Chapter 17
Audrey
“She’s right through here.”
The nurse pulled aside the curtain and let Tina and I through. Exchanging glances, we stepped into Avis’s small hospital room–the scent of antiseptic mixed with fresh flowers from a vase on the side table overwhelming us.
“You guys came.” Avis grinned at us from the hospital bed, her blonde head sporting a clean white bandage where she had hit it.
Tina and I surged forward, each of us hugging Avis from one side. When we pulled away, I practically had tears in my eyes. Tina pushed her red hair out of her face and beamed down at Avis,
“Tina told me you were okay,” I said,
id, “but I had to see fo
see for myself”
Avis giggled and tucked a stray blonde curl behind her ear. “The doctor said it was just a mild concussion,” she said, reaching up to touch the bandage covering her temple.
“Did you h
have to get stitches?” Tina asked as she leaned closer to get a better look.
Avis nodded and let out a huff. “Yeah. They said it might leave a bit of a scar on my eyebrow.”
Tima and I exchanged angry glances, and I felt my chest clench. Reaching out to give Avis’s hand a squeeze, I said, “I’m sorry that happened. It’s my
“Your fault” Avis narrowed her eyes at me. “How!”
I swallowed and shrugged. “I was useless. I should have tried harder to get away from them, to=”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Avis waved her hand dismissively. “I haven’t regretted biting Linda for even a moment; she deserved it.”
There was no containing the laugh that escaped me at those words. Without thinking, I leaned forward again and threw my arms around Avis, squeezing her so tight I thought her small frame might shatter beneath my grip. When we pulled apart, though, we were both grinning from ear to
ear.
“Speaking of Linda” Tina said, waving her phone at us, “I just got word that her parents found out about her behavior.”
“And?” Avis and I asked almost in unison.
Tina chuckled. “Apparently they cut off her credit card. Looks like the princess is poor now, just like the rest of us.” She paused then, her eyes widening slightly as she scrolled through the text on her phone “And., Oh, Goddess. Read this
Without an explanation, Tina shoved her phone into my hands. 1 furrowed my brow and took it, reading out loud- “Linda and her team are facing disbandment.” My eyes turned into saucers as I slowly lifted my gaze to look at my friends. “Does this mean
My friends and I stared at each other in shock as we took in the implication: Linda might not be in the running for the fashion show after all. Perhaps she truly had become the exact embodiment of the type of person who she had accused us of being
Someone who couldn’t produce a worthwhile garment to save
her life.
Suddenly Avis let out an abrasive laugh that was so loud it caused both me and Tina to whip our heads around–such a loud sound for such a small girl. Her face was beet red from holding it in, rears streaming down her cheeks,
“Oh, how the mighty fall,” she said, wiping at her tears with the back of her hand. “This has been coming for a long, long
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