Raw Deal (Beauty for Ashes: Book One) (6 page)

“Something like that. It’s my uncle, and I’m one of seven heirs.” Jace released himself from his seatbelt. “Thanks for bringing me home. I owe you.” His smile was really cute.

I gave him a small smile back. “You don’t owe me anything.”

Chapter 4

It was kind of sad, but I got up early on Monday morning to give myself time to do myself up a little—well, earlyish. I set my alarm to ring twenty minutes earlier than usual. That would give me time to straighten my hair.

When I walked into the cafeteria at lunchtime to meet Monica, she raised an eyebrow. “Cute hair, cute shirt, cute shoes.”

I dropped into the seat beside her and grinned at Sandy and Michelle. What were they sitting at our table for? “What about the jeans?”

“Cute too, but Levi’s fit better and look cuter,” Monica replied.

“How do you know these aren’t Levi’s?”

Michelle snorted. “They’re not.”

Sandy smiled patronizingly. “They’re D&G”

I turned my back to Monica. “Check, is my label hanging out?”

“No.”

Sandy laughed. “I can tell because of the way they fit. They’re nice, but you need to invest in a couple pairs of good Levi’s.”

I had like five pairs of Levi’s, but these jeans went better with this shirt. I looked at Michelle. She was looking at me. I smiled. She stood up. “C’mon Sandy.”

“Did they leave because I came?” I asked Monica when they walked off.

“No, they were asking if I wanted to go to the mall with them.”

“Don’t you want to go?”

“No.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. “Why not?”

“Because I was waiting for you.”

“Thanks.” I scanned the cafeteria for Jace. He hadn’t been in economics first period. There were a few guys from the basketball team sitting a couple tables away, but Jace wasn’t there. “Why didn’t Michelle come to the movies on Friday?”

“Because she knew Matt wasn’t going to be there.”

“Who’s Matt?”

“Some blond dude.” Monica raked her fingers through her long black hair a couple times, with a frown on her face. “She’s boring these days. Always wants to stay home and be alone.”

“Michelle?”

“Yeah, she’s failing you know? I think it’s getting to her because she might not get into college. And her mom is not impressed.”

I dug a candy bar out of my purse and tore the wrapper off. If Michelle stopped analyzing what jeans everyone wore and focused on her work that might make some difference. “Save it, Monica,” I said as she opened her mouth. I knew she just wanted to tell me how many calories were in my candy bar. I didn’t care.

“Fine, get obese and die of diabetes and heart failure at thirty-six. It’s your own darn choice.”

“Sure, it is. Have you seen Jace today?”

“No.”

“His car got smashed up. I had to give him a ride home on Friday.”

“I heard about his car. That is so stupid. Whoever did it needs to go jump off a cliff somewhere.”

“Jace was really upset. It was really bad.”

“Did you see it?”

“Yeah.”

“And you gave him a ride home?”

“Yeah.”

Monica chuckled. “I was gonna tell you. He called me last night about chemistry homework, and then he said, ‘by the way, Lexi is pretty cool.’ I tried to get more out of him, but he wouldn’t say anything.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Just said he thinks you’re nice. He’s way better than Lewis.”

“Lewis is nice too.” Someone tugged my hair from behind. I turned in my seat and looked up. “Hey, Lewis.” I hoped he hadn’t heard us.

He was with Hayden, they both sat down. “What are you saying about me?”

“Nothing,” Monica denied.

“I heard my name.”

“You thought you heard your name.” Monica gave the guys a look of frustration. “Excuse me, ya’ll are interrupting some very serious girl talk.”

“Cool,” Hayden said. “What are you talking about?”

Monica pursed her lips in a suggestive pout. “Guys.”

She was at it again. Flirt, flirt, flirt.

Hayden’s brows shot up. “Which guys?”

“Definitely not you guys.” She nudged me. “We’re talking about hot guys aren’t we, Lexi?”

“Um, yeah,” I agreed.

“We’re talking about guys who are worth talking about.”

Monica and the guys went back and forth tossing one-liners at each other. I studied the wrapper on my candy bar. How many calories did it have?

I didn’t see Jace all day. Nevertheless, on Tuesday morning, I dressed up again. I only saw him once all day, and I wasn’t even sure it was him because he had his back to me and was walking pretty fast toward the front exits. On Wednesday, I saw him driving a silver sports car out of the parking lot just as I was walking toward my own car after school. On Thursday, I decided to stop stalking him. It was pathetic.

I let Monica drag me to Beverley Hills after school to start shopping for the Christmas dance. She bought some jewelry and some hair magazines. I bought nothing. By Friday, I was fed up of school. I wasn’t looking forward to the dance. I didn’t have a date, and at this rate, I probably wasn’t going to get one. Not unless I summoned up the courage to ask somebody. I considered it for all of two seconds, and then regained my senses. That definitely wasn’t going to happen!

Chapter 5

My mom worked late on Friday nights. Usually until around eleven. She was a hair and makeup stylist at a glitzy Beverley Hills salon. Rich people and celebrities needed someone else to do their makeup before they went out on Fridays.

I decided to go to the Chinese takeout place on the next block. I threw on my jacket and stepped out into the darkness. It was raining lightly, and there were groups of hooded guys hanging around the street corners. I walked fast.

The takeout was busy, and I had to wait thirty-five minutes to get served. It was an exasperating thirty-five minutes of getting ogled by filthy looking middle-aged men, while my clothes got infused with grease and soy sauce fragrance. “Two lots of chicken fried rice,” I told the spiky-haired Chinese girl behind the counter. She yelled to the kitchen in high-pitched Cantonese.

When I got back outside, it was lashing down with rain. I ran all the way home, the wind clawing at my face like a wild animal. What a miserable day! So much for walking, trying to be ‘green’ and environmentally friendly. I should have just taken my car. The environment wasn’t exactly being very friendly to me.

I dumped my mom’s takeout on the kitchen table where she’d see it, and I slumped up the stairs to my room with mine. I was dripping wet from head to toe. I raised my arm to sniff my jacket sleeve; I was still wearing eau de soy sauce. I changed into my pajamas and collapsed onto my bed.

My appetite was gone. I just felt all low and miserable all of a sudden. I stared at nothing in particular, and soon my sight went blurry with tears. “Here we go again,” I said aloud. I was sick of crying.

I wiped at my eyes as I heard my phone vibrating in the wet jacket I’d just flung into my pile of washing.

“Girl, you’ve got some issues,” I muttered under my breath as I went to get my phone. I’d been fine all day. In fact, I’d been fine all week. Why the sudden misery?

“Hey, Monica,” I answered, diving back onto my bed.

“Whatcha doin’?” Monica chirped.

“Nothing.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Well Liam’s out with his boys, so I was just wondering if you want to do anything.”

“What about the Barbie?” I asked, referring to Michelle. “And Sandy?”

“I haven’t called them yet. Thought I’d check if you’re free first.” Monica chuckled. “You just want to know if you’re my first choice, don’t you? You vain, hard to please, arrogant woman.”

“Whatever.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ll be at your place in a couple minutes then.”

I hung up and took my takeout downstairs. I unlocked the front door so that Monica could let herself in, and went to sit in the living room.

Monica arrived ten minutes later. I’d calmed myself down, and I’d stopped crying so how Monica still knew something was wrong, I didn’t know.

“Lexi!” she said, squeezing me in a tight hug. “What’s wrong?”

I smiled. “I’m fine.”

“Well, your voice was a bit wobbly on the phone, and your eyes are all glassy. Either you’re high on something or you’ve been crying.” Monica bounced onto the couch. She looked at my carton of chicken fried rice. “So why’ve you been crying?” she asked, reaching for the carton. She wolfed three forkfuls of rice, and then looked at me expectantly.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on a diet?”

“I do need to eat sometimes, you know?”

“I thought you only eat healthy stuff.”

Monica looked incredulous. “Twenty-four/seven? You need a little junk now and then to stay sane. Anyway, stop trying to distract me. I want to know what’s wrong with you. God help the guy who’s got my Lexi home alone crying on a Friday night.”

“There’s nothing wrong really. I think I just miss my dad.”

Monica nodded. “I thought it might be that. But I didn’t want to ask in case it wasn’t, and I’d upset you more.”

I didn’t want to talk about it. “How come you’re not out tonight?”

“I’ve seen all the movies out there. I’ve been to the mall six times this week. And I don’t want to stay home because my dad is home, and I hate his guts.” Monica grimaced. “So, really, there’s nothing to do.”

“Right.”

“I just saw Jace. He asked about you?”

“I haven’t seen him much all week. What did he say?”

“He just said how’s the Lexicon, and I said drop the ‘con’.”

I laughed a little.

“Oh, yeah, before I forget he said to tell you to send him the pictures he took with your phone.”

“I haven’t got his number.”

“I’ll give you his number.”

“I don’t want it.” I picked up my phone and forwarded the pictures to Monica. “You can send them on to him.”

Monica raised an eyebrow.

“How was his run last Saturday?”

“Fine, I guess. He hasn’t said anything about it.”

“Has he been in school this week, because I only saw him once or twice?”

“Oh, Lexi.”

“What?”

“You have the most pathetic kind of crush on Jace.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, a crazy crush is when you go around telling everyone about it, and you don’t even care if the guy himself finds out. A normal crush is when you can only admit it to a few close people. A pathetic crush is when you can’t admit it. It’s the most dangerous kind, because it just eats you up, and you struggle with your emotions until it’s too late.”

I looked at Monica in amusement. “Too late for what?”

“Too late for any kind of sanity to be regained. You go completely off the rails. He says ‘jump,’ and you say ‘how high.’ He says ‘I’ll give you a ring tonight,’ and you say ‘a diamond one from Tiffany’s’?”

“Right, let’s talk about something else.”

“No, we can talk about Jace all you want. I think he might like you too, you know?”

I picked a piece of chicken out of my rice and popped it into my mouth. No comment.

“Just watch out for Tanya.”

“Who’s Tanya?”

“His cousin. You know Tanya Washington.”

“Tanya Washington is Jace’s cousin?” I remembered Jace had mentioned her last week, but I hadn’t realized which Tanya he was talking about. They had the same surname, doh! “Wow, I can’t believe they’re related?” Tanya was a religious nut, like my aunt Milly. In fact, they went to the same church. She was dull, boring, and annoying. “How come Tanya isn’t loaded then?”

“Their family is kind of complicated. I ain’t getting into it.”

“I can’t believe Jace owns the Glacier hotels though. Shish kebabs!”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Did you just say shish kebabs?”

“Yeah, why?”

Monica snorted with laughter. “Shish kebabs!”

***

I was greeted by the smell of my mom’s special pasta sauce when I woke up on Saturday morning. I had a quick shower and pulled on some clothes. I didn’t think I’d be going anywhere all day, but I didn’t want to be wearing my PJ’s all day either.

“Hey, Mom,” I called as I descended the stairs.

“I’m in the kitchen,” she called back, as if it wasn’t obvious. She looked up from stirring the sauce as I walked in.

If she was already making lunch, that meant I’d slept in seriously late. The clock said it was a few minutes to noon. I hugged her, and then dipped my finger into the sauce. She slapped it away, but she was too late. I licked the thick red stuff off my finger.

We heard the front door slam and looked at each other. Aunt Milly had a key in case of emergencies, but she’d been abusing it, paying us random visits. The kitchen door swung open, and Aunt Milly’s heaving chest entered about a second and a half before the rest of her. I’d always wanted a bigger bust, but seeing Aunt Milly always made me grateful for what I had. “Hello, darlings,” she chirped.