KissnTell

Chapter 4

TOLD YA

Anais

"Look who it is!" Stella shrieked, throwing an arm around Odette. They giggled. Everyone always went on about how beautiful Stella was, but she was too generic to impress me. Blonde and fit with great boobs, I'll give her that much. Odette, on the other hand, was beautiful. She had very angular features, which would be harsh except for her huge, feminine eyes. Even without makeup, like after gym class, her face glowed. Tonight was no exception: she had her curly auburn hair pulled back in a low knot, her prominent cheekbones dusted with bronzer, and her eyes framed with navy liner. It was annoying, to say the least, that such beauty had to be bestowed upon someone so terrible. As Vaughn would say, "WTF, God?!"

I looked to Vaughn. Her face had drained of color, of all her prior excitement. It wasn't shocking to me, though I could see, clearly, that until Stella and Odette answered Xander's door, Vaughn didn't suspect a thing. She truly thought this party would be all fairy tales and gum drops.

Which was unbelievable. Infuriating, in fact. But I knew I couldn't let them see that Vaughn and I weren't getting along. I knew I couldn't show any weakness. I had to set aside my frustration. I had to be strong.

"Hi," I said, forcing a smile.

Stella and Odette exchanged amused looks and then promptly burst into laughter. I laughed lightly along with them.

"You look amazing," I said. Vaughn nodded nervously.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Odette spat, the smile melted from her face.

"Xander invited us!" Vaughn blurted fiercely. As soon as she said the words, she slouched a little and looked to her feet, embarrassed.

Stella and Odette sort of smirked. "He did, did he?" Odette murmured slyly.

We should have left right then and there, when I saw it in Odette's eyes: they were plotting something bad. I had no way of knowing just how bad.

"Yes," Vaughn said, straightening her spine. She was trying to muster up confidence, but her whole body pulsated with fear.

Odette shrugged. "I guess he's your date then," she said to a mouthful of giggles from Stella.

Vaughn looked to me, perplexed. I didn't know what to say. Before I could say anything, Odette flicked two pairs of glinting handcuffs from behind her back, snapping one pair on my wrist, the other on Vaughn's, so we each had a loose cuff dangling at our sides.

"What is this?" I demanded.

"You'll see," Odette trilled as she dragged us by the loose cuffs into the party.

Our cheap Steve Madden heels smacked the vast marble expanse of the Carrington's ground floor, passing custom end tables topped with three-foot tall bouquets, a 1,000-square-foot, cream-colored kitchen, and a dizzying array of other stuff that all looked incredibly expensive. Vaughn gasped when we reached the French doors, spilling out onto the backyard. The fluffy green lawn was speckled with Cranbrook's most significant players, according to Vaughn: Xander, of course, slouching over an impressionable-looking brunette; Ava Goldmann, the third in the Shrew Crew trifecta, laughing hysterically, nearly spilling her drink all over Miller Toff, a buzz-cut jokester whose dad was on the board of one of the major talent agencies; Pace Greenberg, the student body president with the Jewish version of Kennedy hair, his arm slung around his girlfriend since freshman year, Cleo Richardson, who, by the looks of it, was helping him get his Marilyn phase out of the way. Everyone looked polished, stylish, and relaxed—I'd give them that. S For a split second, I forgot about the handcuffs and the tension with Vaughn, and felt like I was in a movie.