Chapter Seventeen
SEVENTEEN
After that, I don’t get a chance to research Annette Donleavy.
That doesn’t mean I don’t fret about it.
Her “secret” is erased, and someone wrote “Ask Will Nelson about Annette” in the yearbook.
What if my dad had a thing with Annette before he fell for my mom?
That would explain both the message and the missing secret, which might have been removed because it was more cruel than teasing.
Do I care if my dad hooked up with Annette before getting together with Mom?
Of course not. And that’s just wild speculation anyway, trying to figure out what might connect the two.
It’s the kind of thing that would have been a high-school scandal, but in the larger picture, it’s just regular life, where dating means testing possibilities.
I do find time to skim through those history books Ms. Dimitriou mentioned, but I see no sign of a Janus Society.
Anything on the societies follows what I’ve been told.
There were three main ones: Apollo, Hephaestus, and Mercury.
Then the Liliths rose to occupy full society status after the turn of the twentieth century. That’s it.
I need to set both mini-mysteries aside to focus on preparing for this gala. Also, it’s freaking terrifying and I don’t know how Theo thinks I can pull it off and what if I embarrass him and—
Breathe.
Would I rather he asked someone else?
Shit.
With each passing week at Westdale, I’ve gotten to know Theo better, and my feelings get more confusing.
Is what I feel just friendship with sparks of lust? My libido waking up and saying Well, hello every time Theo fixes me with a certain look or flashes a wicked grin or lounges, stretching, his shirt riding up from his jeans—
Stop.
It’s just lust, right? Because I’m seventeen, and I’ve been too busy for dating, and all that repressed energy—
Repressed energy? What am I? A horny Victorian maiden?
I accept that I have a physical reaction to Theo and that it must be just hormones, because I have the same reaction to Maddox. So it’s me, not them, right?
I shouldn’t be lusting after male friends.
But I don’t mean to, and I’m as discreet about it as possible, and I can’t help how my body responds, and I’d certainly never act on it.
So it’s fine, right?
And it can’t be more than friendship, because if it was, I wouldn’t feel the same way about both of them. Except the way I feel with Theo isn’t a mirror image of the way I feel with Maddox. It’s different, but also equal and—
Nope, I’m not doing this. Not analyzing. My brain and body are just confused by the nearness of two very attractive male friends. Wires are getting crossed, and I need to keep them separate because otherwise, it’s weird.
I will go to the gala with Theo and try not to be secretly pleased he asked me. I’ll remind myself that he has a reason, even if he admitted that reason was only an excuse.
Damn it.
Anyway…
I’m supposed to meet them at the clubhouse tonight to finalize plans, and I’m glad Maddox will be there, because I want to be sure he’s okay with this.
That he’s okay with Theo telling me their secret? Or that he’s okay with Theo taking me to the gala?
Damn it.
I arrive to find Maddox alone, stretched out on the loveseat reading his latest novel. He swings his legs down and pats the cushion before rising to get us both a soda.
“Theo will be here in ten,” he says.
I sit on the loveseat, and he plunks down beside me, handing me a can.
“Theo says he had to do something, but I think he’s giving you time to confess that you really don’t want to go to the gala.” He pops the can open. “If that’s the case, I’m going to try talking you into it.” A sidelong glance my way. “Theo really wants you there, if that wasn’t obvious.”
“He seems to, but…”
Maddox tilts his head. “But what?”
“Nothing.”
“He wants you there, Chamberlain. He wouldn’t have asked otherwise.
It’ll be a good break for you and a good introduction to society bullshit.
You’ll both have fun. But also…” He gulps soda and then sets the can aside.
“Having you there will make it easier on him. I know he probably seems like he loves this shit, dressing up, mingling, being the center of attention. He does…and he doesn’t.
I know that probably doesn’t make sense. ”
“He likes it in small doses. He’s good at it, but the constant attention is exhausting.”
He tilts his head, gaze meeting mine. “You’ve noticed that.”
I shrug. “I’ve seen how he reacts to social media. He’s happy to hear his likes and comments are skyrocketing, but he doesn’t actually go on himself. He leaves it all to his social media manager.”
“Yeah. Theo enjoys the power that comes with being Theo Dubois. The doors it opens. The roads it smooths. But it is, like you said, exhausting. The older he gets…”
Maddox stretches out. “When he was a kid, he loved the attention. Every time he appeared with his mom or his dad, people fawned over him, and he ate it up. He didn’t even mind the paparazzi. He thought it was cool, everyone wanting photos of him. But now?”
Maddox shrugs and glances at the door, as if to be sure Theo isn’t going to walk in. “He hates that it’s all about the photos. That he’s the kid of two huge Hollywood names, and he looks like a movie star himself, and that’s what all the attention is about.”
“I found one article that was supposed to be about his high-school basketball team,” I say. “But it was all about Theo, and it still barely mentioned his scoring stats or that he was chosen MVP. It just gushed about his family connections, and there were so many photos.”
“Yep. So what I’m saying is that having you there will help.
You don’t know that Theo Dubois. You know the one who hangs out here and plays video games and goofs around and is serious about school and his ambitions.
So just…” A door closes downstairs. “I can give you pointers later, tell you what to expect.”
“I’d appreciate that. I’m kinda terrified.”
Maddox squeezes my hand and gives me that rarest of gifts—a Maddox Moreno smile, crooked and real. “You’ll do fine.”
“ ’Course she will,” Theo says as he comes in. “She’ll be with me.”
Maddox only shakes his head. His hand is still on mine. Theo notices and grins…and then goes to drop into the tiny sliver of loveseat beside me.
“No,” Maddox says, in the same tone one might use for a wet puppy trying to jump on the sofa. “Stop crowding Lili.”
“She can sit on my lap. Or yours. Choices. Everyone loves choices.”
“Or…” I say, getting up. “I can sit on the recliner.”
I drop down into it. “So, what are we discussing?”
“The fact that Theo has no concept of personal space,” Maddox says, looking down at his lap, with Theo’s feet now on it as he stretches out across the loveseat. “And that his shoes have very old horse shit on them.”
“Want my head there instead?” Theo asks.
My breath catches, waiting for Maddox’s reaction, but Maddox only shakes his head, yanks off Theo’s sneakers and pitches them across the room. Then he lets Theo’s feet drop back onto his lap.
“Is that smell any better?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Maddox says. “The rest of us get foot odor, but Theo Dubois smells like fucking roses. Now, if he’s done goofing around, I think Lili will want to talk about her costume.”
“Costume?” I say. Then I laugh. “Ah, you mean my fancy dress for the fancy-dress ball.”
Maddox twists to look at Theo. “What exactly have you told her about the Quartz?”
“That it’s the Quartz,” Theo says.
Maddox mutters a curse. Then he looks over at me. “Do you know what the Met Gala is?”
I go still, heart thudding. “Yes?”
“It’s like that, only on a much smaller scale. It’s a fundraiser with some Atlanta old money and a whole lot of Hollywood. There’s a theme.”
I stare at Theo. “You did not say that. I was already freaking out over getting a dress in time. A themed dress? I-I can’t.”
“You can,” he says. “I don’t have anything yet either.”
“Because you’re a guy. You can just add a fancy hat to your tux and call it a costume.”
“Pfft. Theo Dubois does nothing by halves. We’re going in a couple’s costume.”
I look at the stack of game cartridges. “Mario and Luigi?”
Maddox chokes on a laugh. “Oh, man, I would pay you two to show up at the Quartz as Mario and Luigi.”
“She’s a billionaire,” Theo says. “You can’t pay her. You need to offer a service. If you want suggestions—”
Maddox presses his cold can against Theo’s instep, making him yelp.
“Sadly, no,” Theo says when he recovers. “We can’t do Mario and Luigi.”
“What’s this year’s theme?” I ask.
Theo makes a face. “Mads mentioned it’s kind of a cut-rate Met Gala, and they really need to work on their themes. This year’s is beauty.”
I stare at him, waiting for the punchline. When he says nothing, I say, “Beauty? With a party full of gorgeous Hollywood stars?”
“Think of it as a challenge. I already have an idea. Beauty and the Beast.”
“So I’m Beast?” I say.
Theo chokes out a laugh. “Clearly, you would be Belle, with her books, which fits.”
“And you’d go as a beast?” Maddox says. “The guy everyone wants a photo of will be hidden behind a mask?”
“Nah. I’d love to pull that stunt, but not at a fundraiser. I’ll be a sexy beast.” He leans his head back to look at me upside down. “Think I can pull that one off, Lil? Sexy beast?”
I’m pretty sure my cheeks flush, but Theo doesn’t notice because Maddox makes him yelp with the cold-can-on-instep trick.
“There will be a dozen Beauty and Beasts there,” Maddox says. “It’s the obvious combo.”
“What if we did reverse it?” I say. “I don’t mind being hidden behind a mask. In fact? Please let me hide behind a mask.”
Theo shakes his head. “Nah, sorry, Lil. This is about launching you. And the internet is misogynistic as hell. You’d get hit with bullshit about how you must look better with your face covered.”
“Okay, so beauty…I don’t even know where to start with that.”
“Byron,” Maddox says.
We both look at him.