Chapter 42

The Gamma warriors fell back into the shadows. I told Susan to go take her seat in the audience and she obeyed.

I felt my body relax. Lily was satisfied.

And so was I.

It’s in your blood, she said to me.

You know it’s true. You were born to be their queen.

I looked out into the cheering crowd. And for the first time, I started to believe Lily a little. Maybe I did have something noble inside me.

Microphone feedback sounded as one of the judges picked up a mic and tapped it. He cleared his throat noisily and said, “Miss Yena, with perfect scores across the board, it’s clear to see that you are our winner today.”

The judge wanted to go on, but the audience rallied at this announcement, even though they’d already known I won.

I stood beside Lucy again and clasped her hand.

The judge pleaded with the audience to quiet down before he continued. “As we do each year at the end of this show, we welcome you to speak briefly about your collection. Would you please do us the honor of explaining your concept for your designs?”

A stagehand handed me a microphone, then disappeared.

“Thank you so much,” I said. It was an adjustment to hear my own voice booming back to me in the speakers. “I’d be happy to tell you about my collection.”

Lucy helpfully paced forward on the runway again as I described the items she was wearing and how I had constructed them. She returned to my side with an encouraging smile.

“The theme of the whole collection,” I said, trying to wrap up quickly, “is harmony with nature. The fabrics I have used in all of these garments are sourced in an ethical, sustainable way. I wish our society could move past the old tradition of animal furs being the standard for haute couture.”

There was a grumble throughout the audience.

“Wolves can coexist with other animals in peace,” I continued. “This is what I hope to convey with my work. A vision for a world with less violence.”

“That was well said, Miss Yena,” the judge replied. “Thank you.”

The audience was rising to their feet as they continued their applause. I looked to my left and was surprised to see Susan rising to her feet as well. She was clapping and looking at me with what finally felt like true humility.

Susan nodded slightly when we made eye contact. It was enough to let me know that she was finally finished with all these theatrics. She might have also actually been convinced by my speech, because the malicious energy really seemed to have gone.

We could not wait out the applause. Lucy and I needed to get off the stage, because the longer we were up there, the rowdier the crowd was getting.

I could follow up with the judges later – right now, it seemed like a good idea to get back to my security detail and the safety of the car. But Lucy had other ideas.

She grabbed the mic from my hands.

“Just one last thing,” Lucy said, her voice resonating through the theater. The crowd quieted a little to listen.

NOLAN

Nolan smiled, watching the alerts rolling in on his phone. He had to toggle the notification settings so they would stop going off, because now that the story was getting reposted everywhere, it was nonstop.

Yena won the contest. Just like Nolan expected her to.

Her work was beautiful and inspired. He had not doubted for one moment that she would put her classmates to shame and come away with first prize.

There was a video going around of Yena’s acceptance speech. Nolan clicked a link to watch it.

It was not just an acceptance speech.

It was a wondrous moment to behold.

Yena had been onstage, when that horrible girl from the Full Moon Ball went charging up to protest the princess’s win. Yena put the bitch in line and had her on her knees in seconds.

Nolan had never been prouder of his wife.

The smile on his face got bigger every second the video went on.

When she did get to the speech, Yena made it short and to the point.

Nolan had no idea, before, about her concept for her show collection. He found himself wishing he had asked her about it.

She was describing a vision of a better world that centered on nonviolence. This was an idea close to his heart.

He felt a hitch in his breath. The more deeply he admired and loved this woman, the more painful it felt. It was getting too hard to hold it all inside.

Nolan stood and started pacing the room. He had to do something. Something to show Yena how much he cared about her.

He re-posted the video of Yena’s speech on his social account.

Nolan was a little buzzed and a lot excited. His fingers flew across the keypad, and he hit post before he could think twice about what he was doing.

His post started getting likes immediately.

He had announced that after her win at the university, the princess would now be starting her own brand of women’s plus-sized clothing.

With a sinking feeling, Nolan re-read what he had written. And realized it might have been better to ask Yena first before putting something like this out there.

There was a good chance she was going to be furious.

YENA

“My dear friend Yena, our princess and the most talented artist this school has ever seen, made a deal with me this week,” Lucy announced into the microphone.

My eyes widened.

“I promised her that if she won this show, I would do something that I was scared to do. I need to make good on my promise before I lose my nerve, and can’t see a better time to do it than right now. Adan, if you’re watching, I have to tell you – I love you.”

The crowd gasped. They were loving the drama.

“I know it sounds crazy because we hardly know each other,” Lucy continued, “but it’s just the way I feel. I’m not asking you for any reply. I just had to say it.”

Lucy handed the microphone back to me. She was shaking.

“Well, I guess that’s it, everyone,” I said into the mic, shrugging. “Thank you.”

The crowd cheered.

Lucy and I waved to the crowd, then bolted for the stage exit. The Gamma warriors got us outside and into the car quickly, even though the courtyard and parking lot were crawling with news crews and paparazzi.

Everyone in the crowd outside was shouting something. I could have sworn, though, that one of the voices called out, “When will your new clothing line be available in stores?” I spun around to see who’d said it, but one of the guards gently guided me back toward the car door, and in I went.

“What is it?” Lucy asked.

I must have had a very confused look on my face.

“Someone just said something really weird out there,” I replied, looking out the tinted window at the clamoring reporters.

“What’d they say?”

“Something about… my clothes being available in stores.”

Lucy squinted like she wondered, too, what that meant.

Just then I had a very overdue realization. I’d been so caught up with the show all day, I hadn’t once looked at my cell phone since Lucy and I first set foot on campus in the morning.

Nolan. I was supposed to call Nolan.

Oops.

My phone was dead when I fished it out of my bag, so I got it plugged in to a charger between the seats and gave it a minute to restart.

“Hey,” Lucy said. Suddenly she was holding a big, heart-shaped box wrapped with a gold ribbon. “I just noticed this was next to me here on the seat.”

Lucy handed me the box.

“Your husband must be really smitten with you,” she said, smiling.

I pulled on the ribbon to unravel it and removed the lid. The box was full of chocolate covered strawberries, a bunch of different kinds. Dark, milk, and white chocolate.

Lucy gasped. “Please tell me,” she said, “that I can have one of those.”

“Have as many as you want,” I told her, pushing the box in her direction.

She picked out a white chocolate strawberry and I took a dark chocolate one. We raised them in the air and tapped them together like it was a toast.

“Congratulations, Yena,” Lucy said. “You’re an inspiration.”

I blushed and shook my head.

Just then my phone lit up, turning itself back on now that it had enough power.

I entered my password to unlock it and was startled when I saw how many notifications I had waiting for me. The phone chimed as a text came in. And chimed again and again.

I put it on silent and watched the screen in awe as my phone completely blew up with messages and social notifications.

I didn’t even know which ones to click on. But the previews started cluing me in to what was going on. I clicked a link that took me to Nolan’s only official social media profile.

He had posted a video of my acceptance speech at the show.

In the caption, he’d made a very unexpected announcement. Saying I was starting a business now.

That was sure news to me.