Chapter 15
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Marigold
It took much longer than normal for the next ball to be announced. This time, Dahlia is meant to play in the orchestra.
Now, though, she’s in my room, calmly doing my hair, pinning it up with jeweled clips the color of autumn marigolds. Sometimes too many things marigold are a little on the nose, but Dad gave me these hair clips for my birthday the year before he died.
Dahlia has convinced me to wear them. Then she takes an orange-red feather and clips that in, too.
Of course, I can get myself ready for these types of things, but with Violet in Emporia, Iris working at the Council, and Dahlia constantly at her lessons, the house has been feeling emptier lately.
It used to be loud and chaotic all the time with so many girls, but now I find myself drowning in the silence.
So it’s nice to have Dahlia here with Rue and me, and when she offers to do my hair, I find it too hard to say no.
“I’m not convinced Lady Highbridge planned the ball herself,” Rue mutters from the bed as Dahlia puts the final feather in my hair. “She’s too old to handle so many decisions.”
I catch Rue’s eye roll through the vanity mirror. She’s lying on her stomach, nose in her phone as usual.
“The Highbridges have enough money to pay event planners to handle everything,” Dahlia says and looks at my reflection. “There, all done. Do you want me to do your makeup, too?”
“Sure.”
The dress I’m wearing is pretty. This one has orange and yellow feathers along the hem that give way to a rich white silk, and the vivid colors remind me of a sun bursting past the horizon at dawn.
“I wish it was my ball.” Rue sighs and sits up to watch us. Dahlia begins to paint burnt-orange shadow on my eyelids to match the feathers on the dress. “And look at all the cleavage you’re showing, Mari! I didn’t even know you had so much!”
I’m not really sure how to respond. “Uh, thanks?”
“Va-va-voom!”
I laugh.
“You’re ridiculous, Rue,” Dahlia says quietly.
“No, I’m honest!” She jumps up and grins. “You look good, Mari. There’s no way you’ll not get your mark tonight. Oh, oh! Maybe you’ll have a bunch of Alphas fighting over you! Could you imagine? Eek! Don’t forget the blocker spray! I’m gonna go tell Mom and Heath you’re ready.”
And she runs off.
I look at Dahlia. “God forbid anyone makes an offer tonight. It’s still so early in the Season. I’m not sure I’m ready for it yet.”
“Not so early for some. There are girls who’d love an offer. And some who are on their second or third Seasons without a mark.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” I say. “But it feels like everything is moving so fast. At least to me.”
“It kind of is,” Dahlia admits. “You’re handling things beautifully though, Mari.”
After applying my lipstick, she moves to my closet, touching some of my older gowns.
She’s smaller than me in all aspects—height, chest, hips—but there are some things in there she can wear.
As she searches for something to wear, I suddenly realize how long it’s been since we’ve actually talked.
Not simply while passing each other in the hallway, but like really talked.
Between the Season’s demands for me and all her tutoring and college interview prep, it feels like we’ve barely seen each other lately.
Guilt twists in me. I haven’t been a very good older sister to her, and I need to fix that.
“I feel like I haven’t checked in on you in forever,” I say. “How are things with the tutoring and interview stuff?”
Dahlia glances over at me quickly before shrugging one shoulder like it’s no big deal. “It’s fine.”
Liar.
And she’s nervous. I can tell.
Most people probably wouldn’t notice it, but I do. It’s in the way she keeps fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist and how stiffly she’s holding herself.
“Are you sure?” I ask more gently. “Want to talk about it?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Dahlia.”
She sighs. “The Queen Bee’s Stitch just…caught me off guard a little. She’s never mentioned me before. Not directly. It feels like things are changing.”
I frown, trying to remember it. I’m not obsessed with Stitch like Rue is, but I do my own doom scrolling like anyone else.
I’ve even been seeing more of VexNation’s streams come up, but it’s mostly his games POV and that doesn’t interest me. Rue had said he was cute, but he must not show his face much.
“You mean the one about your tutor?” I ask Dahlia.
Her expression pinches. “Yeah.”
“Oh please.” I wave a hand dismissively. “That entire thing was obviously just to segue from her bitchy commentary about me and my nonexistent love life. She’s not happy I haven’t made a match yet so she’s taking it out on the family.”
That finally earns the faintest smile from her. “And then she shifted again to the mysterious Alpha in White.”
“Yeah, and him,” I say. “Remember when Rue first discovered Queen Bee? It used to be funny. Now it feels like she’s trying to start a civil war with every other post.”
Dahlia nods. “The Monarch hates her. Iris told me she’s been obsessed with trying to figure out who she is for months. Is even considering getting Stitch banned in Sabine.”
I hesitate. “She can’t do that. Can she?”
“I don’t know,” she says. “I don’t think so. Sophine will get a lot of push-back for it if she tries.”
“No one would vote for her again.”
Dahlia nods. “Exactly.”
Then her expression shifts again when she moves toward the dress hanging from my closet door. She strips down to her underwear without a second thought and carefully pulls the gown over her head.
It’s sleek compared to most dresses this Season, dark velvet in a deep black-purple shade that reminds me of twilight.
The second it settles against her skin, my jaw drops. What looked understated on the hanger transforms completely once it’s on her. The velvet hugs her softly, elegant without trying too hard, and the dark color makes her pale skin and silver jewelry stand out even more.
For a moment all I can do is stare, because I suddenly realize my little sister isn’t little anymore.
Somewhere between all the music lessons and studying and quiet afternoons at the piano, Dahlia grew up.
I’ve been so used to looking at her through the lens of being her older sister that I never stopped to notice she’s becoming a woman.
“Dahlia?”
She pauses. “What?”
“You look…amazing.”
A blush creeps across her cheeks.
“No, seriously. You look like one of those tragic piano prodigies in old romance films,” I tell her honestly.
She laughs and smooths her hands down the skirt. “That feels oddly specific.”
“It is.” I smile. “But it suits you.”
“Thanks.” I watch as she braids her hair into one long strand before twisting it into a knot at the nape of her neck and adding a ribbon. Then she sighs. “I wish Violet was here. She could always braid my hair better than I can.”
I can braid too, but I know what she means. There is always something soothing about being around Violet. She has this uncanny ability to make everyone else feel calmer, even while her own anxiety quietly tears her apart underneath it all.
Whenever things start to feel too much or too heavy, I miss her. And Iris never hesitated to throw herself between me and Heath’s temper or Mom’s overbearing tendencies, usually with enough sarcastic humor to derail the entire argument before it could really start.
It feels like after Dad died, everyone slowly started leaving. Soon there will be no one left except Mom and maybe Heath.
I glance at my reflection again and wince. “The house feels empty without Violet and Iris around.”
“And soon you’ll be gone, too.”
Sadness tugs at me. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But you’ll be off to college, living the dream, so you won’t have to put up with Rue and Heath without me for too long.”
She snorts. “That’s if one of them accepts me.”
“Are you kidding? You’re going to knock their socks off. If anyone’s going to break out of society’s expectations, it’s you.”
“Don’t forget Iris,” she says. “She’s the first Omega on the Council.”
“Of course. But she got out in a different way. She—” I stop suddenly. The mention of Iris and the Council has an idea striking. “Wait! Where’s my phone?”
Dahlia glances around the room then points to the side table next to my bed. “What’s this about?”
“It’s…” Hurrying over to it, I open up the chat conversation to Iris. “It’s nothing.”
Dahlia chuckles. “Nothing? Or no one?”
Those two words strike a chord in me as I type.
Irisssssss I just had an idea and I need your help
A brief pause, but it isn’t long until the thought bubble with dancing dots appears, signaling her typing back.
Iris
Should I be concerned?
Maybe slightly. Okay, you know the inclusion program you started? Do you have access to all the participant names by chance?
Iris
Why do I suddenly feel like I’m being interrogated?
Because you are
Iris PLEASE I’m serious. This is important.
Iris
What is going on?
I need the list of the Alphas who joined the Season through that program
Iris
Why?
Because I’m looking for one of them. But I don’t know his name.
Iris
Hold the fuck on. As in, this Alpha is one you’re interested in?
I stare at the message for a second before responding.
Then I type back
YES! BUT I DON’T KNOW HIS NAME
Iris
***
How can you not know his name?
Long story. Just believe me. It’s driving me insane
Iris
OMG
I know. Please just tell me you can send me the list
Iris
Absolutely not.
IRIS
Iris
Mari, I cannot hand out private participant information because you’re in love.
I am NOT in love with him
I pause and then add
Yet.
Iris
Oh this is bad.
I know! But this is the best idea I’ve had in finding No One besides him magically turning up at another ball.
I don’t know what else to do, Iris. I need your help.
She doesn’t reply for a long moment and any hope I had at the start of this conversation drains from me. Maybe I should focus on Luca. He could at least carry a conversation and seemed interested in my art. His gift was thoughtful and—
Iris
Okay look, I might not be able to get you the list but I may be able to do something else that’s just as good.
Excitement flutters alive inside me.
What’s that?
Iris
You’re gonna have to trust me here. I have an important meeting with Sophine right now, so phone’s gotta go off. I’ll see you soon.
Dammit.
I grunt and chuck the phone onto the bed. That was useless.
“Iris was no help?” Dahlia asks, which makes me jump. I didn’t realize she had moved to read over my shoulder.
“No. Personal information and all that.” I sigh, defeated. “Another dead end.”
“Hmm. I didn’t know you had found an Alpha you like. Was it during the other day when all those Alphas showed up to the house? Mom said you had a line out the door.”
That isn’t even an exaggeration.
I still can’t believe how many men showed up just to hand me gifts and make conversation over refreshments.
And when Heath asked Reece to take Elise’s place serving drinks, I wanted to sink through the floor from embarrassment.
But at the same time, it was nice to have a friend there at my side.
Even if he wasn’t allowed to say anything out loud.
No one else calms me the way Reece does.
“No. I mean, I did meet one guy that I liked okay. Luca Moreau,” I say. “He was the only one who took a genuine interest in my art, and who I felt wasn’t just trying to impress me with his money or accomplishments.”
“Those are important things,” Dahlia says. “Sharing interests. But you told Iris you didn’t know his name.”
I nod. “That’s because I’m interested in a different Alpha. I met him at the Ackerman ball, but he wouldn’t give me his name. He only said he was from the mainland.” I huff out a laugh and sit on the edge of the bed. “I couldn’t even see his face because he was wearing a mask.”
“Wait.” Dahlia’s eyes widen. “A mask?”
The moment realization dawns on her face, I groan.
“Mari,” she says carefully, “have you been looking for the Alpha in White?”
There’s no sense spinning a story about it now. “Me and apparently every other Omega this Season.”
“Oh wow.” She rocks back on her heels. “That’s…unexpected.”
“It’s actually kind of emotionally devastating,” I mutter.
Dahlia comes and sits beside me and nudges her shoulder into mine. “Maybe he’ll come to the Highbridge ball tonight,” she says. “Or this is your sign that Mr. Moreau is the one for you.”
“Yeah,” I say numbly. “Maybe.”
Either way, I’ve pinned my hopes on the ball tonight. I only hope I don’t walk away devastated again.