“She may be rough around the edges, but at least she’s honest,” Kayla continues. “She doesn’t pretend to be someone she’s not—like you. How could you hurt Maxine like that? She’s your friend—we all were—and instead of sticking up for her, you cut her down to win favor with Olivia and the RLWs.”
“Kayla! Jocelyn!” Maxine comes bounding into the vegetable garden, crushing several melons in the process. “Come meet my family and—oh.” Maxine sees me, and the left side of her face falls. “I’ll come back later.”
I feel like I’ve been socked with a bag of flour. “Maxine, I…”
“Maxine, stay,” Kayla insists, and Jocelyn giggles with wicked glee. “We’re giving Gilly a piece of our minds. She needs to know how she’s made us feel.” She turns to me. “You haven’t been around at all since the breakout. It’s just RLWs, RLWs, RLWs!”
“Yeah,” seconds Jocelyn. “For someone so anti-royal, you sure seem to have made the glass slipper fit, so to speak.”
I’ve had it with Jocelyn chiming in. “If you must know, I joined the RLWs because I thought someone in there might be the mole or know who the mole is!” I glance at Maxine whose face is hanging to the floor. “I never wanted to take the sash away from Maxine. I joined because Princess Rose wanted me and I knew if I could get close to the group, I could find out information. The RLWs are obsessed with power.”
Jocelyn raises an eyebrow, her dark eyes narrowing. “Sound familiar?”
“If it was all a ruse, why didn’t you make them ask Maxine to be an RLW too?” Kayla questions. “Because you didn’t want to be made fun of. You knew they were being mean to her, and you let them do it.”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” Maxine says miserably.
“Admit it!” Jocelyn cries. “You like being the hero and getting the glory all to yourself! That’s why you went it alone and left your friends flat like stale gingerbread!”
“This is not your business!” I shout so loudly that even Maxine quakes. “This is between me, my friend, and my roommate!”
“Roommate?” Kayla questions. “Some roommate you’ve been. I know I lied a lot to you when you came here, but I was doing it for my family. All you’ve done lately is think about yourself! You never stopped to wonder what your friends were doing or how I’d feel about it being visitation day and having no visitors,” she adds. “At least the others invited me to be with their families today. You’re my roommate, and you didn’t even ask if I wanted to meet your parents or how I was feeling.”
“Exactly!” Jocelyn says, twirling her cape with glee. “You guys have wanted to stop Alva since the beginning, but it’s obvious Cobbler no longer remembers the prize. What have you found out by being an RLW, huh? I doubt anything. Meanwhile, Maxine has gotten another message on her scroll, and you don’t even know what it is because you’re too busy practicing curtsies.”
“I…” My heart is beating fast. And there is that feeling in my stomach I had the other day. I can hear Jax in my head and Father and even my own thoughts telling me what I already know: Jocelyn and Kayla are absolutely right.
“I considered you guys my family at FTRS, but I was wrong about you,” Kayla says. “I could never be family with someone so selfish.”
I sit down on the bench and steal a piece of the crumb cake they have on their picnic blanket. They probably lifted it from the cafeteria this morning. “You guys are right about everything.”
Jocelyn holds out her ear. “Can you repeat that?”
“I said you’re right,” I say gloomily. I glance at Maxine. “I was so worried about fitting in with the RLWs that I said some rotten things about Maxine, who has been kinder to me than anyone I know.”
“I haven’t been kind?” Kayla sniffs.
“You both have been,” I continue. “I didn’t mean what I said—any of it. I was foolish and rotten, and I hope you can forgive me and let me make it up to you.” I remove my RLW sash and place it over Maxine’s head. It gets stuck around her neck. “This is for you. If they don’t let you become an RLW, then I won’t be one anymore either.”
I glance at Kayla. “I got carried away. I should have thought about how visitation day would make you feel. Of course, I want you to meet my family. I want both of you to meet them!” Jocelyn coughs, but I ignore her. “Can you guys forgive me?”
Maxine starts to blubber and Kayla sniffles. “Yes, we forgive you!” Maxine cries, and she and Kayla hug me.
“Don’t ever act like a wicked stepsister again!” Kayla says, and we all laugh.
Jocelyn gives a lackluster round of applause, and I turn on her. “What are you still doing here?”
“Be nice,” Kayla tells me and my jaw drops. “Jocelyn has been helping us while you were off being royal.” I feel my cheeks burn. “She’s been hanging near the manifesto to see if anyone tries to contact Alva, and she’s been doing what she can to track down her sister and convince her not to turn evil again.”
Sisters. “I have to find Anna,” I remember. “She’s run off.”