I laughed. “Okay, okay . . . but I wonder if I’ll have time to fit in any school at all with this full semester of partying you have planned.”
She bopped my forehead with a clean brush.
“Don’t sass me, Daisy Paxton, I have your life in my hands right now!” Her eyes squinted menacingly.
I didn't know it was possible to love folks you weren’t related to as much as I’d grown to love these girls. But maybe that’s what real friendship was: people you found along the way that became your family.
I laughed a little at Odie’s antics and James smacked my arm. “Hold still!” she ordered, tugging my hair.
“Ow!”
“It wouldn't hurt if you’d hold still!” she declared unapologetically.
“Odie, how much longer is it gonna take you to beat that face? I need her to put her head down for a few.”
With her own tongue stuck out to the side, Odessa was using a brush to paint red lipstick onto my pursed lips.
“Awl . . . mosh . . . done!” she declared waving her hands with a flourish.
James immediately shoved my neck down and began applying pins with fury.
“James, hello! I have a scalp—Ow! That—”
She let go. “There! Good grief. Tender-headed people are so dramatic.”
“Lemme see!” I said making grabby hands toward the mirror Odie was holding.
James snatched it. “Hell no! Put that outfit on. Nothing less than the full effect!”
I tried to make a beeline for the floor-length mirror near my closet but James was faster and blocked me.
“Five forty-eight!” Odie sang.
At that my heart slammed into my rib cage, doing a jig of anticipation. Da-da-da-dung-da-da-da-DUNG! I tore off my robe and grabbed the garment from my bed.
Odie and James were on me as soon as I stepped into it, pulling up the front and tying the dainty bows at my shoulders, readjusting the fit at the waist.
They made me close my eyes as they placed me in front of the mirror.
“Oh my.” I heard James say as I felt them withdraw.
“Open!” they declared in unison with smiles in their voices.
My eyes fluttered open—and I do mean flutter with the weight of the mascara Odie had applied—and then . . . my breath caught. The butterflies in the jar of no feelings?
Yeah, they’d tipped over the jar and were flying free.
I reached toward the mirror because I didn’t want to touch my own face.
Oh my, was right.
Odie had gone for more subtle colors. She’d use a grayish, smoky shadow around my eyes that made the brown of my eyes pop. My lips were the most perfect shade of tempting red. My high cheekbones were highlighted and contrasted with my face, making me look more mature. And my outfit? It looked as if it was poured on me, made for me; it perfectly accentuated all my curves and dips.
For the first time ever, I looked sexy.
And I felt sexy.
My hair was pinned up in the back—all my coils pushed forward falling haphazardly around my face.
“I can’t believe y’all made me look this beautiful.”
I felt tears prickle my eyes again, but they were quelled by a warning glare from Odie.
“Daisy, I do not have time to fix your mascara if you run it. You wanna meet Trevor looking like a raccoon?"
All three of us laughed.
I sat on the bed and quickly unboxed my shoes—patent leather, black on black oxford brogues. I slid them on, tying them tight.
I took another deep breath, stood and pulled my best friends—yes, these girls were now my best friends—into a hug.
“Y’all are the best.”
“We are,” James agreed. “Now let’s go get your man.”
I was not used to being sexy.
Walking out of my dorm and down the hall I heard girls shout, “I see you now, Daisy,” and, “All right now! Looking foxy.”
I could feel my grin stiffen into a grimace because it was nice to be admired, but I also felt slightly embarrassed and a bit out of sorts.
How on earth does James deal with this all the time?
I shot her a glance and I saw her beam back at me knowingly.
While walking down the front drive painted with sorority and fraternity insignia, I was besieged by even more attention thrown my way. Random boys were whistling at me like I was a dog or yelling, “Mm Mmm MMMMmm,” or, “What’s your name, brickhouse?”
I smiled politely, uncomfortably, until I heard James whisper at my ear, “Don’t smile, it’ll only encourage them. Don’t make eye contact. Don’t frown. Keep your face perfectly neutral and don’t respond. Do not even turn your head in the direction of the person. Act as if it’s just us three here on a wonderful walk through our storied campus.”
I nodded my comprehension and she gave me a sympathetic look.
We walked toward the music, where the day party had started to morph into the Friday night block party.
I had to walk through the party to get to the Harris Music Building and my friends decided to escort me that far since it was on their way to the cafeteria.
There were tons of people on the sidewalk and the street had been closed off, so folks spilled into the street too. The mood was festive, everyone enjoying their first weekend back at school after a long summer. The music got louder as we pressed through the crowd until we were right in the thick of it. People stopped to chat with each other or paused to buy food or trinkets from the vendors.
Sorority calls bounced off the walls and just about every frat was represented by boys wearing their colors or doing their calls. Sometimes they’d break out into a stroll, moving in syncopation while the crowd parted to let them through. I wondered if Trevor would be sad that he was missing the fun with his frat brothers.
“Odie Mae!” a voice yelled, and we all turned to see Lucy working her way toward us.
“Lucy!” Odie shouted in return greeting.
She waved in my direction then did a double take as recognition sunk in. “Daisy, Daisy, who you trying to let pick your petals tonight?”
I burst into laughter. “I owe you an I Love Lucy joke for that one.”
She winked and we all resumed our walk together.
“Seriously did you get all dolled up for this?” She waved around and then gestured to her Fiskite Forever T-shirt and jeans. “Much as we appreciate it, it wasn't necessary.”
“No, Daisy, has a date, with—” But Odie’s words were drowned out as the opening notes of “Betcha By Golly Wow” by the Stylistics filled the air.
Up ahead, a small semicircle had formed in the wake of an evaporating Soul Train Line.
James jerked to a halt at my side. I looked at her stricken expression and followed her line of sight to see what had her frozen in place.
Julian. Dead ahead. Standing on the perimeter of the circle looking directly at James.
Julian saw me and flinched away.
And then I saw . . .
All the air left my lungs.
Up was down, down was up, and nothing made sense.
I was trying to find the words, but my mind was blank and my ears were filled with the whoosh-whoosh-whooshing of my heart.
James found the words that I lacked. “Who the hell is that!?”
Lucy looked over to the circle—at the guy in the circle, at the girl in the circle, the two of them so close I couldn’t tell where Trevor ended and she began. Her hands ran gently over his deep waves of hair, his hands were at her waist, hips pulled tightly together.
They swiveled, swerved, and gyrated.
Calm down, Daisy. It’s just a dance. They’re just dancing.
His lips mouthed along to the song, making promises about her being the one that he’d been waiting for.
Then he kissed her neck.
I’m going to be sick. I have to get out of here.
“Oh, them.” Lucy’s tone was bored. “They’re royalty. Literally. I believe they were Mr.
and Miss Sophomore a few years back. That’s Trevor Boone and Elodie Mayhew. Fisk University’s golden couple.”
Some part of my mind registered Odie making a surprised, strangled growl at my side but I couldn’t turn to look at her.
I couldn’t turn away from them.
I couldn’t turn away from him.
The way he looked at her. The thought from the other day popped into my head. This was what Trevor looked like when he loved something. No. Not something. Someone.
Why was it so hot all of a sudden?
The heat was suffocating, making it hard for me to breathe.
He caressed her cheek. She smiled and turned her head into his palm, giving his wrist a kiss. The movement was easy, so natural, as if they’d done it a hundred times, a thousand.
I couldn’t breathe.
My stomach felt like it had been placed in a vise; it kept clenching painfully.
And I could not look away.
Not when they stopped dancing and walked to the perimeter laughing and holding hands. Not when another couple took center stage.
I stared at the way she leaned her entire body back into his and he wrapped his arms around her automatically, letting his big body be a wall for her.
To comfort her. To protect her. To cherish her.
I stared because they looked perfect. They looked like they made sense. She was tall and light, with an hourglass figure. Her bone straight hair was pulled up into a ponytail high on her head, so long it trailed to her mid back. And her hair color? It was the exact same unusual, stunning color as Julian’s.
She was gorgeous and he was gorgeous.
They made sense.
Of course, Daisy.
Of course a guy who was smart and charming and attractive wouldn’t also be single.
Staring at them felt a bit like having my irises singed by the sun. They were so bright, and so shiny, and so pretty, and so in love.
Still leaning on Trevor’s shoulder, she glanced our way without recognition until another girl wearing her sorority colors approached and snagged her attention.
In that brief second she looked our way, I saw why her hair was the same color as Julian’s: they looked almost exactly alike. Her features were soft where his were sharp, but the resemblance was uncanny.
She was obviously related to Julian.
She had to be . . . and Julian had watched us kiss.
No wonder he stared at me in the cafeteria.
Did he know about tonight?
Of course he did.
Julian and God only knew how many other people had seen Trevor and I walking around that day. Had I been something just to pass the time until Trevor’s girlfriend came back? The idea stung way more than it should’ve. There was no telling who Trevor had told. For all I knew, he’d boasted to his whole dang fraternity about the stupid freshman girl he’d led on.
The giggle that burst forth from my lips sounded manic even to my ears.
I was doubled over in laughter, the kind that makes your chest heave the same way sobs do.
It was either laugh or cry and I would not cry. Not in front of all these people.
“Daisy!” Odie yelled. It was loud enough that I realized it may not have been the first time she’d called me.
She tugged at my hand.
When did she start holding my hand?
“Let’s get you out of here.”
No!
If I leave then, they win. If little dumb Daisy Payton goes back to her dorm room and cries her goddamned eyes out, then these . . .
“Fucking bastards,” James muttered under her breath.
Yes, that about summed it up. The fucking bastards would win.
And while I would most certainly be retiring to my room, later, for a long night of bawling my eyes into puffiness, right now?
Right now, I needed to be a Payton. I needed to put on my bravest face and tuck my emotions away until it was safe for me to cry. I needed to let these men know they would not win.
Why, oh why, does Dolly always have to be right? She’d warned me off this boy.
I took a deep breath, squeezed both my friends’ hands—I realized James at some point had also grabbed on to me—and I gave my best Daisy Payton smile. My momma called them pageant smiles. “They’re not real but no one expects them to be. They just have to look pretty,” she’d said.
“Get out of here? But we just got here, ladies.” I raised my eyebrows meaningfully. “I was promised a Friday night block party and this right here looks like the place to be. So many interesting things percolating. I think we should stay.”
Odessa surprised me by agreeing immediately. James, on the other hand, glanced between us and said, “This is a bad idea.”
I gave James my most serene look. “This is the best idea I’ve had all week.”
She looked at me for a long moment and then said helplessly, “Odie.”
“If Daisy wants to stay, I think we should stay.”
James shook her head and shrugged. “Okay.” The music kicked up again and I think I heard her say, “But if we end up in jail, you can’t say you weren’t warned.”
Chapter Thirteen
Trevor
Daisy was probably near furious with me.
On Monday when I’d asked Daisy out, I’d dreamed of a beautiful start for the two of us. Now I was facing a nightmare.
I had tried, desperately, to get Elodie to come around to my way of thinking. We’d argued for over an hour, but there was no way, none at all, that she would agree to letting me tell Daisy.
“Let me get this straight, you want to tell my deepest secret—a secret that I’ve kept from my own blood, who I would die for . . . That secret is the one you want to tell to a girl you’ve known a week, Trevor? A week?! In what world does that make sense?”
And there was no way I would tell Daisy without Elodie’s permission.
And without telling Daisy that my relationship with Elodie wasn’t real there was no way for me to explain my actions over the last week.
I’d put the cart before of the horses and now I was paying for it. Instead of tonight being full of beginnings, it would be the end of Daisy and me.
I glanced down at my watch. It read 6:08. I’d promised her I would meet her at six.
I have to get going before she thinks I’m not coming.
I would meet Daisy at Harris, take her to eat, and then I would take her walking along Cumberland River because I thought she’d enjoy the water. And then . . .
You’re going to end it.
I swallowed hard, thinking of the lie I would tell Daisy at the end of the night.
I thought I was over my ex, but I saw her a few days ago and I realized I have some issues I still need to work through with her. I’m so sorry for wasting your time.
If all I ever had of Daisy was just tonight, then tonight would have to be enough. But I wasn’t without hope; I was still Daisy’s mentor. Maybe in time she would forgive me. Perhaps over the course of some months I could even earn her friendship. And if I could earn her friendship then there might be a chance in the future for something more. I could wait. I’d waited most of my life to get what I wanted, and if I could earn Daisy’s forgiveness then the moment my foot crossed that graduation stage, I would come for her. They said timing was everything, and maybe now was not our time.
But this night was ours.
I needed to go.
“I have to go,” I whispered to El’s hair. She was pressed against me, leaning back casually stroking my arm in the same comforting way she would do when we were kids.
I felt her nod against me and let my arm go.
Julian appeared next to me, an intense frown on his face.
“I honestly have to go this time, Julian. No more delaying.” I’d been trying to leave for about twenty minutes but each time I tried to go Jules would tell me one of our frat brothers needed me and that person would magically materialize to ask an asinine question or someone would pull me int
o the circle for a dance or push me to the top of the Soul Train Line. I got the distinct impression that folks were getting in the way of my leaving on purpose. Or maybe I was being paranoid.
“No, you don’t.” His voice sounded off, strained.
I inhaled and exhaled. I didn’t want to arrive in a fit of fury. Jules and I had been at odds all week, our relationship was strained, and I hated it.
But I was done being a good friend. Elodie had asked me to show my face at the block party for a few minutes. While I’d wanted to say no, I suspected showing a united front meant a lot to her. She’d been the target of a handful of vicious rumors over the years, and I knew just how important quieting the speculation about our relationship was to her.
I hadn’t been expecting to dance, but when she’d grabbed my hand and looked at me with pleading eyes, I knew what she was asking. I still felt awful for not trusting her enough to tell her about Daisy.
I needed to make a mea culpa for my colossal mistakes.
I realized bleakly that although I may have ruined my chances with Daisy I could still try to do right by Elodie. It was a simple truth that Elodie would always feel most protected with the shield of our faux relationship to hide behind and I no longer had a worthy reason to tear that security away from her. With that in mind, I’d responded affirmatively.
We’d fallen back into our roles effortlessly. I’d laughed with joy I did not feel and danced with passion I did not feel, and I was very sure from the outside looking in we looked very much in love.
Mission accomplished.
That would put any rumors of a rift between us to rest and any lingering rumors about Elodie into the grave with it.
Now it was time—past time—for me to leave and face Daisy.
“I’m leaving, now,” I said to Jules, as Elodie stepped to the side.
“No, Trevor. What I meant is, she’s here.”
My head whipped around looking for her. Daisy was here?
Why was she here and not at Harris?
It only took me a second to spot her—well, them. James was tall for a girl so her group stood out in a crowd. And there was Daisy, standing not ten feet away from me, almost close enough to touch.
Almost.
Upsy Daisy: A First Love College Romance Page 17
