Page 57 of Xactly What She Needs

“No. These,” she says proudly, “are the affections of my childhood who grew up to be the finest specimens. I have excellent taste, it seems.”

“Didn’t you used to be in love with Kermit theFrog?”

Suddenly, Dani turns to me, her face deadly serious.

“Didn’t everyone?”

I don’t answer, mainly because I don’t know how well she’d be able to handle the blow.

“Whatever, we have more important things to do. Like get dressed. Here, I picked this out for you.”

She throws a green dress at me, and I shimmy into the skin-tight number, and check myself over in the mirror.

“You look a lot healthier these days than when you lived with him,” Dani comments.

“I do.”

There’s no vanity in what I’m saying. Before, I avoided mirrors. I didn’t like to see the paleness in my skin or the darkness around my eyes. I hated the too-thin arms and jutting hip bones. Mostly, I hated the ever-present tremble in my hands. If I ever look back at photos now, all I see are empty eyes and a forced smile.

“Let’s go drink some more,” I suggest.

I don’t want to think about the things that were. Not while all the girls are in the living room having fun. I deserve to have fun too. And he won’t interfere with that. Not today.

“Ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

They call two cabs and head into the town.

“This restaurant is highly acclaimed. Zero F*cks, the foody blog, says that it’s the best Italian place available around here.”

“I never knew you were into food, Cadie,” I say.

“No, well, who isn’t into food? I mean, come on. We’ve all got to eat. I just like to eat well, when time allows.”

Kealy is in the front seat, quizzing the driver about her college degree.

“What can youdowith an anthropology degree, exactly?”

“At least Jenny got to ride with Dani. She’s probably filling thatgirl'shead with all the different ways she can get revenge on Jax and Xander for ruining her social life.”

“Serves them right. All men think they’re heroes, even after they’re told that they’re not. Here comes the savior of the universe, here to protect you from normal high-school crushes!” Cadie laughs.

The restaurant looks nice, I’ll give them that. If the food is anything like the decor, then it’ll taste divine. The walls are covered in dark wood paneling. Stretches of live trailing plants hang around the edge of the ceiling. The low-lighting and easy murmur of conversation suggests far more class than I’m used to.

“This is on Edge, so don’t look so worried,” Kealy whispers.

“Really?”

Kea fishes out a credit card and waves it at me with a wink.

“Yeah, really.”

Still, I don’t want Edge to think I’m taking advantage of his generosity, so I order only the most reasonably priced things on the menu. We’ll still rack up quite the bill, but I can always talk to Edge about paying him back later. My ex never would have stood for such egregious spending, and I know that I’m taking a risk. If this is a test from Edge, just like everything ever was with my ex, then I’m probably failing, but the consequences will come later.

“Jenny, tell us about college,” Kealy demands, already into her second glass of wine despite only now being served starters.

“There’s nothing to say. I don’t even know if I’ve been accepted yet.”

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