Fifi decides at that moment to come up beside me, lacing her arm with mine and fluttering her thick lashes at Alex. “Oh, honey, he’s cute. You should definitely go full peanut butter for him. Creamy peanut butter.”

“Hi.” Alex sticks out his hand. “I’m Alex.”

“This is Fifi,” I tell him.

Fifi gives him her fingers and Alex shakes them.

“Dolly is the one over there humping the pole, and Queen Bee is trying to get her to stop. We should probably go.” I tug Fifi with me toward the other queens.

“Wait, how did you know I would be here?”

“That’s a very good question.”

“She has a magic closet,” Fifi tells him. “I wish I had a magic closet at your age, because then coming out of it might have been a lot easier.” She hoots out a laugh.

“Nurse!” Queen Bee yells. Dolly is on the ground, long legs straight up in the air.

Fifi runs over and pulls on Dolly’s hands to yank her to her feet.

“Do you ladies need a ride home?” Alex asks, eyeing Bee and Dolly, who are now falling all over each other with laughter.

I nod. “That might be a good idea.”

Alex somehow procures a cab for Fifi and Bee, who both live in Pacific Heights, and gets them sent off. Then Dolly and I get into the old Bronco, me in the front and Dolly in the back.

I must fall asleep on the way home, because when I return to awareness, it’s still nighttime and I’m in my bed.

I sit up, blinking at my bedroom. The lamp is on. There’s a cup of water next to me, a note with Alex’s cell number on it, and Dolly’s half-man, half-woman costume laid out on the chair in the corner.

Well that’s great. I finally got him to come upstairs, but I slept through the whole thing.

A glance at the clock shows the time. It’s only eleven.

Through the walls, muffled sobbing.

My heart drops.

No. No no no no.

I don’t know what to do. I sink deeper in the bed and press my palms to my eyes. This shouldn’t be happening. I fixed it. We fixed it. No one should be crying.

Dolly seemed okay, but apparently not.

Why? She’s in the show, she nailed the audition . . . Why didn’t that work?

Was it Harry not showing up, or something else?

There has to be a way to fix this. Whatever it is, I’m going to figure it out.

Chapter Sixteen

“Sprinkle me.”

I roll over in bed. The note Alex left me is gone. Dammit, I should have put it in the magic closet as a keepsake or something.

Knock knock knock.

“Hugo! Come on, man, it can’t be that bad.”

Hugo.