into my own place or a dorm. She knew this and chose not to push it further.
“What’s going on with the guy you met at the party?”
I looked down at my phone and saw the flashing blue light reminding me of the message I had yet to listen to. “We went to the movies, it was fun.”
“And?”
“And nothing.” Ignoring my phone, I reached for my water and took a drink. “Darcy reminded me of the kind of guy he was.”
“What kind of guy is that?”
“A college guy.”
Vera said nothing, just waited for me to explain and I wasn’t sure I wanted to try.
“What do you say we go out to dinner?” Thankful again that Vera decided not to push, I nodded in agreement and gathered my purse to wait for her by the door. A night out away from my father and his new friends, from Darcy and her trying her best to push me in the direction she thinks I should go, oh, and the waiting message I couldn’t bring myself to listen to. I just wanted to get away from it all.
When I messaged my father and told him I was staying at Darcy’s he didn’t even attempt to give me shit. A simple okay was all I was given in return. Maybe his new friend wasn’t such a bad thing, even if she was a gold-digging floozy.
***
“I love this one.” Vera held up a blue top and passed it to me. “Try it on.” It was low cut, slim fitting, and so out of the ordinary for me. “It would look great on you.” She paused. “With these…” She dug through the rack and found my size and held up a pair of cut-off shorts. “You have amazing legs, Ruby, you need to show them off a little. With the perfect wedges this would be a great outfit.”
It was cute, but not something I would normally wear. I imagined my father telling me I looked like a bimbo and then I imagined myself replying with the fact that it was exactly something his new friend would wear. Actually, it may cover more than what she would wear.
I took the clothes from her without another moment of hesitation and went to the nearest dressing room.
Once in the clothes I admired myself in the mirror and felt confident. Vera was right. The shorts complimented my legs, and the shirt, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.
We left the strip mall with a few bags in tow and my credit card with a higher balance than I’d ever placed on it before. I had money, my mother made sure of it. After her death when my father found out she’d had a policy with me as the beneficiary, he’d gone through a period where he’d barely look at me. All I could do was smile because even after her death she was protecting me.
Vera and I stopped at Starbucks and I paid for hers and my own. We talked as we exited, fully focused on one another and not our surroundings. I was surprised when I came face to face with Jay and the blonde I’d seen him with only a few days ago.
He stood tall, wearing faded frayed jeans and a tight blue shirt. His hair was a bit rugged, almost like his hands had run through it a few times, or someone else’s had. I felt a pain in my chest that I wanted to apply pressure to, only I refrained from bringing attention to it. He was gorgeous, with confidence that rolled off of him in waves. I swallowed hard at the thought of a girl at his side, touching him, being near him.
“Ruby.” He said my name and I was pulled out of my fantasy. Blinking to clear the haze, I forced the ache in my chest to calm. He wasn’t mine, he’d never been mine.
The girl looked from him to me and back to him, almost like she was waiting to be introduced. There was an awkward silence that had settled over us, and when our companions figured out that neither of us were planning introductions, they took it upon themselves to do so. “I’m Vera, an old family friend of Ruby and her late mother’s.”
When Vera mentioned the late mother part, Jay’s eyes softened just a small fraction but I ignored it.
“I’m Jade.” The blonde girl, very attractive I might add, thrust her hand out toward Vera. “I’m Jay’s older sister.”
I whipped