Now that I was no longer in the contest, it didn’t really matter what I wore. And even though they weren’t completely clean, these clothes smelled way better than my colonial ones. Caleb was waiting right where he said he’d be, holding a bouquet of flowers and wearing a guilty expression. When he saw me, he jogged to close the distance between us. “How epically did I screw up?” he asked. Then he did a double take at my outfit. “You’re not in costume anymore!” I took a deep breath and said, “I’ve been disqualified.” Caleb’s eyes widened, then took on the same sternness as his father’s. “I have to talk to Muriel and set things right,” he said, marching past me. “Caleb.” I grabbed the crook of his elbow and stopped him. “Things are right.” He cocked an eyebrow at me. “I deserve to be disqualified,” I said. “Even if I didn’t use my time with you to cheat in the contest, I still broke the rules.” Now that I was saying the facts out loud, I realized how true they were.
