“This is beyond pointless,” Asha said. She was leaning against the coat check counter, chin propped in her hand. When she let out a disgruntled sigh, her bangs puffed up like a feather caught in an updraft. “We’re wasting our time.”
By this point in our friendship, I’d learned to ignore my best friend’s constant grumbling. Complaining was something of a hobby for Asha, a way to pass time when she was bored. Still, I cocked my head in question.
How could shenotbe excited?
Even after the fight I had with Mom earlier, I was buzzing with anticipation. Tonight was the biggest fund-raiser of the season—the Children’s Cancer Alliance masquerade ball. The most affluent of California would be in attendance, from CEOs to Hollywood stars. There was even a rumor that Beyoncé would be making an appearance, and while I doubted anyone as A-list as she would show up, there would still be a few celebrities in attendance.
For the past month, Asha and I had been working as interns at the CCA. Most of our time was spent calling donors, writing newsletters, and running errands, but today we were in charge of manning the coat check. Our shift was ending soon, and after so many hours spent preparing for this event, I was dying to put on a mask and join the party.
“Nobody is wearing a jacket,” Asha continued. “It’s disgusting outside.”
She had me there. Los Angeles was in the midst of a heat wave, and this morning while I was scarfing down a bowl of Wheaties, the Channel 7 weatherman had reported that the city was experiencing some of the highest recorded temperatures since the nineties. As a result, coat check duty was, as Asha had said, pointless. Not that I minded. The coatroom adjoined the lobby, so if I leaned far enough to the left and craned my neck, I could watch guests arrive off the red carpet. I’d planned to use the downtime to study, but my ACT prep book lay forgotten on the counter in front of me.
“Lighten up, will you?” I said. “This is supposed to be fun.”
“Fun?” Asha gestured to the empty room around us. “You have a pretty screwed-up concept of the word.”
Before I could respond, there was a flutter of movement on the edge of my vision—another guest! I reeled around fast enough to put a kink in my neck, but I only managed to see a flash of tuxedo and blond hair. Judging by the growing commotion, whoever had arrived was important, but there were too many people blocking my line of sight to see who. Just as I was about to turn back to Asha, a tall woman with a pixie cut stepped out from the crowd and made her way in our direction. Even with her mask on, I immediately recognized her as Sandra Hogan, our boss.
“Look,” I said, nodding toward her. “Maybe Sandra is cutting us loose early. We could catch the tail end of cocktail hour!” A half grin spread on my lips, but I contained the smile before my excitement grew out of control. There was no guarantee that Sandra would let us attend the ball after our shift.
Using a single finger, Asha twirled her phone in circles on the countertop. “You say that like you plan on staying.”
My head jerked up. “Don’t you?”
“Definitely not,” she said, her nose wrinkling. “As soon as we’re done, I’m heading home.”
“Aw, come on,” I complained, my gaze still focused on our boss. Sandra paused in the lobby to talk to one of the guests, and my shoulders slumped. Maybe we weren’t being let off early after all. Still, I said, “You can’t leave early. You’re my ride.”
“Sorry, Felicity.” Asha shrugged halfheartedly. “I have a date with my computer. We’re going to spend a long, romantic evening on Tumblr.”
That was no surprise. Asha had been obsessed with Tumblr ever since her fandom blog aboutImmortal Nights, the hit TV show, went viral. Nowadays, she spent more of her free time creating memes and reblogging GIFs of the actors than interacting with actual people. In fact, that was why she was volunteering for the CCA. Asha’s mom had gotten so fed up with her daughter’s antisocial behavior that she made her get a summer job. Not wanting to work the local Dairy Dream drive-through or sort shoes at the bowling alley, Asha opted to volunteer with me. And as long as it got her out of the house, Mrs. Van de Berg didn’t care what Asha did.
“Seriously?” I asked. “Don’t you want to see how the party turns out?”
Asha scoffed. “I have no intention of spending my night with a bunch of stuffy socialites.”
“But it’s a masquerade ball.” Beautiful people, gorgeous dresses, music, and dancing—what wasn’t to love?
“And?” Asha said, snatching her phone. She pressed a few buttons and set it back down. Three seconds later, a soft melody started playing. The music wasn’t loud—we’d get in trouble if we disturbed the cocktail reception—but there was just enough volume for me to recognize the opening lyrics of “Astrophil,” the latest hit from the world-famous boy band the Heartbreakers. If there was one thing that Asha was more obsessed with thanImmortal Nightsor Tumblr, it was them.
After listening to the first verse, I sighed and answered her question. “Andthe event’s going to be glamorous, obviously.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, and I’m the epitome of glamour.”
Okay, maybe my best friend wasn’t known for being fashionable. Her normal school attire consisted of yoga pants and T-shirts. And since all the CCA volunteers were required to meet the black-tie dress code, she’d spent three days panicking about what to wear. In the end, she decided on her mother’s traditional silk sari, which looked a whole lot better than the getup I’d thrown together.
While I loved wearing dresses, my closet was filled with floral-patterned cotton ensembles that I bought at thrift shops, not ball gowns. I didn’t own any formal wear, not even a prom dress. Last semester when I went to the dance, I borrowed my next-door neighbor’s in order to save money.
So yesterday morning when I still didn’t have an outfit for the fund-raiser, I took the bus to the mall and tore through the sales rack at Macy’s. I managed to find a pink, floor-length A-line that didn’t clash with my red hair and only had a few ruffles. The price was under a hundred bucks, but I had to dip into the money I’d been saving for college to purchase it. And that meant passing on a new pair of heels and cramming my feet into the pumps I wore for eighth-grade graduation.
“We’re already dressed up,” I said. “Besides, aren’t you the least bit curious to see if anyone exciting comes? What if Gabe Grant shows up?”
Thatgot Asha’s attention.
“He won’t show,” she said, but from the look in her eyes, I knew she was second-guessing her decision to leave. Gabe Grant, Asha’s biggest celebrity crush, played the sexy werewolf warrior Luca onImmortal Nights. She only had about fifty shirtless posters of him taped to her bedroom walls.
“You never know,” I singsonged, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively. “How upset would you be if you went home and he ended up coming?” Asha pursed her lips in consideration, so I ambushed her with my best pout. “Please?”
