“It is a normal car,” I say, then offer her a smile back. “A nice one.”
I don’t really have female friends. Or any friends outside school. My friends were Chaz’s friends, and when we did things with them, I was always part of a couple. I’m usually more comfortable behind the wheel of my card than anywhere, but the familiar sensation of being out of place creeps in now. I don’t know how to hang out with Sebastian’s friends when he’s not around.
“You’re, like, mega rich, huh?” she says.
“We’re comfortable,” I admit, not sure how to answer that question but not sure what to talk about instead.
“Do you have your parents’ credit card?” she asks.
I shift in my seat. “Yeah. Why?”
“Can you buy anything you want?”
I shrug. “Sure.”
She turns toward me, her eyes shining with excitement. “You know what we should do?”
Suddenly, I’m sure she’s going to ask me to buy her a car or suggest something illegal.
“We should give you a makeover,” Lexi says when I don’t answer soon enough. She’s practically vibrating with excitement. “Like in the movies.”
“You like makeover movies?”
“Hell yeah, I do,” she says. “What, sluts can’t like teen movies?”
“I didn’t call you that.”
She just laughs. “I’ve always wanted to do a makeover, but c’mon, like when am I going to have the money for that? But you do.”
“What’s wrong with the way I look?” I ask. I’m not usually self-conscious, but she’s so dead set on changing me that I’m starting to wonder.
“Nothing,” she says. “You’re hot as hell. But it’ll be fun. Plus, imagine the look on Chaz’s face when you walk in with a hot new guy, and a hot new look… He’ll eat his heart out.”
“Sold,” I say, picturing his face and the judgmental things he’d say if he thought I was changing for someone else, when I never changed for him.
I can’t wait. Plus, now that I realize I’ve had the same style since I started high school, I’m getting excited about the change. Lexi’s enthusiasm is contagious, and it wouldn’t hurt me to switch things up once in a while. It’ll be nice to wear something that Chaz has never seen, never complimented.
Never taken off.
I might even get a haircut and embrace a whole new look from head to toe.
It’ll be a fresh start. Not for Sebastian or Chaz, but for me.
thirteen
#1 at the Box Office: The Jackal
Sebastian Swift
I’m at my usual spot at the top of the stairs when Billy elbows me and nods to the front entrance. “That your girl?”
I turn around, then grab the railing, thankful I’m not on the wide stairs. I might take a tumble down if both feet weren’t planted on the ground.
Viv comes striding in, flicking a strand of pin-straight hair back over her shoulder. Her usual messy waves have been straightened to a silky curtain. Instead of a little flavored lip balm, she’s wearing hot pink lipstick that makes her full lips look so fucking fuckable I’m sporting a semi just from looking at her. Suddenly, I want to jump over the railing, drag her in the bathroom, and sink my teeth into her plump pink lips.
Instead of her usual designer jeans and a girlie top, she’s wearing baggy cargo pants and a crop top that shows off her taut, toned, smooth midriff. My mouth waters with the urge to sink to my knees, pull her in, and run my tongue over every inch of her exposed skin.
Fuck. What is she trying to do, kill me?