Chapter 56 Audrey

I opened the door to find Tina standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall. Grinning, she pushed away from the wall and strode into the room with her clothes in her hand. She shut the door behind herself and walked over to the vanity to get changed. "So, when are you going to tell us who that mystery model was?" she asked pointedly, wiggling her eyebrows at me as she slipped her shirt off.

I felt my face flush, and I quickly waved my hand in an attempt to look nonchalant. "Oh, just... no one. Someone who responded to my flyers."

Tina's grin widened, causing my face to redden even more. "Uh-huh. Sure. Well, anyway, we're all heading out for drinks while we wait for the final results." She paused, jumping a bit as she hiked up her pants. "You're coming with us, right?"

I hesitated for a moment, glancing back toward the door that Edwin had just disappeared through. Part of me wanted to stay, to see if he would come back and we could finish what we had started. But he was gone, and besides..

That would never happen. Not again. Bad idea.

"Yeah, sure," I said finally. "Drinks sound great.

With that, we gathered the rest of the team and headed to the academy bar. The place was buzzing with energy, filled with other teams and models who were also celebrating after the show. The air smelled like cigarettes and whiskey, and the music was pumping so loud that the bartender could barely even hear us as we ordered a round of drinks

Once we had our drinks in hand, we found a table in the corner where it was a bit quieter, although it was still pretty deafening.

"To Team Audrey!" Avis cheered over the din, raising her glass.

"To kicking a** and taking names!" Betty added with a giggle.

We all clinked our glasses together, laughing and grinning. As I took a sip of my c**ail, I felt the tension from the show slowly starting to melt away-although it was quickly replaced with anxiety over what the final results might turn out to be.

"I still can't believe those scores, Tina said, shaking her head in disbelief and causing a frizzy red lock to fall into her eyes. "We even got a perfect ten from the last judge."

"It's all thanks to Audrey," Betty said, nudging me with her elbow "Your designs were amazing. Audrey, really."

"And we couldn't have had a better, more proactive team leader, Gavin added.

I felt my cheeks grow warm beneath their praise. "It was a team effort. I couldn't have done it without all of you."

feel pleasantly buzzed when suddenly, someone bumped into our table hard, causing our drinks

Avis called out, but the flash of blonde hair was

Tina asked, craning her neck to try

it wouldn't have surprised me if it was. She had been disqualified from the competition, after all,

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Chapter 56

was too focused on my bag, which had

new phone and tablet were unharmed. But then

was now stained with dark red wine, the intricate pattern I had spent days working on barely visible beneath the dark splotches. "What's that?" Betty asked, leaning in to

tears misting over my eyes. "Nothing." I lied. "I... I need to go

my

to the ladies' room without waiting for a response, quickly rushing over to the

again, desperately trying to rinse it under the water But it was no use. The stain had already set, and clumsy, drunken attempts

days and nearly all of last night making it, pouring all my gratitude and... other feelings... into every stitch. And now it was ruined before I had even gotten the chance to give it to Edwin. "S***pi**o myself, angrily

took a few deep breaths, trying to compose myself. It was just scarf, I told myself. I could make another

so much more

I was so focused on trying to hide my tears that I didn't notice the

who was standing there. He had removed his disguise, now wearing his usual sweater and tweed jacket.

to get a better look

back, the scent of alcohol on his breath only adding to my own sense of drunkenness. "Nothing is wrong. I'm fine," I said, forcing a

narrowed. "What are you hiding behind

"It's nothing, really-

scarf from my hand. He held it

to this lovely scarf?" he

supposed to be for you," I admitted. "As

softened. "You made this? For

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