How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come Tr - By Sarah Strohmeyer Page 0,53
won the grant knowing that Marcus got screwed?”
“That’s a whole other issue, Dash. Remember?”
But he didn’t.
And that’s how I knew. I was being set up.
Twenty
An hour later, Tinker Bell put to bed, I had showered out the hair spray from the day and was stepping into a clean pair of shorts when there was a knock on my door. Jess, still in her Cinderella makeup.
“We never see each other anymore, so when I saw your light was on, I thought I’d stop by.” She flounced in and collapsed on her old bed, her new bed being in the sweet Princess Tower. “I miss you. I even miss this tiny, hot box.”
When Jess was promoted to Cinderella, she’d timidly requested to stay as my roomie, and the Queen had ripped her a new one for having the audacity to reject the Princess Tower. Probably no one had ever asked the question, since—aside from a better chance of winning the Dream & Do—spacious, air-conditioned rooms were the major reason why cast members wanted to become royalty.
“You’re better off where you are,” I said. “It’s quieter, so you can get more sleep.”
“Sleep? What’s that? Between working the breakfast and tuck-in shifts at the resort plus my regular shift in the park plus finding time to be with RJ, I’ve forgotten the concept.”
I stuffed Ian’s penlight into my pocket. “So you and RJ are still going strong, huh?”
She raised herself up on her elbows. “He’s so sweet, Zoe, and he’s really into me. Do you know he brings me coffee to my room every morning? And I have to get up at six!”
“Good. You deserve it.” Though I wondered what would happen when the internship was over and Jess went back to high school and RJ to college. Those college/high school romances never seemed to work out.
Jess jerked her chin at the flashlight in my pocket. “Are you going out? Don’t tell me the Queen’s sending you on another one of her bogus late-night errands.”
“This is for me.” For you.
I told her about my “accidental” run-in with Dash that, on second thought, didn’t seem so accidental after all. He’d been waiting for me. Jess listened, brows furrowed, but even she didn’t understand until I spelled it out.
“He didn’t get any of my hole puns. Therefore, Dash is not the prince.”
She laughed. “So? He knew about the shirt, Zoe, and you, the prince, and I are the only ones who know about that. How much more proof do you need?”
I sighed in exasperation. “You had to be there in the woods those two nights, Jess. If Dash had been the real . . .”
Jess put her finger to her lips.
I crawled next to her on the bed and lowered my voice to a whisper. “If Dash had been the real prince in the woods, he would have at least acknowledged the puns in some way. I’m telling you, there wasn’t even a flicker of recognition when I said ‘wholly responsible.’ It meant nothing to him.”
Jess lay back down again, arms crossed behind her head, thinking. “I’ve known you since the day you were born, Zoe. That’s seventeen years and counting, and you’re one of the most perceptive people I know. If your gut tells you that Dash is pushing you to confess to the Queen so he can whittle down the pool of candidates for the Dream and Do, then you’re probably right.”
Finally!
“Thank you.” I got up and grabbed my sneakers. No flip-flops.
“You’re going out there to find him, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Someone has to,” I said, yanking on my laces. “If Dash is going this far to get me disqualified, then we’re all in trouble, including the so-called traitor. Dash wants to win the Dream and Do bad, if not for himself, then to please his father, and the only way to save ourselves is by getting to the truth.”
“And if you find the real prince?”
I zipped up my school hoodie. “I have no idea. Kind of just planning on crossing that drawbridge when I get to it.”
The clock tower struck eleven when I headed toward the forest an hour past curfew without Tinker Bell as an excuse. Two rules violated with a single step.
To me the park was most magical after the guests have left, and this night was no exception. The Little Mermaid’s Falls shimmered with pink, blue, and yellow incandescence, and infinitesimal fairy lights twinkled in the trees. Here, the world was every inch a real fairyland.