The Witch Chronicles (In Bloom Book 2.5)

Wonderland Runway Part 5

"The Whole Nine Yards." That was the name of the next challenge.

There was a singular, massive roll of violet satin fabric...and twenty designers had to share it. And as the name suggested, they each only had nine yards to work with.

I thought Isabela was on her A-game the day before. Today, her hair had been done into a messy top bun. Her red glasses were on as she worked on the sewing machine. For our background music, she chose instrumental soundtracks from action movies.

In a way, the runway was Isabela's battlefield.

For Jackie and I, it seemed like our playground. While she worked on my makeup, we exchanged childish grins while occasionally glancing at Isabela. Our familiars looked at us like we had lost our minds. We had to restrain our laughter from escaping during several moments.

"What are you two giggling about?" Isabela looked up from her work. "If you got chisme, you're obligated to share it with me."

Since Jackie wouldn't be brave enough to, I decided to say, "We were just thinking about how you had dessert first last night before your dinner."

"What're you talking about?" Isa's brows furrowed.

Jackie snickered, "Who made the first move? The rose of the beast?"

Isabela took her glasses off and stood up from her sewing chair, "De que estas hablando, pendeja?"

I grinned, hoping she'd get the hint, 'Il tu bacio con Amir. Che romantico."

"Will the two of you speak English?! We saw you kiss Amir!" Jackie said in annoyance, "Yeesh, it's not that hard to comprehend, Isa."

Isabela's became the rosiest shade of pink. She quickly returned to her work, "I don't know what you two are talking about."

I began, "What we mean is-"

She then  turned on her sewing machine and cranked up the battle music.

"Isabela De La Rosa! That's really childish!" Jackie yelled over the noise. "Come on!"

The whirring of the machinery slowed and the soundtrack stopped. We looked to see what had happened. Jake and Grim had pulled the plug. Evita had hit pause on the current song.

Isabela groaned, "Can't we talk about this later?"

Jackie looked at the time limit and the progress of the gown, "You got two hours left. Cassie's hair and makeup is done and you just need to finish up the neckline of that dress. You got time, mate."

"No, I don't. I need to rethink this design because I don't have enough fabric."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I thought you said you had enough and that this challenge would be a walk in the park."

"Yeah...I thought so too. I'm only half a yard short for the neckpiece of the dress. I need more."

Grim teased, "Maybe Amir can help out with that."

Isabela glared, "Cassandra, por favor, control your familiar."

"You're stressed, and you need to clear your head. Sit down and we'll chat about Amir. Just for a few minutes."

"No, we don't need to. What I need to do is-"

I grabbed one of the black high heels I was meant to wear and positioned my hands to break the heel.

"Cassandra you wouldn't dare!" Isabela stomped to where I was.

"Sit. Down. Now. Or I'll snap Christina Diorine in two."