Billionaires Don’t Fall For Awkward Girls by Emma Dalton
Chapter Twenty-Four
My eyes sweep over the auditorium, every part of me giddy. This isn’t my first concert, but it’s always exciting. Seeing Ally up there on the stage? It’s awesome. The place is fully packed too.
“You got the goods?” I ask Charlie.
She lifts the bag from between her feet. “Got it right here.”
“Ally will be so excited when she sees it!” I gush. “Especially because she gets so nervous before each performance.”
“Do you think she has a solo?” Kara asks.
Charlie shakes her head. “Ally doesn’t do solos. Which is a shame because she has a great voice.”
“She does?” Kara asks with pinched brows. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard her sing.”
I think about it for a second. “Me, either. I’ve always heard her sing in the choir, but never by herself.”
“I heard her once,” Charlie explains. “I stopped by her house to pick up an assignment someone from the choir left with her and I heard her singing in her room. She sounded incredible. But when she found out I heard her, she totally freaked.”
“It sucks she’s embarrassed even in front of us,” Kara says with a frown. “I thought we’re her best friends.”
“Shy girl problems,” Charlie says with a shrug. “She tries to get over it, but it’s just the way she is. Hopefully she’ll feel comfortable one day to sing in front of us.”
“Yeah.” Kara smiles. “I’m sure she will.”
They talk about other things as the auditorium continues to fill up, but my mind wanders. Mom had her first day of work at the Knights today and she told me it went really well. Everyone was kind to her and Mr. and Mrs. Knight loved her cooking. Just a few more days and she’ll be officially hired.
I still can’t believe this was all Easton’s doing.
“Why are you so quiet?” Kara asks as she taps my arm.
I shake my head and glance at her. “What?”
“What are you thinking about?”
I play with my hair. “Easton came by my house last night.”
Both she and Charlie gape at me. “And you’re just telling us this now?” Kara demands. “What did he want?”
“Well, he didn’t come to apologize,” I mutter. “Ugh, I’m so confused. Like, a part of me wants to hate him because of what he said to me on the first day of school. But the other part can’t help but notice how…sweet he is.”
Charlie and Kara stare at each other with mouths so wide you can fit a football stadium inside. Kara grabs my arm. “Details, Dani. Now.”
I tell them how he stopped by my house last night to tell Mom and me the good news. They exchange surprised glances with me and then each other. “Was he for real?” Charlie asks. “I thought the Knights only hire professional gourmet chefs to cook for them.”
“Yeah, me too!” I say. “But he insisted that it didn’t matter. He claimed he loves my mom’s cooking because she cooks with love, which was missing from Jean-Paul’s food.”
“Jean-Paul?” Kara asks.
“I assume it’s the previous chef.”
“Jean-Paul. That sounds like a gourmet chef’s name. He’s probably French.”
“Anyway?” Charlie presses.
“So he offered my mom to work them for a week, as a trial, and my mom said yes! Guys, if this works out, she won’t have to clean so many houses anymore. Just the Reyes’s.”
“Does this mean you’ll be able to work less and have more time for dance?” Kara asks.
I hadn’t considered that. I raise my shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be able to drop my job at Mikey’s. It’s been kicking my butt.”
Kara throws her arms around me. “I’m so happy for you and your mom!”
“Does this mean you no longer hate Lord Voldemort?” Charlie asks with a teasing smile.
I lift my arms helplessly.
Kara playfully knocks her shoulder into mine. “Ally’s right. You have softened toward him.”
“I have not!”
“You always got this look on your face whenever he was mentioned,” Charlie says. “I don’t see that look anymore.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve got the look right now. See?” I point to my face.
Kara and Charlie peer at me closely, then shake their heads. “Nope, not there,” Charlie says. Kara shakes her head with a laugh.
I tear my eyes from them and fold my arms across my chest. I don’t want to think about how I feel about Easton because it just confuses me. Things made sense when I hated him—I knew my place and his. But now? What are we, exactly? With all the stress in my life, I don’t need something new.
The lights dim. “It’s starting!” Kara says.
I sit forward as the curtain rises, exposing the choir members on stage. Since Ally’s one of the shortest ones of the bunch, she’s in the first row. Something that makes her extremely uncomfortable. But as soon as the choir starts singing? It’s like she transforms. She doesn’t look uncomfortable or insecure at all—she looks alive. I guess that’s how I look when I dance.
It sucks when so many of the other choir members step up to the mic for a solo. Even from back here, I can see the longing in Ally’s eyes. Almost as if she desperately wants to put herself out there but is deathly afraid.
When the song is over, the audience claps. It was beautiful. They sing more songs for the next hour, and the orchestra plays on their own as well. The whole thing is pretty spectacular. When the final curtain is drawn, I leap to my feet and clap as loudly as I can. That music touched every part of my soul and uplifted me. It makes me feel like I can do anything or be anything I want.
“There’s Ally!” Kara grabs our hands and pulls us down to the front of the auditorium, where parents and friends are hugging the choir members and congratulating them on their amazing performance.
Ally’s squished in her parents’ arms, while her sister Amanda stands on the side smiling. When Amanda notices us, she waves and walks over. “How are you girls doing?” she asks. She does a quick sweep of our outfits and bare faces and presses her lips together, as though she’s holding back from criticizing us. I know how hard it must be for her to keep her comments to herself since she started beauty school, but honestly? We’re perfect just the way we are.
Ally sees us and steps away from her parents’ embrace. “Hey, guys!”
She looks amazing. Amanda styled her hair in a beautiful updo that makes her look like a professional singer. And her makeup is flawless.
We exchange hellos with Mr. and Mrs. Bensen before taking Ally aside. “My parents want to leave soon,” she tells us. “We can give you guys a ride. Amanda’s meeting up with her friends so there’s enough room in the car.”
“Cool, thanks,” Charlie says. “But before we leave, we have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?” Ally asks, a mixture of excitement and dread. “You know how I feel about surprises.”
Yeah, she never knows if she should be happy or scared.
“No need to be scared,” Kara reassures her with a smile. “You’ll love this one.”
Charlie plucks the book from the bag with a “Tada!” and hands it to Ally.
Ally’s eyes widen as she takes it in. “A copy of The Duke and his Stubborn Duchess?”
“Check out the flap!” I urge.
She does and notices the signature. “You got a signed copy?”
“And we’re going to read it this week at book club,” Charlie tells her.
“But you hate regency romances,” she says with a frown.
Charlie wraps her arm around Ally. “But I love you. We know how hard it is for you to do choir because of your stage fright, so we wanted to surprise you with this.”
“Thanks.” Ally hugs her, then hugs me and Kara. “You guys are amazing.”
“Ally, we ready to go?” her dad asks.
“Yeah.”
“We have loads to tell you on the car ride,” Kara gushes to Ally. “The next saga of Easton and Dani’s epic journey.”
Ally glances at me with a smile. “This should be interesting! And romantic.”
My mouth falls open. “Romantic? Girl, you need to quit dreaming. Easton and I aren’t even friends.”
“Sure,” Charlie says with a roll of her eyes. “That’s why he hired your mom to work at his house.”
“He what?” Ally asks.
“We’ll tell you all about it in the car,” Kara promises.
“He didn’t do it as a favor to me! He did it as a favor to my mom. Because he loves her cooking.”
“That’s what you think,” Charlie says.
“I think it’s both,” Kara says as we stop before the car. “As a favor to you and your mom.”
I throw my hands up. “Why as a favor to me? We’re nothing to each other.”
“Sure,” Charlie says.
I groan as I slide into the car. “You guys have to stop making this more than it is. Because it’s nothing.”
They refuse to listen to me. Refuse to see reason. And now I have to endure the whole car ride with them gushing about things that aren’t true.