The Quince Project

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I tapped IG’s notifications. Most of them were DMs sending me Hot Goss’s latest “scoop.”

Has local Disney YouTuber been spending so much time inside the House of Mouse that she didn’t recognize a rat when she spotted one? According to sources, Matteo Beach High’s resident party planner isn’t who she says she is. Might want to follow up on those references, Princess P, before Ratatouille steals your big (c)hunk of cheese!

Before my fingers gave out, I DMed Gianna, His name is Remy!!!

As I went back to her profile, the phone slipped from my hands.

It landed on top of my foot with a hard thud.

I yelped in pain. The loafers were no glass slippers, and yet my toes—my entire leg—felt on the brink of shattering. Served me right.

Once again, Javi came to the rescue. He did the princely thing of not only picking up the phone, but also rubbing the top of my loafer as if to ease the hurt.

He brushed the sand away from the screen. Before he handed my phone over, the bright screen—no, the flashing post—grabbed his attention.

With the words chambelán and cheater, with the names Paulina and Javier strobing before his eyes, how could he not read the caption? Let alone refrain from reading the comments.

His lips flattened into a hard line, jaw clenching tighter with every finger scroll.

“Javi, I—” Words failed.

He lifted his gaze from the phone. His brown eyes, once so warm and vulnerable, became impenetrable, like drought-hardened soil. “What’s this talking about? What references?”

Any attempt at an explanation crumbled at his expression recalibrating. Like he’d misjudged me, realizing now that I was less upright than castle towers and more shadowy than its dungeons.

“You’ve been lying to Paulina?” His words thrummed taut in the humid air. The unspoken ones hit harder: You’ve been lying to me, too?

“Javi, I know this looks bad, but I…” Was there anything I could offer to get me out of this mess unscathed? I shot Po a desperate look.

She chewed her fingernail, as frozen to the sand as I was. Okay, then—no spiking this over the net forming between me and Javi.

He’d been so open about himself. Shared his past. Invited me onto his blanket. Into his heart. Fix this.

I turned back to him. Pressed a sweaty palm to my forehead and said, “I swear I didn’t—”

Only I did lie to Paulina. I did lie to him.

My stomach contracted so hard, I almost threw up.

He gave back the phone. Our fingers touched. I couldn’t tell whose were colder.

“I guess I have my answer,” he said.

Why did disappointment cut a million times deeper than anger?

“This post. It’s not true anymore—”As much as I wanted to paint over the lie with Mandy’s acceptance, the look on his face screamed it was too late.

As the words for why I’d done the wrong things for the right reasons withered, my phone started ringing.

The screen flashed with Paulina Reyes.

“When it rains, it pours.” Even though Po got that one right, her voice shook. “Please answer it. She’s refusing to talk to me.”

I glanced at Javi, but he averted his eyes. I took mine to the sky; I searched for the brightest star to wish upon. Begged for a perfectly crafted apology. For Javi and Paulina to forgive me and shrug off this misstep à la Po.

I tapped Accept. “Hey, Paulina, I was just about to call you,” I said, my voice cracking.

“Uh-huh,” she scoffed. “Since you’re probably with Baymoon and your sister.” She sniffled. Allergies—please let that be allergies. “Might as well put me on speakerphone.”

I did as directed.

“Care to explain this post everyone at your school’s tagging me in?”

My grip tightened on the phone, as if by squeezing its edges, I could hold on to my relationship with Javi. And my burgeoning friendship with Paulina. “When we met, I wasn’t interning at Mandy’s yet—but I am now, you can even call to check,” I expelled in a single breath.

“No need, and don’t worry—I won’t bust your cover.”

I swallowed. For now, the internship remained on steady ground. Plus, Paulina not exposing my lying ways had to mean something. An invite to fix our working, and personal, relationship?

“I should’ve been truthful from the beginning.” I directed it to both Paulina and Javi. Eyes darting to him, I said, “I promise no more misunderstandings moving forward, okay?”

When Paulina didn’t correct me, Po leaned over the phone. “All’s well that ends well, right, Pau?”

Seconds stretched. Javi dipped his head to the ground, frowning at the sand. My shoulders sagged. Po shifted from side to side.

“No, Po, nothing’s well. I trusted both of you. And for what? For you to ride my clout tails?” Barbs filled her voice, not unlike the thorns on the Baccara roses Javi and I’d chosen for her party.

Javi half turned away from me, ready to make his exit.

Speak up now or forever hold your peace.

“That’s not how it went down,” I said. Except, who the hell was I kidding? A part of it unfolded exactly as she’d described. “Okay, maybe it was a little bit like that, but only in the beginning.”

Paulina laughed. The venom inside it pricked more than Maleficent’s poisoned spindle. “Even if I did believe you, you really think that makes any of this any less screwed up?”

Her question punched me in the gut because it rang true. Even with all the fairy dust Mandy could sprinkle, wrongs would never transform into rights.

My knees buckled; I dropped onto the blanket. Javi shot me a look like my presence on it was no longer welcomed. Noted.

I shifted onto the cold sand, exiled from our kingdom.

He began rolling it up. It felt like he was rolling up his feelings for me alongside it.

My knees sunk deeper into the sand. I’d sullied this party. I’d spoiled my chance at creating something magical. Not just for Paulina, but for myself.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Even if it meant having to wait longer for the internship, I should’ve been up-front. Instead of being the fairy godmother of this story, I’d become its villain. “I should’ve been more proactive in correcting you.”

“Both of you, you mean,” Paulina hissed.

“Yes, both of us,” Po said, wrapping her duster around herself tightly. “Since we’re coming clean with everything, I need to fess up about pushing Cas into this scheme.”

I turned my head to Po. She helmed the volleyball team. But was she also ready to step back into the role of big sister and take one for the Torres team?

For a second, I was tempted to let her, except—

I was done navigating emotions and situations—good, bad, and ugly ones—solo.

We’d done enough of that After Mom. If we were going down with the ship again, the disaster movie I’d just watched taught me that survival depended on banding together.

“If Po fueled my fire on this, it was only because I gave her the matches to start it. I’m at fault here, too.” The lines on Po’s forehead smoothed a little.

“Why didn’t you tell us the truth from the beginning?” Javi asked, his chin quivering. Unable to find the perfect words, I stayed quiet.

He pivoted, leaving for good this time.

“Wait.” Tears wet the corners of my eyes.

I’d hurt two people who’d trusted me.

One with his broken heart, only for me to add another fissure. The other with her party to shed her childhood, when it was me who desperately needed to grow up.

“I told you the beginning of my planner origin story. And I wanted to tell you what happened next. How Mandy’s grid became the only thing that could make me forget Mom was gone.” My chest ached; I pushed past it. “All those happy endings made me believe one was still possible for me.” My eyes flicked to Po. “For us.” I exhaled long and slow. “So when I met Paulina and she was so impressed I was an intern there—”

Paulina cut in. “I was impressed by you, not your internship. I wanted to work with both of you because of your creative vision and Po’s energy.”

“Oh.” I hated that it was the only thing I could manage to say. Hated how she spoke in my least favorite tense: past.

“Look, before I go, I gotta know…” Her pause lasted a lifetime. “Was any of this real?”

I couldn’t tell if the question was posed to me. To Po. Or both of us.

Javi looked at me, waiting for an answer. He zipped his hoodie up. Clutched the rolled-up blanket close to his chest. Probably protecting himself against my words, my actions, from finding any cracks in his rusted armor.

“All of it was,” Po and I said at the same time. Po’s eyes locked on the screen, while mine fixed on Javi.

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened to both of you, and I’m sorry about this.” Paulina’s voice broke. She steeled it again, like a proper Sith Lord. “But in case it wasn’t obvious, you’re uninvited to dinner. You’re both fired from the quince. Lo siento, chicas.” She disguised a long sniffle as a cough. “I’m really sorry.”

The line went dead. Javi’s cue to resume stepping away. “Javi, I’m so sor—”

He put up a hand. “I’ve got to go check on Pau,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said. “That’s a good plan.”

“I’m not doing it for you.” He turned away. “I’m doing it for my friend.”

His words thrust into my chest. People always talked about getting stabbed in the back. Getting stabbed in the heart cut a million times deeper.

Between the darkness and the tears blurring my vision, Javi quickly disappeared into the thinning crowd. The vendors started to pack up their carts. Two guys began dismantling the screen.

Po slumped down next to me. After what felt like both an eternity and a millisecond, only she and I remained on this stretch of beach. We sat in silence, looking out into the dark horizon until we both shivered. She draped the bottom half of her duster over me.

I curled myself into a small ball, hoping the fabric could cloak me from this pain.

There was only one other time when I’d done this. Only one other time when she’d gone this long without talking.

I cried into her collarbones. Her tears seeped into my curls.

Together, we added another event on our shared calendar of Hurt.