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He furrowed his brow. “Just bring back some more oysters.”
“Yes, sir.” I picked up the tray and hightailed it for the kitchen. As soon as the swinging door shut, I put my hands on the counter and took a few deep breaths, processing what was happening and trying to make my head stop spinning.
ThiswasStella’s event. But my parents probably wouldn’t be here. Amy and Lucas were going to be here, though.
And Scott.
I tossed the remaining oysters into the trash, which produced a yelp from Mark. I muttered something about them falling and filled my tray back up, trying to figure out how I could stay away from all of them tonight.
Thea stormed back into the kitchen, slamming her empty tray on the counter. “What. Is. Happening?”
“My thoughts exactly.” I leaned back against the counter, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes. “You have no idea how bad this is.”
She pulled my hands off my face. “We can do this. Just like this morning, we’ll split the room.”
“But it’s not just Scott.” I took in a deep breath and held it. “It’s his sister, Amy, who’s my best friend. And their parents. And Blake is Ethan’s cousin, and she’s here. And Stella Knight. And there’s a really, tiny, weird chance my parents will be here too.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, shoot.”
“Exactly.” I blew out a huge breath.
“Okay. We can do this. You hang out here for a few minutes while I assess the situation, and then I’ll figure out where you can go.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Thea.”
She squeezed my arm, grabbed another tray, and pushed her way through the swinging door. I closed my eyes and willed the room to stop spinning.
“Hey, y’all! Thank you for coming tonight!” Stella Knight’s voice drifted through the door. I poked my head through to watch. The attendees were standing around the different cocktail tables and politely applauded for Stella. She stood on the stage in a gorgeous deep blue gown, her blonde curls piled on top of her head. Her adoring husband, Chip, stood by her side.
“Ivy, I need you to take these outnow.” Mark shoved a tray of bruschetta in my hands and pushed me out the door. I stumbled into the ballroom, but stuck to the outer edges, avoiding everyone.
Stella continued her speech from the stage. “I really appreciate that y’all took the time to spend the evening with me and raise money for driving safety awareness. As y’all may know, someone very dear to me was severely affected by an accident involving someone who was texting and driving.” She gestured down into the crowd, and I finally got a glimpse of Amy and Lucas. Lucas wore a tux, and Amy must have rented her dark red gown. “I met Lucas Carter this past summer, and soon after that, his friend’s family was involved in a terrible accident. They’re here tonight, and I wanted to take a moment to appreciate them. Brent and Rachel Jones, please come up here.”
I had to lean against a table. They were here? Sure enough, there were my parents, looking incredible. My parents rarely dressed up like this. My dad was in his wheelchair wearing a tux, and my mom wore a gorgeous, emerald-green gown. I wondered if she used Rent the Runway like Amy and I had.
My dad wheeled toward the ramp they had set up to go on stage. He smiled at Stella, and my eyes filled with tears. Watching them from this removed perspective made the situation more painful than usual. Visions of my dad from my childhood blocked the scene in front of me. Skateboarding with him in the street, snowboarding in the winter, laughing and shoveling dirt in the garden. The loss was overwhelming, more than I had felt since the accident.
When I was in front of them, I always had to be strong. They depended on me. I had to make the decisions for the family, hold everyone’s emotions together, and take care of Katy. But now, hidden behind the crowds and watching them from afar, it was like I was seeing my family from someone else’s point of view, and I couldn’t breathe.
Speaking of Katy, where was she? I scanned the room, praying she wasn’t here. But sure enough, there was Katy, right behind my parents on her way up the ramp, dressed in a fancy little pink floral dress I had never seen before.
I leaned against one of the cocktail tables for balance.
“Ivy?” Scott’s voice whispered across the table.
Not again. This was not the time. I couldn’t handle seeing him again. My stomach sank even lower. Could this night get any worse?
I turned my head, bracing myself to face reality. “Hey, Scott.”
He rushed over to my side and gently placed a hand under my elbow. “Are you okay? You look like you’re going to be sick.”
I huffed a laugh. If only I had anything in my stomach, maybe I would’ve been sick. I couldn’t respond, watching as Stella handed the microphone to my dad. My heart raced in my chest, not helped in any way by Scott’s warmth and presence so close to me.
“Thank you, Stella,” my dad said. “While our lives have been impacted by the accident, we hope that this event will help raise awareness for the cause and prevent the unnecessary harm that could arise in the future.” He swallowed, visibly choked up with emotion. “This accident may have directly impacted me physically, but I worry more about the effects on my daughters. My oldest daughter, Ivy, moved back home to help us out, while working double hours at The OC Dance Project. She bears it without complaint, but I know that this is something that could have been avoided if the other driver had concentrated on the road instead of his phone.”
Scott ran his hand up and down my arm. This wasn’t real, right? There was no way. There were too many coincidences, too many people, too many pieces to the worst possible puzzle coming together at once. This felt like a nightmare, or a bad TV show.
A loud wail in the audience brought me back to reality—that wewereactually on a bad TV show.
