Page 132 of Choosing You

“If I’m making you do this, the least I can do is get you a dress. And shoes. And whatever else you need.”

“I still don’t know.”

“Think about it and let me know tomorrow.” He kisses me once more before leaving.

I’m suddenly in a much better mood now that he’s made this plan to take me instead of Ava. But I’m still worried. His dad scares me. And I’m sure he hates me even more now that Garret’s blackmailing him in order to be with me. If I show up at the fundraiser, who knows how he’ll react? And Katherine will be furious. That woman almost scares me as much as Garret’s dad.

* * *

The dining hallis usually quiet on Monday mornings, at least at 7, which is when I get there. I always bring a book to read or I study for whatever test I have that day. Today, I brought the biology homework that my idiot lab partner was supposed to do but didn’t.

“There you are.”

I look up and see Garret coming toward my table. He sits next to me and gives me a kiss. “I missed you,” he says, laughing.

I roll my eyes, smiling. “You’re going to say that all the time now just to annoy me, aren’t you?”

“You know you love it.” He takes a bite of my donut, which is next to my half-eaten apple pastry and untouched scrambled eggs. Despite my resolve to eat better, I still haven’t improved my diet.

“What are you doing up so early? Your first class isn’t until 10.”

“I wanted to get your answer about the fundraiser.”

“I don’t know, Garret. I don’t want to start some big fight with your family.”

“Stop worrying about them. They’re not your problem.”

“But what about the photographers? They’ll be taking photos of us.”

“I was thinking about that last night. This isn’t going to be like those charity events I go to. The photographers will be taking pictures of Royce Sinclair and all the other important people there. They won’t even be interested in us.”

“But what are you going to do about Ava?”

“She’ll leave us alone. She has a boyfriend.”

“That’s never stopped her before.”

He lowers his voice, even though nobody’s around. “It’s different now. Her boyfriend is the mechanic who works on her Mercedes. Blake’s seen the two of them out together. And when he saw Ava at a party last week she was drunk and admitted she was dating the guy. Her parents would kill her if they knew. Well, they’d take her designer clothes and her car away, and then they’d kill her.”

“So you’ll threaten to tell her parents if she doesn’t let us go together? That’s blackmail, Garret. Seems like you’re doing a lot of that lately.”

“Well, she asked for it.” He takes another bite of my donut. “Now can you just give me an answer about this?”

I take a sip of my soda as I think about it. “You really want me to go?”

“Seriously, Jade? Have I not made that clear by now?”

“Okay. I guess I could go.”

“Finally.” He gets up. “I need to go make some calls about the dress.”

“Can’t we just get something at the mall? What are you wearing to this thing?”

“The mall doesn’t have what we need. And I’m wearing a tux. It’s formal dress.”

“You’ll rent a tux but you didn’t want to wear the bowling shoes? What’s the difference?”

“I don’t rent the tux. I have my own. Several, actually.”

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