Chapter 24 – Loophole
Saturday – One Week Later
Sophie and him had gotten into a whole thing because he said they were authentic and she said they needed to be shorter. Eventually Mr. Tanner had obliged, but he said the theme of the dance was ruined.
I was happy with the change. And my favorite part was the added tulle beneath the skirt to make it stick out a bunch.
Sophie walked back into my room in a skin-tight black leather onesie with a tight belt around the waist.
“Why did you change?” I asked. She’d been in a dress similar to mine a minute ago. “You gave Mr. Tanner all that grief about the dresses and you’re seriously not even wearing one?”
“Well, Mr. Tanner didn’t make them short enough. So I went full rebel Sandy from Grease.” And she definitely had. She’d even curled her hair in tight ringlets.
“This is already short enough to give my dad a heart attack,” I said.
“You look amazing. But I’m not trying to give your dad a heart attack. I’m trying to get Mr. Halifax to ravage me.” She opened up her little red purse that matched her high heeled shoes. “And I decided to make the drug bust a real thing. So that Mr. Halifax catches me and punishes me.”
I peered into her purse. “What the hell is that?”
“A kilo of cocaine. Well, half of one. The whole thing wouldn’t fit in my purse and this one matched my heels so well.”
“Where the hell did you get half a kilo of cocaine?!”
“My horse bookie knows a guy that knows a guy.”
“Sophie! Isn’t that much cocaine like...a felony? You could go to prison for the rest of your life!”
Sophie laughed. “A risk I’m willing to take if Mr. Halifax finally snaps.” She snapped her purse closed to emphasize her point.
Was she insane? “You told Mr. Halifax there was going to be a big drug deal. What if he already called the police? And there’s drug dogs swarming the dance?!”
“Then I hope there’s conjugal visits in prison.” She laughed like her joke was funny. But then she must have seen my face. “Chill. I’m not going to jail for half a kilo of cocaine.”
“Right, you’re going straight to solitary confinement, you psycho.”
Sophie pressed her lips together like she was actually starting to hear my point. “Okay, maybe I’ll keep it here.” She went to put her purse on my bed.
“Over my dead body.”
She laughed. “Fine. I’ll put it in Natalivanka’s mom’s apartment.”
“Soph. I don’t even know if they’re citizens. Don’t.”
Sophie shrugged. “Then the plan commences. Besides, I’m not even convinced it’s cocaine. It was like super cheap.”
“So...crack?”
She laughed. “I don’t know. But I have shoes that cost more.”
Well, Sophie had very expensive taste in shoes.
“Maybe it’s just baby powder,” she said.
“Hopefully we don’t find out. Oh! Let’s just flush it!”
“Nah,” Sophie said. “I’m already committed. Come on, our dates will be here any minute.”
Everyone was coming here for pictures before the dance. And Sophie had distracted me so much that I hadn’t even had time to get in my head about my kiss thief. Maybe she’d done it on purpose. I grabbed my white gloves off my desk and stared at the homecoming crown Axel had given me.
Cutting Axel out of my life a bit more while I was dating Jacob had been hard.
And I was about to do it all over again.
If I dated my kiss thief, Axel couldn’t climb into my bed every night.
I’d gotten used to falling asleep beside him.
And even more used to waking up with one of his arms slung across me. Or my head snuggled against his chest.
I knew it was just a friendship thing for him. But it hadn’t felt like that to me even once. And I’d miss it. I’d miss him. But I’d let myself fantasize about more my whole life. It wasn’t healthy. I needed to move on.
“Eli’s on his way up,” Sophie said.
I turned away from the homecoming crown. “Right.” I slipped on my gloves and followed her out of my room.
“Sweetie, you look so beautiful,” my mom said. “Doesn’t she, James?”
“The dress is a little short,” my dad said.
My mom gave him a look.
“But yes, you look beautiful, pumpkin.” He put his arm around my shoulders. “Maybe I should call the principal to see if there were any last minute chaperone cancellations.”
“Uncle James, please,” Sophie said. “I’ll keep Scarlett in line, I promise.”
Right, with her purse full of cocaine.
“I’m holding you to that, Sophie,” my dad said. He turned back to me. “Are you sure you don’t want me to talk to Jacob?” he whispered. “Or Axel? I’m sure one of them would be happy to take you.”
That sounded like my worst nightmare. “I have a date.”
“You do?” My dad’s eyebrows pulled together. “Who?”
“It’s um...”
“A surprise,” Sophie said.
“Yup,” I agreed. That was a good way to put it.
“Good thinking not telling your dad in advance,” my mom said with a laugh. “Or else he would have done a background check and crossed way too many lines. Again.”
“Aunt Penny with the sass tonight.” Sophie lifted her hand for a high five and my mom high fived her.
Eli walked into the living room and Sophie ran over to him and threw her arms around him. He was in a pair of black pants with a belt and a black t-shirt. It looked perfect with her outfit.
I fidgeted with my gloves as Jacob walked in with Olivia.
He didn’t take one look at me. Which gave me the opportunity to stare.
He’d gone for more of a gangster look. He was wearing a fedora and a fitted suit.
The front of the suit kind of crossed over and the buttons were off-centered.
And Olivia was wearing a similar dress to mine.
But it looked like one of the ones before Sophie had gotten Mr. Tanner to shorten them.
I smiled to myself. I was pretty sure I had Mr. Tanner to thank for that one.
And it was like just thinking of him had willed him into existence. He walked in with Aunt Ash, Mr. Nigel, Aunt Brooklyn, and Uncle Matt.
I quickly turned away. I wasn’t sure what Jacob had told his parents about our breakup. But I still felt very uncomfortable.
The room was abuzz as everyone kept arriving. Axel and his parents came in and I stared at him. He was dressed in jeans and a leather jacket. And his hair was jelled up a bit. The 50s looked good on him. But unlike with Jacob, Axel actually caught me staring. He smiled.
I waved.
And then he started talking to Jacob.
Parker ran in after her parents.
Oh wow. She was actually coming to the dance. Were her parents okay with that?
She ran over to RJ where he was sitting on the couch.
RJ groaned.
“Don’t I look beautiful in my dress?” she said to him.
“No. You look five. And it doesn’t even fit the theme.”
She kicked his shin and he yelped. “Tell me I look beautiful in my dress, idiot.”
“Fine. You look beautiful in your dress, idiot,” he repeated the line back at her.
I laughed as the two of them kept bickering. Liam walked over to his date that was a junior in college. She clearly looked much older than him. How was no one freaking out about who Liam and RJ were taking to the dance?
“So tell me more about this mystery date,” my mom said.
“He’s...” God, how could I describe my kiss thief when I’d never even seen him? “He’s really sweet. And confident.” Borderline cocky. “We can pretty much talk about anything. He makes me feel comfortable. And he’s made his feelings for me very clear. Which I appreciate.”
“And you like him?” my mom asked.
I nodded. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t led with that.
“You’re sure you wouldn’t be more excited if you were going with someone else?”
“What?”
“A certain someone in a leather jacket.” She nodded toward Axel. She must have followed my gaze earlier.
I shook my head. “Axel and I are just friends.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Positive.”
Axel turned away from Jacob and stared at me across the room.
I had no idea who he was going to the dance with. Hopefully he wasn’t back together with Gigi. I didn’t love the idea of her being in my apartment.
I watched as Jacob kissed Olivia’s cheek. The way he used to kiss mine. Aunt Brooklyn looked over at me. And there was that look again. Pity.
I felt like I was going to cry.
I loved Axel first.
Then I fell in love with Jacob.
Neither of them loved me. And I was still in love with both of them. I wasn’t sure I was ready to fall in love a third time when I knew how that ended. With me in tears.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to my mom and hurried into the kitchen so I could stop looking at all the happy couples. I sniffed as I put my glasses on and pulled my phone out. My kiss thief hadn’t texted me since last Friday. Not one peep.
And I had a sinking feeling that he’d chickened out.
“Are you still coming?” I texted and hit send.
I waited for his response. And waited. I felt my bottom lip start to tremble.
Of course he wasn’t coming. He’d kept his identity a secret for months. Why would he suddenly just show up and reveal everything? God, I was such an idiot.
I should have just gone with Leo. At least then I wouldn’t be the only one here without a date. It was pathetic to go alone while Jacob was with his new girlfriend. I’d pushed my luck, agreeing to go with my kiss thief. And I knew better. I wasn’t lucky.
Part of me just wanted to slip back into my bedroom and sleep through the dance.
Sophie walked into the kitchen. “My dad said it’s time for pictures. Uncle Mason and Aunt Bee even stopped by to see our outfits.”
I groaned. “More people? Why?”
“What’s going on?”
“My kiss thief isn’t coming.”
“What?” She grabbed my phone and stared at my text that had gone unanswered. Her shoulders slumped. “Darn it.”
“I can’t go in there, Soph. I don’t feel like taking pictures to commemorate a terrible night.”
“It’s not terrible. It’s barely even begun. Come on.” She squeezed my hand. “Your kiss thief probably just didn’t want a run-in with your dad. He’ll meet you at the dance.”
My bottom lip kept trembling. Maybe I was just the kind of person that would never be loved out loud. I could just watch people fall in love from a distance. Surrounded by a bunch of cats.
“What is going through that head of yours?” Sophie asked. “Because it seems bad.”