennifer Bardsley Page 0,38

information is the biggest faux pas there is. But of course Cal wouldn’t know that; he’s not a Vestal.

Ms. Lydia’s flirty smile is gone. She stands stiff and statue-like. When the elevator doors start to slide back shut, she lets them. It’s only when we’re closed off again that she answers.

“He used to come,” she says simply. “But my contract is fulfilled. I come and go as I please.”

There’s nothing but silence for a minute, and nobody says anything.

Then Cal punches the button to open the elevator doors. “Good to know.” He holds out both of his hands, one for each of us. That’s how we walk into the banquet: all three of us together and connected.

I feel like I’m in a fishbowl of white. Every last Vestal at the banquet stares at us as we enter the room. But I don’t know who’s garnering the most attention: me, the new Geisha; Cal, the only outsider; or Ms. Lydia.

Headmaster Russell rushes over, and I start to sweat. Ms. Corina from charm and deportment is right by his side, glaring.

But I remember something important: Ms. Lydia is on my side. That’s all that matters.

“Russell,” Ms. Lydia says. “How nice to see you. You remember Mr. Calum McNeal.”

“Yes, Ms. Lydia,” Headmaster Russell says. “Mr. McNeal, how … unexpected.”

Ms. Corina stands there like the Princess of Placid.

There will be words. I know it. “Blanca,” says Ms. Lydia coolly, “I see your friends over there. Why don’t you join them?”

When I turn and see Fatima, I feel my insides go numb. Will she want to see me? But Fatima runs toward me so fast that I almost don’t have time to open my arms. We hug and jump up and down at the same time.

Ms. Lydia smiles at our reunion and leads the other adults away.

“Whoa there,” says Beau, walking over. “Stop being a Blanca hog.”

Fatima smiles and pulls away, leaving Beau room to pick me up and swing me around in an enormous bear hug. Then it’s Ethan’s turn.

“We haven’t seen you in forever,” says Fatima.

“We weren’t sure if you’d be able to come,” Ethan adds.

Fatima gives me another hug. “It’s so good to see you. We’ve been worried.”

“Incredibly worried.” Ethan adjusts the button on his white blazer. “Nobody knows what’s going on with you.”

“You’re all anybody talks about at the photo shoots,” says Beau. “Nobody can believe you went Geisha.”

I glance over to where Cal and Ms. Lydia are circling on the other side of the room. She holds his arm with both hands now, and they tilt their heads inward and laugh. Headmaster Russell and Charming Corina are gone.

“Is that your purchaser?” asks Fatima.

“Yes.” I nod. “That’s Cal.”

“And he’s with Ms. Lydia.” Fatima raises her eyebrows. “Oh.”

“Yes. I mean, no,” I say quickly. “It’s not like that.”

Fatima, Beau, and Ethan stare at me, and I know that curiosity about my situation is killing them. But none of them ask any questions. None of them pry into my personal business.

“Cal wants me to be his daughter.”

“Wow!” says Beau. The way he says it makes me wonder if anyone believes me. Cal paying thirty-two million dollars for a daughter is a hard story to sell.

But I can’t tell my friends what’s really been going on. I can’t tell them about crazy month or Cal trying to release me. Cal’s given up on telling me to think for myself for the time being. But he’s not giving me a lot to work with.

That’s when I feel the sucker punch to my heart.

Because I thought tonight would be different. I thought with the Vestals, I could finally be myself. But I can’t tell them the whole truth. I’ve exchanged one filter for another.

“I’m here to meet Soap-boy.” I quickly correct myself. “I mean, I’m here to meet Trevor.”

“Trevor?” Ethan asks. “You mean that Trevor over there?”

We all turn to look at the Vestal family entering the room. There’s Trevor, and he’s taller, blonder, and clearer-skinned than ever. He stands next to his Vestal-mom, who has ageless skin and gray hair. His Vestal-dad looks like he’s about ready to step out of a shaving commercial. The entire Soap Family is stunning.

As soon as I see Trevor, I feel hope. Maybe with Trevor, things will be different. Maybe Trevor will make my whole world right.

“I guess that could have been your family too,” says Fatima.

“What?” I ask.

“That’s where you would’ve ended up, if you hadn’t protected me from that picture,” Fatima says quietly, almost apologetically. Sensing the