Ghost Town Page 0,18

was Eve in those shoes, or the hoof beats of a small pony. Not that Eve was large; she just . . . clomped. It was the big, heavy boots.

"It's chili-dog night," Shane said. "How many?"

"Two," Claire said.

"Really? That's a lot for you."

"I'm celebrating the fact that you didn't fry out your brain being stupid."

He crossed his eyes and let his tongue loll, which was disgusting and funny, and smacked the side of his head to put everything back right again. "Jury's still out on that one. Two chili dogs, coming up."

"Hey!" Claire called after him, as she leaned her backpack against the wall. "No onions!"

"Your loss!"

"I meant for you! Not if you want to get kissed tonight!"

"Damn, girl. Harsh."

She grinned and ran up the stairs, intending to use the bathroom--but Eve was breathlessly rushing toward it. "Wait, wait, wait!" she squeaked. "I have to finish my makeup! Please?"

Claire blinked. The outfit, even for Eve, was a little much . . . a skintight black minidress with all kinds of lacing and buckles, fishnet hose, and big plaid boots with two-inch-thick soles that came up to her knees. "Sure," she said. "Uh--where are you going?" "Cory--you know, the girl from the UC coffee bar, the one who isn't a butthead?--she's going to this rave thing, and I promised her I'd go with, just so she doesn't feel so weird. She's not much of a partyer. It'll be an early night, but I promised her I'd be ready by seven--"

"She's picking you up?"

"Yeah. Why? You need the car?"

"If you're not using it."

"Knock yourself out--just please let me have the bathroom!"

Claire sighed. "Go ahead. And thanks. Oh, and be careful?"

"Please. I am the queen of careful. Also, princess of punk fabulousness."

She was probably right about that last part, anyway. Claire continued on down the hall to her room, closed and locked the door, and opened up her dresser to go through her choices for underwear. She wanted something pretty. Something . . . special.

In the back of the drawer, neatly folded, was a bra-and-panties set that Eve had bought her for her birthday--way too revealing, Claire had thought, since it was mostly net and little pink roses. But . . . cute. Very cute. Eve had handed it to her and whispered, "Don't open it in front of the guys. Trust me. You'll blush." And she had saved it to open in private, and stuck it in the back of a drawer, although she'd been delighted. It was like a sexy little secret she hadn't known if she'd ever actually be brave enough to share.

Now she took a deep breath, stripped off her jeans and top and plain underwear, and put on the new bra and panties. They fit--not that she expected anything else from Eve, who had an eye for that kind of thing. She was afraid to look, but Claire made herself walk over to the mirror on the back of the door.

After the blinding shock of OMG, she tried to be objective and not cover herself up with a blanket. She looked . . . naked. Well, almost. But . . . the longer she looked at it, the better she liked it. It made her tingle, just a little. What really made her tingle was the idea of what Shane would say when he saw her like this.

Because she intended for him to see it.

The jeans and T-shirt didn't seem good enough anymore. Claire went to her closet and pulled out and rejected things that just weren't right until she found a top she'd almost forgotten about--an impulse buy in Dallas, like the pink wig up on the shelf that she wore when she was in a silly mood. This was a soft, silky button-down shirt in dark red, and it fit really well--too well for her to feel comfortable wearing it to school, or to the lab, or anywhere else, for that matter.

But for this, it was perfect.

She dressed, added a touch of lipstick, and headed back. Eve was still in the bathroom, of course. Claire banged on it on the way by and yelled, "Vampire attack!"

"Tell them to bite me later!" Eve yelled back. Claire grinned and skipped down the steps, and arrived just as Shane came out of the kitchen, carrying two plates loaded with chili dogs.

He didn't quite drop them. He put them on the table and said, staring at her, "New shirt?"

She smiled. "Bought it in Dallas. Do you like it?"

"Oh, come on.