“I was thinking,” Elise went on, with a little more self-possession, “that we could make this a bit of a longer con, our longest one yet. We could get you into school, so that you spend your senior year in New York. If you hate it, of course, we can always cut bait and leave on the next ’loop out. But we might as well see how it treats us first.” She ventured a smile. “It could be fun.”
“You would do that?” Calliope wanted what her mom was offering—so, so very much. But she also knew what it meant: that Elise would have to give up her independence, and live with a man who, no matter how kind he was, she didn’t love.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” Elise said simply, as if that answered every other question. “I hope you know that.”
“Look who I found!” Nadav stepped back onto the terrace, with Livya in tow.
Calliope stepped forward to give the other girl an impulsive hug. “You look beautiful tonight,” she gushed, in a burst of charitable fondness. It was true; her makeup made even Livya’s pale, watery features into something interesting, and her ivory cloqué gown with its full skirt gave her skinny figure some much-needed shape.
“Thanks,” Livya said stiffly, quickly extricating herself from Calliope’s arms. She didn’t return the compliment.
“Cheers to our new family!” Nadav cried out, brandishing a cold bottle of champagne like a weapon as he popped the cork. The sound ricocheted loudly over the hum of the party, drawing a few glances their way, but Calliope didn’t care.
She noticed that Livya barely took the smallest, almost imperceptible sip of the champagne before setting it down, her lips pursed. Clearly she wasn’t as pleased by this turn of events as Calliope was.
Ah, well. You can’t win ’em all, Calliope thought ruefully.
They were done conning. They wouldn’t have to cheat or lie or betray anyone’s trust; wouldn’t have to put on fake names and couture dresses and start the whole vicious cycle over again. The entire world felt brighter, lighter, and full of infinite possibility.
She would live in New York, for real—actually be herself, not some character her mom had made up to play the supporting role in their latest fiction. She could go to school, and have friends, and actually become someone.
She couldn’t wait to find out what Calliope Brown, New Yorker, was really like.
“Darling,” her mom hissed, with a sidelong glance, as Nadav handed each of them a champagne flute. “Are those new earrings? They look almost real.”
Calliope tried desperately not to laugh, but the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile in spite of everything. “Of course they’re not real. They’re beautiful, though, aren’t they?”
Elise’s unfamiliar new diamond sparkled in the moonlight as she held her glass towards Calliope’s. “Here’s to this time.”
“Here’s to this time,” Calliope repeated, and no one but her mother would have heard the hopeful, eager edge to the phrase she’d spoken so many times before.
RYLIN
FROM WHERE SHE stood on the edge of the dance floor, Rylin could see the mirroring of The Mirrors to full effect. Three stone bridges dotted with lanterns spanned the canal, each of them so thick with people that they were near impossible to move across. Overhead, etherium bridges winked into being with a burst of light and then vanished seconds later, reminding Rylin of the planes she and Chrissa used to watch from the elevated monorail station. From that far down, the planes had looked like lightning, vanishing from the sky almost the moment Rylin saw them.
What an unexpected day it had been. Just last night Rylin had pinged Leda from the ViewBox—she’d half expected Leda to ignore her, but Leda picked up right away. “What’s up?” she’d asked briskly, as if it weren’t at all weird for Rylin Myers to be pinging her on a Friday night.
“I want to come to Dubai,” Rylin had explained, and from that instant it had all been a whirlwind. She’d bought a new dress, flown overseas on Avery’s family’s plane, and now here she was.
She hadn’t seen Cord yet, but the night was still young. The thrill of what he’d said last week, that he never stopped caring about her, buzzed warm and pleasant in her chest. She was determined to find him—and to find out what it meant.
Her tablet buzzed with an incoming message. Curious, Rylin glanced at it—and was shocked into reading the whole thing.
From: Xiayne Radimajdi.
No subject.
Rylin, it read, I missed you in class yesterday. And I’ve just received notification from the registrar that you’re dropping down to the base holography section. I hope this isn’t true, but if it is, I understand.
Please let me apologize for my actions the night of the cast party. The fault is mine, for any and all lines that were crossed. Please also know how grateful I am, for all your help with Salve Regina.
You are incredibly talented, Rylin. The way you see the world is a gift. I am deeply sorry to lose you from the class. If you change your mind, I would be honored to have you back at any time.
I look forward to following your holography career.
Xiayne
Rylin felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She would need some time to think about it, to sort through her various emotions and come to a decision. But just reading the e-mail had made her feel better. She leaned against a hammered metal table, colored in a checkered black-and-white pattern. Maybe she would add the class back after all. Maybe.
“There you are!” Leda sidled over, holding the skirts of her sweeping white gown with both hands so that she could move more easily. She smiled, and it transformed her face: softened the angularity of her features, brought out the liveliness in her eyes. She looked nothing like the angry, drugged-out girl who’d threatened Rylin on the roof that night. Now she actually looked … happy.
“Hi, Leda,” Rylin greeted her.
Leda came to stand with her at the railing, following Rylin’s gaze over the glimmering crowds, lit by the sparks from the fire fountains. There was a live human chorus singing on one of the other terraces. Their voices unfurled like interwoven ribbons into the night.
“So,” Leda asked, after a moment, “how do you like your first party?”
“It’s not my first party.” Rylin rolled her eyes in amused disbelief.
“You could’ve fooled me,” Leda replied evenly. “You came all the way here to Dubai and now you’re standing alone, not talking to anyone? Come on, Rylin, you go to school with a lot of these people. Surely by now you can at least say hello to some of them.”
Rylin flushed. Leda was right. “Just because I go to school with them doesn’t mean I like them,” she said defensively.
“I don’t see the problem. You can dislike someone and still have a conversation with them. God knows you detest me, and yet you’re still talking to me.”
But to Rylin’s surprise, she found that she no longer hated Leda.
“I don’t understand you,” she said quietly. “A few months ago, you were threatening to destroy me. Now you’re bringing me to parties, helping me get out of classes. What changed?”