Through the Lens

16

Saturday thundered in with heavy cloud cover that did nothing for the heat and humidity. The house was empty with only my dad in his office and me lying on my bed talking to Madison.

"When are we going to hang out?" I asked.

Madison said, "You are forever trying to change the subject when you don't want to talk about something. It may mean nothing that he didn't kiss you, Jess. I wouldn't worry about it."

"What if he only asked me out to try to make my sister jealous? He had to know we would run into them at the movies," I complained.

Her voice was clear as it came through, "Stop being cynical. You and Jenna are nothing alike." A hmph sound escaped my voice. "Okay, besides that you are identical twins."

"My point, I'm a great substitute," I said.

"Give the poor guy a chance," she said.

"Are you working tonight?" I asked.

"Okay, I leave it be for now. But you called me," she said. "And yes, I'm working tonight."

"It feels like forever since we've done anything together," I said.

"Okay, how about next Friday, you, me and Bradley, do a movie night?"

"Cool," I said. The door bell rang. "Hey, I've got to go. Allie's here."

"Okay, talk to you later," she said.

Already dressed to go out in nothing special, I headed to meet Allie to go shopping. I had a feeling it was going to be just as adventurous as the last time. Riding in the car with Allie to a store, we easily slipped back into a comfortable friendship that felt like years had gone into the making. Shops lined the streets in this part of town. Big name places and exclusive boutiques called this part of town their own. As she took an available parallel parking spot, which was amazing to find on such a day, we headed into one of those exclusive boutiques. I didn't recognize the store name.

Inside it was filled to the brim with an all-around colorful palette of merchandise. It was hard to imagine that the place would be easy to find items. I followed in the wake of hurricane Allie as she gathered garments like a pro. In the fitting room, I found Allie had picked items for me in my size. The girl was good.

"I didn't want you to feel weird by sitting and watching me," she said, grinning. Again, Allie surprised me. She made shopping fun. My Mom, my sister, nor Madison had been able to do it. Maybe it was her sincere approach. She didn't hold out on the comments if something didn't look good with comment like Shank if something was a little too tight and That makes you look like a Nun if something was to baggy. Add to that, her way of making the silliest faces, no wonder she was an actress.

We were a giggling mess when we came out of the dressing rooms in suitable outfits for each of us. These fitting rooms were small, and Allie insisted we needed to look in a three-way to make sure our asses didn't look big, as she put it.

The mirrors were just outside of the fitting rooms in full view of the picture frame window in front of the stores. The rows and rows of racks hid the lower section of our bodies, but our faces were in full view. Allie froze, and I bumped into her not paying attention. Peeking around, I saw what I already knew. The clicking of the camera was really loud especially with the sheer number of them.

"How is that possible?' I murmured. Looking up, I saw that the carefree girl was gone. The tight smile on her face said control. She must been taught that with the flashing going she had to keep up her celebrity persona. With a quick wave, she turned and went back into the dressing room, and I followed.

Her hands were shaking when she dialed. The conversation was short but clear. Someone was on their way to retrieve us. I said nothing not knowing what to say. Getting to my feet, I prepared to take off the outfit that cost a king's ransom.

"Don't," she said. "It's most likely someone in the store tipped them."

Allie was clearly upset. And I felt for the girl not to be able to go anywhere. I'd never had dreams of being famous, and this only confirmed it for me. But I changed out of the outfit anyway.

Twenty minutes later a clerk came knocking on our door. Now dressed in her own clothes, Allie managed a half smile for the girl as she led us to the back. Standing in the doorway was Ethan. Not expecting him at all, my breath left my chest like I'd been punched. He held the door open for us. Somehow, he'd gotten Allie's car without the notice of the paparazzi.

Oddly, he handed me the keys. Leaning down, he whispered in my ear, "Take her to my place."

Nodding, I couldn't shake the electric sparks that popped off my skin when he was so friggin' close. So different was the feeling than it had been with Josh last night. Before I walked out of the store, the clerk stopped me and handed me a couple of shopping bags. Frowning, I didn't know when Allie had made a purchase.

"The manager said that this was on us for all the trouble," the clerk said before disappearing.

Ethan's hand on my back, guiding me to the car, didn't give me the option to protest. Taking the packages from my hand, he dumped them in the back seat before holding the driver's side door so I could get in. His face held a grimace. This time I didn't get the feeling it was directed at me.

Driving a sports car makes Jenna's and my Ford Focus seem like a toy. I tried to hide my delight at being behind the wheel in light that Allie was still clearly upset. After we were on the highway, I saw Allie relax a little. "Are you okay?" I asked.

Just as the words escaped my lips, a motorcycle zoomed past us. Allie's face lit up. "He's such a show off," she said.

At Ethan's house, he waited outside. Allie hopped out of the car and into Ethan's arms before I had the car in park. Taking the bags out of the car, I followed them inside.

Handing the bags to Allie, "The store gave me this."

She took it and set them down on the kitchen table after I followed her in. The first item she pulled out looked like something I tried on and so did a few other things. She looked in the other bag, and they were the clothes she'd tried on. "It looks like these are for you," she said.

A gasp. I shook my head in bewilderment. "It's not like you can return them." Her face was bright again. The brush of the invasion of her privacy was no longer affecting her.

"I'll be right back," she said, taking her bag to head upstairs.

I turned around, unsure of what to do and came face-to-face with Ethan. I didn't hear him follow us in the kitchen, so I jumped, clutching my heart as it flipped in shock.

"Didn't mean to scare you. Or maybe I did," he said, slightly amused. "So what happened?"

Not meaning to pause, but unable not to because our relationship had been strained at best for a while, I waited a second more. This was the most words he'd said to me since that night I left him in fear. Getting it together, I recounted the story for him. Giving him all the details, I found myself rambling.

"Well, you got some free clothes out of it," he said, getting to his feet.

"It doesn't seem right," I said honestly.

"Don't sweat it. Do you know how much free publicity they got? People will flock to the store just to see if Allie or any other celebrity shows up. They will probably buy something, too, just because. They will make the money they lost on giving you guys those clothes in no time." I nearly gaped. He hadn't spoken this much to me in such a long time.

"Are you still mad at me?" I asked boldly. This was my shot, and I had to get it out before I lost the opportunity again.

"It depends," he said. "Are you still afraid of me?" He stepped closer to me like he wanted me to flinch or shy away from him. But I surprised him. I held my ground.

"No." It was a simple word, but so true.

Allie strode in. "You are going to stay for the party tonight?" she asked. I looked at Ethan, then back at her. Him being so close, I waited for her to say, busted because I wanted to spontaneously combust in the flames he raised inside me by his nearness.