“Dixie,” she says, widening her eyes at me like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“But… She has the blog.”
“Yeah, but that’s like big news.Rumor Has Itposts little tidbits all throughout the day, any scrap of gossip.”
“She said she’d erase it,” I say, feeling unaccountably wounded. We share gossip, and she cried to me when Colt was beaten. But more than that, she joined the protest.
“And then she posted it,” Gloria confirms.
“Why would she do that?” If I’m honest, though, Colt’s about the only thing we have in common.
“Probably because you handed her Magnolia’s log in, and she saw viral gold?” Gloria guesses, turning to the mirror. “I mean, can you blame her for not wanting to erase this from existence? All that girl wants is to be popular, and there she was, listening to her cousin on the radio while she held a damn lottery ticket in her hand. Of course she cashed in.”
“So,she’sthe one getting famous.”
“Hell, yeah,” Gloria says, adjusting her hair over her shoulders. “At least she’s getting her fifteen minutes. She tried before, with that picture of Preston’s house when we ruined it. She posted it on the blog, but that wasn’t sensational enough. But a video… She was onLocal New with Jackielast night, and I heard the school board already asked her to speak at the next meeting.”
“Why is she going to the school board?”
“Almost twenty million people saw a freaking brawl in our café and some pretty graphic sexual harassment,” she reminds me. “Willow Heights is not looking so good in the media right now.”
“Fuck,” I say. “So that’s what Baron was pissed about. I bet they got suspended.”
“Hey, you got what you wanted,” Gloria says. “The admin’s definitely going to be making some changes after they get done fielding questions from pissed off parents.”
“That’s not what I wanted.”
“Well, they’re going to have to hold those boys accountable. Isn’t that what you were after?”
“Maybe that’s why Dixie did it,” I say, nodding. “Not to get attention, but to get the Dolces in trouble. She’s definitely Team Darling.”
“It’s probably a bit of both,” Gloria says. “But yeah. All y’all are going to get called down to give statements. And the Dolces will be out for blood.”
“Shit,” I say, pushing off the sink, my heart skipping a beat. “Magnolia.”
“Oh, shit,” Gloria says, her eyes widening. “That could get ugly real fast.”
“I’ve got to warn her,” I say. “She hasn’t had a phone all weekend.”
“I’m sure she knows,” Gloria says, rolling her eyes. “Just because you live under a rock…”
“I better check,” I say. “Since she lost her phone. Thanks for the heads up.”
“Of course, girl. I got your back. Any time.”
I lean in and kiss her cheek before pushing out of the bathroom. I text Magnolia and then hurry down the hall and peek through the door of her classroom. Her seat it empty, and class started a few minutes ago. I think about interrupting to ask if anyone has seen her, but that seems crazy even for me. Instead, I head for the office, where I might be able to wheedle the information from the assistant.
I’m just passing the library when it hits me. That’s where she’d hide out. She has Grandpa Darling’s key to the basement, and if she got to school and found out the Dolce boys were coming for her…
It’s the last place they’d look, in their own lair.
I’m about to open the shelf when someone clears his throat behind me. “Can I help you?”
I turn to see a fairly hot, twentyish guy with brown hair and a vaguely familiar face watching me with something between curiosity and expectation.
“I’m… Just looking for someone,” I say, though there’s nothing in the corner where I’m headed except a window and the bookshelves.
He keeps watching me, like he’s waiting for me to come up with a better excuse. When I don’t, he taps a plastic nametag hanging from the belt loop of his dress pants, which he’s wearing with a button shirt with the sleeves rolled, a grey vest, and a tie. “I’m Mr. Delacroix,” he says. “The new librarian. I can help you find a book, but there’s no one else in here.”