Heart Stealer

Chapter 4 Girl Talk

Beep! Beep! Beep! My alarm went off at seven the next morning. I groaned and turned over in bed, feeling stiff. My body had been tense all night with dreams of me making out with Matteo—and then with Pierce. Ugh, my dreams were becoming too sensual for my tastes. They must be a side effect of spending too much time with hot-blooded males. I needed some cooling-off girl time with Jules.

I got up and trudged to the bathroom while brushing the tangles out of my hair with my fingers. I opened my eyes properly once I reached the bathroom to see how messy my reflection was. And I screamed.

"Ahhh!" I leaned forward, my eyes bulging out at the sight of two purplish bruises on my neck.

"Thea? Is everything alright up there?" I heard Mom shout from downstairs.

"Yeah, huh, Mom! Everything's fine!" I hoped my voice didn't betray my horror. "Everything's just peachy..." I muttered to myself. Amber came bounding into the bathroom.

"What, what? Do you have a zit or somethi—oh, snap." She snorted in laughter when she saw me fingering my brand-new hickeys.

"Looks like you've got a real problem, sis," she said smugly.

"This isn't funny, Amber! And keep it down, I don't want Mom to find out."

"That Matteo must have soooome skills," she said slyly.

"Amber!" I hissed. I suddenly choked on my own breath as a thought occurred to me. What if this wasn't Matteo's work? What if this was Pierce's work?! Two hickeys that didn't come from the same pair of lips. Matteo did kiss me yesterday morning but not ferally enough to cause this. But what went on in the janitor's closet on the other hand...

"I'm doomed! How am I supposed to hide this?" I wailed in front of the mirror.

"Er, concealer? Foundation? Oh, oh! I got it!" Amber snapped her fingers.

"What?"

"Do what Eric Matthews did in 'Boy Meets World'. You remember that episode in season one?"

"What's in it?" I asked in distress.

"You know. When he sucked her neck and made it all red, he told his girlfriend to wear a turtleneck. It's brilliant!"

"Ugh, seriously? I'm getting advice from a nineties TV show now?" I whined.

"Hey, you wanna go to school like that or not?" Amber asked, rolling her eyes at me. I sighed. At least a turtleneck wouldn't stand out now that it was getting colder...

My thickest white turtleneck did the trick. I had it rolled up to my chin as I stepped out. Hmm, Amber was pretty smart sometimes.

"Hey, girl. What's with the turtleneck? I know it's chilly but it's not that cold yet," Jules said as I got into her car when she picked me and Amber up for school.

"It's because—" Amber began from the backseat, but I interrupted her.

"I have a rash!" I said loudly to drown out her voice. She sat back with a smirk, taking the hint.

"Oh, okay," Jules replied complacently. I noticed she seemed kind of distracted.

"You okay, Jules?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," she said quickly as she drove. I saw her face furrowed and guessed she had something to say but was debating whether to say it.

"No, Thea, I'm not okay," she said with a huge sigh after a minute.

"That makes two of you," Amber muttered in the backseat.

"Amber, shh!" I said with a frown.

"D, I'm in deep shi—"