which I commandeered from a pack of giggling freshmen. With a deft swipe of my wrist, I put the finishing touches on my makeup. My mouth is stained cherry red, and my eyes look wide and upturned thanks to the perfect cat-eye I’m rocking. The emerald green, beaded Emily Allison frock I scored last weekend hugs my willowy frame perfectly, making me look curvier than I am. I’m going to knock Ricardo dead. Just because. It has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day. I even eschewed traditional V-day colors, specifically.
Beside me, Genevieve is curling her cinnamon brown hair. Catching my eye in the mirror, she smiles. “So, you’ve been pretty tight-lipped about you and Ricardo. We want to know what’s going on. Please tell us.”
“Yes, please,” Adrienne trills from where she’s sitting on a tufted velvet stool between us. Her fuchsia, sweetheart neckline fits her like a glove, and she looks fantastic. Every line of her body is buzzing with excitement. She’s ecstatic about the prospect of dancing with Mikhail tonight. I don’t blame her. He’s an excellent dancer. She puts a hand on my skirt. “Every time I try to ask you about him, you clam up. I want the details.”
I spin slowly in the mirror, pretending to examine my reflection while looking around the cream and champagne bathroom for something to distract them, but there’s nothing diverting enough to deter them from wanting to know about Ricardo and me. I sigh. My sister is right. I’ve been avoiding this conversation since I announced I was dating Ricardo, which must appear weird to them. If I was in love with my boyfriend, wouldn’t I want to gush about him to my friends? I mean, I used to brag about Kenneth. Why not Ricardo?
My stomach tightens, and I run my hand over it as if they can see the knots there. I’m not gushing because I’m faking it with Ricardo, that’s why. Or he’s faking with me. Honestly, it’s hard to tell fact from fiction in our relationship anymore. My mind says it’s all fake, but my body… It’s whispering another story. As much as I deny it, being around him lately has given me unidentifiable flutters in the general region of my stomach. But Ricardo? I have no way of knowing if he still thinks of me as an excuse to duck his mom, or something more. I can’t bear to tell my sister and closest friend that I’m beginning to have feelings for a boy I profess to hate, only to be shot down. I’d never be able to save face after all that.
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about something else? Like the peace talks in the middle east? Or the new gun laws in California?”
“Charlotte,” Adrienne scolds, standing and putting her hands on her hips. “I do not want to talk about gun laws right now.”
“Or ever,” Genevieve says, shivering. She’s not a fan of firearms.
I relent, my expression softening. “Okay, what do you want to know?” I say, pulling Adrienne toward me so I can do her eyeshadow.
“How did this happen? I thought you hated Ricardo,” Adrienne says, blinking.
“Look down at your fabulous new shoes,” I order, and she complies.
“I did too,” Genevieve says, dropping a perfect curl and wrapping another strand around her curling wand. “I’m surprised you’d talk to him at all, after how he treated both of us.”
My lips purse in concentration as I blend the colors I’m putting on my sister’s eyelids. “I know, and I’m sorry. It just sort of happened. And he’s not so bad. Really. He went to bat for me last week when everyone was talking about my black eyes, you know? No one’s ever done that for me before. Plus, when I’m with Ricardo, I feel like he sees me. Does that make sense?”
Genevieve and Adrienne nod. My stepsister is grinning.
“Don’t move.”
“Sorry.” But she’s still smiling.
Their warm reception of my pretend gushing is all the encouragement I need to keep going. And let’s face it; everything I’ve said about Ricardo just now is true. I do feel seen by Ricardo, more than by anyone else in my life. We may push each other’s buttons just because we can, but it doesn’t feel spiteful anymore. The crackle of energy between us is… intriguing.
“His hair kills me. It makes me want to shove my fingers into it and never let go.” My eyes go wide. I cannot believe I said that out loud.