The Girlfriend Shield

by S. A. Hunter

  “No, Noah was with me.”

  “Noah? What’s going on with him?”

  “He wanted to create some fake evidence of our dating.”

  “And?”

  “We took some photos. They looked horrible.” I couldn’t tell him about the argument because I’d have to tell him about Noah’s threat to Angela.

  “You seem a bit more down than just bummed about some bad pictures.”

  “I’m just tired.”

  “Get some sleep then and no more sneaking out.”

  “I promise I won’t.”

  Dad let himself out, and I changed into my pajamas again. What was I going to do about Noah? I’d told him that I didn’t want to be his fake girlfriend anymore, but I knew that didn’t matter to him. We weren’t breaking up until Noah decided we were.

  THE NEXT DAY ANGELA was in the dining room with my family for breakfast.

  She gave me a cheerful smile when I came in. “Do you want to go back to the Polynesian Cultural Center today?” she asked.

  We’d noticed the previous night that it was a large place that we could tour. “Yeah, sounds perfect,” I said.

  “Goody,” she said.

  Neither boy joined us for breakfast.

  “Do you think they want to go to the Polynesian Center?” I asked.

  “No, they’re both staying here,” Angela said.

  That surprised me, but I didn’t bring up the boys again until we were in the car. “Is Damien upset with me?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Then why’d he stay home?”

  “Because if he came, Noah would come too.”

  “So? Noah could come anyway.”

  “No, if he came, Damien would come too.”

  “So if one goes, the other has to go too?”

  “Yep, but I told them that today would be really boring. Neither one would enjoy this. It would be hot, they’d be standing a lot, and just listening to people talk. If neither went, then they could stay home in the nice air conditioning with their phones and computers and spend a relaxing day on their own.”

  “I’m beginning to wonder if I should have come,” I said.

  “It’ll be fun. We’ll learn about the different tribes, see cool stuff, and plus it’s just the two of us.”

  I gave her a narrow look. “You manipulated them.”

  “Boys are stupid. Why do you think I prefer girls?”

  I was impressed at how she had played the boys and a little scared at how easily she’d done it. But she was right. The Polynesian Cultural Center was fun. We watched the parade of boats, got temporary tattoos, and learned how to make a canoe. It was all interesting and enjoyable.

  When we got back, we were tired but in good moods. Damien was waiting for us in the entryway. He stared at us with our linked arms, and I think he began to suspect that he’d been played, but he didn’t accuse Angela on the spot. Instead, he said, “I thought we’d have dinner outside tonight. The table’s set.”

  Bemused I walked with everyone out to the patio. Tiki torches surrounded the patio. A round patio table with a tile top had place settings for everyone. Damien took my hand and pulled me to the table. He pulled out a chair for me. He eagerly sat down beside me. He left Angela standing.

  “Here, allow me,” Noah said. He pulled out the chair on the other side of Damien.

  “No, she wants to sit by Sarah,” he protested.

  “Then you switch seats with her,” Noah said. I knew he wanted to sit on my other side and he would not give it up for any reason. He was going to maintain the ruse of our relationship any way he could.

  Damien did not offer to switch seats with Angela.

  My family was ranged out on the other side of the side of the table. With all of us seated, the house staff began serving our meals and drinks. It was shrimp fettuccini with broccoli. It felt like we were in a restaurant not having a meal at home, but it was nice, especially as the sun began to set and we could watch it fully while eating. I saw Dad take Mom’s hand while looking at the sunset. Mom kissed him on the cheek and whispered something in his ear. It made me feel warm seeing them so happy.

  An arm settled along the back of my chair. I looked at Damien, but he was bent forward poking at his food. He’s eaten half a shrimp and a bite of fettuccini, but wouldn’t eat more. At least he tried it. I turned to my other side because it was Noah’s arm around me.

  He merely gave me a lazy smile and stroked my shoulder. His touch made my skin crawl. I stared bleakly at the back of Damien’s head. I couldn’t shrug off Noah’s arm because I was supposed to maintain the ruse. But Damien would notice soon enough. I actually wanted him to notice because he’d get Noah to take his arm off me.

  But he didn’t look over. He kept staring at his plate, moving his food around. Noah kept stroking my shoulder. I stared at Damien, willing him to notice, but he didn’t react. I was about to kick his foot when I noticed the tension in his shoulders and that he had his jaw clenched. He knew what Noah was doing, but he was playing along. Pretending not to care. He was trying to do like I’d asked him. The realization made my stomach turn.

  I stood up. “I don’t feel good. I’m going to bed.”

  I turned and left the table without saying goodnight to anyone though my parents and Angela wished me good night. Damien didn’t say anything, and I willfully ignored Noah.

  I went to my room and curled up in the huge bed. I had to break up with Noah. I couldn’t keep up the charade, but I couldn’t risk exposing Angela. Thoughts went round and round in my head, but no solution presented itself. Eventually, I fell asleep.

  The next morning no one questioned me too much about my sudden illness the night before. The weather reflected my mood as it was rainy and overcast. We ended up all in the family room watching movies off on-demand. We had snacks and sodas. It was an all-around lazy day. Damien tried to pull me away for some one-on-one time, but Dad was not having it. Noah decided it looked like a fun game and tried to sneak off with me too. Dad stopped him even more forcefully. Dad didn’t need to worry though. I wasn’t going anywhere alone with him willingly.

  The next day was the complete opposite of the day before. All the clouds were gone and the sun shined down warmly. After being cooped up in the house all day, we all went down to the beach with an extra bounce in our step, happy to be outside. We hadn’t had much time so far to enjoy the beach so that was the primary agenda for the day. Sunbathing, swimming, shell collecting. Anything and everything beach related.

  I’d wrapped my beach towel around me to come down to the beach. It was time to take it off. Damien and Noah were both in swim trunks. I hated how girls had to wear bathing suits which didn’t hide anything and boys got to wear trunks and not more revealing clothing. I was wearing a navy-blue, one-piece swimsuit, but I still felt exposed as I took my towel off.

  “This is a beautiful day,” Angela said, laying her towel out a few yards from me, clearly leaving space between us for Damien. I was surprised to see her in a bikini. I wouldn’t have expected. She’d always seemed pretty modest, but she didn’t seem to have any self-consciousness about her body. It didn’t hurt that she was slim, and her bikini was really cute on her. It was black with white polka dots and had tie-sides at the hips and a tie-front between her breasts. Next to her, I looked prudish.

  “Sarah, come here so I can put lotion on your back,” Mom said.

  “I can do it,” Noah said.

  “No, you can’t,” Damien quickly said.

  I rolled my eyes and went to stand in front of Mom. She put lotion on my back and shoulders.

  “Damien, do you want me to do you next?” Mom asked.

  The question made him blink. “You’ll need it,” I told him. He was pale and was sure to burn.

  “But can’t you?” he said in a small voice.

  “I’ll do it,” Angela said.

  She grabbed a bottle of lotion and turned Damien’s back toward her. Damien let her, but he was clearly miffed t
hat Angela was applying the lotion.

  “I need lotion on my back,” Noah said.

  “I’ll do it!” Cora said, having finished putting lotion on Dad.

  “No, that’s okay. I got it,” I said, not even really thinking.

  “What, no, that’s—” Damien shut his mouth and looked away.

  I’d only spoken up to keep Cora from creeping on Noah, but now he held out a bottle of sunscreen to me. I put some into my palm and spread it across his back. I kept my touches utilitarian. There were no lingering hand strokes or playful tickles, which might have happened if I were putting lotion on Damien’s back. Noah had a light tan already. I wondered if it was natural or spray on. The image of Noah getting a spray on tan seemed completely wrong, but tanning beds were so bad for the skin.

  “I think you missed a spot,” he said and indicated the small of his back.

  I couldn’t tell if he was teasing me or being serious. I put some lotion on my fingers and rubbed the small of his back. He leaned into my touch with a sigh. “Noah, ease up,” I said softly, not liking how he was playing up his enjoyment of me touching him.

  “We’re on a public beach. Anyone with a cell phone could be taking photos of us. We have to maintain the façade.”

  “Just be careful around Damien. I don’t want you two to get into a fight.”

  He didn’t reply. I dug my fingers into his shoulder to make him flinch. “Promise me you won’t provoke Damien,” I said.

  “I’m not trying to provoke him. I’m trying to be with my girlfriend. Come on, let’s get in the water.”

  “Fake girlfriend,” I corrected.

  “Yes, say that in public for everyone to hear.”

  I scanned up and down the beach. There were a couple of other small groups on the sand, but they were so far away that I couldn’t make out their faces. I couldn’t tell if Noah’s paranoia about being caught was legit or just a ruse to nettle me. I let him take me by the hand and lead me into the waves. I braced myself for the cold, but the water was warm. I couldn’t believe how good it felt.

  “The waves are so gentle,” I said as we stopped when the water got to our shoulders.

  “There’s a coral reef breaking the waves before they reach us,” he said pointing out to sea. I could see white spray as water crashed into something.

  “Oh, nice.” I lifted my feet to float on my back. The sky was clear and an intense blue. The only thing up there was a plane going by high overhead leaving contrails.

  He linked his hand with mine. “We need to stay together.”

  I lifted my head to look toward the shore. “I thought Angela and Damien would come out to join us.”

  “It’s better if they don’t.”

  I sighed and lifted my feet to float on my back. “The whole reason I agreed to this trip was to spend time with Damien.”

  “You are, just not exclusively with him.”

  “I thought I’d spend time with my family, too.”

  “And Angela, right? You were hoping to spend some time with her?” Noah said dryly.

  “She is my best friend.”

  “Sorry to ruin everything for you.”

  “Couldn’t you meet the girl and then politely tell your mom that you don’t click and be done? I mean if you don’t like her, your mom will back off, right?”

  “But she is perfect. She’s the only heir of the House of Gigi. They make top quality clothing and are worth over two hundred million.”

  “Just because her family’s rich doesn’t mean she’s perfect for you.”

  “Oh, but she is because Gigi is perfect. If they partner with Mother’s company, she’ll be set.”

  “Wait, your mother is trying to use you as an incentive in a business deal?”

  “Let’s be frank, she’s pimping me out. If I woo Tara, then Mother could use our relationship as leverage.”

  “I know my family’s poor, but I don’t think big business works like that.”

  “It does when it’s family empires. Tara’s family owns the majority. What they say goes for the House of Gigi, and if they say they’ll partner with Patricia’s Dresses, they’ll partner and a line of dresses by my mother will appear in stores across the country.”

  “So, your mom isn’t trying to set you up with a nice girl. She wants you to date a girl to help her business out. That really changes things.”

  I realized that in a twisted sort of way, Noah was doing the right thing. He could’ve done what his mother wanted and gone after this girl and wooed her. He could’ve had her wrapped around his little finger easily, and when the deal was over, just as easily dropped her. I couldn’t imagine the devastation the girl would’ve felt at being used like that. So blackmailing me to date him saved that other girl. I still wasn’t happy about being forced to pretend to be his girlfriend, but at least I wasn’t being lied to. At least everything was up front between us. When we broke up, there’d be a celebration.

  “Wished you had talked to me about your situation instead of blackmailing me.”

  “You would never have agreed, no matter how good my sob story.”

  “You don’t know that and you’ll never know now.”

  He didn’t reply. We kept floating for a few more minutes in silence, but the sun was beginning to get to me. I swam back and waded onto the shore. Angela was on her stomach sunbathing. Damien was lying on his back with a towel over his face. Mom and Dad were reading under the shade of an umbrella. Cora was in the shallows watching small schools of fish. I went to my towel and lay down, preferring to let the sun dry me.

  From under his face towel, Damien said, “Do you think we could trick Noah into letting us bury him in the sand and leaving him for the crabs?”

  I smiled at the image. “Better not try because it would end up being one of us that somehow gets buried instead.”

  “Are you having a good time?”

  I gazed out at the ocean and let it all really sink in. I was in Hawaii. I was on a beach in Hawaii on New Year’s Eve. It still seemed unreal. I needed Cora to pinch me again.

  “Yeah, this is amazing.”

  “Good. I made the reservations to swim with the dolphins tomorrow. Is that okay?”

  I had forgotten he’d planned that. It still seemed surreal to contemplate. I was going to swim with dolphins on New Year’s Day. Come to think of it, today was New Year’s Eve. I was on a beach in Hawaii on New Year’s Eve. I knew it was going to happen, but I still couldn’t believe it. “Sounds good.”

  “Do you not want to go?” he asked.

  My answer had been kind of weak, but it was because it still seemed like a dream. “No, I do if there’s room.”

  “Of course, there’s room. Not sure if we have room for Noah though.”

  “Maybe he won’t want to come along.”

  “When has that happened?”

  “When I was young, I know I liked spending time with kids my age over the adults,” Dad said, revealing he’d been listening to us.

  “What does that mean?” he asked with a frown.

  “It means he thinks Noah considers us his friends,” Angela said.

  “Don’t say that. You’ll make me feel sorry for him. I’d hate it if my only friends were us,” he replied.

  “Uh, Damien?” I said, hoping he’d realize what he’d said.

  “What?”

  “I feel sorry for him now.”

  “Get over it! Remember he’s Noah.”

  “Did I hear my name?” the devil said joining us. He sat down on his towel and I had to look away uncomfortably. I wouldn’t admit it, but he looked good. Lightly tanned, blonde, muscular. I could see why most of the girls of Noble wanted to date him, but they didn’t know him.

  “Yeah, we were talking about you,” I said.

  “Good things?”

  “Of course not.”

  “What is you people’s fascination with the truth?” he said laying back and putting his arm over his eyes.

  We swam, sunbathed, and wal
ked the beach until lunch time. As we returned to the mansion, we could tell something was up. There were several cars now parked in front. When Damien saw them, his face hardened, and his stride lengthened. I had trouble keeping up with him. We went into the main room and stopped. Mrs. West stood in the center of the room. She had on a floppy hat and a long floral dress that looked casual and chic and probably cost hundreds of dollars. When she saw us, her face split into a huge smile. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that my heart dropped at seeing Mrs. West. While generally, I thought she was a good person, I knew my parents wouldn’t be comfortable around her. I thought my mom especially was uncomfortable around her.

  “There’s my darling boy! You’ve been getting sun! You look so healthy!”

  “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

  “What is so strange about your parents spending New Year’s Eve with you?”

  We all turned to stare in surprise at Mr. West in the entrance to the family room. This was worse. I could’ve handled Mrs. West’s presence, but Mr. West was a whole other level of nerve-racking.

  “But you said you weren’t coming!” he protested.

  “Surprise!” Mrs. West laughed.

  He turned to look at my parents and me with concern. “No, we’d all hoped—“

  Mom quickly cut off Damien before he could say something awful to his parents.

  “Mr. and Mrs. West, thank you so much for letting us use your home. It is very generous and we can never repay you.”

  “Nonsense. We know our son. And we know you’ve helped him adjust to life at Noble. He’s been flourishing because of all of you. Thank you.” Mr. West’s comments made me a little uncomfortable and by the closed off look on Damien’s face, I could tell he wasn’t happy with his father’s comments either. Commenting on Damien’s issues so openly like that wasn’t right.

  “It’s not just us. Look who else is joining us,” Mrs. West said.

  Patricia appeared behind Mr. West. “It was so lovely of Sharla and John to invite me.”

  “Now everyone gets to spend New Year’s with their kids,” Mrs. West announced.

  “What about Vincent and Jenna?” Noah asked.

  Patricia’s face stiffened. “They’re fine. Your sister is with your father.”