Page 108 of Pride High 3: Yellow

She spotted one of the Song sisters, who the jacket had originally been assigned to, before Faith had rudely rejected it. Mindy remembered her giving it back before choosing another. Hadn’t she? She was careful this time before saying a name, making sure to get it right. The sister with the short hair was… “Hope!” she called out. “Do you have a moment?”

Hope slowed and shrugged before walking over to join her. “What’s up?”

“I can’t find the leather jacket that I gave your sister,” she explained. “The one with the textured diamond pattern. Do you remember?”

“Sure,” Hope said before pointing. “She’s got it on.”

Mindy followed her finger to where Faith was stretching while talking with some of the other dancers.

“That’s not it,” she said instantly. “The jacket I’m looking for has sleeves.”

“Yeah, I know,” Hope replied. “She cut them off.”

Mindy shook her head, certain she had misunderstood. “She didwhat?”

“I’ll show you,” Hope said. Then she yelled for her sister to join them.

Mindy’s horror increased with each step that Faith took toward them. She didn’t want to believe it. The collar did have a similar shape, and the jacket had the same tight cut, but maybe… The light caught the textured diamonds that ran down the front, and there was no denying it anymore. “What have you done?” she cried.

“Ugh,” Faith said with an eyeroll. “Now what?”

“That’s my sister’s jacket!” Mindy explained, reaching for it with a trembling hand.

Faith smacked her fingers away. “Watch it, lesbo!”

Mindy pulled back in shock. “I’m not… What have you done? I thought you didn’t like that jacket!”

“That’s why I cut the sleeves off. Now I can move freely. Watch.” Faith did a stupid cartwheel, as if that justified her actions.

“How dare you!” Mindy huffed. “Nobody gave you permission to cut off the sleeves!”

“Who cares?” Faith said, her face twisting up in disgust. “It’s just a theater prop.”

“I just told you—”

“What’s going on here?”

Troy sauntered over and put an arm around Faith protectively. He wasn’t the only one to notice. They were attracting an audience.

Faith jerked a thumb at her. “She’s freaking out because I made this jacket better.”

“Youruinedit!” Mindy growled. “On purpose!”

“It obviously wasn’t an accident,” Faith said as if she was being dense. “But it’s not ruined.”

“You didn’t even cut along the seams,” Mindy said disparagingly. Instead of snipping the thread and removing each sleeve cleanly, the leather on the shoulders looked like it had gotten stuck in a lawnmower. The jagged tears would be impossible to repair. But maybe an expert could do something. “Give it back!” She grabbed one of the lapels and tried to pull the jacket off Faith, who resisted.

“Calm the hell down!” Troy said. “If it means that much, I’ll buy you a new one.”

Mindy rounded on him. “My sister bought it on a class trip to Italy. You can’t just replace it! Andyouof all people do not get to tell me to calm down!” She was shouting now, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Hold on, you guys,” she heard Cameron say from behind.

She was done waiting. Faith was picking at one of the leather shreds and making it even worse.

“Give it back!” Mindy cried, pulling on the jacket again. Faith finally got the message and arched her back to free one of her arms, but not quick enough for her liking. Mindy yanked in frustration, Faith spinning like unspooling thread before she collided with one of the wardrobe racks and fell to the ground in a tangle of clothes.

“Hey, get away from her!” Troy snarled as he grabbed Mindy’s shoulder to push past her.