False Facades (Best Sellers: Best Romance/Humor )

by Martha Greenwood

  Carrie spoke up, "Didn't you know? Dad might not like Mrs. Grenford that much, but he's been old buddies with Danielle's father since forever. The Grenfords and Harlands have always been close family friends."

  Sammy almost choked, "Close family friends??" She threw a look back at the boys. They were still immovable, staring at each other through narrowed eyes.

  Carrie nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! That's why I know this place so well! It was a second home to me when I was little."

  Sammy stared at her dubiously, then back at the silent feud. Vincent and Tristan were now circling one another like contending lions.

  Danielle chuckled, "You may not believe it but, well, Vince and Tristan have been best friends since babies."

  Her words came out strangled. "Are you sure? They certainly don't look so chummy now."

  Danielle and Carrie's eyes darkened then. "That's because of the Rift."

  "The Rift?" Sammy arched an eyebrow.

  Carrie sighed loudly. "Yeah, it came in the form of –"

  A loud commotion at the door made them turn around. A stunning girl around Sammy's age was standing in the doorway, surveying the crowd with cool, black eyes. In a fiery crimson dress with sides slit up to her knees and a matching mask, she was an epitome of a sultry siren. Long, wild curls the color of midnight swung loosely around her bare shoulders and a seductive smile touched the full, red lips. Excited murmurs broke out all around them - mostly from guys. The girls were satisfied with shooting the new guest resentful glares.

  Danielle finished darkly, "- Victoria Steele."

  "Who is she? She's so pretty. Is she a model?" Sammy said curiously.

  Danielle looked pained. "Sammy, please. Number one rule. Never, ever, compliment your rival."

  "My – my what?" Sammy spluttered bewilderedly.

  Carrie patted her hand sympathetically. "Sammy, meet Victoria Steele. She's the only child of the Steele family, one of the richest families in this neighborhood. The Harlands and the Grenfords have been close with the Steeles since forever - and unfortunately, this means we've known Victoria from her wailing, spoiled baby years –"

  "- to her wailing, spoiled teenager years," Danielle interrupted grimly.

  "I – I don't understand." Sammy couldn't see where this was going.

  Danielle explained dryly, "Victoria has a special skill. You see, she has the brains to act all innocent and sweet when she wants to be and vile and nasty to those she doesn't deem privileged enough to receive her affections. Carrie and I saw through her act years ago. Regrettably, our brothers weren't so bright."

  It was beginning to dawn on her. "You mean . . ."

  "Victoria Steele's the first girl our brothers ever went out with," Carrie clarified.

  "Both of them?" Sammy was horrified.

  "Nearly at the same time, too," Danielle muttered darkly. "At age fourteen, Victoria first fixed her eyes on Vincent and Vincent, being the poor naively stupid little boy he was and is, thought he had found his first love. A week later, Victoria went across the street for a pool party and found Tristan. Tristan, unaware of the fact that Victoria was supposedly already Vincent's girlfriend, took an interest in her behind the pool house. By the time both male parties found out, she had popped in early enough to blame the other person for 'confusing' her feelings and on one stifling summer day, fists went flying, Victoria went home meekly, but The Rift has been ensued from that point on," Danielle dictated solemnly.

  Carrie shook her head, grumbling, "They were such good friends before she came in. I remember how I always came over to your house to play. Stupid mess."

  Danielle murmured, "I don't think either of them took a real, serious interest in Victoria. It was more about their pride and the supposed betrayal of their friendship."

  There was a long period of silence before Sammy finally whispered, "They've been angry at each other all this while . . . for a girl?"

  They nodded and then jumped as Sammy snarled in a manner so different from her usual temperament, "That has to be the most stupidest, dumbest, brainless piece of crap I've ever heard! I thought it was something serious like – I don't know, Vincent ran over Tristan's dog with a lawn mower or something - but a girl? Sheesh! And they say we hold long grudges! Why didn't someone just explain the matter to them?"

  Danielle rolled her eyes. "Here's where the stupid male stubbornness comes in. Neither of them believed their incredibly intelligent, gorgeous sisters. They preferred to fume and pout about how 'My best friend, whom I would have trusted with my life and video games, has betrayed me! Woe is me!' Believe me, I wanted to launch our grand piano at his head."

  Carrie frowned and nodded, "Tristan just refused to listen. He said something about how I was too young to understand 'adult stuff and loyalty issues'. Boys."

  Sammy groaned in frustration. "At least they know what kind of person Victoria is."

  They shook their heads. "Here's the really sad part. They believed she was more confused than evil. They didn't think she was capable of manipulation at such a young age." Danielle's eyes gleamed. "They should know all women come readily competent in this field since the moment of birth. It's a matter of survival of the fittest!" Sammy didn't know if that was true, but something about Danielle's 'Wonder Woman' stance disturbed her.

  Chills ran up her spine as she heard a shrill voice call out. "DANI! CARRIE!"

  Danielle turned green and squealed back exaggeratedly, "VICKY!" Carrie just cowered to her friend's side. Sammy had a feeling Victoria scared the young girl a little.

  "Oh my god, I haven't seen you two since forever!" Victoria gushed. "But I knew it was you even with that mask on. No one has the same grace and style as Danielle Grenford!"

  "Sycophant," Danielle coughed.

  "I'm sorry. What?" Victoria batted her eyelashes, hand seemingly attached to her hip as if ready to take the runway.

  Danielle plastered a smile on. "Oh, let's not forget about you!"

  Victoria tittered, "Aw! Yes, well, I suppose that is true."

  Then the bouncy girl noticed Sammy and her smile faltered. Her black eyes cooled forbiddingly and she murmured, "Well, well. Who is this?"

  "Samowa, um, Liskovich," Sammy supplied. "Nice to meet you."

  Victoria wrinkled her nose distastefully. "Liskovich . . . I haven't heard that before. New immigrant?"

  Sammy could only stare while Danielle fielded her question, "She's an international student.

  Victoria nodded thoughtfully as she continued, "Anyway, I'm sure I would have heard about you if you were anybody important but since I haven't . . . well, whoops, we know what that means, don't we?" She ended that remark with a soft giggle and Sammy didn't know if she should take it as an insult or just accept it as a bad joke.

  Danielle chose the former. "Or you could just be ignorant and stupid, but since you were born that way, well, it isn't really your fault then, is it?" She tittered in a similar sickeningly sweet way. Victoria's smile faltered a little and her eyes darted uncertainly between the three girls while chuckling nervously. Her eyes narrowed at Sammy again.

  Victoria turned away, nearly flipping her hair in Sammy's face, and pointedly ignored her as she murmured in her melodic voice, "Well, excuse me, girls. I think I have to mingle now! See you around, babes!" She sauntered off, her hips swaying.

  "Bye!" they droned back. Danielle grinned broadly as soon as she was gone and patted Sammy on her head. "Good girl!"

  Sammy raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Danielle, I'm not a dog . . ."

  Carrie giggled, "We're just happy for you!"

  "W – why?" She asked suspiciously.

  "You've succeeded in making your rival jealous! Didn't you notice all those nasty looks Victoria was shooting at you? She was ready to curl back her lips and hiss at you! Ha ha!" Danielle did a little victory dance. "This means that she views you as a potential challenger for stealing her spotlight!"

  Sammy whispered frantically, "Danielle! I don't want to steal her spotlight! Remember? I'm tr
ying to NOT draw attention to myself because a certain evil uncle is looking for me?"

  Danielle nodded in agreement, then brightened as Will, Jack and Caine came up to them. Her smile was decidedly wicked when they all asked, "Would you care to dance?"

  It took Samowa a while to realize that they were all staring at her. It took Sammy even longer to panic. Caine stepped forward and grinned at her. "I've been unable to stop looking at you for quite a while and I just cannot rest until I have had the pleasure of dancing with you. You wouldn't turn a gentleman down, would you?"

  Sammy didn't know what to do and shot a desperate look at Danielle and Carrie. They shrugged.

  Will stepped in and interrupted, "You don't have to listen to Mr. Candy Caine here. He's a heterosexual slut."

  Caine's eyes flashed and he puffed up his chest. "Excuse me? You're one to talk."

  Will glared and stuck out his tongue. Caine bared his teeth in response. "Um, my name is –" Jack tried to get her attention, but was waylaid by the two bickering boys.

  Danielle took over then. Like a martinet, she took Caine's arm after leading Carrie to Jack. Will pumped his fist into the air in triumph and led Sammy to the dance floor.

  Sammy whispered, "You were so mean to Caine."

  Will smiled smugly, "Only if he gets in my way!"

  She shook her head, but chuckled when he waggled his eyebrows at her. Over his shoulder, she could see Carrie blushing. The girl's head was bent so low, it was nearly a perfect ninety degree angle, but Sammy could see that Jack was amused as he tightened his arms around the girl and attempted to stoop, craning his neck to meet her eyes.

  Over Will's other shoulder, she could see Danielle and Caine. Vincent's sister looked frankly annoyed as Caine attempted to pull the girl closer. She slammed her heel into his foot and he grunted painfully, immediately backed away with a sweet smile. Sammy tried not to laugh.

  Will pouted down at her. "You're supposed to pay attention to me, you know. Me!"

  "I'm sorry, Will," she allowed him to twirl her and as her eyes passed over the crowd, her heart froze and she stopped breathing. Uncle Frank. Will spun her back around and she stiffened in his arms, pushing him away. She whirled around to see if it was really him, but either she had just hallucinated or she had mistaken someone else. The man was gone.

  "What's wrong, Sammy?" Will asked worriedly, looking around with her.

  She felt sick. "I – I – nothing. Never mind."

  Her friend nodded, face still skeptical, and pulled her back into his arms. As soon as the music ended, she hurried off the dance floor. The room was spinning around her and she suddenly felt that there were way too many people around her. "I need some air," she mumbled to her friends and she rushed off before they could follow.

  Stumbling through the crowd, she hoped desperately that it wasn't her uncle and if it was, that he didn't recognize her. She made her way to the doors that led out to the balcony and stepped out gratefully. It was really cold since it was winter but she didn't care. Freezing to death was better than suffocating to death.

  Her breaths came out in short gasps and she leaned heavily against the railing.

  "Are you okay?"

  She jumped and nearly fell over, but a pair of warm hands steadied her. She looked up into a pair of familiar blue eyes. "Tristan! What are you doing here?"

  He looked down at her teasingly. "Probably the same reason you're here, I guess."

  She smiled. "I just needed some air."

  He nodded and leaned his forearms against the railing. The wind ruffled his blond hair gently and he looked up at the stars, face pensive. She stared at him and he glanced at her askance. "What?"

  She reddened and shook her head. "Nothing."

  It was his turn to stare at her. "What?" She squeaked.

  "You . . . remind me a lot of my friend."

  "A friend?" she responded nervously.

  "Yeah . . . his name's Sam," he laughed.

  Alarm bells rang in her head and she tried to remain composed. Then she felt insulted. "I look like a guy to you?"

  Tristan grinned and shook his head, "Nah. Don't tell this to him since he'll probably hurt his eyes glaring at me , but he's very much like a girl."

  She wanted to wail. After all my hard work, people still think I'm like a girl?

  "Is he a good friend?" she asked nonchalantly, placing her hands up on the balcony railing next to his.

  "Oh yeah, he's a really nice kid. Just, you know, a tad weird sometimes."

  "Weird?" she exclaimed. "What do you mean, weird?"

  He turned to face her and his intense stare made her jittery. "He's just different from anyone I've ever met before."

  She didn't know if it was a compliment or not. Then she noticed that he was still scrutinizing her. "Is something wrong?" she said in an attempt to distract his attention.

  It didn't work. He continued to examine her. "You know, the more I think about it, the more I'm certain –"

  She sneezed. "Boy, it's cold out here." She rubbed her arms briskly and he immediately unbuttoned his jacket, wrapping it around her. She blushed and remembered the time when Vincent gave her his jacket. They really are quite similar. They should be great friends. How could they have a fight over some girl?

  She found herself glaring at Tristan and the boy raised an eyebrow, puzzled by her sudden change. "You don't like my jacket?"

  "No!" She blinked. "I mean, thank you. It's very kind of you," she replied. I'm just disappointed in you. I thought you were more understanding than that. She sighed loudly. "How can you act so stupid?"

  "Excuse me?"

  She froze. Gah! Did I say that out loud? "I meant that, uh, you shouldn't act so stupid because you'll catch a cold and get sick and then what would you do? So here!" She practically threw the jacket in his face. "Never give your jacket to others! I'm going back inside! See you around!" She sprinted away, nearly tripping in her heels, before he could pull his coat off his head.

  Tristan stared at the empty space Sammy had just occupied. A soft smile graced his lips as he turned around to look up at the stars. Ah, definitely just like Sam.

  * * *

  Sammy was out of breath by the time she found Danielle and Carrie. "I have to leave."

  "What?" Danielle was horrified. "You can't!"

  Carrie nodded furiously. "You can't leave me alone! I only know you and Danielle."

  "I think I just saw my uncle."

  Danielle scrunched up her eyebrows. "Well, did he recognize you?"

  "I don't know. It was just a glimpse of him, but I'm getting really nervous –"

  "It's going to be all right! Sammy, you have black hair and a mask on," Danielle reassured her. "I don't think you'll be that easy to recognize and even if he did, he can't grab you with us around. Now just relax."

  Sammy shook her head. "No, I really think it'll be better if I –"

  "Vinnie!" Danielle called out and as soon as her brother turned around, she shoved Sammy with the force of a stampeding elephant. Sammy teetered on her heels before lurching backwards and slamming against Vincent's chest.

  * * *

  Vincent grunted in surprise and suddenly had the eerie feeling of déjà vu. Looking down at the girl with green eyes, he was suddenly struck by the memory of his first encounter with Sam. Those eyes are the exact same color. Wow.

  Now what the hell was her name again? Samoo? Shampoo?

  He looked up as his sister called out cheerfully, "Why don't you be a good host and go dance with dear Samowa? Have fun!"

  His cheeks reddened in embarrassment. She has some nerve … He gritted his teeth and looked back down at the girl in his arms. She was almost reclining backwards, supported by his arms, and her face was just as red as his. He cleared his throat and practically lifted her up off her feet before setting her back down so she could stand. He ran a hand through his hair before holding out his hand. "Please excuse my dear demented sister, but would you care to dance anyway?"

  Sam
owa hesitated for only a second before shyly taking his hand. Leading the girl to the dance floor, he grasped her hand with his right and rested his left on her waist. She's really skinny. I bet her arms can wrap around her three times. I bet Sam must be this thin underneath all those baggy clothes. I bet if he was in a dress – that's it, I'm just as demented as my sister. He took a step forward and Samowa swept along after him.

  "I haven't seen you before. Where are you from?" Vincent inquired, trying to make small talk.

  The girl stammered, "Uh – well – um – I'm a friend of Carrie's. Yep, I hail from – uh – Wisconsin."

  "Wisconsin? That's a long way from here. What business is your family in?"

  "Oh, um, the most famous business of all. You know, um, cheese. Yeah. Cheese. The Liskovichian Cheese. Ever heard of it? No, I don't think you have because – because we do mainly exports. Yeah. Finland really likes our cheese. Yup. Cheese," she finished lamely.

  Vincent nodded slowly. "Ah, I see." Boy, she's weird. His eyes fell on Victoria then, who was standing by the refreshment tables surrounded by three guys as she sipped from a glass of champagne. She threw him a flirtatious wink and he mentally rolled his eyes. I'm not that stupid to fall for that again. You and Tristan would just run off and laugh at me behind my back again.

  Samowa mumbled softly. "Victoria is looking at you."

  His eyes zoomed to her in surprise. "Yes, I noticed," he said icily. She was silent, her lowered eyes liquid green. His mouth went dry and his heart began racing. Sam? He began, "You know, you really remind me of my friend."

  Her head snapped upward so fast, he'd rather thought she gave herself whiplash. "Oh. Really?" she squeaked.

  "Yeah, you know, Sam."

  Her eyes darkened and he mentally slapped himself. Smart, Vince, tell a girl she seems like a guy you know. He hastily tried to explain. "I mean, you don't look like him, of course - well, you kinda do – wait, no, I mean, just your eyes. Yeah. But asides from that, you really don't look the same because you have black hair and he has red and you have breasts and – oh damn. That was obvious, wasn't it? And – yeah, feel free to cut me off anytime now."