Lipstick Apology (26 page)

He looked at me like I was crazy. “Okay. Whatever. Point is: they'll be gone for a week. So next weekend, party at Ethan's!” He leaned over and hugged me, his arms clenching me with enthusiasm. I pressed my chest against his and felt the joy of a hug. Just a hug—with no added intentions.

I decided to leave on a good note, while Owen was still pumped about the upcoming party. I faked an early curfew and left.

The minute I stepped out of the cab, I called Lindsey.

“I'm just so afraid he's going to dump me because I'm keeping things very PG-13, if you know what I mean,” I explained.

“Well, if he dumps you for that reason, then he's not worth your time, is he?” Lindsey replied.

I would have expected reassurance of that nature from Georgia, but it was so nice to know that I had someone here, who knew Owen's status, who understood how hot he was and still validated my choice.

“Thanks, Lindsey,” I said, clicking the phone shut and getting on the elevator.

When I opened the door to the apartment, all the lights were on, but Jolie was nowhere in sight. I dropped my purse on the counter and walked back toward my bedroom. A soft love song drifted from Jolie's room.

Gross. I could only imagine.
I guess Jolie doesn't have my willpower,
I thought with a chuckle.

I was about to walk into my room when Jolie's door opened and instead of my seeing two lovers entangled, Jolie emerged, puffy-eyed and makeup-less. She was dressed in dark jeans, a tight, white, button-down shirt, and had huge silver hoops in her ears and sky-high stilettos on her feet. She looked like she just came from a hot date, but her nose was red and she undoubtedly had been crying.

I turned toward her. “Hey, what's wrong?”

“Oh,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “Nothing. Really, I'm fine.” She forced a smile. “How was Owen's? Want some hot cocoa?” She said this as if hot cocoa was the answer to all the world's problems.

“Sure,” I said, following her into the kitchen and sitting at the table.

Jolie pulled out some mugs and rifled through the cabinets. “Want some marshmallows? I
love
marshmallows with hot cocoa.”

“Okay, but if you're aiming for Suzy Sunshine, the tear-stained cheeks and Kleenex hanging from your nose are giving you away.”

She dabbed her nose reflexively.

“I'm just kidding,” I said. “But jeez, tell me what happened. Did hot party guy never show up?”

Jolie put the mugs down and sat across from me. She sighed. “He did. He showed up right on time.”

“Well, what then? Did he bring his wife with him or something?”

Jolie laughed. Then her face crumpled and she covered her face in her hands. She looked so small and fragile, sniffing and dabbing at her eyes. “Your mom did it right,” Jolie said. “She picked the right one.”

My stomach clenched. “What do you mean?”

“I'm superficial, I know.” Jolie sniffled. “It's my main flaw. I've always cared too much about good looks and money. Jill. Your mom.” She shook her head slightly. “Your mom valued honesty and a good, solid companion. And at a young age, too. God! She was so smart! I've spent all these years following my heart to the charming and attractive men, living life like it's a fairy tale.” Her eyes welled up again. “But then one day, I wake up and I'm thirty-eight, standing in a bar, listening to my Mexican Prince Charming feed me the same lines that used to make my knees go weak while he's staring at the butt of a slutty, twenty-year-old cocktail waitress. And it finally dawns on me: that to these kind of men, I am replaceable, a one-night stand.” She dabbed at her eyes. “I've spent all these years being charmed but not loved. I just wish I had done it right a long time ago and found a true companion, like your mom did.”

My mind was spinning. After reading those letters, who was to even say that Mom was happy with her choice of a companion? Perhaps Mom and Jolie were more alike than she realized.

“How do you know?” I said. “I mean, how do you know that Mom and Dad really were good companions? If they were, then why did she kiss someone else?”

Jolie looked at me like she was trying to read deep in the corners of my mind. Her eyes were so intense and then, in a move uncharacteristic of her, she took my hands and squeezed them. Without looking away, she said, “Your mother was happy, Emily. She was happy with your father, she was happy with her life, and most of all, she was happy with you.”

AT SCHOOL ON MONDAY,
no one was talking about Thanksgiving turkey. Everyone was talking about Ethan's upcoming party.

“Oh my God, Ethan's party, two years ago, was AMAZING,” Andi said, dipping a celery stalk into her tub of low-fat ranch.

“It was out of control,” Lindsey chimed, in setting her lunch tray down. “I swear, I think at one point five hundred people were there.”

“I know,” I said. “Owen told me.”

“Speaking of Owen,” Andi said. “Have you decided what you're going to get him for Christmas?”

Ugh. How to pick a gift for the guy who you've only actually gone out with three times? Not to mention, the guy who has everything? “No,” I said. “I have no idea. Any suggestions?”

The three of us turned to look over at the guys' table.

Andi gave a little wave and smile in their direction. “All he wants for Christmas,” she sang, “is YOU . . .”

My stomach flipped. Did she mean that in the literal sense? Had Owen spouted to Aidan that my friskiness was halting and borderline prudish?
Oh my God, can Owen be expecting my virginity wrapped up in a red bow as his stocking stuffer?

“What are they doing?” Andi asked, eyeing the guys as they walked over toward the corner of the lunchroom, away from their usual table.

Lindsey turned toward me. “I think it's always a safe bet to get guys electronics. You know how men are all just little boys at heart. They love their toys.”

I smiled at Lindsey.

“Seriously,” Andi said, a little shrill. “What ARE they doing?”

Lindsey and I followed Andi's gaze across the room.

The guys huddled in a circle. Then Ethan emerged, walking solo toward a table in the corner of the cafeteria. There, sitting by herself, was Carly, eating a hamburger and reading a book.

“Who is he going to talk to?” Andi asked no one in particular, as if it was a crime for Ethan to talk to anyone outside our little circle of friends. “His
lab partner
?”

“Maybe they're talking about the project,” I suggested.

Andi's shoulders relaxed a bit, but her eyes never left them.

Carly was so engrossed in her novel she didn't notice Ethan's presence until he tapped her on the shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Ethan laughed and then Carly laughed, but she covered her mouth with her hand, as if embarrassed. He sat down next to her.

“What in the world?” Andi squinted toward them. “Look at her! Did she just offer him a fry? Oh my God, I think she just offered him a fry.”

I wanted to say,
What's the big deal?
But I just looked on.

Ethan leaned over and whispered something in Carly's ear. A red flush rose in her cheeks, then with her big, brown eyes turned up toward him, she nodded yes.

Andi's eyes darted from Ethan back to the guys, who now were seated.

Ethan got up, gave Carly two friendly taps on the shoulder, then returned to his friends. They walked out to the patio, Ethan's head sticking up half a foot higher.

Andi grabbed her phone and frantically text messaged Aidan.

A few minutes later, Ethan, Aidan, and Owen walked over toward our table.

“What's up?” Aidan said, leaning over to peck Andi on the cheek.

“What was all that about?” Andi asked, nodding over toward Carly, who was once again engrossed in her book.

“What do you mean?” Aidan asked innocently, but with the slightest hint of a smile.

“Just chem stuff,” Ethan said, then looked toward me. “Man, this project bites.”

“Definitely.” I looked into Ethan's eyes and wondered if he noticed all those times Carly stared at him in class. I wondered if he really talked about chemistry, or if he only went over there so his friends could laugh at how flustered she was around him.

After lunch, Owen and I were talking at my locker. He reached down and took my hand and I thought maybe he didn't mind a PG-13 relationship. Carly walked past us, heading in the opposite direction. She looked up for a second, a small smile directed toward me.

After she passed out of sight, Owen grinned. “Hey,” he said to me. “Ethan invited Carly to his party.”

 

“MY FAITH IS RESTORED
in humankind,” I said the next day in chemistry class.

“Yeah, well, I don't buy it,” Anthony said, placing a row of test tubes on the lab bench.

“You don't buy it? What do you mean,
you don't buy it
? There's nothing to buy. It's a fact. Ethan invited Carly and she's accepted.”

“Look,” Anthony said. “I know you and Owen are all . . .” He made a manic sweeping hand gesture.

“What the heck does THAT mean?”

He sighed. “I know that you and Owen are
together
, and I'm not saying anything about him, okay? All I'm saying is that I know Ethan and I don't think the invitation is legit.”

We both looked over at Carly.

“Looks like she's on your accessories bandwagon too,” Anthony said.

“What?”

He reached over and fingered my mom's pearl necklace. “The pearls.” He nodded toward Carly.

She had on a single-strand pearl necklace. Hmm.

“Don't tell me you haven't noticed,” Anthony said, gesturing around the room.

I followed his hand and noticed five other girls wearing pearls. I wondered how long the girls had been wearing the pearls. Had they liked the look and decided to copy it? Or was it worthy of imitation only after I became Owen's girlfriend?

“Well,” I said. “I think Ethan's invitation to Carly is legit.
You
just don't want to root for the underdog.” I used a spatula to scoop up some of the yellow powder that was in a small bowl.

“I'm pulling for the underdog as much as anyone,” he said, grabbing my hand. “Hey, do
not
pour that into the beaker.” He pulled the beaker over to the other side of the lab bench. “Do you want to blow up the whole room? What's with you and explosions?”

“Oops,” I said, laughing and spilling the yellow powder all over the bench.

“Jeez, you're a major hazard,” Anthony teased.

Mrs. Klein announced it was time to clean up.

“Yeah, no joke,” Anthony muttered under his breath, and pointed to the mess I had made.

“I bet you reflect every day on how lucky you are to have me as your lab partner,” I joked.

Anthony rolled his eyes.

I used my hands to sweep the powder into a paper towel as Anthony cleaned up the test tubes and beakers.

The bell rang and the class filed out as Anthony and I were still jotting down our last few calculations. As we packed our notebooks into our backpacks, I noticed Carly was waiting just past our lab desk.

We had started to walk toward the door when Carly turned toward me and in a barely audible voice said, “Um, Emily, can I ask you something?”

Anthony and I exchanged glances.

“Sure,” I said. “What's up?”

She darted a glance at Anthony, then said, “I'm not sure if you've heard . . .”

Oh, I bet I have,
I thought.

“But Ethan asked me to come to his party on Friday.”

I smiled brightly and faked surprise. “Wow, that's great, Carly!”

Carly's eyes widened and she grinned ear to ear. “I'm still in a little bit of shock.”

We walked together down the hall. Anthony was just steps ahead of us, and I'm sure he was eavesdropping on our conversation.

“Um, I could be wrong,” Carly said nervously. “But I think I heard you say that your aunt is a makeup artist?”

“Yeah, she is.”

“Well, I guess I was wondering if you think there is any way . . .” Carly played with her hair for a minute. “I mean, I don't want to impose, but I was just wondering if there was any way I could maybe . . .”

“Of course!” I jumped in. “I was just going to ask if you wanted to come over for some makeup tips. Jolie loves it when I bring people by to meet her.” I grinned, trying to look encouraging and yet nonchalant.

“Oh, wow, really?” Carly exploded. “I mean, that would be so great. I could use some help. A lot of help, actually.”

I smiled. “It'll be fun. Why don't we meet after class on Friday and you can just come home with me.”

“Okay!” She didn't try to mask her enthusiasm.

I laughed. “Remember to bring something to change into.”

She nodded. “Right. I can see myself forgetting that.”

“This is my class,” I said, pointing to my English classroom.

“Okay. See you!”

I watched her for a second, walking down the hall, blissful, and I prayed that I was right about Ethan's intentions and Anthony was wrong.

 

CutiepieG
: Tell Anthony true love conquers all, even across the social hierarchy of high school! Look at Ricardo and Serena on
Rhapsody in Rio
. He's a wealthy neurosurgeon and she's a housekeeper with a weight problem! They've been together for two seasons!