And I, my dearest fledglings, shall do the same for you.
I may have promised to unveil the identity of Rue Sullivan’s long pined-after crush, but that, my dears, would be feeding you too much information at once. Instead, allow me to feed you bit by bit.
I have greater news, you see, that I’m almost certain you’ll choke on with surprise! It’s positively delightful!
Tonight, at the home of twins Mabel and Meredith Evans, Zayne Silverman was caught attacking CarltonPeters! Some say the assault was long overdue, others insist Zayne was out of line.
What we all know for certain?
They were fighting over Dot Bennett.
It’s all captured in the video below, thanks to an anonymous party-goer. See for yourself!
Yours Truly,
Little Birdie
I don’t see the Little Birdie post until Rue is driving away, leaving me standing at my front door, my hand already turning the knob. As frustrating as it is that Zayne was accused of starting the fight with Carlton—ofassaultinghim, no less—I can’t help but feel some relief that Rue has more time to talk to Carlton before her secret is spilled.
I tuck my phone into my pocket and go inside. I set my purse down on the bench in the entryway and round the corner, where Dad is staring at his phone in the kitchen.
I smile at him. “Hey. I didn’t know you were home.”
His gaze travels up from his phone to look at me. “Dot, have you seen this?” He holds it up.
My spine tingles. “Seen what?” There’s no way he could be referring to the blast that was just sent out. Dad doesn’t even have social media! He doesn’t pay attention to stuff like that. His world consists of jazz music, hard work, and trying his best to be both parents so Mom has nothing to worry about other than getting better. There’s no way he knows what happened tonight.
But sure enough, he holds his phone out to me, where the video of Zayne and Carlton fighting is playing. I’m in the video too, standing close to the camera and telling the person holding it to stop them, to do something.
And then my face pales.
Because I know who sent that video in. I know whofilmedit.
I shake my head. “Dad…”
“What’s going on, Bardot?” His voice is serious now. Stern.
“I don’t know.”
“It looks to me like you do. You’re in the video.” He points to me standing in the camera’s frame, my cat costume unmistakable and my face a mixture of bewilderment and frustration. “Who are these boys?”
“Dad, how did you even find that video?”
“It made its way onto the ‘Parents of Fallbrook Christian Prep’ group on social media. Now, answer the question, Bardot,” he says, and I realize my hopes to dance around the subject are futile. He’s not budging on this. And to be honest, if I were him, I wouldn’t either.
“Those boys are Zayne Silverman and Carlton Peters,” I tell him. “You remember Carlton, right? He’s been over here a few times.”
He squints. “He the one who came around a few months back during the summer?”
“Yes. And the other one—Zayne Silverman—you don’t know. He’s the lead actor in the play.” I pause, my cheeks warming against my will. “He’s my friend.”
My father searches my face. I’m not sure what he finds there, but it makes the corners of his mouth lift. “Just your friend?”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” I say with a laugh. “Zayne is Zayne, Dad.”
He looks baffled. “What does that mean?”
“It means…” I search for the words. “It means that I thought I knew what I wanted. I thought I liked Carlton. That auditioning for the play would finally get him to like me back as much as I liked him. But in the process of rehearsing with Zayne, of getting to know him, I’ve realized Carlton isn’t who I thought he was. And neither is Zayne. And it’s changed everything.” I cover my face with my hands. “I’m so confused.”
