Behind her, the other girl said, "That's whatyouthink."
Bustier turned and gave the girl an irritated look. "What?"
The girl threw back her shoulders. "It won't beyou. It'll beme."
Bustier rolled her eyes. "In your dreams, sister." She turned back to me and said in a low whisper, "Wanna know what I heard?"
Did I? Probably not. Still, I had to ask, "What?"
She leaned closer and said, "I heard he hooked up with some heiress, a total rich bitch."
I froze. That so-called heiress was me, except I wasn't rich. In fact, I'd used my last ten dollars for gas money to get here. Whether I had enough to get home, I wasn't so sure.
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Bustier continued. "You know, they totally shacked up at her mansion, doing who-knows-what."
I swallowed. "A mansion?"
"Yeah. Apparently, she's got this killer place off Lake Michigan."
As Bustier prattled on, I considered my so-called mansion. The place was falling apart, and I had no money to repair it.
Some heiress.
The girl went on to say that when summer ended, Joel had ditched me to return back to fighting. None of her story was quite accurate. For one thing, summer had ended long before he left me sobbing on my front lawn. For another, I didn't have a dozen servants – or a private helicopter, for that matter.
When she finished, I gave her a long, silent look before saying, "Andwhere'dyou hear all this?"
"On the internet," she said. "Where else?"
I should've known.
Suddenly, the girl switched gears. "Hey, what are you wearing?"
Well, it's not a bustier. That's for darn sure.I said, "Just normal clothes."
The girl frowned. "Boy, you're not very good at this, are you?"
Under my breath, I said, "Nope. Definitely not."
She reached for the collar of my coat. "C'mon. Lemme me see."
I drew back. "No."
"Oh, come on!" Her gaze narrowed. "You got a good look atme."
"Yeah, well that was an accident." I reached up and pulled my coat tighter around my torso. "Besides, there's nothing to see."
"No shit?" She eyed me with new respect. "So, you're naked under there?"
Oh, for crying out loud."No. I'm not naked. I already told you I'm wearing normal clothes."
She was still clutching my coat. "Then lemme look."
I leaned back. "No."
"Why not?" she demanded.
"Well, for one thing, because it's freezing out here."
