Her brows lifted in surprise, and she smiled widely. “Seriously? You did?”
I nodded. “I had to. That paper was so much better than anything I could come up with on such short notice. My grade needs a serious boost. I didn’t have any other choice.”
She covered her mouth with her fingertips and started bouncing up and down with excitement. “I can’t believe you did it!” she squealed.
I couldn’t help the nervous energy that had been consuming me since I handed in that paper, so I bounced with her. The excitement was short-lived, though. I came to a stop as the realization of what I’d just done hit me. In the blink of an eye, my excitement had changed to fear and worry.
She saw the shift immediately, and Madison stopped bouncing as well. She pulled me in for a hug that I willingly accepted. “Hey, it’s fine. You did the right thing.”
I pulled back, my brows furrowed together. “How is cheating the right thing?”
“It was the right thing for you. It was between that and losing your scholarship. What were you supposed to do?”
“Work harder,” I answered softly.
She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t fair for you to cheat, but it wasn’t fair to be treated the way he’s been treating you either. If he hadn’t been so hard on you, you never would’ve done it. Plus, he’ll never know, and you’ll never do it again. Let’s go celebrate you being a little baddie.” She wrapped her arm around mine and started pulling me down the sidewalk.
I dragged my feet, but it didn’t slow her down. She continued to pull at my arm until I gave in and went with her willingly. “Where are we going?”
“To celebrate,” she answered, still latched onto my arm even though I wasn’t pulling against her hold anymore.
“Yeah, I got that, but where? It’s a Friday afternoon. You know of some big party in the middle of the day?”
She snorted and rolled her blue eyes before releasing my arm. “No, we’ll go back to my place, get changed, have some dinner, and then we’ll go to a party.”
It sounded like wasting several hours to me, hours I could use to work, do homework, study, or maybe even sleep.
“I’ll go back to my place to get ready. You wanna swing by and pick me up before you head out?”
“No way. I know you. You’ll try to get out of it. You’re staying with me. You can wear some of my clothes to the party. Dinner is on me.”
I rolled my eyes as I crossed my arms over my chest. “I hate it when you dress me. It makes me feel like a Barbie.”
She giggled. “Exactly, my own personal Barbie. I just got a new little black dress that you’ll look amazing in. Come on.” She grabbed my arm once again and pulled me alongside her at a much faster pace.
“Madison,who did you buy this dress for? Me or you?” I knew there was no way she bought the dress for herself. She was much heavier in the chest than I was. She wouldn’t be able to fit one boob in that thing, let alone two.
The dress was hanging on the back of the closet door, andlittlewasn’t the right word to describe it.Tinywas more like it.Minuscule, even. It was sleeveless and had a plunging neckline. It was short and was made to fit tightly. I took one look at it and turned back to her.
“I bought it for myself. I didn’t realize it would be that small.” Her eyes doubled in size as they met mine in the mirror. Sherubbed her lips together to spread the pink lipstick that she had just applied.
“This is not a dress. This is what people wear beneath a dress.”
She snorted. “Just put it on.”
I shook my head in annoyance, but I pulled the dress from the hanger. I knew she wouldn’t shut up until she saw it on me.
“Not too bad,” she said as she stepped up behind me. My eyes found hers in the mirror. “I think you should hike it up a little, though.” She grabbed the skirt of the dress and yanked it upward so it ended mid-thigh. “There.”
I had to admit, the dress wasn’t as bad as I was picturing. The material was stretchy, so even though it looked small on the hanger, it stretched well over my body. It was tight, though.
“What shoes am I going to wear with this?” I asked her, turning to look at my backside in the mirror.
She grinned and reached into her closet, pulling out a killer pair of black heels. They were all straps with a thin, spiky heel.
“Perfect. Now let’s do your makeup and hair.” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the mirror, forcing me to sit on the bed where she spent the next hour applying makeup and curling my hair. By the time she was done, I didn’t recognize myself. She gave me a smoky eye with thick black liner and long false eyelashes. “Damn, bitch. You’re getting laid tonight for sure.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. I was a virgin. There was no way I was going to give it away. I needed a connection with someone. While I wanted to find someone, I had to stay focused. Love would find me later.
