“I’ve been here before,” I pointed out. Admittedly, it wasn’t by choice that time either. “Where do you want to start?”
“Updates.” She consulted her notes. Sometimes I thought she liked having business meetings just so she would have an excuse to make a list. “I have hired three professional sewers to help me make the clothes. I have given them the patterns and materials. They have also signed a confidentiality agreement.”
“How much are we paying them?” I asked, the only detail I was interested in.
“As little as possible.”
“They sound perfect!”
Jane beamed with pride. “They also know of our deadline for the current orders and have promised they’ll have everything done in time.”
Finally, some good news. It was stressful having so many unfilled orders. Our customers were the most important part of our business, we couldn’t have them being upset. Especially not with their first order.
We moved onto the main reason for our meeting – going through competition entries to find our spokes model. We’d had almost a hundred entries so far and the number was doubling every few days. Jane brought them up on her laptop one by one.
Some we could easily dismiss, they just didn’t fit in with what our company was all about. The ones we liked, we kept for later assessment. It took almost an hour to get through them all. By the time we reached the end, we had only thirty-three entries we saved for later.
CHAPTER 7
As we were finalizing our meeting in the library, I remembered there was still a task I had promised Beau I would do.
I tried to be as casual as possible. “Where’s Beau today? I thought he might be here. He usually likes to tag along to our meetings.”
“He had a study group,” Jane replied. She wasn’t on to me – yet.
“It’s pretty cool the way he’s doing so much for us.”
“Yeah, it is. He’s reliable.”
It was time to go in for the juicy stuff. “I know I’m always teasing you about him liking you, but he really does.”
“He’s just being nice, Truly,” Jane said, a little more flustered than she would have liked to admit. “I told you, he doesn’t think of me like that.”
“Trust me, Jay. He does.” She started to give me a disbelieving look but I cut her off before she could really get into it. “Believe me or not, whatever. But tell me this, if he asked you out, would you go with him? And by asking you out, I mean on a date. Like a romantic date, not a study group.”
Redness started to creep over her face, starting at her neck before taking right over. “He’s not going to do that.”
“Humor me.”
She slumped onto her seat, all the fight gone from her. “I don’t know, I’ve never been out with a boy before. I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“You have a good time, that’s all. It would be just like hanging out with me. Except with Beau.”
“But he’s a guy.”
“And you’ve spent heaps of time with him already. You’d be fine.”
She didn’t believe me, it was written all over her face. “It would be different if we were on a date. I’d probably make a fool out of myself.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t. And even if you did, Beau would think it was adorable and like you all the more for it,” I said. In truth, Beau would probably be just as foolish and they’d laugh it off. “So, would you say yes?”
She shrugged. It was as good as saying yes. That’s all I needed to know.
We left the library and Jane went home while I insisted that I would take the bus. If she drove me home, she’d probably want to see my new designs. The designs that didn’t exist. I couldn’t risk it.
Speaking of designs, I needed to work something out… quickly. I slipped into an empty classroom and took out my sketchbook. Perhaps I just needed a change of scenery? There were no snotty siblings around, maybe that’s what was holding me back?
I took my time opening my pencil case and selecting my tool. I went with a blue pencil, hoping something different might spur on the creativity.
It didn’t work. My hand still remained frozen in place as my mind went blank. I was so doomed.
This time, it wasn’t my pencil I threw but my entire sketchbook. I meant to throw it against the wall, that’s where I aimed. Unfortunately, I sucked at sports so it ended up out the door.
Great.
Now I had to go get it. I seriously needed to stop throwing things. I felt like a dog playing fetch. A very frustrated, lonely dog. I buried my head in my hands, trying to find the will to get up.
“I think this book might have been trying to escape.” The voice made me freeze. Chace stepped into the doorway, holding my sketchbook and a smile. “You might want to have a stern word with it.”
He held it out for me and I took it gratefully. “Thanks, but I’m not sure it was the book’s fault.”
He perched on the edge of the desk in front of mine. “I don’t know about that, books can be quite shifty.”
That comment earned him a smile.
“What are you still doing here? School’s been over for a while,” I said. It was only me and nerds left, I couldn’t imagine Chace fell into that category.
“I joined the school band, they just had rehearsals.”
“What do you play?” Please make his instrument of choice be a rock guitar. Please, please, please.
“The piano.” Whatever, still hot. Anything Chace played would be hot, he’d make it work. “So what are you still doing here? Hanging around with your boyfriend?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“What about that guy you were talking to the other day?” I hoped I looked as confused as I was. “The guy from the bus line? He hugged you.”
“Oh! That’s Beau, he’s not my boyfriend.” God, no. “He’s… helping me out with a project. We’re definitely not dating.”
I could have been wrong, but I thought for sure I saw his shoulders sag with relief. “In that case, maybe we should go out some time?”
Considering I had spent a good ten minutes goading Jane into wanting to go out with Beau, it kind of felt like I was a hypocrite hesitating now. Chace seemed fantastic, but I had so much already going on in my life. Did I really want to complicate it any further?
One look into those light blue eyes screamed yes! “Maybe we should.”
“How does this weekend sound? We could catch a movie or something?” Chace asked, his cute little cheeks dimpling with a smile.
“Maybe.” I tried to play it cool. Because if Truly Winx was anything, it was cool. I caught a glimpse of the time and stood, it was getting late and the buses were a little scary to ride once it started to get dark.
Chace stood too. “Mind if I walk you out?”
“Sure. I need to get to the bus stop down the road.” He probably drove, public transport was too ordinary for him. Someone as good looking as him probably had his own car.
“That’s where I’m going too. I take Route 43. What about you?”
Color me stunned. All my stereotypes were being shattered today. “Route 13.” We started down the corridor, soon stepping out into the fading light. We only had a block to walk and today it seemed way too short.
Chace walked with his hands in his pockets, almost like he was a little shy. “So why were you throwing your book around today? Anything you want to talk about?”
“I was frustrated about something.”
“Anything I can help with?”
Normally, I would have laughed him off and pretended everything was perfect. But, for some reason, I didn’t want to. “I design clothes, it’s kind of really important to me. But lately I haven’t been able to design anything. It’s like I’ve got a creative block or something.”
“Like writer’s block but for clothes?” Chace asked. It filled me with all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings hearing him actually understand what I was saying.
“That’s exactly it. I’m scared I won’t ever be able t
o design anything again,” I replied.
He considered it for a few steps before saying anything further. “Sometimes it’s the fear of fear itself that can be most crippling.” He laughed. “I think my grandpa said that once. I don’t know, but it sounded wise at the time.”
“Your grandpa sounds very smart.” My lips quirked up in a smile.
“Maybe you need a muse? Isn’t that what sparks creativity in some people?” Chace said, still pondering my dilemma.
A muse. Fashion designers had them all the time. Perhaps they were more than a figurehead or pretty face. But still, it wasn’t going to help me right now. At least Chace was trying. Even talking about it was making me feel a little better.
We arrived at the bus stop, a big blue bus already making its way to us.
“I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks for the chat. And walk,” I said.
He hitched his backpack higher on his shoulder. “No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I was already looking forward to it.
The next day, I knew the jig was up. I definitely had to tell Jane about my design blockage. I was not going to lie and I was not going to pretend everything was okay when it wasn’t.
After my talk with Chace, I got to thinking. Perhaps part of my problem was the fear of letting Jane down. If I confessed everything, maybe it would help the designs flow again.
Yeah, I was clutching at straws.
I didn’t have long to wait to catch up with her as I approached my locker. It was time I put on my big girl pants and fessed up to my problem.
I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it. “They’re all ruined, Truly. All the clothes, they’re destroyed. It’s a disaster!”
That wasn’t what I was expecting. Dread pitted itself in my stomach. “Slow down, Jane. Tell me everything in complete sentences so my slow brain can process it.”
She took a breath. “The sewers I hired were not as good as they said they were. They used up all the fabrics and everything else we had. The clothes they gave me are terrible, we can’t use any of them. We have no more money and no time! Every Girl Inc is finished.”
CHAPTER 8
Okay, don’t panic. No matter how much I told myself that, it didn’t sink in.
Because, really, if there was ever a time to panic, it was right now.
“Every Girl Inc is not finished,” I said. “We’ve just got to figure out a way to fix this. Surely they can’t be that bad?”
Jane’s hands went to sit on her hips, probably to stop them waving about like a crazy person. “Ever heard the expression ‘you get what you pay for?’ Well, we paid peanuts and we got monkeys.”
Okay, don’t panic.
“And all the fabric is gone? All of it?”
“Every last piece.”
Okay, don’t panic.
My hands went to my hips too. For the same reason. “We’ll meet after school and you can show me everything. Okay? We’ll find a solution.”
She nodded, but I don’t think she really believed me. We went to our first class in a daze. School was a little difficult to focus on after that little bombshell was dropped on me.
The second the last bell rang, Jane was dragging me away. She must have run from her last class just to catch me so quickly. We were in her car and on the road before most people were even getting out the door.
“I can’t believe I was so stupid hiring those people,” Jane said as she drove. I kind of wished she would concentrate more on the road. “I should never have trusted them. I mean, who works for two dollars apiece?”
“We’re only paying them two dollars for each piece of clothes?” I asked, shocked. And I mean really shocked.
“It’s more than what they get in some countries,” she replied defensively. I got the feeling her strictly-business parents might have helped shaped Jane’s tough budgetary skills.
We arrived at her house and wasted no time in getting up to her room. The place was strewn with clothes. The pile of material had turned into a pile of garments.
Jane held up a T-shirt and waved it about. “See what I mean?”
I really didn’t.
“Perhaps show me the problems?”
She turned the T-shirt inside out and pulled at the seams. “The stitches are way too loose and it’s cut all wrong. This will look ridiculous on someone. It will fall apart the second it’s washed.”
That would certainly be a problem.
Okay, don’t panic.
I went into problem solving mode. As someone who regularly gets herself into a spot of bother, I was normally really good at working out solutions. Unfortunately, that skill seemed to be blocked too.
“What are we going to do, Truly?” Jane asked. No, she shrieked. “We have two days until all our customers will be expecting their clothes. We have no money to buy new fabric, and even if we did, we don’t have any time to redo all these.”
Okay, don’t panic.
There was no way we could just give up. People made mistakes all the time in business, nobody was perfect. The difference between the quitters and the leaders was persistence.
Chace’s grandpa would have loved me.
Failure was not an option. Neither was quitting. Giving up now would break both of those promises. I was not going to do it. There had to be a solution around the corner, we just had to find it.
Okay, don’t panic.
Jane threw the shirt back onto the top of the pile and slumped on the floor. “I’ve ruined everything.”
I sat on the floor next to her. “You haven’t ruined everything. This wasn’t your fault, you thought we were doing the right thing. It was my idea in the first place.”
“I picked them, I should have done more to ascertain their experience and skills.” Spoken like her parents’ daughter.
“Maybe. But now we know for the future. We won’t make that mistake again.”
She stared into her lap, her hands wringing. “I’m so sorry, Truly. I really didn’t want to stuff up your dream.”
“Hey, nothing is stuffed yet.” I bumped her with my shoulder, trying to lighten the mood. And then I said something that would darken it again. “I haven’t been able to design anything in ages. So it really isn’t you stuffing anything up. It’s me.”
Her gaze shot to me. “You haven’t been able to design?”
I shook my head sadly. “Every time I try to, I freeze up. Great pair we are, huh?”
She laughed through the tears. “Maybe it’s a sign we shouldn’t be doing this. I mean, it is illegal pretending to be something we’re not. We’re misrepresenting the company.”
“Since when have we cared about what’s legal?” I joked. Well, I tried to anyway. I wasn’t really feeling it.
We sat there for longer than was healthy, dwelling on our shared misery. Eventually, Jane dropped me home. She didn’t come up for dinner, I think she wanted some time alone.
Any relief I felt about confessing my inability to design was quickly replaced with a desperation for needing to solve our unfilled orders problem.
The stairs up to the apartment were long and steep, or perhaps my feet were just dragging. I wanted to slump into bed and close the door to the world. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to avoid my problems for too long.
Mom and Holly were waiting for me when I stepped inside. Neither looked happy. Just what I needed. I threw my backpack in a corner before joining them. “What’s up?” I asked.
The two words that Holly uttered next were truly horrifying. “Everyone knows.”
CHAPTER 9
I played dumb. “Everyone knows what?” My eyes flicked between Holly and my mother. I really wished I could walk backwards out of the apartment and turn back time.
Holly stood. “The business regulator. They know Every Girl Inc is a shell for you and Jane. There’s going to be a formal investigation.”
“How did they find out?”
“Someone tipped them off.”
“Who?” I wanted to scr
eam the question but managed to keep my voice level. I was just completely spinning out on the inside. So far, I had managed to keep it contained within. It wouldn’t last forever, though.
Holly shook her head. “They wouldn’t say.”
She touched my shoulder in silent comfort before leaving, shooting me one last sympathetic look as she moved.
At least Holly wasn’t angry. My mother on the other hand…
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I said, getting in first before the yelling started. “I was going to, but I didn’t think it was time yet.”
“You’ve been lying to me,” Mom said. Her voice was that calm, controlled tone that screamed she was really anything but. It was one of her most frightening voices. I’d rather she just yelled.
“Not about everything. I really have been hanging out with Jane all this time, we just weren’t working on homework.”
“No, you’ve been running a business. I thought you weren’t going to lie about anything anymore. You promised me that only a few months ago.”
Oh… that.
Yeah, I did agree to only tell the truth about everything. That was after I was caught skipping school to go to a sale at the mall. It wasn’t my fault, I was only going because my friends were. Unfortunately, Mom didn’t see it the same way.
But this was totally different. I was being responsible, I wasn’t merely shopping. Surely there had to be points for that?
“Mom, I’m sorry. I-”
She held up her hand to stop me. I gulped. “Go to your room, Truly. I’m too furious to deal with you right now.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I picked up my backpack and disappeared into my room, closing the door. Throwing myself on the bed, I briefly wondered what kind of punishments she would be concocting for me. It wasn’t like she could take the business away from me, Jane and I were doing a good enough job of destroying us ourselves.
The funny thing was, if the secret about our fashion fraud had remained for a few more days – long enough for us to fail – it would never have been known by anyone. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Fashion Fraud Collection Page 13