Page 13 of Keeper
I took a deep breath. I wasn’t sure I agreed totally with what she was saying, but I couldn’t deny that her speech made me feel optimistic about my future and all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Or maybe it was the vodka?
“It’s so scary, though,” I said. “And I wouldn’t really know where to start, honestly. I’d have so much research to do.”
“Yeah, it’s a leap of faith,” she said. “But I might be able to help you out with that. Anyway, enough of that talk—let’s find you something to wear to the club.”
***
After a quick shower, Marta talked me into wearing a daring mini dress with a heart-shaped neckline. To be fair, it wasone of the less revealing options in her wardrobe … but Istillfelt like my boobs and ass were constantly on the verge of falling out.
“You looksofucking hot, girl!” Marta said.
Since I hadn’t brought my makeup, she let me use hers. I pinned my hair up in a hurry and then it was time to go. We took another shot for the road, and scampered out the door.
Our cab idled outside the building. The driver, some poor old man, didn’t look very happy that we’d kept him waiting. I climbed into the back of the car and pushed my dress down—a battle I knew I’d be fighting all night, since that thing kept wanting to ride high.
Marta gave the driver the address to the club and he stepped on the gas. I watched the sights and lights of Dallas at night streak by my window.
“Okay, Ainsley, I need to know,” Marta began, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. “When you messaged me, why were you in Wichita?”
I took a deep breath. I’d reached out to Marta because I wanted to talk about my problem—but now that I was actually here, I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I guess running away from my problem had actually worked.
“Boy problems,” I said simply, hoping that would sate her curiosity.
“Well,duh,I figured that.”
“How’d you figure that?”
“Are a girl’s problems evernotcaused by a boy? As soon as you told me you were in Wichita, I knew. There was no way you’d be in Wichita unless a boy was somehow involved.”
I snickered. “Okay, fair point. But I don’t know any boys in Wichita.”
“Ah-ha, so you were going to Wichita to getawayfrom a boy.”
“More or less.”
She leaned against the door of the cab, stroking her chin in thought. “Hm. Go on, tell me what happened.”
I let out a sigh. “Long story short: I was dating a guy for a couple months.”
“Was he hot?”
“Yeah, he was cute and everything, but things weren’t progressing the way I wanted them to. So I broke up with him a few weeks ago, and now—”
The words stopped coming. I found it hard to continue.
“Go on,” Marta said.
A swollen lump made my throat tight. Afraid I might cry, I hurried through the rest of the story. “And then today I found out that he spread a bunch of nasty, um, rumors about me around school. And now everyone knows what I did, and everybody thinks I’m a huge slut. I’m so mortified.”
“Aw, Ainsley, hun.” Marta scooted over the space between us and hugged me. “He’s just a vengeful piece of shit.”
“I know,” I said. “It still sucks.”
“Of course it does.” She let out an angry huff on my behalf. “Men. Theonlything on their tiny pea-brains is sex. Yet when you actually give it to them, they freak out, point fingers and call you a slut. It getssoold, honestly. But trust me, it’s just a rumor, it’s not a big deal.”
Actually, though, it’s a lot more than a rumor,I thought, a wave of self-disgust rippling over me.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice still wavering. I took a second to center myself. Only when I was sure I wouldn’t cry did I continue. “Sorry if I’m being pathetic. I’m still feeling a little raw about it.”
