Page 27 of In Too Deep

Caroline freezes when I reach for her mascara, her forehead bunching as she studies me. “Do you mind if I use this?”

One side of her mouth curls into a smile and she shakes her head. As I attempt to apply it to my lashes, she turns her attention back to her own makeup.

“Who are you putting that on for?”

Her question causes me to jerk in surprise, and I groan as I work to remove the black mark under my eye.

“I’m not putting it on for anyone.” The defensive squeak in my voice gives away my lie, and Caroline chuckles. “Who are you putting makeup on for?” I shoot back.

She rolls her eyes, meeting my gaze in the mirror. “I wear makeup every day, Cat.”

Shrugging, I pull my attention back to my own reflection and go to work applying the black gunk to my other eye. “Well…I’ve got to start some time. I just thought I’d put on a little mascara and maybe some lip gloss. It’s not a big deal.”

“Are you sure this isn’t because of Lawrence? Robbie thinks you like him.”

“What?” My eyes snap back over to her, my back going rod straight. “That’s crazy. I don’t even know him.”

“You know what he looks like…” she taunts.

The color on my cheeks spreads as I shake my head in denial. Lawrence is extremely cute. The most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to keep from staring at him. Still, I thought I’d hidden my attraction to him.

“So?”

“So…we’ve both noticed the way you look at him. And you keep finding reasons to talk about him.”

“I do not,” I squeal, slamming the tube of mascara down on her dresser.

“Whatever…” She quickly applies some lip gloss before turning to regard me with a hand on her hip. “So, you don’t like Lawrence.”

“No.”

“Good,” she chirps with a quick bob of her head. “Then you won’t care that I asked Robbie to set me up with Lawrence.”

My eyes widen as jealousy burrows its ugly head in the pit of my stomach. “What? You like him?”

She shrugs, twirling to admire herself in the mirror again. “He’s cute.”

My head spins, trying to think of something to say to keep her from dating Lawrence. I can’t admit that I have a crush on him. She’ll tell Robbie for sure, then he’ll hate me.

“What about Andrew?” I press, hoping the reminder of the boy she claims to love will do the trick.

“What about him?” she huffs. “He doesn’t want to be my boyfriend.”

Anger bubbles in my chest. I know exactly what she’s trying to do, and she’s going to do it with the boy I like because there’s nothing I can do to stop her.

“So, you’re going to use Lawrence to make Andrew jealous.”

“What if I am?” She smirks, turning to me as she crosses her arms. “You don’t like him, right?”

“Right…” I nod, busying myself with the task of finding one of her lip glosses that will work with my pale skin. “Do you think he likes you?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s had a crush on me since we were kids.”

My heart sinks, but I force a smile on my face as I meet her gaze again. It’s just as well. It’s not like I can date Lawrence anyway.

17

Lawrence

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