Char (23 page)

“Well, if I put off going to NYU until next fall I could. But if I did that, who knows if I would actually go back to college,” she answers. “I told them I would
think
about it, but I am going to turn them down on Monday. Dad is going to get me into NYU, and I am going to start my life away from all the drama and fame. I just want to be normal.”

“I so get it. I’ve
always
hated being in the spotlight,” I say. “Seriously, I don’t even know
why
the paparazzi follows me, or why I’m in magazines.”

“Yeah, Mom told me about why you’re here. She said your were photographed smoking pot.” Candice shakes her head at me. “Do you still do smoke?”

“No,” I say. “Dad told me Aaron was a bad influence on me, and I never believed him. But I guess smoking weed was something that I did with Aaron. Since being here, I haven’t really wanted to smoke. And I know it wasn’t Aaron’s fault that I smoked. I did it because I wanted to. But maybe Dad was right.”

“I can’t believe the paparazzi actually photographed you at home. I wonder how they figured out where you live, and they haven’t been back since that day. It’s so weird.”

“Yep. Weird.” But when I think about it, maybe it’s not that weird. “You don’t think Dad set it up, do you?”

“I don’t know,” Candice says. “It seems really odd. But do you really want to know? Your life has been better here, right? Why ruin it?”

“You’re right.” I don’t want to ruin it. And if I knew that my own father set me up, I would be furious. My life here has been a lot better, and Dad genuinely cares about me — unlike Mom. If he did it, he did it for my well being. I can’t be mad at him for that. “Life here has been very good.”

“Tristan really likes you,” she says. “He’s a really sweet guy. How old is he?”

“He’s nineteen,” I answer. “He is a little older than me, but I am so over high school guys.”

“Nineteen is a good age for you. After my life settles down a little bit, I wouldn’t mind getting a boyfriend,” she says. “Maybe I’ll find a hot guy at NYU.”

This makes me laugh. “Christian is more than willing to fill that role.”

“I am
so not
dating a guy that is younger than my little sister… Hell, even
you
won’t date him. You’re dating his older brother.” She waves her hand. “No thanks.”

“I’m sure there are lots of hot, eligible guys at NYU that would be more than willing to date you.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m Candice York. Everybody wants me because they think I’m easy. And maybe I have been easy in the past, but I’m not the same,” she says. “The next guy that I sleep with will hopefully be the last guy I sleep with. I’m sick of giving myself to any and every guy that will have me. It’s just going to be hard to find a guy who wants me for more than just one night after all that I’ve done.”

Part of me wonders if she is right. I remember the reaction I got from Tristan’s parents. They both sort of freaked until they found out I wasn’t Candice York, and even then Tristan’s Mom was weary of me. But Candice is such a great girl. “If a guy can’t accept your past then he isn’t worthy of your future,” I tell her. Okay, okay — maybe it’s a
little
cheesy, but it’s true. Candice is awesome. If they can’t see past her flaws then they really aren’t worthy of her. I mean, everybody has a past.

“It really doesn’t matter. I’ve decided I’m definitely
not
dating until I am fully ready. Which won’t be for a little while. Maybe this is cliche, but I really
do
need to work on me.”

“It’s not cliche if it’s true,” I say. “And I am proud of you. Most people in your position wouldn’t be able to give up the money. I mean, come on. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars an episode! Even
I
would have problems turning that down. But you did. Or you are. And you are going to live your dream.”

“I’m glad I’m finally doing it.”

“Me too. I had
no idea
that you wanted to do anything besides model.”

“I’ve never really told anybody before,” she says. “Mom has been pushing me to be a model since I was about fourteen years old. And I’m not like you. I couldn’t just stand up to her and tell her no. So I gave in.”

“She wants me to be an actress. There is a role on
Drama Queen
she wants me to try out for. She just doesn’t know when to quit.” My phone starts vibrating on the table, and I look to see Mom calling. She’s called about five times since yesterday, but I keep ignoring her call. I hit ignore again. I’m so
not
letting her ruin my birthday.

“Mom?” she asks.

“Yep. She’s been calling me non-stop since Chloe and Phillip got engaged.” At first, I liked it. I have missed my mom since moving here. It’s been almost two months since I’ve seen her. But once she started dropping hints about me coming home on my birthday and trying out for
Drama Queen
, I stopped talking to her. I have other things to worry about other than my immature mother… like school, and college applications. I’ve already sent my application for Columbia, but I need a few back-up colleges. I am going to send in an app for NYU soon, and I’m also considering Harvard, but I’m not sure about that. I just want to stay in New York. Massachusetts is just too far away.

I am officially one of
those girls
. A girl who bases her college choice around a guy.

Well, that’s not
completely
true. Now that Candice is here, I want to be close to her too. And Dad. Family is very important to me. But, if I am being honest, having Tristan close by is a definite perk.

After eating breakfast, Candice and I head to get a mani-pedi. I also get my eyebrows waxed. I’ve definitely been slacking lately, because I want to spend every spare second with Tristan. Having Candi here is definitely good for me.

6pm

Perfect hair.

My feet hurt. I’m tired. And I’m cranky.

“Try this on!” Candice puts another dress over the dressing room door. I groan, but take the dress anyway. I am not sure how she is so energized right now.

I put on the dress and walk out. “If we are going to continue this shopping much longer, I am going to need caffeine.” I traded my heels for flip-flops when we got our mani-pedi, and I’m glad I did. I can only imagine how bad my feet would hurt if I had been wearing heels all day. My excuse was that I didn’t want to ruin my toenails, but it’s a lie. I just didn’t feel like torturing myself all day.

“Perfect!” she says.

I look in the mirror, and admit that I
do
like this dress.

“I’m buying this for you. For your birthday. Don’t take it off. You’re wearing it to dinner. Now let’s find accessories and shoes!”

Thirty minutes later, I am walking out of the store wearing my brand-new dress, a cute pair of heels, and a matching scarf. Candice also got a new dress, and we look cute.

“We should should stop by the house before we eat dinner,” she says. “I want to touch up my hair.”

“Okay.”

She looks at me. “How can you shop all day, and still manage to have
perfect
hair. I’m so envious.”

I’ve always been that way. Even after sleeping all night, I will wake up with my hair the exact same way that it was before I went to sleep. “I don’t know. I guess I got all the good genes.”

“Ugh, definitely. You, little sister, are freaking gorgeous. It’s
so
not fair.”

“If anybody is gorgeous, it’s you,” I tell her. “Everybody has always called you the hot one.”

“I have to wear make-up to look this good.”

“I’m wearing make-up too.” Though, I generally don’t wear it that much. I don’t like to wake up in time to do my make-up before school, and unless I’m going out, or going to some party, there really isn’t a point.

We get in the limo and head back to the house. As we are on our way, I text Tristan.

Me:
Are you coming to dinner with Candi and me tonight?

Tristan:
Sure. What time?

Me:
Meet at my house in like thirty minutes?

Tristan:
See you then.

7pm

Surprise

“Where do you want to go for dinner?” Candice asks me as we climb onto the elevator.

“I don’t know, and don’t really care. I’m just starving. I want something really big and full of delicious calories and carbs,” I say as the elevator jerks up.

“Yeah, that salad from lunch really wasn’t very filling.”

“That’s why I had a burger and fries for lunch.” When I’m shopping, I really
shouldn’t
eat so much. I always get bloated, and look fat in all the clothes I try on. But I was really hungry. “Maybe I’ll make some coffee while you fix your hair. I am exhausted from all the shopping.”

When the elevator doors open, I jump when I hear a large crowd shouting “SURPRISE!” Candice and I step off the elevator and I look out at the crowd. There is a huge banner that says
‘Happy Birthday Charlotte!
’, and there are a ton of hot pink and black balloons all over. There is a four-tiered cake with purple sparkly icing on top, and eighteen candles. The lights dim slightly, and music starts playing.

A surprise party? I so wasn’t expecting this.

My dad is the first to come up to me. “Happy early birthday,” he says.

“Thanks.” I give him a hug. And now I get why Candice took me shopping all day. They had to decorate and set everything up. It also explains why she wanted me to wear my new dress tonight. “This is really awesome. Thank you for doing this.”

“It was actually all Tristan’s idea. He and Candice planned it all.”

I see Tristan looking at me with a huge smile on his face. I walk over to him, and give him a kiss on the lips. “Thank you.” I’m pretty sure this makes Tristan the best boyfriend
ever
. “I’ve never had a surprise party before.”

“So you were surprised?” he asks.

“I had
no idea
,” I answer. “Candi wasn’t at all acting suspicious.”

“I’m glad I could throw you your first
surprise party
,” he says. “Since it’s Saturday night and there is no alcohol, a lot of people will be splitting early, but Candi, Christian, Layla, and I will all be hanging out until after midnight to ring in your
official
birthday.”

This is officially the best birthday ever. “I’m excited.”

“Are you ready to turn eighteen?” he asks.

“No way. I want to be seventeen forever. But since I am forced to grow up, I guess eighteen isn’t
so bad
. But I’m telling you, after twenty-nine I will be claiming twenty-nine
forever
.”

He laughs. “You still got a ways.”

“It seems like it. Eleven years. Then I think about how fast the past eighteen years have flown by, and I realize that eleven years really
isn’t
that long. I mean I’ll probably be married in like… three years. And then in seven years I’ll probably be having my first child. It’s kind of scary, actually.”

“I don’t know. I’m kind of excited about being married to you. And having a child with you.”

“Of course
you’re
excited. You’re not the one who has to go through hours of hard labor to push a seven pound baby out of your vagina. I’m exhausted just thinking about it,” I say.

Tristan smiles at me. “So does that mean that you plan on marrying me?”

“As long as I don’t get tired of you in the next three years, I’d say its a definite possibility.”

“Well then I better make sure you don’t get tired of me.”

With that, Layla comes up to me. “Happy birthday!” she says, and then turns to Tristan. “She may be your girlfriend, but you can’t hog the birthday girl all night.”

About thirty other people come up to say happy birthday. I recognize them all from school, but I don’t really know a lot of them. All of Christian’s friends are here, and a few of the girls from the
popular click
— Serenity and Violet. They’re definitely the nice ones in the group.

I grab some food, and we all chill around the living room listening to music. After we cut the cake, a lot of people start clearing out like Tristan predicted. It’s Saturday night, and I’m pretty sure everybody just wants to go get wasted. My dad definitely wouldn’t let any of them drink, but as soon as it’s just us he pulls out a couple of bottles of champagne.

“If you drink, you don’t drive,” my dad says. “There are plenty of rooms here.”

After that, he goes to bed. It’s then that I decide that I have the coolest dad ever. Plus, I’m pretty sure he trusts me. I’m not a big drinker, and I have no intentions of having more than one or two glasses of champagne. Tristan pops the top and pours everybody a drink.

Tristan’s holds up his glass. “To Charlotte — you will officially be legal in two hours.”

We all laugh and clink our glasses together. “Cheers!”

After drinking a couple of glasses, I turn back on the music and dance with Tristan. Christian decides to question Candice about her life, and Layla listens intensively. Layla told me when we first met that she was a fan of Chloe and Candice, and she
does
look a little starstruck. It’s weird to think of my sister as a celebrity, but she is.

“I think Layla has a crush on your sister,” Tristan says.

I laugh hard. I’m not sure if it’s funny, or if it’s two glasses of champagne that makes it funny. I’m not drunk, but I’m definitely not sober either. “She so does not.”

“Are you tipsy?”

“A little.”

“You’re such a lightweight,” he says. “Very good to know.”

“I don’t really like to drink that often. Just for special occasions. Like birthdays.”

“Just don’t drink on our wedding day. I want you to remember every second of our honeymoon.”

I feel my face grow warm. “I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to forget that. But just in case, maybe we should test out your theory now. You know — for experimental reasons.”

“Soon,” he promises.

And I can’t be disappointed that he’s not carrying me to my bedroom right now, because whenever
soon
gets here, it will be the best damn night of my life… Well, actually, it’ll the be the first of
many
best nights of my life.

I love that Tristan holds me as we dance. His hands rest dangerously low on my back, yet they’re not low enough. The way that he looks at me like he wants to devour every inch of my body tests my patience and my sanity.