The Value of a Crew

Chapter Sixteen

Mal sighed as she made her way to her dorm, Estelle trotting happily beside her. It wasn't as if she wasn't happy with her dress but...there was a part of her that was dreading wearing it.

Evie's response to her comment about not being able to breathe rang through Mal's head: you can breathe after Cotillion.

E, I love you like a sister but really? Even though you knew I'm part God and it would probably take a lot more than just a dress to take me out, that was probably the worst thing you could have said, Mal thought.

Because had Mal been anyone else, she could have used that innocent little phrase that Evie probably didn't even think twice about and Evie's business would have found itself burnt to the ground. One word about the incident to the wrong set of ears would have been all it taken.

Hell, Audrey probably could have gotten it going viral in an hour, Mal thought, shaking her head slightly. The six months of dealing with Natalie made Mal feel a smidge closer to Audrey. No, they'd never call themselves besties or anything but Mal would settle for not wanting to rip the other girl's head off.

For Ben's sake at least. After all, Audrey was one of his oldest friends.

"Okay, no more delaying the inevitable," Mal muttered to herself as she walked into her dorm, Estelle giving her a doggy grin as he trotted in. Much to Mal's surprise, Evie wasn't alone.

"...Jane? What're you doing here?" Mal asked. "Is everything okay with Carlos?"

Jane chuckled. "First Ben, now you, I need to know if you guys are just determined to make sure my dating life goes off without a hitch."

"Wait a minute!" Evie exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. "Mal didn't mention anything about you dating Carlos! You kept that under wraps, Jane!"

"There were rather pressing matters to attend to Evie," Jane said, shaking her head. After Jane had added Uma, Harry, Gil, and Hadie to the guest list (the last name having been texted to Jane by Lonnie on their way back), Evie had texted her in a full blown panic.

You see, Evie might have been a miracle worker but she was also human. And in her preparations for Uma's dress and Harry's, Gil's, and Hadie's suits, she'd forgotten about one very, very important dress.

Mal's.

And the fact remained that with Mal's hair now purple once more, the gold and blue of the dress clashed horribly with the purple locks.

Plus, if Evie was honest, she felt it looked a bit too...busy. What with the pattern and the cape. She made sure it was her best work as always but it wasn't Mal.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for Evie to whip up two new dresses but she also knew that Mal couldn't go to Cotillion with her hair clashing with her dress. So Evie reached out to a certain half-Fae.

"Wait...did something happen to the dress?" Mal asked, looking between the two of them as Estelle hopped on the bed and gave them all doggy grins. Not that Mal particularly cared about the dress but she knew Evie had worked tirelessly on it.

"We had to make some last minute alterations," Evie explained as she pulled out the dress and Mal gasped.

Instead of the blue and gold strapless dress she'd expected to wear, Evie held up a solid blue dress with hints of purple sparkling throughout. The best part, in Mal's opinion, was that there were now sleeves! Not crazy long ones but enough of a sleeve that her shoulders would be covered.

Plus now there was less of a worry that the dress would, you know, slide down her. Strapless was not exactly Mal's first choice.

"E..." Mal said softly.