As much as I wished Matt would appear last night, I also wished that I wasn’t a Pruitt. The first wish didn’t come true. So the second one had to. The universe owed me this. Just this one tiny thing. After everything that had happened in the last few months? Yeah, it definitely owed me. I made my way out into the hall.
But the universe hated me. Mr. Pruitt was standing in the living room holding a freshly pressed Empire High uniform. That couldn’t be a good sign. I didn’t think I’d be allowed to go back after my uncle died. He was the only reason I was a student there. So if Mr. Pruitt was holding that uniform, it either meant he was really nice and somehow persuaded the board to let me keep attending through the end of the semester. Or I was allowed to attend because… I swallowed hard. No. Please God, no.
He smiled, but it seemed forced. “Did you sleep well?”
I liked him less than I liked Miller. So I didn’t bother sugarcoating it. “No. I didn’t sleep at all.”
“Me either.”
We both just stared at each other. I tried to ignore the fact that he may have said that to imply that we were more similar than I thought. I didn’t want to inherit anything from him, including insomnia. Including a ticket to Empire High. Including half my freaking genes. But instead of saying any of that, I just kept staring. Don’t say it. Please don’t say it.
“Good news,” he said with that same fake smile. “You are in fact my daughter.”
I was pretty sure I was grimacing.
“So…” he cleared his throat. “Classes start in half an hour. I’ll have someone stop by this afternoon to take your measurements. But in the meantime, Isabella said you could borrow this one.” He draped the uniform on the back of the couch.
He wanted me to wear a uniform that belonged to Isabella? Was he kidding? There was no way that his daughter was okay with that.
He smiled again. It almost seemed like it was a new action for him, it looked so forced. But he was trying. I could tell he was trying. He wasn’t nearly as cold toward me as he was yesterday. And yet…I still didn’t like him. Not even a little bit.
“Miller will escort you to and from school,” he said. “I’ll officially present you to my family tonight at dinner. So make sure the stylist gives you something to wear for that.”
“I…no.” I shook my head. “I don’t want measurements. I don’t want dinner. I don’t want any of this. Please just let me go back to Kennedy’s place.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. But Miller will also grab all your old things this afternoon and set them up in your new room so you’ll feel more at home. Speaking of which…what’s your favorite color?”
“My favorite…what? No, I’m not moving in here.”
“I know. You’re moving in with us.”
I just stared at him. “Right. Moving in here.” I pointed to the bedroom down the hall that I had no intention of ever calling mine.
“This isn’t my home.” He laughed.
Then what the heck was it?
“I’ll see you tonight. You’ll have a busy afternoon, so don’t make Miller wait long for you after school. And Isabella said to make sure you sit with her at lunch. She’s excited to get to know you better. She’s always wanted a sister.”
I was pretty sure I vomited a little in my mouth. There was no way that anything Mr. Pruitt had just said about his daughter was true.
He turned to leave.
“Wait.”
He stopped but didn’t turn around.
“Why are you doing this? Why can’t I just go back to the Alcaraz’s place? Please. We can have dinner once a week or something to get to know each other. Just…not…not this. Please, Mr. Pruitt.”
“You’re my daughter.” That was his only reply before he stepped onto the elevator. He didn’t even look back at me.
That one fact alone wasn’t enough. Not when I knew the truth. He didn’t want me. He told my mom to get rid of me. I wasn’t the daughter that he wanted.
“We need to get you to school before you’re late,” Miller said and lifted up the uniform.
“I’m not wearing that. We need to swing by Kennedy’s place so I can grab…”
“There’s no time.” He shoved it into my hands. I looked down and the tag was still on it. Isabella had so many uniforms that she didn’t even need to wear all of them? I only had one Empire High uniform. And it was second-hand. I’d never even touched a new one before.
I shook my head. “I can’t do this. I can’t be related to him. Can’t we run another test? Maybe they mixed something up at the lab?” I tried to hand the uniform back to Miller.
“He’s not that bad,” he said, just like he had last night.
But I didn’t believe him then. And I didn’t believe him now. When I’d asked him if he was related to Mr. Pruitt, he’d almost choked on his bean burrito. I’d seen his face. I’d seen the truth. Mr. Pruitt was horrible. He was just like his daughter.
I could refuse to go to school. Throw a fit. But even thinking about it made me feel like I was already becoming Isabella. I didn’t want to be anything like her. And if that meant not getting what I wanted right now…then so be it. “Just give me one second,” I said.
Besides, there was a silver lining in all of this. I’d get to see Kennedy. And Matt. At least I didn’t have to worry about Matt suddenly hating me. I’d told him I was at the Pruitt’s house. And…I wasn’t. Apparently. So him not showing up was because of that. Not because he flaked.
I was in Isabella’s uniform and in the car before I could change my mind. It’s going to be fine. It’s going to be fine. It’s going to be fine. I said it over and over again until we pulled up outside of Empire High.
“Have a good day at school, kid,” Miller said.
“You too.” I cringed.
But his laugh made me smile for the first time all morning. I climbed out of the black sedan. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but it felt like everyone was staring at me as I stepped out onto the sidewalk.