Ex-Rating (19 page)

“Pea green wedding cake,” Holly said. “Do you love it? Remember that article we saw in
Bride’
s magazine about unusual colors for cakes? All the celebrities are doing it. I think Jennifer Lopez had a puce cake at her
last wedding.”

“Really?” Julia said. “Pea green?”

She’ll never go for this
, Holly thought.
She’s got to realize that pea green cake is a terrible idea. And then she’ll see that she doesn’t need me so much after all
.

“You think pea green might be good?” Julia seemed doubtful.
Good
, Holly thought.
Trust your gut, Julia. Trust your instincts for once, for god’s sake
.

Holly nodded. “Mmm-hmm. It’s, like, so ugly, it’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Julia said. “I can see that.”

“Have you decided?” Carmen asked.

“Yes, I have,” Julia said. “The icing should be pea green. With what color flowers, Holly?”

“Mustard yellow?” Holly sank into her seat in despair. She couldn’t believe Julia would actually go for a pea green wedding
cake.
I can’t let her do this
, she thought.
I’ll have to call Carmen later and change the icing color again. She’ll probably hang up on me
. This was going to be harder than she’d thought.

On to the dress shop. Julia still hadn’t decided on the bridesmaids’ material.

“It’s an evening wedding, isn’t it?” Melissa asked. Holly had a feeling Melissa was getting as impatient with Julia as she
was. “What about a dark color?”

Julia flipped through the fabric samples. Holly didn’t need to look at them—she had the whole sample book memorized. “Yeah,”
Julia said, stopping on the last swatch: solid, plain black silk. “What about black? It’s kind of elegant.”

“Black could be good,” Holly said. “Julia, I’m sure whatever you decide will be great. Just pick something. Anything.”

“I think … black. But, wait—midnight blue!”

Holly couldn’t take any more. She was afraid the top of her head was going to blow off from all the steam building up inside
her. “You know what I think would be so cool?” she said, snatching up the sample book. She let the book fall open at random.
Whatever fabric showed up, that’s what Julia would have. And then it would be settled and they could get out of there. Holly
hoped she never had to set foot in that dress shop again.

The book opened on polka dots—white silk with big red and blue polka dots. It was hideous. Holly didn’t care. She barely even
looked at it. She presented it triumphantly to Julia as if it were the answer to their prayers. “
This
is what your bridesmaids should wear,” Holly said. “Gigantic polka dots!”

Julia blinked. Melissa sighed, said, “I’ve got a few calls to make,” and left the room. Holly understood. The fabric was ridiculous.
It looked as if it were made for a clown suit. If this didn’t spur Julia to start making her own decisions, nothing would.

“Polka dots?” Julia took the book and stared at the swatch. “I don’t know—”

Good, good
, Holly thought.
Think for yourself, that’s right. …

“But black would be so easy to wear.”

“That’s true,” Holly said. “But it’s so ordinary. It’s boring. Polka dots—now that’s different.”

She crossed her fingers.
Listen to how stupid I sound
, she silently said to Julia.
Can’t you see how bad my ideas are? I’m no help to you—no help at all. In fact, you’d be better off making these wedding decisions
yourself and leaving me to live my life of studying and parties without the thrill of constant wedding planning. Okay?

“You know,” Julia said, and Holly pleaded, pleaded for her to see the light. “Polka dots—it’s very unusual. Almost weird.”

Yes, yes …

“That’s what I love about it!” Julia finished. Holly’s heart sank. “You’re right, Holly. As always. Giant polka dots. It’s
a great idea!”

Holly wanted to smack herself in the forehead. Pea green cake? Clown suits for the bridesmaids? Her ideas were terrible! How
could Julia keep agreeing with her? What would it take to get her to think for herself just once?

“Julia, wait,” Holly said. “Think for a minute. You don’t really want polka-dotted bridesmaids, do you?”

Julia thought it over. “Yes. Yes, I think I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

“But you just said—”

“I know, but on second thought, maybe Melissa is right,” Holly said. “Black. It’s easy.”

“No, I think I like the polka dots,” Julia said.

Oh, okay.
Now
she’s decisive.
Now
she wants to think for herself.

“I think the black works better,” Holly said.

“But you said polka dots before,” Julia said. “God, Holly, make up your mind.”

HERE IS TODAY’S HOROSCOPE: CANCER: Today you will find out that—whoops!—you were wrong all along. From now on, why not begin
with that assumption and save us all the time and trouble?

S
ee? I told you,” Ramona said. “You and Walker were meant to be. The tarot never lies.” She and Lina were sitting in the courtyard
during a free period Wednesday, leaning against a big tree.

“Oh, yeah?” Lina said. “Well, what’s going to happen next? What does it mean when you kiss a guy—after a blistering argument
where you hurl insults at each other—and then he runs away? Huh? Do the cards have an answer for that?”

“I’m sure they do,” Ramona said. “If you want, I’ll ask them when I get home.”

“Don’t bother,” Lina said. “But you know what I
would
like? Next time, before you try to ‘help’ me by trashing somebody’s reputation,
Elvira
, would you mind asking me first? To make sure I
want
that person’s reputation trashed? Or better yet, just assume that I don’t, and don’t do it.”

Ramona looked annoyed. “You shouldn’t be so snotty with me,” she said. “I’ve never done anything but help you.”

“Right. Help me,” Lina said. “Posing as Walker’s ex-girlfriend and writing a fake X-Rating about him was a big help. Since
then we’ve been
inseparable
.”

“He kissed you, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, and then he ran away, and I haven’t seen him since. It’s not exactly
Love Story
.”

Someone chuckled from the other side of the tree trunk. Lina panicked—anyone could be sitting there right now listening to
every word they said! Please, not Walker! Or Flynn!

“Hi, girls.” Sebastiano poked his head around the tree.

“Oh, it’s only you,” Lina said.

“Only me! That hurts,” Sebastiano said.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Lina said.

“I know. Look, I think this charade has gone on long enough,” Sebastiano said. “I can’t let Ramona take credit for my work
anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” Lina asked.

“Ramona wasn’t Elvira,” Sebastiano said. “I was.”

“
You
were!” Lina was shocked. “But Ramona confessed.”

“I know,” Sebastiano said. “Ramona, how dare you! I’m sure it was tempting—my plan was so clever, and it worked. But, still—it’s
not right.”

Lina was confused. “Ramona—you weren’t Elvira?”

“I tried to tell you that, but you wouldn’t believe me,” Ramona said.

“She
thinks
she’s all diabolical, but really I’m the sneaky one,” Sebastiano said. “Maybe the next time someone anonymously helps you,
you’ll think of me first.”

“He works in the office once in a while, too, you know,” Ramona said. “He has access to the same codes I do. You might have
at least considered him as a suspect before jumping all over me.”

“But why did you confess?” Lina asked.

“Because you didn’t believe me, anyway, so what difference did it make? And I was sick of having the same conversation over
and over.” She made her voice higher to imitate Lina or Mads—it was hard to tell which. “‘Ramona, stop lying! You’re Elvira!’
I had better things to do.”

Lina felt terrible. She’d been so hard on Ramona. “I didn’t realize you had it in you, Sebastiano.”

“Neither did I,” Ramona said.

“And I didn’t think you cared that much,” Lina said. “About my love life, I mean.”

“Well, I couldn’t watch you and Walker fight the way you did at the softball game and do
nothing
,” Sebastiano said. “What kind of heartless cad do you think I am?”

“Well—” Lina said.

“You do think I’m a heartless cad, don’t you!” Sebastiano cried. “I’m—I’m
stung
.”

“No, of course, I don’t think you’re heartless,” Lina said. “Right, Ramona?”

“Not heartless, just a gi-normous busy body,” Ramona said. “Congratulations, Sebastiano. You move to the top of our Most Likely
to Meddle list. Are you thrilled?”

“Oh, I am,” Sebastiano said. “It’s an honor.”

HERE IS TODAY’S HOROSCOPE: CAPRICORN: If you had to do it all over again, you wouldn’t change a thing. Right? How dumb can
you get?

H
olly, come to my room,” Julia said. “I have a big surprise for you and I don’t want to announce it here in the sunroom with
those oafs watching some horrible reality TV show. It’s too big for that.”

Too big? What could it be? Holly had arrived at the Safrans’ house after school on Wednesday determined to be with Rob and
Rob alone, no matter what Julia tried to rope her into. She and Rob were warm under the afghan and she hated to get up. The
afghan covered up all kinds of fun activities. Besides, once Julia got her into her room, who knew what diabolical wedding
chores she might dream up for her?

“You can tell me here, can’t you?” Holly said. “Whatever it is, I’m just going to tell Rob, anyway.”

“You can tell Rob after I tell you,” Julia said. “I think he’ll be happy.” She grabbed Holly by the hand and tried to yank
her to her feet. “It’s not a secret. It’s just a big, important, exciting announcement.”

Now that Holly was standing, the afghan puddled at her feet, she saw the futility of resistance. “Toss that blanket back up
here, babe,” Rob said. Holly covered him with the afghan. “And come back quick.”

“I’ll try,” Holly said as Julia dragged her out of the sun room. Holly had to admit she was curious. This was a high level
of excitement, even for Julia.

“You’re going to be so thrilled,” Julia said as she sat Holly on her bed. “Okay—are you ready?”

Holly nodded. “Ready.”

“I want
you
”—she paused for effect—“to be my—”

“Personal assistant?” Holly guessed.

“Nooo—”

“Slave girl?”

“No.” Julia laughed.

Go ahead and laugh, but it wasn’t a joke
, Holly thought.

“It’s much better than that. I want you to be—my maid of honor!”

“Your what?” Holly was stunned. Maid of honor? She’d only known Julia for a few weeks. Wasn’t that reserved for sisters and
best friends?

“You’ve been such a good friend to me since I came home,” Julia said, getting teary. “And such a big help. A huge help. I
wouldn’t even be getting married if it weren’t for all you’ve done. Deirdre and Bethany have been completely useless.”

“Well, gee, it wasn’t—”

“Don’t say it was nothing,” Julia said. “You have such great taste, and you’re so decisive and organized and smart. … I feel
so lucky that you’re my brother’s girlfriend. You feel like a sister to me. The sister I never had.”

Holly didn’t know what to say. She felt guilty for her secret bad attitude toward Julia and all her tasks lately. Julia had
a good heart, and she sincerely loved Holly. But still—maid of honor?

“Julia, I’m so flattered,” Holly said. “But don’t you have another friend, someone closer to you, whom you’ve known a little
longer, that you’d rather have for your maid of honor? You know, a best friend or someone like that?”

“Oh—well, I used to,” Julia said. “I did have a best friend…but I lost her.”

“I’m sorry,” Holly said, thinking,
Uh-oh—sore subject? Did her best friend die or something?
“What happened?”

“She’s not speaking to me anymore,” Julia explained. “I kind of—stole Michael from her.”

“Your fiancé? You stole him from your best friend?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty terrible, I guess. But he didn’t love her, he loved me! What was I supposed to do? Walk away from the love
of my life just because my best friend couldn’t handle it?”

“That is a tough one,” Holly said.

“So you’re it. You’re my best friend now,” Julia said. “I love Deirdre and Bethany; of course I do. But they aren’t as special
to me as you are.”

Holly had to admit that a part of her felt pretty good about this. It was an amazing honor, if you thought about it. So what
if it meant more bridal chores? It was all in the name of a joyous occasion. As long as Julia didn’t try to stab Holly in
the back the way she did her best friend. But since Holly’s boyfriend was Julia’s brother, she was probably safe.

On the other hand …

“What about a dress?” Holly asked, thinking she’d found an out. “It’s too late for a fitting now. I’ll never get a dress made
in time for the wedding.”

Julia broke into a wide grin. “That’s the best surprise of all,” she said. “I took care of that—all by myself! With a little
help from you, though you weren’t aware of it.” She went to the closet. “I already had a dress made. And I’m one hundred percent
sure you’re going to love it!”

Holly’s stomach fluttered. She didn’t like the sound of this.

“I finally made my decision about the dresses, you’ll be relieved to know,” Julia said. “I decided the bridesmaids should
wear black after all. It is so elegant for an evening wedding.”

Whew
, Holly thought.
Dodged that one
.

“Good going!” Holly said, genuinely proud of her. “See, I told you you could decide these things on your own.”