Page 123 of Shattered Stars

“Look what Trent got me,” Winnie says, holding up her wrist.

“Err, I got you one too, Rhi,” Trent says. “I didn’t make it matching … well … because …”

“You didn’t want to look like a stud with two girlfriends?” Winnie teases. The tips of his ears burn.

“You two look so amazing together,” I say, taking the corsage from Trent’s hands and tying it on my wrist. It’s made up of black roses and I’m assuming Winnie was behind it after all.

“I know we do,” Winnie says, with a grin. “Will you take our photo to send to my mom and Nonny?”

“Sure,” I say, “but I think we can find a better background than our room.”

Winnie peers around our dilapidated bedroom. “You’re right, let’s go outside.”

“I’ll be right out,” I tell them as they walk out hand in hand.

I crouch back down, swaying slightly in my heels, and beckon Pip towards me. Frankly, I don’t care if he muddies or slobbers on my dress. I need a Pip cuddle because all of a sudden I feel nervous.

“Do I look stupid?” I ask him. I’m not Summer. Can I really carry this off? Do I look like a little girl playing dress up?

Pip snorts at me.

“Thanks, Pipsqueak, I appreciate it,” I say, scratching his ears; even if he doesn’t ruin the dress, I’m going to smell of pig, but oh well, I’m not called Pig Girl for nothing. He squeaks some more. “Yeah, I know you smell nice. After all, you had a bath only last month.” He grunts. “Teasing.” I kiss his head. “I’m guessing it might get a little noisy and raucous tonight, but I’m going to put the locking spell on the room so you’ll be safe. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” His brows lift. “With some required edits to make it PG-friendly if required.”

I know Pip is not a big fan of my newly acquired sex life.

“See you later, love,” I say, giving him a final kiss and wrapping him up in his blanket. Then I shut the door and cast the spell.

As I spin around into the hallway, I hear other people, several of them gasping and one actually muttering a wow. My cheeks heat. Have I misjudged this? Is the dress too much? Do I have piggy slobber on my face?

But then one of the girls steps forward with a genuine look of admiration on her face.

“You look amazing, Pi– Rhianna. Is that an actualMonadress? It’s gorgeous!”

There’s a murmur of agreement and I thank them and hurry out, my cheeks feeling even warmer.

Who knew all it required to win these people round was a designer dress and a ton of makeup? I shake my head, finding Winnie and Trent waiting for me by the edge of the forest.

“Isn’t it a little dark for a photo here?” I ask.

Winnie shakes her head at me and clicks her fingers, and the trees light up with lanterns illuminating the couple in a halo of soft light.

“Right,” I mutter, “magic.”

Winnie passes me her phone and I take some snaps of her and Trent, before Trent takes some of me and Winnie. Winnie spends the next few minutes forwarding the photos onto a long list of family members as well as me.

“Are you going to send one to …” she peers at Trent who’s texting on his phone and mouths, “Stone and the man in black?”

“No, I think I’m going to give them the full effect in person.”

“Love it,” Winnie says, hooking her left arm through Trent’s and her right through mine and pulling us both along the path. “Come on, let’s go. We can’t be late for the ball.”

Just after the labs, we meet up with Trent’s friends Harry and Fabio, both with their dates. After we’ve all told each other how great we look and taken some more photos, we carry on towards the hall and I lean in to whisper to Winnie.

“I’m going to be the only one there without a date, aren’t I?”

“Well, you could have had a date,” Winnie reminds me and I screw up my face. Winnie shakes her head. “Although, if I’m honest, I’m surprised no one else asked you, especially as there are more guys at this academy than girls.”

“So someone should have been desperate enough to ask me!”