Chapter 9

"It's good to be back home," I said, burrowing myself under my blankets.

"You consider a church home? Hey, scoot over, girl," Robyn said. She joined me under the blanket, squishing Aurora.

"Move over!"

"You want me to move over? You've got half the bed!"

"Nah, that's Rusty; move your big butt!"

"My big butt—this is my bed!"

"Oh no, we're going to fall," Aurora said. And we fell, all tangled in the blankets and stuffies in a big giggling heap.

There was a knock on the door, and then a distinctly-recognizable Royalty say, "Keep it down, I'm trying to get my dress on."

"That could take all month, dear," Aurora said. We got ourselves out of the blankets and I opened the door to see Kayla standing in the doorway. After the office incident on my first day, she'd also called me a smart-ass, which was more of a compliment than an insult, after I didn't let her copy my science homework. Instead, I'd said that the science book was right next to her.

"Look, I actually have a date, so just—" she did the stupid little motion with her hand that the Royalty had started using that meant either shut up or calm down when they were doing it to themselves.

"Look, I have an actual decent date and more important things to do than argue with a slut like you right now, so just, you know—" I flipped her off and slammed the door.

"Where'd you put your dress, Rusty?" Aurora said.

"Oh, Robyn confiscated it because she said it looked like shit," I said. We both looked at Robyn, who grinned sheepishly. "Robyn, where's my dress?" I said with anxious concern.

"Don't worry, Rusty," Robyn said, rolling her eyes. "I just wanted to fix a few holes in it. It's in the laundry room, in the dryer. I just put it in before coming here."

"Good. There's only four days until the ball," I sighed. "Oh no, I'm starting to sound like one of them!"

"It's okay, Rusty, we've got your back," Aurora said, grabbing a bag of chanchito and throwing them to me. Robyn had bought them from a little corner shop called the Carniceria we'd dropped by, saying that none of the Royalty would ever eat them because in English they were called fried pork skin ears. I took a handful and tossed them to Robyn and then grabbed my math book and folder and we went into doing our homework and helping each other.

If we had been expecting it, we would've heard the whispers and giggles right outside our door. We would've known not to say where my dress was, and we would've known not to have a study group in my room instead of the main dorm. But, we were only human, and we weren't expecting the Royalty to do something as evil as they did.

"Okay, now, let's go over it again."

Robyn and I had been walking back from lunch when all of a sudden, we were grabbed from behind and something was tied around my eyes and I was gagged. On most circumstances, that would have been the most horrifying and terrifying experience ever—except for one thing. The boys that had taken us were, of course, Jesse and Justin, Aurora's date and brother, and they had talked to us the entire way.

"No, no, no, Justin, you aren't going to some prom. It's just a dance, okay? So your shirt is fine. Stop flicking your hair, Prince Charming. Go over again what I told you to do," Robyn said. She'd assumed the main position of telling the two boys what to do, standing in the center of the gym, where the dance would be. They were nervous and, since we were girls (they just noticed it), and we were the best friends of Aurora, we could help them to get more than just one date. Jesse really liked Aurora, he was just a little...intimidated by Robyn, who was usually with her. Which would be a major relief for Aurora.

"Jesse, loosen up. You look like you're going to spontaneously have a breakdown," I said, pushing his shoulders so he wasn't standing like a soldier. "Justin, what are you doing? Are you going to sweep her off her feet? Do you want to? Don't look at me like that, answer the question! No, I'm sorry, I can't hear you. Oh, really? And how are you going to do that? Then please tell me you aren't carrying a condom in your pocket. Gochino! Give me that!"

I stopped Robyn from strangling Justin, grabbed her shoulders so she couldn't move, and said, "Look, they're boys. They're high school boys. No, they're Catholic high school boys. No, scratch that; they're mastermind Catholic high school boys going to a dance."

"All right," Robyn sighed, getting out of my grip. "But if Rudy has the same intent that dear old Justin did, I'm going to make him a eunuch."

"Did she just—" Jesse stared at Justin, both of them open-mouthed, and then they quickly put their hands in front of their pants, just to be safe.

There was a thump at the door. "Oh, that's probably Aurora with Rusty's dress," Robyn said.

I rolled my eyes playfully and said, "If she was in a wheelchair and blind, she'd still find Jesse."

"Come in, Beautiful," Jesse called. The door opened, and Sister Wendy walked in. Jesse and Justin straightened up, and Robyn stepped down from where she'd stood on the chair to be taller than Justin and Jesse.

"Good afternoon, Sister Wendy," we chorused.

"Robyn and I were just giving Jesse and Justin advice on how to act around Aurora and Monica during the ball," I said, pulling my skirt nervously. Sister Wendy cleared her throat and nodded stiffly in her nun's habit.

"Rebecca Park," she said, turning to me, "I've just learned from some girls that the dryer that your dress was in was defective—"

"What?" I said.

"—and the remains of your dress aren't suitable for the upcoming ball. Please make new arrangements."

As she said this, she handed over a small box. She went outside, and I slowly opened it up, and pulled out the dress, dropping the box. I held it out.

It was ruined. The left sleeve was ripped off, the hem was torn, there was a huge rip across the chest, the waist ribbon had been taken out, the entire thing was full of holes...it was entirely ruined. We'd spent hours going from store to store, trying to find the right dress that wouldn't make me seem so small, my hair so red, until we finally found the white dress.

I dropped the dress on the floor and ran out. I heard Robyn behind me, yelling for me to stop. I ran past the cafeteria and the boys' staircase, past the bathrooms, up the stairs, through the girls' dorm, past the Royalty that had gathered on the armchairs and tables, up the stairs, through the tunnel connecting the building to the church, and down the stairs to the church. I fell before I reached the first pew, and let the tears flow then, sobbing.

I didn't know that Robyn had been behind me the entire time. I didn't know that the Royalty had locked the door to the dorm so Robyn couldn't follow me to the church. I didn't know that she'd carried the box and the dress the whole way to the church entrance only to have it locked. I just knew that whatever chances I had of going with Rudy to the ball, to show the Royalty that an outcast like me could get invited to the ball.