Odette opened her mouth but she actually had no idea where they were going. She didn’t even know they were going anywhere. She just thought this was some odd ploy to get Grayson to “confess” to her like in all those romance books.
“Out,” Greer replied haughtily.
Grayson scoffed and smiled sarcastically. “Oh, out, okay. I thought you wanted my opinion of her outfit and ‘out’ doesn’t give me any specifics.”
Greer tossed her long hair, “The only ‘specifics’ you need to know is that there will be boys.”
His jaw flexed ever so slightly. “Oh,” Grayson all but spat. He checked her out again and looked back at his book. “The boys won’t stay away from you.”
Odette glanced at Greer, giving her an “are we done here” look, but Greer wasn’t paying attention.
“Would you?” Greer questioned, tilting her head to the side.
“Would I what?”
“Would you be able to stay away from her?”
Odette nearly screamed at Greer.
What is she doing? Is she TRYING to embarrass me? Does she want me to go home and cry into my pillow for the rest of my life? Never show my face again? Please, don’t answer. Please pretend you didn’t hear her, she begged in her mind, squeezing her eyes shut.
Grayson took a deep breath and Odette flinched mentally, waiting to be berated. “I wouldn’t let her go.”
What?
She opened her eyes to Greer’s smirking face. “Come on, Det, we can’t leave Bonnie and Nadia for much longer.”
Odette didn’t know what to do. Should she say bye to Grayson? Should she thank him? What should she be doing that wouldn’t make her feel or look like an idiot?
Greer linked their arms and Odette had to take long strides to keep up with her steps. “You need to trust me next time.”
They walked out the front door and down the steps to where a very expensive purple car was idling. Bonnie and Nadia were already seated in the back of the car, watching them with expectant eyes.
Odette opened and closed her mouth several times, words not seeming to want to come out of her mouth. Finally, she turned to Greer, her eyebrows furrowed. “Where are we going?”
“To the mall, that’ll be the first place Grays will look for us.”
Odette made a face. “Why would he come to the mall to look for us?”
The three girls laughed at her, sharing looks with one another.
“What?”
“Seriously? Odette, he’s not letting you out of his sight dressed like that. Now, we’re going out to make him jealous.”
VI
Odette was sure of one thing—her mother would kill her if she figured out what she was doing right now.
Greer’s expensive sports car peeled out of the driveway at a high speed, slamming her back against the leather seats with enough force to knock the breath out of her. She was breaking the speed limit ten times over, and Odette had to hold down her skirt to keep from flashing anyone. Worst of all was that they had to drive past her house in order to get to the main road. She prayed that her parents weren’t looking out the window.
The girls in the back cackled with glee, throwing their arms up in the air. They would make high pitched squeals every time they made a sharp turn or ran a stop sign.
Odette hadn’t really noticed until that moment that they were all dressed up for a night on the town. She also noticed that there was a lack of cops everywhere. She just really, really hoped that they wouldn’t end up in a ditch somewhere.
“Calm down, Det, I can hear your worry from here!” Greer shouted over the wind.
Odette crossed her arms over her chest, holding down her top. “S-sorry! I’ve just never been in a car with someone who disregards traffic laws!”
“Then you’ve had a pretty boring life!”
Odette laughed nervously, watching through one of the mirrors as the town grew smaller and smaller. They passed the “Now Leaving Sunwick Grove, Maine” sign, and soon it was a mere blip in the blurring trees.
Greer took one hand off the wheel and turned on her radio and cranked it up loud. Some synthesized pop music blared out, nearly giving Odette a heart attack. Bonnie and Nadia started screaming about how this was their favorite song. Odette really didn’t know how the other girl hadn’t wrecked with all of their squawking.
It wasn’t very long until the high-rise buildings and neon lights greeted them in all their glory. The streets were bustling with people but did Greer slow down?
No. The car whizzed past them all and people started cursing at her for nearly hitting them. She did, however, stop for the first time at a red light to allow a group of teens to cross.
“Aren’t you worried that you’re going to get pulled over?” Odette thought out loud. She started to smooth her hair down into what it had looked like before. It was pretty hopeless but she could honestly say she had the authentic windblown look.
Greer shrugged, pulling out some of her blood red lipstick and dabbing it on her lips. “I’m very persuasive.”
Bonnie and Nadia giggled at this, probably an inside joke between them.
Odette turned her head and the car roared back to life and turned into a parking lot. Greer beat a beat-up sedan with a tired man driving two teens for the closest spot to the entrance of the mall. He glared at the car of girls as he pulled away to search for another spot.
“I think we got here in plenty of time, girls, don’t you think so?” Greer asked, gracefully stepping out of the car. “Now, the order of business is to pick up dresses for the gala next week. I hate to say it but, Nadia, you really need to update your closet. That little black dress only lasts for so long.”
Nadia rolled her eyes and groaned. “I know, but I only get so much for my allowance plus summer job. Thankfully I got a bonus for working later because someone,” she pointed to Bonnie, “was late picking me up for, like, a month.”
“In my defense, I thought you told me to pick you up at eight,” Bonnie explained.
“What gala?” Odette asked.
Greer linked their arms together and they started to walk towards the mall’s entrance. “We throw a gala every summer just for the fun of it. We invite people to come from all over the USA and you, my darling, have scored yourself an invite.”
“Oh!” Odette raised her eyebrows. “That’s very thoughtful but I didn’t bring any money with me.”
Greer only laughed. Odette didn’t like it when she laughed at her, she felt self-conscious or like she had done something wrong.
“I’m going to get you your dress, silly. Think of it as your welcome to Sunwick Grove present.”
The mall wasn’t the largest that Odette had ever been in but there were a lot of name-brand and high-end stores. That surprised her. Greer and the girls made a beeline for one store that looked like it cost more than Odette’s hospital bills. It had wall-to-wall gowns of all colors and styles. The shop’s female staff pounced on the four of them instantly, knowing exactly who Greer was and how much she was willing to pay.
The girls decided that Odette would be the first “victim” and pushed her at one of the grabby shop ladies. She was shoved into Dressing Room 3 and left alone for several minutes. When the woman came back, she had seven different floor-length dresses. There were two purple dresses, one lighter than the other; two silver dresses; two classic black dresses; and a white dress, all in varying styles.
With each new dress she put on, Bonnie, Nadia, and Greer demanded for her to come out, so they could rate how she looked on them. By the fourth dress, she was yet to receive a positive review. It wasn’t necessarily her, it was the dresses. She didn’t look good in any of them—or, that was what they claimed.
“This is your first gala, Odette, we want to make sure you look your best,” Greer explained after the fourth one.
Odette trusted her judgment, she had to.
The last dress she was put into was the white dress with the sweetheart neckline. It was much longer than
she had expected, but she couldn’t tell if that was because she didn’t wear heels or if it was because she was too short. The straps were a little too long but she found a way to shorten them enough to fit her properly. She did love it, though. Odette liked how her dark hair looked against it; she imagined she was Snow White on her wedding day.
The saleswoman quickly clipped Odette’s hair up in a sloppy swirl, but it helped show off her neck and collarbone. She felt like a ballerina again, dressed in her white leotard and ready to go on stage.
Odette gathered the skirt up in her fists and walked out of the dressing room again. The girls silenced their chattering, ready to critique the gown and the girl wearing it.
“You look so pretty!” Nadia gushed, cupping her cheek.
Greer nodded her head. “We can definitely work with this. I do have a request, though …” She stood from her seat, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. She gathered the skirt in her own hands as well. “How do you feel about high heels of your own?”
“We have some high heels in the back, what color would you like?” The saleswoman piped up.
The female twin pursed her lips. “Silver, size five. Not too high, please.”
The saleswoman walked away to the back of the store and through a white door labeled “Employees only.”
Odette sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’ve never actually had the chance to wear heels,” she admitted. She waited for the other girls to laugh in their condescending way, or in pity. She waited to feel even more embarrassed than she already felt.
She lowered her eyes and took a breath to calm herself down. The ridicule never came.
“Well,” Greer began. “Now you get the chance to.”
Odette tilted her head and stared at her reflection in the mirror behind Greer. She smiled lightly; she thought that she looked pretty. Something blue glinted in the other girl’s hair under the fluorescent lighting.
She observed Greer’s royal blue headband. Come to think of it, Odette hadn’t seen her in a picture or in real life without it.. The jewel on the side of it matched her brother’s perfectly.
Greer raised her eyebrow, “What is it?”
“Sorry, I was just looking at your headband. It’s really pretty, where did you get it?” Odette tilted her head to get a better look..
Greer reached her hand up and lightly touched her headband’s jewel. She looked right through Odette, deep in thought. She didn’t speak but her blue eyes twinkled with mischief. “Deals with demons get you places, darling.”
Odette was taken aback but laughed anyway. “What?”
It was then that the saleswoman came from the back with an armful of shoeboxes that piled just over her head. She laid them down on the plush ottoman where she had previously sat.
“Here are a few different shoes for you to try on, miss. Need anything else?”
Greer flashed the woman a charming smile and gently shooed her away. She pulled out one shoe from each box and fit them on Odette’s feet.
Greer had narrowed them down to three different pairs of high heels when a new customer came through the door.
The perky sales woman jumped out from behind the register to greet whoever it was. “Hi, can I help you with something?”
“No, I’m just here to find someone.”
Odette’s head whipped up and towards the distinctly male voice.
“What did I tell you?” Greer sang, patting Odette’s shoulder. She bent down and picked up the strappy heels studded with small gems. “These are the ones. Get changed and I’ll get everything ready at the register.”
Greer helped Odette out of the heels and shoved her into a dressing room.
“But don’t you guys have to pick out your dresses?” Odette half shouted. She had been stuffed into multiple different sparkling and restricting dresses, then paraded in front of those girls. She had assumed that they would, at least, be doing the same.
Greer made a pft sound and rolled her eyes. “We already picked out ours. We’ve had our eyes on them for months, just had to pick them up. You, however, are new to this. Do you need help getting out of the dress?”
Greer didn’t wait and unzipped the back of Odette’s dress, then forcefully closed the door. And, just in time, it seemed, a new set of footsteps approached the dressing area just as Odette stumbled into the mirror that was screwed into the wall.
“Brother,” she heard Greer say.
Odette made it a fast change, slipping back into her borrowed clothes. The white dress laid in a heap on the small stool in the corner. She didn’t want to even think about the price of it or the shoes. This store didn’t exactly scream “inexpensive” to her.
Her flats slipped onto her feet easily and she exited the dressing room. Odette wasn’t watching where she was going and ran straight into Grayson’s back.
“Oof!” she grunted, stumbling backwards.
Grayson remained unfazed and smirked down at her. “Having trouble, Odette?”
She forced a grin and clutched the dress to her chest protectively. “I’m fine.”
Greer, seeming to materialize out of nowhere, plucked the dress from her arms and vanished to the front of the store with the other girls.
Grayson smoothed his hair back. He had changed his clothes, wearing a regular T-shirt and a jacket over it. Stupidly attractive but not the smartest thing to wear in the summertime.
“Did you find what you all were looking for?” he asked.
Odette shrugged, “I think so. Greer kept going on and on about how she wanted me to look perfect for your gala next week.”
She clutched her fingers behind her back, looking anywhere but the pretty boy in front of her. He was very close to her, closer than she had ever been to him ever. She could feel his body heat and smell his cologne.
He raised a hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Odette jumped and her heart momentarily stopped. “I’m sure you’ll look beautiful,” he whispered.
“I sure hope so,” Odette joked, taking a mini step back.
The boy noticed this and raised an eyebrow. “You know that it is a masked gala?”
“Oh cool. It’ll be hard for you to find me then.” Odette lightly punched his arm, cringing internally at how awkward she sounded. Why couldn’t she sound cool and collected like she wanted to?
Before she could retract her fist, Grayson caught it swiftly and lifted it higher to his lips. “I will be able to find you. Even if you hid, I would track you down with ease.”
Odette needed a way out, “Um … hey, Greer’s done.”
She stepped around Grayson, staring at the floor the entire time, and speed-walked until she caught up with the other girls. Bonnie, Nadia, and Greer were already close to the exit but it didn’t seem like they would be slowing down for her anytime soon. Well, it was Greer’s plan to have Grayson come and … what? See her?
Odette had almost caught up with them when she felt the warmth of Grayson’s palm against her lower back. Her breath stuttered and she almost made a misstep, looking to the side to see just how close he had come.
“Hey, now, princess. Don’t just leave me all alone in a dress store. That is one of the worst places to get mobbed by fangirls, you know?” Grayson said in her ear. He had an almost smile on but it really didn’t reach his eyes.
“Well, I wouldn’t want that,” she laughed. “But my ride is Greer and I really need to catch up with her.”
He shrugged, his large strides becoming smaller and smaller until the two of them were barely advancing at all. “We’re all going the same place. No need to rush, I’m sure she would understand.”
“But,” Odette interjected, “I wouldn’t want her to think I was ditching her. Even if she did want …” she stopped herself before she said too much. She didn’t want to make herself look like an idiot in front of him.
She hadn’t realized it but he had been leading her off to the side, so that they wouldn’t be in anyone’s way. They weren’t even moving an
ymore.
“Even if she did want what?” he asked quietly.
Even though they were in a very public place, Odette could almost let herself imagine that it was just the two of them, just for one second. There was this urge to spill to him her silly crush that probably everyone had on him. How could they not, especially when he would look at them like that.
“Um …” Odette started to formulate the words in her mind.
Grayson’s hand on her back tightened for a second in an almost pleading way, and she looked at him questioningly.
“Um … are you Grayson Mages?” asked someone. The mood broke and Odette turned her head to see a girl around her age staring up at Grayson like he was her god.
His hand slipped away from her back, her skin tingling where it had once rested, and he gave the girl a heart-stopping smile. “Yes I am. What’s your name, gorgeous?”
Odette knew that it would be best to just move away. This was his job and she was getting too caught up in the moment beforehand. She caught sight of both Bonnie and Nadia who weren’t too far away. Greer was also busy with one of her fanboys, so Odette decided to join the other girls.
“Hey,” she said.
“Don’t worry,” Bonnie assured her out of nowhere. “These won’t take long … and they rarely mean anything.” She nodded in Grayson’s direction, who was taking a picture with his arm around the girl.
Odette shook her head, “I wasn’t even thinking of it that way.” She watched as the girl hugged him in thanks. “Besides, we aren’t together.”
Once they returned to the mansion, the girls all wanted to go to bed. Odette had figured that they would want to stay up to talk about boys or gossip but that wasn’t the case. Makeup wipes were passed out, they changed into their sleepwear, and then laid down in their respective spots.
She closed her eyes and drew her blanket up to her chin. Even if it was summertime, the Mages’ house was very cold. It made sense to her now why they had that fireplace lit in the library.
Nadia was the first to fall asleep but Bonnie followed only a few seconds later. Bonnie snored and Odette got a full blast of it in her ear because she was right next to her. She doubted that she would be able to go to sleep anytime soon.
Violent Delights Page 6
