Page 91 of Patrick

CHAPTER 25

FIFI

At the game, Ricci is the unlucky one who ends up sitting next to me, with Nina and Pammy on her other side.

“Ouch, stop squeezing my hand. What are you, giving Anaconda? It’s not going to help your boyfriend score his third goal if you break my bones.”

Nina snickers, and I smile at her, letting go and squeezing my own hands together on my lap.

Then we all shoot to a stand simultaneously as we watch Trick steal the puck and skate for a breakaway.

Jumping up and down madly while the crowd roars so loud I can’t even hear my own screaming, I hyper-focus on Trick as he dekes the goalie and flips the puck into the net.

Ricci almost lifts me off the ground in a jubilant hug, and we all jump like we’ve been injected with grasshopper genes.

By the time the game ends, I’ve calmed down enough to gather my wits and re-focus on the fashion show and getting to the MUB—Memorial Union Building—to rehearse on the small stage they set up for us. As we walk out all smiles, Nina flips her phone out and frowns.

“Don’t tell me,” I say.

“It’s a text from Darcy.”

I stop short, causing our group to stop as the exiting crowd flows around us.

“She says she’ll see us at the Ball. She totally ignored my demand that she delete her posts about you and Trick.”

There’s a ping I recognize as a social media alert on Nina’s phone.

Ricci plucks the phone from Nina’s hand.

“Don’t tell me what it says. I don’t want to know. I need to focus on kicking butt at the fashion show. I want everything to go perfectly.”

“I was going to shut it down,” Ricci says, stuffing the phone in her pocket.

“Hey—” Nina protests.

“I’ll give it back later and you can turn it back on. I’m voting we have a moratorium on social media for the rest of the night.”

“Sounds good to me,” Pammy says.

I give each of them a hug. “I’ll see you all at the Ball.”

“Break a leg,” Pammy says, and I laugh as I take off in the direction of the MUB.

As soon as I put my dress on, all the jittery nerves that have plagued me pretty much all day, settle to a manageable level. When I take my turn in one of only two mirrors in the make-shift backstage area of the Granite State room, calm confidence takes place of the nerves.

Maybe it’s because this dress makes me feel connected to Trick, or maybe it’s because it looks so gorgeous and different in a funky yet definitely high-end glam way.

“It’s almost time. I wonder where Darcy is,” Tamara says over my shoulder.

“I don’t know.” I scrunch my face, as my tummy rolls at the thought of what Darcy could be up to. I move aside and Tamara takes a turn in front of the mirror.

“You look fantastic, Tam. That’s a brilliant design. So fire.”

She hugs me as Professor M whirls through our small backstage area. There are only twelve of us—make that eleven without Darcy—but the small space is crowded.

“Has anyone seen Darcy?” Professor M asks, commanding all our attention.

There’s a murmur of confusion and we all end up answering no.