“Honey, I really don’t think this is going to…fit.” Mom gritted out an annoyed growl as she tugged on the back of my dress, nearly strangling my boobs as she attempted to draw the zipper up.
Holding my breath so I wouldn’t inhale and cause my rib cage to expand another millimeter, I met her cringe of apology in the mirror I was facing in my bathroom, and I knew she was giving up.
But she was done.
Closing my eyes so I could no longer see the excess pudge bulging under my arms around the top of my strapless dress, I buried my face in my hands, mortified. “This can’t be happening. It fit perfectly last month when we bought it.”
“I know.” Mom touched my shoulder and squeezed warmly. “But you must’ve hit another growth spurt since then. You’re a blossoming girl, Chlo.”
Gah, this was so freaking embarrassing.
“I can’t believe I gained that much in a single month.”
“It’s probably just water retention from hormones,” Mom tried, stroking my hair this time. “You’re having your period, right?”
Dropping my hands, I spun to frown at her. “You’re not making it better.”
She appeared helpless for a moment before snapping her fingers. “Hey, what about that ice-blue dress you have? You look super cute in that, and it’s stretchy enough to fit a changing body.”
The aghast look I sent her was born from pure horror. “I can’t wear something I wore in middle school.”
Was she kidding me? I’d be a laughing stock.
How was Caine Spinnaker going to notice me otherwise?
She lifted her brow, not impressed by my lack of faith in her. But then my eye power must’ve kicked in because her shoulders collapsed, and she hissed out a deflated breath. “I mean, how much do you value breathing?”
Doubt filled her expression, but then she said, “Alright, fine. Turn around and suck it in, baby girl. This is going to get uncomfortable.”
“Screw comfort.” I gratefully showed her my back and grabbed onto the edge of the sink to brace myself while it felt like I was being squeezed through the eye of a needle.
My mother and I both let out a warrior cry as the zipper finally creaked into place, fully closed. “There.” The satisfaction in Mom’s voice mirrored the leap in my chest.
It was done.
I exhaled my relief and glanced up, only to cry, “What the hell?! I look like a freaking sausage.”
“Whatever! My boobs are a hot second from falling out of this thing.”
Ugh. I was going to have to re-wear my old middle school clothes, wasn’t I? But when I opened my mouth to give in, the doorbell rang from the front of the house.
“Oh, no,” I whispered. It was too late to back out now. “They’re here.”
Mom and I gaped at each other in dread.
“Hey, the twins are…” Dad appeared in the open door of the bathroom, only for his words to stall short as he took me in from head to toe. His frozen expression slid toward Mom. “When did she get boobs?”
“Apparently this month,” Mom muttered, her voice rye with amusement.
Dad glanced at me again but kept talking to her. “Well, they’re not going to get any bigger than that, are they? Because I’m going to have to invest in a shotgun for all the perverted little fuckers in her school who’re gonna ogle them inappropriately.”
“Hello? Chloe…?” I heard Bella call from the hallway. “You ready yet? It’s time to…wow.” She appeared next to Dad in the doorway, and her eyes immediately widened. “You look like you could pass for twenty-one.”
“Hell no,” Bella answered, reaching past him so she could grab my hand. “She looks hot. Let’s go, Chlo. Gracen’s double-parked at the curb.”
“I…uh…okay.”
I glanced helplessly back at my parents as I was dragged from the bathroom and down the hall.
Mom took Dad’s hand and waved at me. “Don’t worry. You look lovely and grown up,” she assured. “Just have fun, okay?”
“But not too much fun,” Dad warned.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her,” Bella called back, to which my father sniffed.
“Uh…” I made a face and then admitted, “My boobs, I think.”
She glanced at them and made a sound in the back of her throat before answering, “Well, I guess he has a reason, then.”
“Ugh,” I moaned and felt my face flame red hot as I crawled into the back seat. “He is not.”
Yeah, I never should’ve told her who I was crushing on.
“Is too,” she countered as she followed me in and then shut the door behind her. “No guy could resist those knockers.”
Gracen was Bella’s twin brother, and we were all in the same class together. We’d been raised more like triplets, though, always grouped together since our mothers were best friends and first cousins.
But I loved them, anyway. They were my people.
Bella pulled me into a one-armed hug as she scowled at her brother. “I don’t want Chloe to feel all alone back here.”
He geared the car into drive, and we took off down the street.
“So whose boobs were we talking about again?” he asked. “Please say Malia Ross’s.”
We’d all seen what she’d worn, and it had made what I was currently wearing look conservative and damn near nun-like.
The lucky bitch.
“Hell yeah, she does,” Gray agreed full-heartedly.
“Hey, I dare you to ask her to dance tonight,” Bella teased.
“As if!” Her twin snorted. “A senior goddess like her would turn down a dweeb freshman like me in a heartbeat.”
Laughing, Bella teased, “You said it, not me.”
“Wow, so mature,” Bella shot back. “It truly perplexes me why you’ve never had a girlfriend.”
“Probably because they all take one look at my sister and run screaming.”
Bella snorted, and the two continued to bicker the rest of the way to the school.
I appreciated their constant back-and-forth, though. It helped me not think about all the jittery nerves I had running through my system.
But tonight just felt…different.
The event was purely social; not just about classes and school work. And I wanted to feel accepted, not like the freak I usually felt.
All the anxiety surged, however, when we pulled into the school parking lot, and I caught a glimpse of the gymnasium rising above the other buildings. I could hear the thump of bass from the music inside, and all my insecurities mounted.
Turning toward Bella, I gripped her hand for comfort. “Are you sure I look okay?”
“Yeah. Why?” She sounded confused about why I would possibly question that, which helped. If she didn’t see anything wrong, then that was good. But I still felt self-conscious and exposed.
I considered putting on my jacket, but it was such a warm night, and neither Bella nor Gray had one on, so I left mine in the car as well.
A warm breeze hit my bare shoulders, reminding me how much of myself I was showing off, however, and I squeezed my hands at my sides as I meekly followed the twins, growing more and more reluctant by the second.
“There’s Beau,” I heard Gray say as he steered us in a new direction.
Glancing up, I saw our fellow ninth grader sporting a black leather jacket and leaning against the side of the gymnasium alone with his hands shoved in his pockets.
“Yo, Gamble,” Gracen called, and Beau glanced up, straightening away from the bricks to greet us.
I’d known him for as long as I’d known the twins. His parents were close friends of both the twins’ parents as well as mine, so we’d been raised as if he could be another cousin, even though he wasn’t. There were five of us, actually, who belonged to our parents’ group that had started high school together this year.
Beau skimmed a quick dismissive glance over the twins and me and frowned. “Didn’t Bentley ride with you guys?”
“Her dad’s going to drop her off,” Bella answered.
“But she’s still coming, right?” Beau persisted, looking hopeful.
A jealous hitch dipped in my stomach. But Beau was, like, stupid in love with the last person in our freshman group. He was always watching Bentley or looking for Bentley or asking about Bentley or teasing Bentley mercilessly whenever she was around, and it made me wonder if anyone would ever like me the way he obviously worshiped her.
I kind of didn’t think so.
“So I guess we’re still waiting to go in, then,” Beau grumbled, leaning back against the building, his gaze straying restlessly toward the parking lot in search of the star in all of his fantasies.
I sighed and settled against the wall as well, finding a protective little nook between Bella and Gray as Bella grilled Beau about where he’d heard the Malia Ross porn-making rumor.
Meanwhile, other people were steadily filing past us, entering the gym to get to the dance.
When I spotted Caine amidst a group of other guys passing by, I shuddered in nervous excitement and huddled closer to Gray.
Caine hadn’t come with a date either. I wondered if he was the type to ask girls to dance. I hoped so. I wanted to sway in his arms before the night was over.
“Cold?” Gracen asked, glancing down at me when I rubbed the sides of my arms with my hands.
“What?” I glanced up at him, blinking the Caine-dream from my eyes.
“Want me to run back to the car for your jacket?” he offered.
“Oh. Uh, no, thanks. I’m fine.”
If only I could—
A car with a loud engine pulled into the parking lot, stealing my attention from the now-empty front doors.
Turning, I watched a dark Chevy squeal its tires on asphalt doing a quick burnout before it raced to a place in the front row that wasn’t even a designated parking spot, and there, it finally jarred to a screaming halt.
As the motor stopped rumbling and the headlights went out, I rolled my eyes.
What a freaking show-off.
“And…Luke’s here,” Bella announced in a dry, unimpressed voice.
