––––––––
I pushed the curtain open with a whoosh, and stepped out on to the red, carpeted floor of The Boutique, a small shop on Fifth Avenue. Thank god that I shaved my legs that morning, because every dress Jake picked out only came down to mid-thigh and had some form of pink. I normally hated pink, but in these expensive clothes, I didn’t mind it so much.
My current outfit was a white, sleeveless shirt, a mini, pink, pleated skirt, and a fitted pink sweater. The pink heels were already at the register. I’d seen this outfit before. On Dana.
Had he chosen her clothes, too, or just memorized her outfits?
“Wow,” he said, a big grin on his face as I stepped in front of him. He looked at me as if I were a bowl of crème and he were a cat. It made me feel dirty. Did he see me in this outfit, or was he picturing Dana’s head on my body?
“You are going to blow everyone away tomorrow.”
“Isn’t this a little much?” I asked, stepping forward. “The clothes, I mean.” I looked at the price tag hanging off the skirt. It had three figures, and was more than our electric bill. “This stuff is expensive.”
He chuckled. “Expensive? What does that mean?”
He held out his hands, and I stepped forward, taking them. He looked me up and down, his grin turning wolfish.
“Very nice.”
I snatched my hand back.
This wasn’t me. I wasn’t some play thing to dress up and show off. I had a mind. I had pride. I probably would have protested more, but the clothes were cute, and I’d never be able to afford them on my own. I was positive that this made me a hypocrite and the worst kind of person, but I had to admit that it felt nice to wear clothes that hadn’t been rotting in the back of somebody’s closet.
“So, I hear that Eric is taking Ariel to the Stamford Club on Friday night. It’s their official coming out.”
“Coming out? As in they are going to be an official couple?”
My heart did happy flips. I forgot about my broken moral compass and mentally patted myself on the back.
Jake nodded.
“He’s going to be making it Facebook official soon. Funny. He didn’t need much nudging, either. I said her name, and he practically did a backflip.”
Happiness fluttered within me. So it was real. Eric liked Ariel for real.
“That’s fantastic.”
“It is, as long as you continue to play along. I mean, you know Ariel, right? How would she react if she knew about our little arrangement? It might be hard to stay in a relationship based on a lie.”
My good mood dissipated.
He released my hand and sat back.
God. I wanted to kick him.
“Why don’t you try on another outfit? The black one, maybe? With the heels this time.” He leaned back on the couch, stretched his legs out in front of him, and put his hands behind his head. “This day is turning out to be way more fun than I thought. Where have you been hiding that tight little body of yours? It’s amazing.”
“Beneath books, homework, and extracurricular activities.”
He looked me over again.
“Shame.”
I closed my eyes to keep from strangling him. When I opened them, he was standing, a navy blue, velvet box in his hands.
“I was going to wait to give this to you, but after seeing how amazing you look, I just couldn’t wait.”
He held out the box to me, a half smile lighting his beautiful face.
How could one boy be so gorgeous and so manipulative at the same time? It should have been illegal.
“What is it?”
He shrugged.
“Just a little present to say thank you.”
I eyed him wearily, then opened the box. Inside, amidst soft white lining, was a gold necklace with a diamond heart. My breath caught in my throat as the sparkles from the diamond caught the light. It was easily the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen.
I gasped, and put my free hand up to my mouth.
“Jake, this, this is...”
“This is yours.”
He gently pulled the box from my hands, took out the necklace, stepped around, and clasped it around my neck. The diamond was surprisingly light weight. I ran my fingers along its rough edges.
“It’s just a little present to say how grateful I am.”
I went on high alert. Jake was being ... nice? For what? What was this new angle? What did he want?
“And to keep away any other dudes sniffing around. Once guys see that necklace, they’ll know exactly who you belong to. I don’t want you wandering off before I’m done with you.”
And there it was. The reality of the situation. He was branding me with the necklace, and I had fallen for it. Stupid me.
He moved in front of me, and placed my face between his hands.
“What do we say?”
His lips were a breath from mine. I considered kneeing him between the legs.
“If you don’t take a step back, I am going to personally ensure that you never have any children. Ever.”
He heeded me, and retreated.
At least he had sense enough to do that.
“You’re weird.”
“Am I?”
“I buy you thousands of dollars worth of clothes, expensive jewelry, compliment you. And yet, you still resist me. Why?”
I scowled. “Because this isn’t real. We are doing this so that you can get back with Dana, remember?”
He shrugged. “Can’t we have a little fun, too?”
“You might be used to skanky girls, but I’m not one of them. Keep your hands to yourself and everyone will be happier for it.”
“What if I was someone else?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. “Maybe you’d rather be here with a different brother.”
My heart sped up. I smoothed the shock from my features.
“I’d rather be here with your credit card while you are far, far away in the jungles of India, getting trampled by an elephant with dysentery,” I said. “It looks like neither of us is going to get what we want today.”
He kept his eyes on me for the longest time before he turned and walked to the register.
“Get your stuff,” he growled.
The workers had already started to pick up the clothes and shoes that I’d left in the changing room and bring them to the register. Jake pulled out a black credit card and paid.
He didn’t look over his shoulder as he called to me.
“You’d better put on your shoes, or else we’re going to be late to the stylist.”
I frowned. Stylist?
“I can feel you frowning,” he called, still not looking at me. “Do it while we walk. You’re getting a haircut.”