Page 81 of Patrick

CHAPTER 22

FIFI

Working furiously tonight to finish my design project after two days of using all my spare time between classes, I step on the sewing machine pedal like I’m revving an engine. This project is too important for me to worry about skipping lunches, breaking my body-is-a-temple rule, shoving down whatever snack food I find in the kitchen. Think M&Ms and Fritos.

Important enough to shove aside Trick’s disappointment over not seeing him tonight, and that wounded puppy dog look he showed for a tiny flash—a look I’ve never seen before and don’t want to see again if I’m honest.

Ricci bounces into my room, flopping down on my bed while I finish a seam. “Are you sure you don’t want to come out with us?”

“Positive.”

“What’s Trick up to? He coming over?” She smirks.

“No.” My shoulders slump because I’m not happy with the situation even though it was my idea. “He’s going out with Pammy for a drink at The Stone Church.”

“He is? Everyone will see them together. Oh my god—you’re trying to set off a gossip storm, aren’t you?” She laughs. “Brilliant.”

“Yeah? Why do I feel stupid?”

“If you want people to believe he’s into Pammy and not you… well, they might. But it’s a stretch. They’re more likely to think he’s a douche, playing games with you.”

“Kids on campus might think that, but if word gets back to Rye—and Vincent in particular—it’ll reinforce the idea that Trick and Pammy are a real couple.”

“I suppose. So while you’re in your room slaving away, those two are out eating and drinking and who knows what—and you’re okay with that?”

I laugh. “Of course not. But I’m positive there’s no who knows what going on. Besides, I needed to get rid of Trick tonight to keep him from distracting me.”

My design gets a big applause, not only from my classmates, but from Prof M. Everyone but Darcy gushes over it.

One of the girls who I work well with, Tamara, asks questions about where I sourced the soft furry trim for the hem and straps.

I tell her, “It was hard to find and now it’s on back order, so I hope I don’t make any mistakes with it.”

Darcy nods. “It’s cute.” I’m too grateful for her rare positive comment to question her sincerity. I’m going to go with her grudging compliment as genuine respect.

“Looks like we’re about ready for the Fashion Show at the Winter Snow Ball this Saturday,” Prof declares. “Leave your designs here, and you can make your final corrections and finishing touches during the next class on Thursday. Then we’ll meet for a dress rehearsal two hours ahead of the Ball. Any questions?”

No one but Darcy has a question. “I forgot a belt and I’d like to bring it in tomorrow to leave it with my project. Okay?”

Professor M makes a face. “If you absolutely must. I’ll be in my office in the morning. See me then.”

Darcy smiles wide like I’ve rarely seen before. I’m glad she’s feeling better about her project. It would be epic if she softened up and we could share our angst about this over the next few days. Tamara and the others are great, but Darcy is my roommate, right there in our apartment, with me every day.

“You going to another class or back home?” I ask her as we’re throwing on our coats to leave.

She grins. “Back home? Sure, let’s call it that.” She laughs and joins me as we walk back to the Hamlet, which I now think of as home.

As Stat class ends, my happy glow at getting a 92 on my quiz, better than Trick’s 90, starts to fade.

“This is it until Saturday night, sugar lips,” he says as he takes my hand to walk me out, apparently not caring who sees us.

“Are you sure about that? We could meet for dinner⁠—”

“The coach insists we eat all our meals as a team at the facility for the rest of the season.”

“That’s crazy.” I disengage my hand from Trick’s to put on my sunglasses against the glare of the sun against the white snow. It flurried while we were in class, bringing a fresh blanket on top of the dirty trampled old stuff.

“It’ll get better next week. We need to be preparing for Saturday’s matinee game against Maine. They’re the number one team in the division. That’s going to take up all focus, or almost all of it.” He grins and leans close, lowering his head to nuzzle my cheek, giving me a quick kiss.