Page 46 of Come As You Are
His lips curve into a little smile. “In that case, I have a prop for you.” He reaches into his pocket and produces a case of candy cigarettes. “I picked these up when I was buying your stolen goods. Figured they might come in handy today.”
It’s so brilliant, I laugh as I grab one and slip it between my fingers. “Perfect!”
We do a full-on photo shoot, and I even convince him to take a selfie with me, cigarette gum hanging from both our lips as we loiter in front of aNO LOITERINGsign. Then we play the penis game as loudly as we dare while we head back to the food court for those fries.
It’s an absolutely ridiculous day, but damn if I don’t feel a thousand times better when we hop off the shuttle back at Camden and then devour Sunday-night Bolognese at the Beast. Of course, we both still have a mountain of homework waiting for us after cutting our studying short this morning, so we trudge back to Rumson, passing the remaining gummy Coke bottles back and forth between us on the walk.
But in my room, other plans await.
“What are you doing here?”
Isabel rises from my bed, her gaze flicking to Salem and back to me. Even though she essentially broke into my room (not that it was locked, but still), somehow I’m left feeling guilty. “I wanted to talk. Didn’t realize you were gonna have other company.”
“She doesn’t,” Salem breaks in. “Just coming back from dinner and heading upstairs. Night, Skeevy. Iz.”
Iz.I don’t want to think about how much time Salem spends with Jenna’s best friend that he calls her Iz.
“We’re friends,” I say firmly as soon as I hear Salem’s footsteps grow fainter in the distance. “You don’t need to come babysit on Jenna’s behalf.”
“You really think I just do Jenna’s bidding all the time, huh?”
I don’t have the eyebrow-arching powers of a Grayson twin, but I try my best. “Don’t you?”
“No, you little wench,” she says airily. “But Iama good friend to have, and considering you’re usingmefor attention with your talent-show act, I think maybe we’re even.”
“I didn’t make you do that,” I insist, and I’m pretty sure about that.
“No, you didn’t, but don’t pretend that isn’t why you came asking me specifically in the first place.”
Okay, she has a point. “Fine, we’re even. Friends?”
“Friends.Ifyou teach me that card trick.”
“Deal.Afterthe talent show.”
We go through my clothes, upon which she declares I don’t have anything worthy of being a sexy magician. “These shorts,maybe,” she says, holding the only high-waisted article of clothing I own, “if Priya will lend you her tuxedo blazer. You two are probably around the same size, give or take three cup sizes.” She eyes my generous chest critically. “You’d need to leave it open, which means you need a sexy top underneath.”
“Like this?” For the third time today, I unbutton my shirt, revealing the corset underneath, and Isabel claps approvingly.
“Yes, that’ll work. God, that is so trashy, I love it. Why on earth are you wearing that?”
“Long story,” I say, and it’s only partly a lie. She definitely doesn’t need to know I was with Salem when I bought it. We may be friends again, but the last thing I need is her misreading Salem’s and my friendship and going running to Jenna about it.
“Okay, lady of mystery; you keep your weird secrets. Now let’s practice.”
We go through the routine again, which allows me to show off how much better I’m getting at my grips and fans, and Isabel applauds proudly when I finish the intro to the trick. She really is fun to do this with, and I’m just hoping that she means it when she says our friendship is real.
Friends are not the easiest for me to come by, and this time around, I want the ones I make to stick.
Chapter Twelve
ISHIFT THE PILE OF BOOKShigher up on my hip to keep them in place as I knock on Sabrina’s door again. “Sabs! Come on! I know you’re in there!”
I don’t, actually, know that she’s in there, but I find that works on Salem pretty often, so it’s worth seeing if it’s genetic.
“Sabrina!” I’m lifting my hand to knock again when suddenly I hear someone calling my name and turn to face the voice. It’s Sabrina, making her way back from the bathroom, her face uncharacteristically scrubbed free of makeup.
“Has anyone ever told you that you are extremely loud?” she asks as she opens the door for us both.
