How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come Tr - By Sarah Strohmeyer Page 0,47

that’s that.”

I raised my hand. “What about me?”

“As Cinderella?” The Queen let out something between a laugh and a snort. “Oh, my dear, I believe we’ve learned our lesson after yesterday’s fiasco.”

“No, I mean, I could work as your assistant and Red Riding Hood. Doing both would be no problem. Go through the mail in the morning, play Red Riding Hood the rest of the day. With Red Riding Hood’s costume, no one would see my face, not really, so I could run errands for you in between.”

The Queen said, “Why on earth would you take on such a Herculean task?”

She scrutinized me—as did Ian, who, too, seemed baffled by why I would take on two jobs for my cousin.

How to explain that Jess had been there during the slog of Mom’s sickness when a lot of my other friends had fled? I couldn’t. It wasn’t just that I’d vowed none of the other interns at Fairyland would know me as the Girl Whose Mother Died, it was that Jess’s quiet optimism, her reassurances that everything would be okay during those dark days, had saved me in ways no one else could understand.

“Because,” I finally said, “Jess is going to blow your mind as Cinderella.”

The Queen lifted one corner of her mouth, which could have been mistaken on a normal person for a sign of affection. Even weirder, she reminded me of my mother at that moment. “That’s very Wow! of you, Zoe.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I think.”

A second later Her Majesty was back to her old bossy self, and I was almost relieved when she started barking orders. “Gadzooks! We shall try it. Andy, message Wardrobe and tell them to get to work on Jessica. Meanwhile, if your morning chores are done, Zoe, proceed to Our World and suit up as Red Riding Hood. There’s really nothing to it. ‘My, Grandmother, what big . . . ’ and then name an essential body part. The juveniles adore it.”

“Best of all,” Andy said, “no dancing.”

I gushed in gratitude, swore on everything I held dear that I wouldn’t let her down, and clutched the folds of my gown to run as fast as I could to find Jess. I couldn’t wait to hear her scream her head off.

“Hold up!” It was Ian running down the hall after me. “You forgot something.”

I was already out of breath from my excitement. “I did?”

“Yeah, this. . . .” He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. “You forgot to say good-bye.”

Okay. “Good-bye.”

He grinned in the goofiest way, like he knew something I didn’t. Then he turned and went back to the Queen’s office.

I would never understand Ian Davidson. Ever.

Eighteen

“You look perfect!” Jess straightened my wig with its long, blond pigtails and tied the red hood under my chin.

The outfit was ridiculous. A blue-and-white gingham dress, white ankle socks that did my legs no favors, shiny black shoes, and a huge red cape. I must have been the tallest Red Riding Hood ever, coming in just a hair under Karl the Wolf, who wasn’t exactly a shrimp himself.

Jess, meanwhile, was gorgeous in her shimmering blue gown that perfectly matched her eyes. She didn’t mind the gazillion petticoats or that the Cinderella wig and crown made it feel like you were balancing a set of tires on your head. It was as though she’d been born to live in huge black false eyelashes and white gloves and prance about in tiny shoes.

“I could wear this to sleep!” she exclaimed, spinning so hard, I could see her legs in her pale blue stockings.

Andy agreed that there was nothing left to teach. “She’s a natural just as you described,” he said, when we were watching Ian and Jess execute a flawless dance right down to the appropriately chaste air kisses. They aligned their lips with pristine precision that was so innocent, even RJ thought it was sweet.

“You are perfect,” he said, looking Jess up and down admiringly.

Jess bit her lower lip. “How perfect?”

RJ laughed. “Fishing?”

“Maybe.” She half smiled. “I’m waiting. . . .”

He bent down and whispered something that made her giggle. If she weren’t my best friend, I would have barfed. “Whatever, Jess, you’re a far better Cinderella than Adele,” I said.

“What’s up with Adele? Has anyone heard from her?” she asked, slipping her hand into RJ’s.

So I guess it’s official, I thought. RJ and Jess were officially a thing. I tried to act like their holding hands and being all over each other was