The New Year’s Eve party was at Felicity-Ann’s parents’ mansion. It was a monstrosity of brick that rose a whole story above every other building on the street. The first time I saw it, I mistook it for a church. Felicity-Ann’s mother was a professor at the university, and her father was some sort of eccentric millionaire who also happened to be Trinity’s uncle. Trinity’s parents were coming to the party and to say Trinity was shaken by their forthcoming arrival was an understatement.

Coming unglued was the order of the day everyday between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve. She was only calm when Brighton was around. The rest of the time she was like a lapsed lunatic. She went to the drug store to buy shampoo and came back with three different kinds of temporary hair dye, black fishnet stockings, and a spiked dog collar.

I picked up the dog collar and said, “I didn’t even know they sold these at Cousins Drug Mart.”

“Yeah. It’s amazing what they keep beside the till.”

“What are you gonna do with those boxes of dye? Do you plan to keep your reformation a secret from your parents? You said it before. They already know and they don’t care.”

Trinity straightened her back and looked at her reflection in the mirror. “You’re right. I don’t have to keep my brown hair a secret from them, but I do have to keep Brighton a secret.”

I scoffed. “You’re not going to tell them you’re getting married?”

“Felix doesn’t know… unless you told her.” Trinity eyed me suspiciously.

“No. I didn’t tell her. I try to avoid standing too close. Well, now you have to explain to upright Brighton why he can’t ask your father for your hand in marriage.”

Her face went so white she lost her nose. “I can’t let them meet. You think my father would go so far as to refuse our marriage? If he knew I was seeing a guy whose family isn’t in the top one percent, he would flip out. Actually, just knowing that Brighton worked at the Campus Food Bank would give my father a heart attack.”

“He wouldn’t even let you two date?”

“No. Brighton can’t come to the party,” she said, pacing frantically. “But I have to be there. How can I get him to not come? I already invited him!” Her voice was becoming higher and higher pitched. By the time she said ‘him’ I could only guess what she was saying.

“How are you going to do that?”

She flapped her hands like broken bird wings. “I don’t know. What if I fake sick?”

“What if you’re so sick you can’t go anywhere and neither can he because he has to nurse you better?” I suggested.

“He’d take me to the emergency room, and the doctors would know I was lying. I’ve done that sort of thing before.”

“And he can’t be convinced not to mention anything to your parents?” I persisted.

“No,” she fumed. “That man has never told a lie in his life. He can’t even pretend to be something different than he is. Do you remember his costume for Halloween?”

“No. Did he dress up?”

“He did. He dressed up as a food bank volunteer, which he isn't, because he's the director. He wore one of the volunteer T-shirts and that was his costume.”

I gawked at her. That was so lame. Christian would have dressed up as the Phantom of the Opera, complete with a horribly disfigured face under his mask, except he wouldn’t have gotten shot at the end of his performance. How could Trinity like a guy who was the opposite of that? “And you fell in love with this guy?”

The color came back to her face. “He’s the best. If he says he’s going to pick me up, then he picks me up. If he’s late, he texts. He says he’s going to be in class, I swing by, and he’s there. Not that I have been jerked around by very many boyfriends. It was my parents who were always standing me up.”

I did agree that those qualities were extraordinarily appealing in a man. For a moment, I was jealous. I shook it off and reminded her reasonably, “You’ve already told them off dozens of times. Why are you nervous about doing it one more time?”

“I don’t want to ruin Auntie’s party. I’ve already ruined so many things. I ruin everything. Brighton wouldn’t like me to ruin the party or cause a big scene. At his parents’ house, everything was so sweet. His parents love me so much. It’s such a bummer I can’t give him wonderful in-laws. You've met my parents. They hate everyone who doesn’t have as much money as them, but not quite as much as they hate people who have more money than them. I don’t know. My parents hate everything decent.”

“I don’t know what you should do,” I admitted when she looked to me for advice.

“Will you stay home from the party with me?” she asked.

“No.”

“What the heck? Why would you go to their party? I thought you hated Felix.”

I threw my hair over my shoulder. “I want to see if Rogan goes. I’m sure Felicity-Ann invited him.”

“Your interest in him is weird. He likes Felix. A guy who likes Felix could never like you.”

I shrugged.

“Well, you can be stupid if you want. You've given me the luxury enough times, I can reciprocate the favor. What are you going to wear? They’re millionaires and we’re poor relatives.”

“I’m going to buy a new dress and I’m going to get my hair done,” I said with a little hand flourish.

“If he likes Felix, you're not woman enough for him,” she said honestly, pinching both my thin cheeks at once. “That girl has curves that make Coke bottles jealous.”

She was trying to protect me and I appreciated it. I loved honesty even when it was too honest. “It’s cool,” I said positively, brushing her hands away. “I may not be the Bond girl Felicity-Ann is, but I get asked what ballet I'm in when I'm in the auditorium.”

“Go get him, tiger,” Trinity growled supportively. She still thought it was a bad idea.

***

On New Year’s Eve, I stopped in at my apartment to get dressed before Felicity-Ann’s party. Even if everyone called her Felix, I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not even in my head.

That night, I felt particularly stung by what I knew Felicity-Ann would be wearing. She sent Trinity a picture of her dress and dared Trinity to show up in something better. So I’d seen it. It was a short red dress with black flowers on it. When I went shopping, I tried to find something that would beat it. I fought the throngs at West Edmonton Mall for three days straight. Finding something incredible was easy. Finding something that made me look incredible was a different story. In the end, the dress I bought cost over six hundred dollars, but that was okay if Rogan would be at the party.

It was wine purple with a high neck and a bustle in the back. The bustle was the best part, which was made of black transparent fluff that looked like a ballerina’s tutu. My coloring was great for purple.

I went to a salon and got my hair done in loose ringlets and curious braids done up at the crown.

When Trinity saw me all dressed up, she almost fell on the floor. She had decided to bite the bullet and was taking Brighton to the party—rage or no rage. She was leaving everything in his hands. But she was stunned when she saw me.

“I should have gone shopping with you,” she said, glowing. “I have to take you with me when I buy my wedding dress. Beth, I never knew you had so much style. Where have you been hiding it?”

I frowned. “This is what Christian would have bought for me if I had taken him with me. He always has the best taste and buys the most expensive thing.”

“When do I get to meet this Christian?” Brighton asked.

I glanced at Trinity and got my coat. The awkward silence got deeper as I grabbed my purple scarf. She’d explain to him sometime when I wasn’t around.