KissnTell

Chapter 16

FIRST DATE

Anais

The Shrew Crew continued to keep their distance. They avoided eye contact, whizzing past us with their noses in the air. It was as though we didn't exist, although it was clear they were making a show of pretending we didn't exist while basically everyone else flooded Vaughn with inquiries about the man behind the Bloodletting star, which made me suspect we were more visible than ever. I actually think Vaughn was right—they really were intimidated by her association with Baron Caldwell. I couldn't believe it, but it seemed that douche really was our ticket out of hell. I was almost too scared to speculate, as though my thoughts might telepathically set them off. I couldn't afford any hassle today, Thursday, November 21st, the day of my date with Austin. The day of my first date ever.

Okay, I wasn't entirely certain the date was an actual date. Vaughn seemed to think it was. She analyzed every message he ever sent me, breaking them down based on length of message (the longer the better), punctuation (ellipses are apparently very flirtatious) and, of course, content, which was murkier. She said his attention to detail (no abbreviations, acronyms, etc.) and the frequency at which he contacted me indicated romantic interest. Then she said that even if he never got in touch at all, she would still think it was a date because of the way he looked at me "like he wanted to rip my clothes off."

Still, I wasn't convinced. He was picking me up from school to go scouting for celebrities in Topanga State Park, which didn't really sound like a date in the conventional sense. It sounded to me like work, or at best, like he was killing two birds with one stone, which wasn't exactly romantic. But I dressed for a date as Vaughn advised,packing a bag of cool yet casual, canyon-friendly clothes to change into after school.

"Here, let's put your hair into a ponytail," Vaughn said, wielding a hairbrush in the busy girls' room. "You're gonna be hiking in a freaking canyon! You'll want it off your face."

I let her take to my mane, as I eyed my outfit suspiciously in the mirror. "Are you sure about skinny jeans?" I asked. "Aren't I too fat?"

Girls filed in and out of the stalls, flushes went off, and Vaughn rolled her eyes. "You look hot," she insisted. She had paired my skinny jeans with a black racerback tank, a cozy cardigan, and my Converse. I shrugged as she snapped an elastic band around my hair.

"There," she said, admiring her work. She had applied minimal but sufficient makeup so my skin looked flawless and my eyes and lips "popped." I have to admit, I did look pretty good, considering I had only six hours of sleep and spent the day darting from class to class.

A wavy-haired blonde I think named Tabitha-something emerged from a stall and froze before Vaughn, stunned. I examined her through the mirror, frowning as she gaped at my friend. "You're Baron Caldwell's girlfriend!" she blurted.

"Not exact—"

"I just have to say," she interjected, placing a well-manicured hand on Vaughn's shoulder, "Wow. Just," she took a breath, "wow."

Vaughn smiled at her. "Trust me," she said, "it's nothing."

Tabitha narrowed her eyes. "No," she said sharply. "Landing the hottest guy at Cranbrook, Harvard Westlake, and Crossroads combined is nothing. Baron Caldwell is not nothing," she countered, making her way to the sink.

Vaughn shrugged, smirking, as I turned away from the mirror to face her. "Thank you," I said. "I couldn't have done this without you," I breathed, motioning to my date outfit.