The Grass Is Always Greener Read online

  Nicole nudged Violet. “Forget it. Let’s just drop it.”

  “Are we going next door after this?” Mira was the best at changing the topic when needed. “Kylie said there’s a costume shop. We can look for costumes for the Crystal Ball.” She looked at Izzie. “You know you have to wear a period dress to that, right?”

  Izzie imagined Mira in a petticoat and a big hat. Costumes were right up Mira’s alley. They were not, however, up her own. “Please tell me we don’t need corsets.”

  Mira looked indignant. “Of course we need corsets! You won’t look right wearing an old-timey gown without one.” Nicole and Violet nodded in agreement.

  Izzie decided it was best not to argue about poufy pink gowns just yet. She began unloading the items on the counter and looked around for Kylie’s mom, but she was nowhere to be found. After a few minutes, Violet tapped the bell on the counter that was next to a sign that said Ring for service. And then Violet kept tapping it.

  “Hold your horses! We’re coming!” Izzie heard Kylie’s mom say. Two seconds later, she came out a back door carrying a toddler on her hip. Mrs. Brooks—still considered a Mrs. even though her husband ran off last year—saw Izzie and her scowl turned into a smile. “Hi, sugar! Kylie told me you were coming in. Where is that girl, anyway?”

  “She’s outside waiting for Hayden,” Izzie said. She touched the chubby chin of the little boy in Mrs. Brooks’s arms. “Hi, Ray-Ray. Do you work here, too?”

  “Yep. He’s my right-hand man.” Mrs. Brooks pushed her hair out of her face. Her long blond locks had just enough of a wave that it looked like she had her hair professionally blown out every day. For as long as Izzie had known her, Patty Brooks had had bags under her eyes that couldn’t be concealed and clothes that seemed a few years out of date. (She had on acid-washed denim jeans and a button-down denim shirt at the moment.) But she had hair that everyone in town envied.

  “You met Mira at the wake,” Izzie said, making introductions. “These are my friends Violet and Nicole.” Everyone nodded. “This is Kylie’s mom and her youngest brother, Rayland.”

  Mrs. Brooks shifted the squirmy little kid from one arm to the other and started to sort Izzie’s party goods with her free hand. “She really likes that stepbrother of yours. Nice kid. Too nice, if you ask me,” Mrs. Brooks added warily. “You have to watch out for that type. That’s what I’m always telling Kylie’s older sister. They promise you the world and then leave you with this.” She motioned to the store.

  “Hayden’s a great catch,” Nicole piped up.

  Mrs. Brooks grunted. “Today they’re picking out costumes for some fancy shindig he’s taking her to in a few weeks.” Mrs. Brooks didn’t sound impressed. “She always said you hated doing that stuff in EC, so I have no clue why she’s so desperate to fit in over there. Something about meeting your dad and aunt or something.”

  “So he’s taking her to the Crystal Ball.” Violet made a face. “Must be more serious than we thought. I didn’t see that coming.”

  “Why don’t we let you catch up with Mrs. Brooks and we’ll head over to the costume shop?” Mira suggested.

  Clothes shopping—especially for a period ensemble—was never high on Izzie’s list, but getting Violet out of the store before she bad-mouthed Kylie was. It was as if Mira could read her mind. “Good idea. I’ll meet you guys in a few minutes,” Izzie said.

  Dress shopping twice in one weekend. How had this become an important part of her life? She shook her head. At least there was no chance of photographers catching up with them in a place like Harborside. When they’d gone boutique shopping in EC last night, two photographers snapped them entering the store, and then Aunt Maureen worried that the shop they were in was too high end. This had become an ongoing topic the past week—If the Gazette’s cameras catch you, how is Grayson going to spin the story? It felt like Grayson’s name was uttered more than her own lately.

  But right now, it wasn’t Grayson she needed to be worried about. It was Kylie. She was coming to the Crystal Ball and hadn’t told Izzie. Kylie would have a boatload of comments about spending the evening in Izzie’s new world.

  Nicole looked at the two carts. “Are you sure you can manage all these bags?”

  “She can leave them here until you guys are done, hon,” Mrs. Brooks said. “Now scoot! I have to talk to Iz-Whiz here.” As the girls filed out, Mrs. Brooks kept ringing up items. “Nice girls—for rich folk.” They both laughed. “So how you holding up, honey? Kylie said you were pretty low there after the funeral. She was real worried.”

  Izzie immediately felt bad. It seemed like Kylie was always worried about her and she was just worried about how Kylie fit into her new life. What is wrong with me? she wondered. Since when do I care what other people think? She had promised herself that EC wouldn’t change her, but maybe it had already. “I’m doing better now.” She leaned her elbows on the counter and her oversize hoodie’s sleeves slid down her arms. “Having a project takes my mind off things.”

  “Good.” Mrs. Brooks put the final bag on the counter and Izzie dropped it in the shopping cart. She could feel Mrs. Brooks watching her. “Zoe treating you okay? I saw her last week, and she said she was moving into your family’s pool house for a stay.” Mrs. Brooks cocked her head and grinned. “You really have a pool house?”

  “Yeah.” Izzie felt like a traitor. “Zoe couldn’t afford to keep paying for a hotel, so she’s staying with us for a bit. My dad and aunt thought it would be a good idea if we cleared the air before she leaves town in a month or so.” Something Mrs. Brooks said made Izzie wonder. “I didn’t know you’re friends with Zoe.”

  “Were friends,” she clarified. “This is the first time I’ve seen her since…” She stopped herself. “Well, it’s been a long time.” She stared at Izzie curiously. “She said she told you what happened when your grandmother’s illness was diagnosed last year. That was awfully big of her.”

  Izzie played with the zipper on her hoodie. She didn’t have much to say on that subject.

  “She beat herself up about that.” Mrs. Brooks picked at one of her chipped nails. “Of course, Zoe thinks about how her actions affect people after the fact.”

  “She says she’s trying to make things up to me now,” Izzie said, realizing it sounded like she was defending Zoe. Am I? she wondered.

  “I’m sure she intends to,” Mrs. Brooks said evenly. “But what Zoe says and what she actually does have always been two different things.” Rayland had grabbed a squirt gun from the counter and Mrs. Brooks tried to wrestle it away from him with one hand. “You go meet your friends, sugar. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

  Izzie couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something Mrs. Brooks wasn’t telling her, but she didn’t want to push it. Instead she said good-bye and walked to the costume shop next door. She could hear her friends laughing as soon as she walked in.

  A guy looked up from behind the counter. “Are you with the group trying on the period costumes?” Izzie nodded. “They’re in the back. You shouldn’t have trouble finding them. They’re pretty loud.”

  Izzie wondered what all the commotion was about, but when she rounded the corner she knew right away. Hayden looked like a giant penguin in a white shirt and a black top hat while Mira had on a starched red overcoat dress and bustle that made her butt look three times its normal size. Nicole and Violet were prancing around goofily beside her in silk gowns while Mira tried to get Kylie to wear a feather headpiece.

  “Do not tie that thing on my head!” Kylie was dodging and weaving like a street fighter, but Mira wouldn’t give up. The bird hat appeared to be the crowning touch to a green velvet dress that had such a wide skirt Kylie looked like she had a two-inch waist. Izzie couldn’t help bursting out laughing at the sight of them all. Kylie looked up. “Oh, you think this is funny?” She hiked up her dress, revealing her combat boots, and strolled over. “Wait till you see what we have planned for you, Iz-Whiz.” She was calmer and more playfu
l than she had been in the party-supply store. Violet was right next to her, and neither of them were barking at each other or rolling their eyes. Maybe the tension had passed and she didn’t have to speak to Kylie after all.

  Izzie touched one of the ribbons on Kylie’s dress. “You look ridiculous.”

  “Yeah, but it’s kind of fun,” Kylie whispered. “Did you ever think two girls from Harborside would be going to some ridiculous charity costume party?”

  “If you had told me last summer that I’d be going to any kind of charity gala, I would have said you had swallowed too much salt water,” Izzie told her.

  Kylie played with the velvet fabric on her skirt. Her smile faded. “Tell anyone you saw me dressed like this and you die.” She stared Izzie down. “Seriously.”

  Izzie crossed her heart, but she was still laughing. Mira was busy fretting over which color petticoat to wear with her dress and Violet and Nicole were choosing accessories. Hayden, meanwhile, was deciding between top hats. Whatever concerns Izzie had about Kylie seemed to melt away when she was standing right in front of her. They were in a room full of people, but it seemed like just the two of them at the moment, which is how she and Kylie worked best. “You don’t have to worry about me.” Izzie flashed her a wicked grin. “Worry about the photographers who will be at Founders Day. If you’re going with Hayden, they’re going to have their eye on you, too.”

  Kylie sighed and looked back at Hayden, who was still trying on hats in a full-length mirror. “I will never live this down, will I?”

  “Nope,” she told Kylie, “but if you can let yourself go, sometimes playing dress-up can be fun. But don’t tell Mira I said that.”

  “Playing dress-up can be fun?” Kylie questioned playfully. “What have you done with my best friend?” Izzie didn’t notice her friend grab a can of Silly String from a shelf of extra costume props nearby. Kylie fired it before she had a chance to react.

  “Oh no, you didn’t!” Izzie wiped the string from her cheeks and laughed. She knew she shouldn’t retaliate, but she couldn’t resist. Kylie made her more fearless. She fired a long shot at Mira, who shrieked and ran away. Hayden held her in place, and Kylie shot a few more rounds in Mira’s direction before taking aim at Violet. Violet was prepared with a can of her own, and she shot back while Nicole ran for more ammo.

  Izzie remembered thinking at the time that it was all completely harmless and fun.

  And it would have been—if they hadn’t been secretly followed by a North Carolina Gazette photographer, who caught the whole thing on camera.

  Ten

  Their dad held up the lifestyle section of the North Carolina Gazette. Mira and Izzie cringed. Their picture was plastered across the front along with the headline Bad Parenting! If Bill Monroe Can’t Control His Daughters, How Will He Control the State? “This is the kind of coverage I wanted you to avoid,” their dad said.

  Mira felt sick as she stared at a photo of them in the costume shop shooting Silly String all over one another and the shelves. The sun shining through the family room windows reminded her that a new season was starting, and Mira couldn’t wait for it to arrive. Seeing her dad’s grim face reminded her of the scandal-heavy winter. And she was so done with winter. “We’re sorry, Dad. We had no idea there was a photographer trailing us all morning.”

  “Funny how he didn’t take any pictures of us cleaning up the store.” Izzie sounded bitter. “As soon as the fight was over, we apologized and cleaned up everything! Mira even took one of the costumes to the dry cleaners. It was hardly something that should have made the news.”

  “Anything less than perfect in the Monroe world is news to Grayson Reynolds.” Their dad dropped the paper on the dining table with a thud. “I know you girls didn’t set out to create a mess, but you need to pay extra attention to your behavior while we’re in this race.”

  “I hate that we’re being hunted when you’re the one running,” Izzie mumbled.

  “I know.” Their dad sighed. “But that is unfortunately Reynolds’s MO. He’s just waiting for one of us to screw up big-time so he can sink my campaign for good.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” said Mira’s mom as she put a hand on her husband’s shoulder, her favorite emerald ring flashing in the light. “Being on display is something this family knows how to handle, right, girls?”

  “Shouldn’t Hayden be here for this conversation?” Mira spun her silver bracelet around and around on her wrist absentmindedly. “He was there with Kylie and she’s the one who started the whole thing.” Mira shot Izzie a look.

  Their dad removed his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes. “We already spoke to Hayden. He knows nothing like this can ever happen again. The reason we wanted to speak to you two separately is to discuss dating.” He cleared his throat.

  Mira and Izzie looked at each other quizzically as their dad took a seat on the edge of the table, much to her mom’s chagrin. “Your mother, uh, aunt, and I like Kellen and Brayden very much.”

  Liked, Mira wanted to say because Kellen was gone. She had spoken to him the night before, and there had been a lot of awkward silences.

  “But if you are going to date, we expect you to conduct yourselves appropriately.” Their dad sounded more uncomfortable with each passing word. He looked even paler when he turned the page in the paper and there were several more photos of Mira and Izzie out with the boys. There was one of Mira and Kellen in a tight embrace on the trolley, and it looked like Kellen was trying to suck off her face. Another showed Izzie and Brayden kissing in a horse-drawn carriage. Someone had taken a series of pictures that included them cuddling under a blanket.

  Mira felt queasy. Her dad had a picture of her kissing her boyfriend. The whole town could see a picture of her kissing her boyfriend. Former boyfriend, but still.

  “I don’t want to have to enforce stricter curfews on the two of you, but from now on we need to know exactly where you’re going and with whom,” their dad continued. “This way we can avoid any more, uh, coverage like this.”

  Izzie was flabbergasted. “You’re lojacking us because we kissed our boyfriends in public?”

  Mira knew it was best not to argue. After dating a guy who was school royalty because he was the team quarterback, she was well aware of her parents’ dating protocol, but Izzie hadn’t learned it yet. Even if Grayson Reynolds weren’t out for Monroe blood, her parents wouldn’t want to see pictures of either of them making out with a boy. They were all about decorum.

  “We’re not saying you can’t kiss your boyfriend.” Her mom tried to toe the line between sweet and stern, which was always tough for her. Mira knew how much her mom worried about Izzie, especially after all she’d been through. “We would just prefer you not do it in such a public setting, like a carriage ride, where you’re on display for the whole town. People in this town talk.” She clutched her pearls for strength.

  “What could they have to talk about?” Izzie pushed. Mira admired Izzie’s strong principles, but her approach was not working in this situation. “We were only kissing.”

  “I know.” Their dad sounded funny. “We just don’t want people to get the wrong idea about you girls.” He loosened his shirt collar as if it were choking him. Mira felt like she was going to overheat. This conversation was getting embarrassing.

  “You need to set an example for Connor. And for all the girls your age, really, who see you standing beside your father at rallies,” her mom said hastily. “Show that you’re good, Southern girls who respect their parents’ wishes. Your joint sweet sixteen is going to be a great example of that.” She looked at the clock. “I think we’ve kept you long enough. Mira’s art class starts in an hour, and she can’t be late for her first day.”

  Selma Simmons’s assistant had called just a few days ago to say Mira had been accepted. Charlotte had gotten in, too, which made Mira think things were looking up—with or without Kellen.

  “Knock Selma dead, Pea,” her dad said as Mira’s mom hugged each of t
hem, being careful not to wrinkle her tailored shirtdress. “You girls enjoy your Saturday afternoon. Just remember what we said, okay?”

  Izzie only made it halfway down the block before she exploded. “Be careful where you kiss your boyfriend?” She startled a kid riding by on his bike. “Who says stuff like that?”

  Mira stuffed her hands into her coat and shrugged. “Don’t look so outraged. Most parents around here would say the same thing. One time Taylor kissed me at an Emerald Prep auction event, and my mother almost died. Parents in EC are not big on public shows of affection unless they are family ones.”

  “And that doesn’t bother you?” Izzie reapplied lip balm. Mira couldn’t get her to wear lip gloss yet, but at least Izzie had learned to moisturize.

  “It’s just the way it’s always been,” Mira explained. “I’ve had to watch what I said, who I talked to, and what I wore in public since I was five. I don’t even notice anymore.”

  “Well, I hate it,” Izzie said. “Grams always trusted my judgment. She let me figure things out with boys and friends on my own.”

  “Well, my mom and dad are way more involved than that.” Mira self-consciously patted her bag to make sure her art supplies were tucked inside. She was a little nervous about meeting Selma Simmons for the first time. “That’s just how they are.”

  Izzie stared straight ahead as if she had a specific destination in mind. “I haven’t had parents in a long time.” Mira couldn’t help but think how sad that statement was. “And I’ve never had a media watchdog before. I didn’t know the press was something I was going to have to deal with for the rest of my life.” Before Mira could think of a good reply, she saw Brayden walking toward them, and Izzie’s face brightened considerably.

  “How’d you know where I was?” she asked as he leaned in for a kiss.

  “I called your house and your aunt said you were headed into town by foot, so I thought I’d meet you.” He slipped his hand easily into hers. “Hey, Mira.”