The Bling Queen Read online

  After all, if a wedding calls for one thing, it’s a whole lot of bling.

  Back in the car after the ceremony, I take my phone out of my clutch and turn it on. Mom and Mimi are discussing how lovely everything was, how beautiful Hayden and Harper looked (though, if you ask me, I still can’t be completely sure that it was Hayden in the wedding gown), while Toby finally manages to break free from his tie, lassoing it around his head in triumph.

  I block them all out as my phone comes back to life, dinging with what seems like a thousand text messages.

  Thank you so much for your help—the dance was great! Couldn’t have done it without you!

  I am obsessed with these suspenders, and I think they brought me luck last night. (I’ll tell you about that later!) I have a bat mitzvah to go to next weekend. Do you think I could make another appointment with you?

  Hi, I got your number from Gianna. I’d love to have you help me choose some new accessories for our family trip to New York in a couple of weeks. Would that be possible?

  Best dance ever—thanks to you. I felt like a star! Talk again soon, Bling Queen!

  Each of these messages makes me smile proudly, grateful that I was able to help these girls feel a bit more special on their big night out. I keep scrolling through my screen and find two more texts. The first is Deirdre on our group exchange with Bree, asking how the wedding is going. And the second text is from none other than Kayte Reynolds.

  I quickly tap out a reply to Deirdre and Bree: Wedding is great. I’ll send you pictures from the reception. By the way, I’m putting in my request now for you two to be my bridesmaids. Clear your schedules!

  Done! And ditto! Deirdre’s reply comes almost immediately, followed soon after by a Triple ditto, whackadoos! from Bree.

  I then open Kayte’s text and read. So don’t take this the wrong way, but how about as another idea, we do a piece on lockets? You obviously love them, and I—well, I don’t. But I think that could set up a good debate, right?

  I love it! I type back. Here’s our title: “Lockets—Vintage Must-Haves or Stash Them with the Moth Balls?”

  Yes! Kayte replies. This is fun. I’m glad we’re on friendly terms again. Much less awkward.

  Totally, I reply. And not just friendly—friends.

  Right, Kayte types back. Just don’t think of giving me one of those dumb infinity friendship rings of yours.

  I laugh out loud at this, and Mimi turns and looks at me. “What’s so funny, Tessie?” she asks.

  “Oh, nothing much,” I say. “I’m just talking to my future bridesmaids.”

  “You’re getting a little ahead of yourself, don’t you think?” Mom asks.

  “It’s never too early to make your forever friends, right?” I ask. “Plus, I already know what I’ll give them as their bridal party gift.” I pause for dramatic effect. “Nameplate earrings. Just like nameplate necklaces, only they dangle down to your shoulders. I’m sure by the time I get married, I’ll finally be able to get them designed.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Mom says, turning back around to help give Dad directions. Toby is tying the laces on his shiny black shoes into knots, and I look over his head at Mimi, catching her eye.

  “By the way,” I begin, retrieving the locket from underneath my dress, “you and I should try to get a picture tonight. So that I can place it in here.”

  Mimi’s pink-painted lips spread into a huge grin. “Consider it done,” she says, and we both turn away and look out our respective windows. But I keep the heart of the locket clutched in my fist. Because maybe that’s really the best part of bling—who it came from, who it reminds you of, what it means to you.

  I hold the locket tightly for another second, willing myself to never forget this moment. And that just might be the point, I think, of the accessories you love. They may not hug you hello and kiss you good-bye, fill you with giggles, or brush away your tears.

  But they always help you remember.

  Acknowledgments

  Endless thank-yous to Alyson Heller for trusting me with your blingtastic idea. You are the sparkliest editor of all!

  Glittery thanks to Charlie Olsen for being the snazziest agent I could ask for.

  And the glitziest of appreciation to Mara Anastas, Fiona Simpson, Faye Bi, Kayley Hoffman, Jessica Handelman, Carolyn Swerdloff, and the rest of the Aladdin team for always keeping the literary baubles polished!

  Allison Gutknecht is the author of the Mandy Berr series, beginning with Don’t Wear Polka-Dot Underwear with White Pants (and Other Lessons I’ve Learned). After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she earned her master’s degree in Children’s Media and Literature from NYU. Allison grew up in Voorhees, New Jersey, and now lives in New York City with her rambunctious toy poodle, Gypsy, and her literate cat, Folly.

  ALADDIN • SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Allison-Gutknecht

  Also by Allison Gutknecht

  Don’t Wear Polka-Dot Underwear with White Pants (And Other Lessons I’ve Learned)

  A Cast Is the Perfect Accessory (And Other Lessons I’ve Learned)

  Never Wear Red Lipstick on Picture Day (And Other Lessons I’ve Learned)

  Pizza Is the Best Breakfast (And Other Lessons I’ve Learned)

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN

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  First Aladdin hardcover edition September 2016

  Text copyright © 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Jacket illustration copyright © 2016 by Annoosha Syed

  Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.

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  Jacket designed by Jessica Handelman

  Interior designed by Steve Scott

  The text of this book was set in Bodoni Egyptian Pro.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2015959858

  ISBN 978-1-4814-5309-7 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-5308-0 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-5310-3 (eBook)