Page 115 of The Debutantes
Because the truth is, it was easier that way. I’d always been trapped. This was just a new castle. Once I realized that, the shutting of the storage-room door started to sound like the click of my old night-light. Permission to sleep while someone else stands guard against the monsters.
“You look beautiful,” Mom says, the necklace hanging perfectly now.
“Thanks.” I touch the diamond, smiling a little.
Vivian might have picked up on my tell, but I’ve gotten better at hiding it. Better at perfecting our story: yes, it was Marty and Coach who kidnapped me. No, I don’t feel sorry that they’re in prison. Not one bit.
And I don’t, to be clear. When my parents brought Coach and Marty in to keep an eye on me at the Den, I thought about fighting it. They were murderers. Dad knew it,Iknew it, and so did Mom, I’m pretty sure. But then I remembered: technically, Dad is a murderer, too. Or, at least, an accomplice. Still, every time he came to the storage room to bring me a warm blanket or my favorite po-boy for dinner, I knew—Dad thought he was protecting me. That’s why he was keeping me there. That’s why he called Marty. The Pierrot, their brotherhood, was sacred to him, and I think he trusted that it meant Marty wouldn’t hurt me.
So did I, at first.
And maybe that should have made me brave enough to run when I had the chance, before Coach drugged Vivian, and Piper and April came storming in to break us out.
The thing is, sometimes it’s just as hard to escape when the door is wide open.
“Y’all ready?” Dad asks, appearing from the hall.
“Just about,” Mom answers, smoothing my hair and giving me a quick kiss on the head.
Dad steps into the mirror frame, completing our perfect little family portrait.
“How does it feel to be an almost graduate?”
He squeezes my shoulder. I try not to flinch, smiling instead.
“Weird,” I say. “Good.”
It’s an easier answer than the truth, which is a lot more complicated, even if everything did work out, at least on the surface. The Pierrot is disbanded, but my family is okay. Dad’s safe full of evidence came in handy: in exchange for his testimony, he got off scot-free. He didn’t get named in the official exposé, either—but I wouldn’t be surprised if it took some well-timed donations to make that happen. Piper’s dad is okay, too, after they gave him the same deal.
Not so much for Marty. I do wonder, sometimes, if Dad regrets turning his best friend in, but it’s like he said: Marty had been a liability for a long time, always pushing for more power, for the chance to be King. It was better this way, with him gone.
So the fairy tale has a happy ending, for once. The bad guys are gone, the dragons are slayed. The Queen and her Maids are free. Piper got to keep her spot at Vanderbilt, thanks to me. Once I swore she didn’t sabotage my application, Dad got it sorted out pretty quickly.
April’s off to the photography program at NYU. I don’t know how long-distance will work out with Renee—they got together a couple months after everything happened at the Den—but they seem happy. April deserves it, I know, even if we’ll never be the best of friends. There was never any proofabout her vandalism, either—not after Mom and Dad wiped the database of security footage at the Den to cover up their own secrets.
Vivian is heading to Miami, with plans to play soccer. She also won’t be too far from Sav, who surprised no one by getting into FSU’s supercompetitive musical-theater program. It took some time, but we’re all friends again—just maybe not as close as before. Because even though neither of us has a thing for Wyatt anymore, I haven’t forgotten the way Vivian betrayed me. Neither has she. But that’s the kind of thing, I guess, that you have to learn to live with.
We’ll have some space next year, at least: I’ll be here at Tulane, which wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but I’m glad it worked out this way. It’ll be good, I think, to stay close to home.
As far as actual graduation, though, I’m not thrilled. Besides the heat, Piper’s giving the valedictorian speech, and even though we’re on good terms now, I know it’s going to be insufferable, especially since her salutatorian boyfriend, Aiden, will be looking on all googly-eyed.
Not to mention the problem of my ex-boyfriend. Wyatt and I aren’t really talking, but at least it feels a little less hostile between us. And he’ll be fine: next year at LSU, he’ll find some sweet sorority girl who’s just as good at playing the part of his girlfriend as I used to be—maybe not better, but at least she’ll mean it more.
The main problem, really, is the whispers. Already, I know everyone will be talking today, even so many months later. Lily LeBlanc, the missing Queen, found. The girl who escaped her captors with the help of her three Maids. The girl whose father might have helped cover up a murder, if you believe the rumors from a brave few who don’t cower at his feet.
But we LeBlancs are used to being watched. It comes with the territory.
“We should get going,” Dad says, checking the time. “Don’t want to get stuck with bad seats.”
“Can Mom and I meet you at the car?” I ask. “I need her help with one more thing.”
“Of course. Just don’t be too long.” With another smile, Dad leaves.
That’s the nice thing about all of this: I’ve earned their trust again.
Which means I can still occasionally test its boundaries. And Mom seems to know I’m about to do exactly that.
“What is it?” she asks, once Dad’s footsteps have disappeared down the stairs.
