Chapter 42

“I bet you look terrific in your contacts, Daisy,” Amy told me at school a few days later. We were at our lockers, getting ready to leave for the day.

“I know I should be wearing them, but they make my eyes feel dry.” I blinked a few times as I thought of it.

“If you don’t wear them, you’re never gonna get used to them,” Amy said. She looked at me sideways for a moment. “Are you sure dry eyes are why you’re not wearing them?”

Amy knew me so well. The truth was the contacts weren’t bad to wear most of the time, but I still worried about others thinking I was trying to be somebody I wasn’t.

And me showing up at school without glasses would get everybody talking about me again.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try again tomorrow,” I said. “And I’ll wear them for sure to the ball. So you’ll get to see me wearing them there.”

“I appreciate you letting me wear your green gown,” Amy said. “I think it’ll be fun to dress up for a change.”

“I’m glad you’re looking forward to it.” I gave her a side hug. “I can’t do this without you.”

“I hope nobody asks me to dance,” Amy said. “My dad practiced with me a little, but I’m still not very good.”

“You’ll do just fine,” I assured her. I spotted the Lamborghini and walked toward it. “Victor is waiting for me,” I said. “See you in the morning.”

The following day when I arrived at school, I knew something had happened by the strange way everyone was acting.

They either called my name and gave me a thumbs up, or they gave me black looks and turned in the other direction. One Alpha girl called me a vulgar name as I passed by.

To make the start of my day even worse, Amy wasn’t waiting for me at our usual spot, and I wondered if she was sick and stayed home. I should call her cell to check on her.

But her phone went to voicemail, so I left a message asking her to call me or text me to know how she was doing. Then I went into the school alone.

The same reactions followed me through the hallways to my locker. And my first-period class went quiet when I walked into the room.

After I sat down, some of my classmates made me aware there was a problem.

“Ditzy Daisy thinks she’s better than everyone else now,” a girl whispered behind me.

“I don’t care who her father is. I wouldn’t have gone to her stupid ball anyhow,” another girl said. “Remember how much of a geek she was at the pool party?”

“How about it,” the other girl’s voice said, and they both giggled.

I resisted the urge to turn around and look to see who was talking about me, but I didn’t want them to know I cared.

But I reviewed their words in my mind. I knew there were a lot of people who still didn’t like me, but what set off this new wave of hostility toward me?

The first girl said something about my ball. Was that the cause of this?

But the word that my father was throwing me a ball for my birthday had been making the rounds for weeks. Why would they be mad about it now? It didn’t make sense.

The puzzling behavior continued, and at midday, I wished Amy was there to have lunch with me.

I thought I saw her ahead of me in the cafeteria line. But it couldn’t be her. She would have waited for me.

But after I had my food tray and went into the large cafeteria to look for a place to sit, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Amy was sitting at a table with other beta girls!

She wasn’t home sick. What was going on? I had to find out.

I walked up to her as everyone in the cafeteria went silent. The contempt in everyone’s eyes made me want to run away. But I needed to know what was going on with my best friend.

“Amy, I thought you were home sick today. Is it okay if I sit with you?”

Amy looked the other way and acted like she hadn’t heard me.

I stood there, stunned. Why was Amy acting this way?

“Let’s go sit somewhere alone and talk, okay?” I asked her. I needed to know why she was mad at me. It had never happened before.

Finally, she spoke without looking at me. “Why don’t you sit with all your Alpha friends and leave me alone.”

“Amy, you are my friend. For years, you were my only friend,” I told her. “Please, tell me what’s going on.”

Amy looked at me with tears shining in her eyes. “I didn’t want to go to your stupid ball anyhow, but why didn’t you just tell me yourself that I wasn’t good enough to be invited.”

“But you are invited,” I objected. There had to be a mistake. “I told Benson myself to invite you. I gave him your address.”

“Stop lying,” one of the other girls at the other end of the table said. “Everyone who’s going got their invitation. Amy didn’t get one. So why don’t you leave her alone?”

I ran out of the cafeteria, threw my food away, and went to the roof.

At least I knew why everyone was acting so strangely today. The Alphas who weren’t invited to the ball were angry with me. And Amy didn’t get her invitation.

I didn’t care about the other Alphas, but how could I convince my best friend that I didn’t leave her out of the most important event of my life?

Amy’s feelings were deeply hurt. I didn’t blame her. I would feel the same way if I were in her shoes.

But I was surprised that she was sitting with those Beta girls. They had spoken to us before, but we weren’t friends with them.

I had to find a way to fix this. Amy had been my friend forever. I didn’t want to lose her.

It was all I could think about for the rest of the day. I was eager to get home and straighten things out.

When I got outside after school, Victor waited for me in his usual spot.

I stomped over to the car and climbed into the passenger seat without waiting for him to open the door for me.

“Did you have a bad day?” Victor asked as he started the Lamborghini's engine.

“I need to talk to you and my father as soon as we get home,” I stated.

“That sounds serious,” he said with a smile that made me more angry.

“It is,” I told him.

“Tell me now,” Victor said. “I don’t like to see you upset.”

“Didn’t you think leaving my best friend off the guest list for my ball wouldn’t upset me?”

“Ah, so that’s the problem,” Victor said. “I discussed it with your father, and we decided your little friend would be too uncomfortable to attend.”

“Amy is my best friend. Why would she be uncomfortable around me?”

“Daisy, your friend is a Beta.” Victor said that sentence like it was supposed to mean something to me.

“When we get home, I need to talk with you and Alex.”