“Where’s the stone princess? She’s not home,” Edward asked me.
“I do not know.”
“So…how are things with your friends, the Davilas?” he asked, with his soft smile.
“As they have been,” I replied. I couldn’t say much more, and I was terrified of accidentally revealing Ignacio’s existence.
He asked me about schoolwork and told me about their classes rather than talk any more about the Davilas. He sensed I was reluctant to do so. Jesse returned to say we had the reservation, but we had to be there at six forty-five.
“They’re having a big night. It was only because I used your name that we got in at all,” he explained.
“We don’t have to go there,” I said
“It’s done. I have an idea. Why don’t you wear what you think you’ll wear to the Johnson party? Let’s all go French tonight. I have a beret, and I know my mother has a great French chapeau that would fit you, Delia.”
“I cannot take her clothes without her permission,” I said.
“You won’t. I will,” Edward said.
Just then, Sophia came in with Trudy and Alisha. They burst in laughing, until Sophia set eyes on the three of us and immediately changed her expression.
“Well, I wonder what brought you home today,” Sophia said, a cold smile cut so deeply in her face it looked sliced with a bread knife. Her girlfriends wore similar smiles.
“We missed your sweet voice and face,” Edward said.
“Ha-ha. Why are you here, Edward? Did she call for help or something?”
“I think she’s doing just fine for herself,” he said, nodding at me. “What crime are you three preparing to commit this time?”
“We’re getting ready for a party, a real party,” Sophia added.
“I bet.”
“You’re all invited,” she said. “Even you, Delia.”
“We need to skip it,” Edward said. “None of us has the right inoculations.”
“Funny, funny. C’mon,” she told her girlfriends. “Three’s company here, and we don’t want to get in the way. We’re not welcome, anyway.”
They marched to the stairway.
“You know about the three witches in Macbeth?” Edward asked me.
I nodded and smiled at his comparison.
“Fair is always foul around here,” he told Jesse.
“Let’s just hope we all don’t suffer Macbeth’s fate,” he replied.
It was a legitimate worry. There wasn’t a cloud outside, but I could hear the thunder rolling in our direction.
4
Rumors
Jesse and Edward left to visit Jesse’s family. They told me what time to be ready, and I went up to shower and dress and do my hair. Now, probably filled more with curiosity than anything else, Sophia and her friends invaded my room. She saw the dress I had laid out to wear.
“That’s fancy and expensive. My mother bought that for you at Dede’s Boutique. Isn’t that the dress you’re planning to wear to Danielle’s party?” she demanded as soon as I emerged from the shower.