––––––––
Alas, life continued to poke me.
It was already seven thirty and Daddy still wasn’t home, nor was he answering his text messages. Where was he? Was he still job hunting? Why wasn’t he looking for jobs online like a normal person?
My worry got the best of me, and so, to allay my fears, I called Ariel and Jasmine and told them all about Cole, his bad attitude, and our poker game.
“I heard that Cole and Jake got in to a big fight in the locker room yesterday after football practice,” Jasmine said. “They say that Cole punched him in the face and got suspended from the team.”
“He punched Jake?” Ariel asked, her voice high in shock. Ariel had six sisters and, to the best of my knowledge, they argued and screamed at each other constantly. Why was hitting so far-fetched to her? Especially since she was so willing to get in to brawls for her friends.
“That’s what I heard,” Jasmine said.
“Does anyone know why he’s so mad?” I asked.
“Nope,” Jasmine said.
“He ran out of my house after the poker game like his pants were on fire,” I said. “Maybe that has something to do with it.”
“I don’t know,” Jasmine said. “Hey. I hear there is a party at Stephanie Pleasant’s house on Friday. They said that all of the cool kids are going to be there.”
I had no idea how Jasmine always got all the hot gossip. She must’ve had connections outside of Ariel and I, though I’d never seen her with anyone else.
“They must’ve lost our invitation in the mail,” Ariel said.
“Stephanie Pleasant is a skank,” I replied. “I wouldn’t want to go to her stupid party anyway.”
“Not even if Jake asked you to?” Jasmine said.
I paused. That’s right. I was Jake’s girlfriend now. If he went to a party, it would look suspicious that I wasn’t there.
Crap.
“I guess I’d have to,” I said with a sigh.
My phone vibrated and Jake’s number flashed across my screen.
I frowned. What did he want?
“Speaking of Jake, girls, I have to go.”
I didn’t really want to talk to Jake, but I didn’t really feel like talking to Ariel and Jasmine any more either. It was late, my dad wasn’t home, and I was hungry and tired.
I bid goodbye to my friends and picked up Jake’s call on the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Bella! What’s up?”
His good mood grated on my deteriorating one.
“Hey.”
“Happy to hear your voice, too.”
I frowned. Was this some sort of game? Was Dana around and that was why he was calling me and being nice? I couldn’t be sure.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah. Everything is fine. I just thought that you would be a little more excited to hear from me.”
“Would I? Did you forget that you yelled at me via text earlier? That doesn’t exactly inspire anxious anticipation.”
He smoothly ignored my comment.
“Most girls in school would be excited to hear from me, and seeing as how no one really knew your name before yesterday, I thought that it would be, I don’t know, thrilling for you.”
I was so not in the mood for his condescending conversation. Was that how he talked to Dana, too? No wonder she’d dumped him. I rolled my eyes so hard that I thought they would pop out of my head.
“What do you want, Jake?”
“Just cementing our plans for this week.”
“Plans?”
“Yup. You have the distinct honor of having plans with the one and only Jake Winsted. Prepare for a heavy dose of awesome.”
A week ago, I would have killed for this phone call. Now, this phone call just made me want to kill Jake in particular. Was he always so arrogant?
“I’ll get my date book,” I said. I did not have a date book, but I didn’t want him to know that. Instead, I grabbed a pen and wrote in the back page of my chemistry notebook.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
“I will meet you at my first period class every morning before school starts for a crazy make-out session. There will be tongue, so make sure you floss and gargle. A clean tongue is a happy tongue.”
I wanted to break my pencil in half.
“How about I meet you at your first period class every morning and give you a hug instead?”
“Peck on the lips?”
“Kiss on the cheek.”
He didn’t respond at first. I could feel his frustration through the phone.
“I suppose that I could tell everyone you’re a virgin and that we’re moving slow because you grew up a prude. But that’s only a short-term solution. You can’t hold out forever, Bella. Especially not against me.”
My skin crawled.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I guess it’s not all bad.” His voice sounded farther away, making me think that he was talking more to himself than to me. “It will make me look cooler if we’re making out by week two. People will think that I am the king of de-virginizing.”
“That’s degrading,” I stated loudly.
“More degrading than my girlfriend not wanting to kiss me? Definitely not.”
“I’m not your girlfriend.”
“According to the student body of St. Mary’s Academy, you are.”
“Did you get dropped on your head as a child?”
“Yes; right in to a pool of rich, young, and hot. Moving on to item two.”
“Is there really a list?” I asked.
He laughed. “There is always a list, babe.”
Great. Perfect. Wonderful.
“Item two. You will dress appropriately for all occasions. Appropriate clothing includes mini-skirts, mini dresses, hair down and blown straight or wavy, and heels. Make-up is not optional.”
“You’re joking.”
“Not at all.”
“You do realize that I’m doing you a favor, right? You know that I am doing this because you asked me to.”
“You are doing this for Arianna.”
“Ariel.”
“Whatever. Now, what is the price of her happiness worth to you? A shaved leg and a little lipstick? Come on.”
“You can’t give me a dress code. Especially not in Autumn. I’ll freeze to death.”
“It’s not a dress code. More like guidelines on how to be a girl.”
“I don’t have to dress up in heels and hooker skirts to be a girl. I could dress in jeans and sweatshirts and still be a girl.”
“Biologically.”
“Do you know how sexist that sounds? You do realize that it’s no longer 1950, right? Women are no longer confined to the kitchen, just waiting to be impregnated while we cook your dinner and mop your floor.”
“Dear God. Please press the mute button. I’m not having a conversation about feminism. I am letting you know in the nicest way possible that your clothes are not up to par with your new popularity and that I am going to buy you new ones.”
“New ones?” I stuttered.
“Tomorrow, we are ditching school after first period and I will personally take you shopping.”
“You’re going to take me shopping?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t I be trusted to pick out my own clothes?”
“You’ve been picking out your own clothes since Freshman year. The answer to that question is no.”
My stomach twisted in knots.
“Item three. Friday night. We will meet up at Stephanie Pleasant’s pre-party, then head over to the Stamford Club for an under twenty-one party. You are required to attend.”
Exhaustion pulled at me. I hadn’t slept the night before, and this conversation wore me down to the bone. I just wanted to get off the phone and never speak to Jake again. Unfortunately, that was not possible either. I sighed.
“What time?”
“Stephanie’s party starts at seven.”
“As long as we’re back by ten o’clock.”
“Why?”
“I have a curfew.”
“Then you will be breaking it.”
I snorted. “I can’t break my curfew. My dad will freak.”
He ignored me again. He did that a lot.
“Moving on. You will spend every lunch period at my table, and you will talk about any cool things that you do or know. The car thing was spot on. Talk about more of that, but don’t talk too much because girls who talk too much think too much, and girls who think too much are not for me.”
I imagined grabbing his neck and ringing it.
“Are we done?”
“Last item on the list for this week is that I will address you as Baby, and you will not give me a dirty look about it. I just figured that you were one of those types.”
My body shook in anger, and I hung up the phone and hurled it across the room.
He was just as infuriating as his brother! Worse! How could I stand to be around him for two weeks? Was it worth the humiliation to be popular? To give my best friend her dream boyfriend, who may or may not even like her back? I had half a mind to call Ariel and tell her exactly what I was up to. I wanted to walk away from this stupid plan and this even stupider dream of popularity and leave it all in the past.
But, I couldn’t. It wasn’t possible. I had to see this through for myself and, even more importantly, for Ariel.
I blew out a harsh breath, and walked to the window. I didn’t think again until my heart beat slowed down and my hands unclenched.
I couldn’t tell Ariel, just like Jake couldn’t tell Dana. We had to keep quiet and play our roles until the time was right. When Jake was back with Dana, Eric and Ariel were cozy, and I was ... well, I didn’t know where I would be then. My life had taken so many twists and turns in the last two days that even thinking about tomorrow seemed overwhelming. Like it was a grand mystery that I wasn’t ready to solve.
I sighed.
Where was Dad? It was almost eight o’clock and he still wasn’t around. Why didn’t he text me? Was he out looking for a job? Was he at a bar?
I crossed my bedroom, picked up my phone from where it had landed in my hamper, and checked it.
To my relief, Daddy had texted back while Jake and I were on the phone.
Dad: Be home soon. I love you.
I texted back, telling him that I loved him, too, before I laid back down on my bed.
This had been the longest day ever. God only knew what tomorrow would bring.