––––––––
I sat at lunch with Ursula, Mel, and Stephanie. Dana’s table sat empty now. I wondered where she was. Hiding in the library? In the parking lot?
Coward.
“Your hair is amazing, and it smells so good. You have to tell me your secret.”
Stephanie flipped her blonde, nearly white hair over her shoulder. She reminded me of an angel, all pale skin, light freckles, blonde hair, and rail thin. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had wings under her belly bearing tops.
“Just shampoo and conditioner, I guess.”
“Strawberry?” She smiled at me with perfectly shaped white teeth. I wondered how high her orthodontist bill was.
I nodded. “Strawberry.”
“I have to try it. I love fruity conditioners.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me a little closer. “I can tell that we are going to be best friends. You and me. We’re practically twins.”
I wanted to ask how me and her were practically twins, but Jake and Cole sat down and I was no longer the center of attention.
Stephanie turned her entire body to look at Cole. She leaned forward a bit, giving him what must’ve been an excellent view down her shirt.
Why did that make me grit my teeth?
“Hey,” she said, giving him the smile she’d given me just a minute ago.
His eyes widened in surprise before he smoothed his expression.
“Hey, Steph.”
“So, are you going to my pre- party tonight?” she asked, leaning forward on her hands.
God. I wanted to pull her hair.
“Yeah. I guess.” There was a weird expression on his face. Somewhere between a smile and a grimace.
“And the Stamford Club afterward?”
“Sure.”
“Great. We can meet up at my party and go to the club together.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned back to me.
“You’re going, too, right, B?”
B? I was B now?
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“Fabulous. Our first party together. It’s going to be awesome!”
One side of Cole’s mouth ticked up in a smile. My hands gripped my salad tray until my knuckles turned bloodless.
Stephanie smiled so big that I thought her face would break.
“It will be like a double date.”
Double date?
The words ran through my mind. A double date would imply that Stephanie was dating Cole. But Cole would never go out with her. She wasn’t his type. He needed someone smart and funny and down to earth. Stephanie was none of those things. She was too much. Too pretty. Too smiley. Too skinny. Too blonde for Cole to consider.
I sucked in a deep breath.
No, I told myself. He would never go for her.
Still, it just felt like another lie.
Cole didn’t look at me, which was weird because I was staring holes in to his face.
I swallowed, and reassured myself that Cole wouldn’t go for a girl like that. But, just to be sure, I made a mental note to tell him how wrong she was for him as soon as possible.