The Good Girls (7 page)

“Who all is going?” I turned toward the rack beside me and began thumbing through the clothing. I didn’t want her to see my face, because she’d know right away why I was asking.

“He didn’t say.”

“Hmm…” was all I said as I pulled a yellow dress from the rack and held it up against my body. Cara wrinkled her nose as she shook her head. I slid it back into the rack and ran my fingers through my hair.

“Fine. But if David yells at us, I am placing the blame on you.”

“He’d blame me anyway. I won’t let him yell at you.” Cara beamed as she tapped out a reply to Tristan. We headed back out to the sidewalk with no purchases, but we were far from finished.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Cara

I
felt awful for causing El to be sick after I’d kept her out all night, and I wanted to make it up to her. “What is it you want to do?” I looked over at her, her hair blowing slightly in the warm breeze.

“We need to go to the library.”

I nodded. “If we must.”

“We must. I don’t want David to start not trusting me.”

“Who cares what he thinks?”

Ellie stopped walking, her hands on her hips. “You do. You sneak around and hide who you are from him.”

I swallowed hard as her eyes searched mine. “I don’t hide who I am from him.”
I hide who I am from everybody.

Her head cocked to the side, and she smiled coyly. “Of course you do. You’re funny and outgoing, and you don’t seem to ever let them see that side of you. I think you should.”

I smiled back, letting out the breath I’d been holding. “Yeah, I guess I do care what they think.”
But maybe I care what you think.

“Well, we are both guilty of putting on a front to impress others.” El began walking, and I followed behind her, letting her know which street to turn down. Her words played over and over in my head. She was right, but it wasn’t that simple for me. If I showed the world who I truly was, I’d be ostracized. I could already see the sideways glances toward her from David, and I was worried she would be an outcast soon, too.

“When we are done at the library, I want to go back to Nifty Thrifty so I can prove you wrong,” I thought out loud.
I’m willing to try to show the world I don’t care.

After looking over spines of no less than a hundred books, Ellie finally chose one from the romance section titled
The Note
.

“Give up on
The Good Girls
,” I teased as we slipped back out into the sunshine. We made our way back to the thrift store, and Ellie questioned me the entire way about what we were going to get. I grabbed the most ridiculous shirt I could find and held it up to Ellie. She scrunched up her nose and giggled at the multicolored monstrosity.

“Okay, did you get high when I wasn’t looking?”

“We are not going to care what anyone thinks about us today.” I smiled as she looked down over the hideous shirt and nodded with approval.

“Well, we’re going to need accessories.”

I squealed, and we both began thumbing through the racks for the most horrendous top we could find for each other. Ellie settled on a lime-green halter with layers of sequined ruffles for me. I decided on a crop top that said, “I love wieners,” with a picture of a dachshund. When her cheeks turned crimson, I knew it was the perfect choice.

Ellie complemented my green shirt with a floppy pink hat and purple Happy New Year sunglasses. But she was the real winner with pair of cat ears attached to a headband and fanny pack.

We left the store with tears streaming down our cheeks from laughter and grabbed ice cream cones from the Dip.

“You know¸ I absolutely hate to shop, but today was really fun,” El said as she licked her cone of butter pecan.

“It was fun,” I replied as I took a bite of my mint chocolate chip. It tasted awful, and I knew I shouldn’t have taken the worker’s advice that vanilla was boring.

“Is it that bad?” Ellie sighed, taking the cone from my hand and giving me her butter pecan, struggling not to drop our bags. “You’re such a baby.”

“I like what I like.” I shrugged, licking her cone, pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted.

“My mom would only eat chocolate ice cream, and I mean, like, all the time. To this day it…I just can’t eat it.”

I nodded, glad that she was finally opening up about her mother. I don’t even think she meant to. “Too much of a good thing.”

“She was always the ‘cool mom,’ ya know? She let me eat junk food and stay up late on school nights. But we had to work just as hard as we played.”

“She sounds really nice.”
I wish I could say the same about my mom.

“She was. I would be so hard on myself if I ever brought home anything less than an A, but my mom would always tell me that it wasn’t about the grades you make, but the hands you shake.”

“Smart woman. I can see where you get it from.”

El smiled as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “She was. She worked really hard for everything we had, so I never wanted to let her down.”

“I’m sure you didn’t.”

She pulled her lip between her teeth as she looked at the ground, obviously debating about whether or not to say something. “The night…it all happened, I felt like I would never be able to laugh again. Nothing would ever be the same.” Her eyes met mine for a moment before she smiled. “Thank you. You have no idea how much it means to me that you let me tag along with you.”

“Tag along? I like hanging out with you, El. It’s helped me a lot, too.”
You are the one who is making me feel like myself again.

“Who is Dawn to you?”

Her question caught me off-guard, and I wasn’t sure how much of my past I wanted to divulge. This was supposed to be a new start for me.

“She was a friend of my mother’s.”

Ellie licked her cone and nodded but didn’t press me further, even though I could tell she was curious. “You know what my mother always ate with ice cream? French fries.” Her eyes lit up as she looked across the street to Larson’s Deli.

“That’s really gross.” I shook my head as she grabbed my free hand and pulled me across the road. I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face, loving this weird and quirky side to her.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Ellie

W
e wandered around Main Street for the next hour, while I ate french fries and Cara gossiped about everyone from school. My head was swimming with all of the useless information that she supplied me with, and I really just wanted to go home and take a nap. But part of me was hoping to see Brody again, and I didn’t want to be the girl who couldn’t even handle one night of partying.

Tristan met us in the parking lot of Spend and Save, where Cara and I had decided to sit on the curb, our legs stretched out in the sun, our bags of new clothing between us.

“Ladies.” Cameron nodded as he glanced out the passenger window at us. My heart sank when I saw the back seat was empty.

We slipped into the back, and Tristan pulled back out on Main Street, turning right down Melvin Avenue.

Cara pulled out my
I love wieners
shirt from her bag and held it out to me.

“What?” I asked as I looked over the shirt.

“We have to change, dummy. We don’t want to go to the carnival looking like this.”

“We don’t?” I asked as I looked toward the guys and noticed Tristan’s gaze in the mirror.

“Nope.” Cara grabbed the bottom of her tank top and pulled it over her head before slipping her new ruffled, lime-green halter on.

“Cara,” I whispered, trying to keep the guys from hearing me. “I’m not changing in the car. I don’t have a bra on.”

“El, they’re just boobs…and both of them have seen women’s breasts before,” she joked, and both of the guys groaned at her lame joke.

I shook my head, bending down behind the seat so I could pulled my shirt over my head, my body covered in goose bumps. I quickly slid into the ridiculous top feeling like my adrenaline was going to make my heart explode.

“Where are the guys?” Cara asked as I relaxed against the back of the seat next to her. She handed me my cat ears and fanny pack, and I rolled my eyes as I completed my ensemble.

“Luke is working, and I think Brody is still with some chick he met at the party.” Tristan’s eyes met mine briefly, and I felt my heart sink, the corners of my lips struggling to pull down into a frown.

“Sorry, El.” Cara whispered and wrapped her hand around mine. I leaned my head on her shoulder and sighed. It was hard to feel sad when we looked so absolutely silly.

“You can hang out with me today, El. I promise I won’t bite,” Cameron called over his shoulder, and Cara’s shoulders bobbed as she laughed, jarring my head.

“What?” I lifted my head to look at Cara as she struggled to keep her giggles quiet.

“Bingo has a reputation that precedes him,” Tristan explained, without really explaining anything at all.

“Vicious rumors,” Cameron shot back as he ran his hand over his dark, messy hair, his fingers rubbing the back of his tanned neck.

“Only they’re true,” Cara chimed in.

“Will someone please tell me what you guys are talking about?” I looked back and forth between them before Tristan cleared his throat.

“Cameron once had an unfortunate incident involving some girl giving him head and a dog thinking that he was being attacked, so the dog bit the girl on the ass.”

Cameron groaned. “It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, and she bit my dick, so we’re even.”

“Four stitches in her butt, and she couldn’t sit for days. Plus the whole rabies scare.” Cara was laughing so hard I could barely make out what she was saying. “They…they…said…”

“They said that she screamed so loud his mom came busting in and passed out from the shock,” Tristan finished, his crooked grin reflecting in the rearview mirror.

“I’m sorry I asked,” I mumbled, feeling like I stepped into an entirely different world.

“That’s not even the best part.” Tristan was beaming as he glanced in his mirror at us. “The dog’s name was Bing.” He started to chuckle, struggling to catch his breath so he could finish. “So he was screaming ‘Bing, go! Bing, go!’”

“That actually explains a lot.” I laughed, finally understanding his nickname.

I stared out of the side window as we traveled the last several miles to the carnival. My excitement grew as I noticed the large Ferris wheel ahead. I was scared of heights and not a fan of anything fast or seemingly unsafe, but I’ve always loved to play the little games.

We parked among the endless rows of cars in a large field. I popped open my door and stepped out into the fading sun, looking skyward as I waited for the others to join me.

“Are you really going to force us to be seen in public with the two of you dressed like that?” Tristan shook his head but sighed in resignation as Cara slipped under his arm.

As we began to walk, I shoved both of my hands into my shorts pockets as I trailed behind the three of them.

Cameron was going on and on about the time he wrecked his car and his license was suspended. I didn’t realize how far I’d fallen behind them as I let my thoughts wander to my mother. A lump formed in my throat.

When Tristan noticed that I wasn’t part of the conversation, he stopped and waited for me to reach his side, his eyebrows pulled together, before putting his other arm around my shoulders. I felt silly, but Cara looked over at me with a smile, and I relaxed.

We walked up to a ticket booth just outside of all of the activity and waited in line.

“I’m going to grab a soda. You guys want anything?” Cameron’s eyes landed on me, and I shook my head. He nodded and disappeared through the crowd.

We stepped forward as the line began to move.

“I think he likes you,” Cara teased, and I ducked my head.

“Babe, maybe you should give her a few days to get settled before you make her regret coming here.” Tristan’s arm squeezed me a bit closer to him. “Wasn’t having to deal with Brody enough?”

I laughed, but I knew my cheeks were pink as I remembered what dancing with him felt like. “He’s not so bad,” I replied, tucking my hair behind my ear and glancing up at him. “But we were just having fun.” I shrugged. He was right. I didn’t want to start anything so soon with anyone. I was just finally having a chance to spread my wings, and I didn’t want them clipped.

We stepped up to the man behind the glass sitting in the tiny red-and-white-striped booth.

“Four ticket books,” Tristan told him as he unlooped his arms from our shoulders and pulled his wallet from his back pocket.

“I don’t have any money.” I looked to Cara, embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it. Tristan can afford it.” She rolled her eyes as he slipped his wallet back into his pocket and held out a book of tickets for each of us as Cameron reappeared with a soda and a small box of popcorn.

Cara squealed and grabbed my hand, pulling me toward a row of games. “Let’s go have some fun.”

“Don’t go too far. I don’t want one of the pervert carnies to get his hands on either of you,” Tristan called out, not caring that the man behind the booth could hear him.

“He’s so annoying.” Cara shook her head as we trailed farther away.

“It’s nice he likes to make sure you’re safe.” I shrugged, even though I found his comment a little more embarrassing than my tacky outfit. But I liked the idea of someone looking after us.

Cara and I played nearly every game we came across but didn’t win a single one. As the sun began to set in the sky, we met back up with Tristan and Cameron who were each holding two cups of beer. I took one from Cameron and thanked him as I sipped it down, my eyes roaming over the flashing lights of the rides.

“Shouldn’t we be getting back?” I asked, not trying to make myself sound too young in front of the guys, but David was probably home from work by now.

“You’re right. We can always sneak back out later.” Cara’s eyebrow arched, and I rolled my eyes, taking another sip of my beer. “Can we do the haunted house first?”

All eyes turned to me, and I sighed as I let my shoulders sag in defeat. “Fine. But then we need to go.” I gave her a warning glare, and she beamed.

“I’ll catch up with you guys,” Cameron said, clamping his hand down on Tristan’s shoulder. My eyes followed his gaze to a group of girls standing by the hot dog stand.

“Beware of the dog,” I called out as Cara giggled.

Cara grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the haunted house. It was the walk-through kind with workers dressed in elaborate costumes who jumped out to scare you.

We paid our tickets and slipped inside the darkness. The first room was flashing lights and mirrors everywhere. It took me a full five minutes to figure out the exit. I had to feel the walls to find the next room where I was plunged into darkness as evil laughs echoed in my ears. A clown jumped out in front of me, and I clutched my chest as I let out a squeal, stumbling backward until I collided with someone else.

I jumped as a set of arms snaked around my waist and pulled me against them.

“Get off me!”

“Jesus, El, it’s me. It’s me.” Tristan laughed, his chest rumbling against my back. I struggled to pull from his grip, but his arms tightened around me. I wiggled against him enough to turn around, smacking him across the chest.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I thought I was being attacked.”

“You disappeared, so I doubled back to make sure you were okay. Cara is already outside waiting. She was worried.”

“I’m fine. I just got lost. Let go of me.”

His lip quirked up in a smirk as I tried again to push away from him without success. He was finding my struggling amusing, and it was beginning to really piss me off.

“You’re such a baby.” His arms unlocked from around me, and I nearly fell backward.

My shoulders slumped as my heart rate finally started to ebb. Tristan slipped his hand in mine and began to pull me through the maze. The next room had creepy-crawly creatures dangling from the ceiling, and I ran into Tristan’s back trying to push him through the house faster. As pissed as I was that I was scared, I was glad he’d come back for me.

When we finally reached daylight, I nearly fell onto the grass as I stumbled through the giant spinning cylinder. Cara held out her arms for me, and I released Tristan’s hand and ran into her hug.

“That was awful,” I grumbled as she pulled back from me, tucking my hair behind my ears.

“You were very brave,” he said as he fought against a smile.

I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms over my chest. “Don’t patronize me.”

“Let’s get you guys home so El can change her panties. I’m pretty sure she pissed herself when I found her.”

I glared at Tristan, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks from embarrassment. “You scared me on purpose.”

“I saved you from the evil clown.” He put his hand on his chest, pretending to be hurt.

“I didn’t need you to save me. I can take care of myself.” I began to walk toward the exit as they followed.
What the fuck is his problem?

“El, cats have nine lives, you didn’t have anything to worry about,” Cara called after me, and I pulled the ears from my head.

“A simple thank you is all I—”

I cut him off before he could finish. “Thank you.” I held up my middle finger and didn’t look back. Cara giggled, and we disappeared through the crowd.

When I reached the car, I waited for Tristan to unlock it. “Where’s Cameron?”

“He’ll meet up with us later,” Tristan answered as he pulled open his door and hit the unlock button for the rest of the doors.

I slid into the backseat, and to my surprise, Cara slid in beside me instead of sitting up front with Tristan.

“I scare guys off fast, it seems.”

Tristan laughed as he started the car and pulled out of the parking spot. “It may be your fashion sense.”

I glanced down at my silly shirt and laughed. “I’m pretty sure stating that I love wieners should have the opposite effect.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure Cameron loves them, too.”