Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (25 page)

Chapter
1
4

Warning Bells

T
he
eve
ning
of the dance,
Rae
ran down the hall
chasing
the flow
of constant chatter
.

Molly
stood
in the bathroom
, makeup
done, in front of a full-length mirror straightening her gorgeous
auburn
hair, which now
fell
pin-straight on her shoulders
.

A
twinge of envy
shot through Rae.
She twirled an unruly curl around her finger.
No point in straightening her hair
. I
t never lasted long enough
.
At least Molly had talked her into adding the blonde streaks into
her
dark
mop
the previous year
.
Rae
had
instantly
loved it and kept
up the style
.

Desiree curl
ed
wisps of her hair around her face
,
and stared
into the other mirror
.
She wore torn jogging pants and a
sport
top. Her tatù dance
d
as she moved her hips to the music playing on a docked i
P
od sitting on the counter.

“Y
ou
could
go to the dance dressed
in t
hat
.
” Rae pointed at Desiree’s clothes
and giggled
. “A
ll the
guys w
ould
go
crazy!”

“
She’ll
make the girls of
Roe Hampton
insanely jealous,” Molly added.

“
It’s a tatù, not a tramp-stamp.”
Desiree
smiled, despite trying to sound annoyed. “
I’
ll
stick
to my
simple
dress
.
”
She
unplugged her curling iron.
“
However, according to my father,
I
seem to
get into enough trouble without trying.”

“
W
hy are you guys getting ready so early?
” Rae checked her watch. “
It’s only five.
The dance doe
sn’t start until eight, right?”

“Yeah,
but
Maria
and Haley
are coming over,” Molly said. “
We’re ordering pizza
,
and Reece
’ll be here
a
bout
seven.
Plus, it’s going to take me an hour to do you
r
hair so I
wouldn’t
have any
time to get ready then.
”
S
he
watched
Rae
in
the mirror.

“Y
ou don’t have to do my hair.
I
plan
on just wearing it in a bun.
There’s no use straightening it. You know it’ll just go curly in five seconds.”

“Molly’s got
big plans for your
head
tonight
.
She said she wants something more dramatic than last year. There’s no photos
,
but people talk
,
and I
totally want to see Molly’s talent,
” Desiree said. “
I’ll
grab a chair from
my
room
for you
.”
She disappeared out the bathroom door.

“What?
Wait a minute. I think–“

“Too late
.”
Molly
grabbed
Rae’s arm to prevent her
escap
e
.
“I bought these
sparkly little pony
tail
holders and we
’re
going to put some twists and braids into you
r
hair.
We’ll leave most of it down, just put the sides up and do all the little bits.
It’ll look awesome
. Tr
ust me
.”

Rae let her shoulders drop
and
exhaled.
“Fine
.” She pretended
to give in
but
was
secretly ecstatic
that
Devon
would
get to see her all dolled up by Molly’s best efforts. Molly might be loud and sometimes obnoxious
,
but having all of her considerable talents focused on Rae was, occasionally, a plus
. “A
s long as it won’t make y
ou late for seeing Reece
.
I want to meet him
before
the dance.
You know, make sure he’s good enough for you.”

“He is.
He’s
the
pie in my apple.”

“Pardon?”
Rae raised her eyebrows.

“You know, apple pie.”

“Moll
s
,” she
laughed
,
“
I think you mean he’s the apple
of
your
eye
.”

“W
hatever.” Molly waved her hand. She turned as Desiree walked in with a chair.
“Sit.
Let’s get started.”

T
wo
hours later,
Rae followed Desiree out
of the bathroom
.
She had to admit Molly had outdone herself again.
Her hair looked
awesome
, like it belonged on someone else’s head.
The tiny braids and twists were going to be a pain to take out late
r
, but
the finished look was
definitely worth
the trouble.

Walking down the hall, Rae had to laugh.
Molly
hadn’t
stop
ped
talking about
Reece
the
entire
time
.
Desiree and Haley
wouldn’t shut up
about Kraigan.
The air seemed to
be charged with excitement
,
and it had nothing to do with Molly’s tatù
.

I
nside
her
room, Molly took charge
once
again.
“Rae,
you’ve got to get dressed
.
Reece
’
s going to be here in about fifteen minutes
,
and I want you downstairs with me to
see
him
when he gets here
.”

Desiree
reached inside
the
closet and pulled the
dress
bag out.
She
handed it
to Rae with a dramatic curtsey.
“You
r
highness
.” She had
a big grin on her face.

Rae grabbed the bag out of Desiree’s hands and leaned for
ward to whisper, “Just remember,
pa
yback
’
s a bitch
.
I’d be keeping one eye t
rained on me all evening, prince-a
ss.”

Desiree
let out a throaty
laugh
.
She
straightened
and gave Rae a
light
shove.
Unprepared,
Rae lost her balance and fell backward on the bed.

“I’ll get you
, my pretty
.”
Desiree
pounced
on top of
her
.
Both girls
rolled and play-fought, enthralled in a fit of
giggles.

“Stop it!
” Molly hollered. “
You guys are gonna ruin Rae’s hair and wreck her dress.
None of us has a tatù to fix that in time
!
Don’t make me use this
.”
Molly pointed her fingers
at them
, little sparks jumping
from
the tips
.

Desiree harrump
h
ed but slid beside Rae on the bed.
She and Rae leaned their backs against the wall, crossing their arms and legs simultaneously.
That only brought
on
another
bout
of
laughter
.

“Sorry, Molls.
I promise to be good now.
” Rae tried to wipe the smile off her face
and raised her hand
.
“Scout
’
s honor.”
It felt good to have friends like this.
These were the moments Rae figured
she
would
remember the most after she graduated.

Molly swatted Desiree’s feet and shook a finger at her. “You’re only trouble. I finally have Rae dressing and acting
ladylike
,
and
you go encouraging
her to
act the
silly-sausage
.
”

Desiree stuck her tongue out
but stopped
goofing around
long enough
to
help
Molly
take
Rae’s
dress out
of the dress bag
.
Rae crawled off the bed and slipped into her dress.

“We gotta go
,
” Molly
said when Rae
turned around
. “It’s almost seven.” She
grabbed her bag and phone
.
“We’ll see
the rest of
you
at the dance.”

“I need a
pee-break
before we head down,”
Rae
said
as they passed the
bathroom
.

“Hurry.
” Molly check
ed
her phone. “
Reece
just text
e
d
.
He’s
in the parking lot
.
I’ll
let him know we’ll meet him outside
Aumbry
House
.”

Rae
glanced up at the bathroom door frame as she
slipped inside,
Carter
’s conspiracy theory that it had been rigged playing in her mind
.
Better to be safe than sorry.
Nothing appear
ed
out of the ordinary.
H
er heels click
ed lightly
against the marble.
She stopped short when she saw herself in the mirror.