Chapter 14 - WHAT MIA CHOSE
Officer Harris came over the next morning. Dad and Mia spoke with her in the living room while I sat nearby with Rebecca.
Denise had shown Harris messages from Mia complaining about my scholarship and saying she wished my dress would disappear. The messages were real. Mia didn’t deny sending them.
“She told me to take the scissors,” Mia said. “I did it. I’m responsible for the dress.”
“And the letter?” Harris asked.
“I knew Mom was angry about Westbridge. I saw the envelope in her bag. I didn’t sign the form or take it to the store.”
The store footage showed Denise handling the paperwork. Mia had gone with her, dressed in my jacket. She had helped make the withdrawal look as though it came from me.
Dad put his head in his hands. I could see how badly he wanted an easy answer. So did I. There wasn’t one.
Harris explained the next steps for her report. Westbridge had preserved the forged messages, and the shipping store had preserved its records. She advised us to keep copies of everything.
After she left, Mia approached me.
“I’ll pay for the dress,” she said. “I have money saved.”
“It took me months.”
“I know. I’ll get a job if I need to.”
I was glad she offered. I was still angry.
“You don’t get to buy forgiveness,” I said.
“I know that too.”
She put an envelope on the table. Inside was the blue ribbon she’d removed from the torn dress. Its ends were frayed, but it was whole.
“I took it before I cut the waist,” she said. “I told myself that made it less awful.”
I picked it up. “It didn’t.”
“No.”
That night, Mrs. Alvarez called. She had spent the day studying what remained of the silk. She thought she could make a new dress from the undamaged panels, with fabric from her shop for the parts Mia had ruined.
“It won’t look exactly the same,” she said.
May you like
I looked at Mom’s sketchbook open beside me.
“I have an idea,” I told her.
