Painting The BadBoy ✔

38 | The Letter and The Draw

The next surprise came a week later. Cayden and I had just come home and discovered our mother downstairs.

She wasn't alone. Catherine stood in the middle of the room, giggling at something mom had just said. If you didn't remember her, she was the snooty brat and typical mean girl. Joining her, was her mother and her sister, Bridget.

"What are you doing here?" Cayden asked. He dropped his bag on mom's expensive leather couch and folded his arms, sighing dramatically as he did so.

"Cayden!" Mom hissed. "Show some respect."

Cayden had every right to ask that, though. If Catherine was the only stuck-up person in the family, we would understand, but Bridget was just as bad. And their mother was just plain dumb.

It was like all that blonde hair-dye they used had slowly seeped in their brain and was causing it to shrink.

I wouldn't have been surprised though, and neither would anyone else have been.

And it wasn't that the fact that the queen-bee of the family- aka Catherine's mom, aka owner of a multi-dollar fashion company, not to mention stinking rich- was seated in our house like she owned the place. Both her daughters were wearing expensive gowns of the finest materials, their hair styled in elaborate updos'.

But No. Fate decided that wasn't bad enough. Little Valencia had to suffer a little more.

And that torment came in the form of Mr. Rogers and Kelly Ross, emerging from the kitchen with a plate of tacos in sauce in their hand.

That was my food.

Kelly, the girl who tried to ruin Dani's and mine's pretend date, and Mr. Rogers, the guy who was dating my mom.

Gosh, what was this? Hurt-Valencia day?

Cayden seemed equally as surprised, if not a little angry.

"Catherine's mom is holding her annual fashion show next month." Mom beamed, as if that explained anything.

I put the pieces of the puzzle together anyways. I bet Catherine and Bridget were modelling, and mom was creating some of the pieces. Mr. Rogers worked for some magazine, so he was either interviewing the ladies or hanging out with mom, I couldn't decide.

I also couldn't decipher why Kelly was here. Maybe she was modelling with Catherine and her sister too.

She threw me a look of disgust when she saw me, like this wasn't my own house.

"Whatever." I murmured. "Cayden, want some lunch?"

"Sure."

I turned on my heel but was stopped by Catherine's mother's voice. "You know, Valencia dear, if you didn't eat so much all the time you would actually have potential to join my daughters on the runway."

I turned back. Had she just called me fat?

Mom looked like she agreed with her. Traitor.

Kelly snickered, and Catherine's eyes darted between me and her mother.

I looked at Mrs. Walsh dead in the eye and smiled. "With all due respect, you say that like I would want to model for your cheap clothing line built for," my eyes flickered to Kelly. "People lower than Regina George."

Cayden bit his lip to keep from laughing, but he couldn't hold it in. He clamped his hand over his mouth before rushing out of the room.

I didn't see what was so funny. But instead of hearing the dreaded gasp and a thousand scoldings from my mom, I joined him.