Chapter 19 Party time!
Stephanie
The audacity to try to manipulate the manipulator.
It's been hours since Kendrix had manipulated me into agreeing to a bet and I had won. I hadn't caught a glimpse of him since then. Despite the time that had passed, I was still feeling very satisfied with the outcome.
Sure, he had triggered my competitive side and baited me into agreeing, but I had gotten something out of it too. I had every intention of enjoying the hell out of it.
I was initially shocked to see him at the clinic. Even if Will and my mom had been trying to make us get along, I didn't think Kendrix would play into their hands.
He had made it obvious so many times that he didn't like me, even if he had acted differently at school today.
The car ride was the perfect opportunity to ask him why he was so adamant about having lunch with me, but I was too focused on not losing the bet. I didn't want to strike up a conversation and accidentally start a fight.
My focus on the bet had temporarily taken my mind off Dr Martins' words, but without anything to distract me, the memory had came back to haunt me.
I sighed and closed the book I was reading. I couldn't pay attention to it anyway, not with so many things running through my mind.
My eyes traveled to the wall clock and I groaned. It was only six o'clock and I was already bored out of my mind. Normally, a good book would have fixed my bedroom, but the utter silence wasn't helping.
I wanted to doomscroll on social media, but I wasn't in the mood for anymore heartbreaking information. The last time I had logged into my Instagram, I was met with the biggest betrayal of my life.
I refrained from texting Brooklyn. Sure, we had gotten along quite well and she had helped me more than anyone, but I couldn't help feeling she would leave me too.
It would only take one mistake, one slip and she would realize what a burden I was. She would realize she didn't want to be friends with someone with so much emotional baggage. Which was why I needed to keep her at arm's length.
I would never let her close, no matter how much I liked her.
“Her room is just right over here.” I heard my mom's voice on the other side of the door and two sets of approaching footsteps.
A knock came on my door a second later. “Honey, someone is here to see you.”
I sat up on the bed in confusion. Who would come to see me?
My heart raced as I thought of the only person that could make my mom sound so excited. Dread filled my chest and I swallowed. If Emily had come here because I was ignoring her texts, I was kicking her out asap.
But when the door opened, it wasn't Emily that walked in, it was someone even more unexpected.
“Thank you, Mrs Sinclair. “ Brooklyn smiled at my mother.
“You're welcome, dear. And please, call me Jennifer.” Mom said, reciprocating the smile. “I'll leave you guys to get ready.”
She threw me a parting smile before walking of my room. I whirled towards Brooklyn. “What are you doing here?”
“Wow! Hello to you too.” her brows shot up in question.
“Sorry, I just…I didn't expect to see you here.”
“I sent you tons of texts but you didn't reply to any of them. So I came over to check on you. Your mom let me in. She is very nice.” She explained as she sat on the bed.
When I didn't reply, she sat straighter on the bed. “I hope I'm not intruding. I was just worried since you said you were going to therapy and that your last session wasn't good. I thought you wouldn't want to be alone, but I understand if that's not the case.”
I had told Brooklyn where I was going after school and the fight I had with my therapist over a month ago. I had explained vaguely because I was nervous about seeing Dr Martins again. I hadn't expected her to actually remember.
My lips stretched into a smile. “You thought right. I didn't want to be alone. Thank you for coming.”
She gave me an answering smile of her own, a moment of understanding passed between us, a recognition of some sort.
“Okay, we need to go before it gets too late. Your mom gave us till 11. If we're not back by then, she'll probably ground you, or something.” she rose from the bed and began walking to the closet.
“Where are we going?” I asked, confused.
“Collin's party. His parents are out of town so he's hosting the first party of the year. I texted you about it hours ago and— Hey! I know this book.” she picked up the book I had been reading on the bed and examined the cover.
“Is it not the one where she got kidnapped and ends up having a fivesome with her captors?” her eyes glistened with excitement.
I blinked at her in surprise. “I thought you didn't read.”
“I don't. Too much silence.” A shadow crossed her face as she said those words, but her smile returned quickly. “But I'm quite active on booktok. I've seen snippets of the book plenty of times that it feels like I've read it.”
“Well, it's not just the sex that happened in the book. There are other things too.”
“Yes, she escapes being killed by the evil sister of her captors, got possessed, almost died…” Brooklyn went on to give me an entire debrief of the book as she rummaged through my closet.
I was on my third reread so I didn't mind the spoilers she was dropping. Anyone who overheard her would have a hard time believing she hadn't actually read the book.
I didn't interrupt her, probably because her face lit up the way mine usually does when I talked about my favorite book. I didn't even tell her not to select clothes because I wasn't going to the party.
But then, did I really want to sit in my room surrounded by silence again?
Brooklyn popped out of the closet, stopping her momentary rambling. “Why does your closet looks like you went shopping for prom dresses? No offense.”
“None taken. I thought the exact same thing when I first got here.” I chuckled.
She sighed, her hands planted on her hips. “We can make it work. Just go freshen up and I'll have your clothes laid out when you come out.”
“I just took a shower few minutes ago. I'll just change and then we'll go.”
Brooklyn shrugged and disappeared into the pile of clothes again. She returned with a short gown and a pair of thigh high boots.
“I figured you'd want this instead of the stiletto.” she gestured to the footwear.
I flashed her a smile as I changed into the clothes she picked out. Brooklyn rambled on about other books she'd seen on booktok, most of which I've read and still had the paperback. I offered to lend her some of my books, she had replied that I shouldn't bother because she doesn't enjoy reading, but I figured there was more that she wasn't telling me.
“Wow you look so beautiful, Stephanie.” she gasped when I finished getting ready.
The gown hung tightly to my frame, accentuating my figure. It wasn't too short that it was uncomfortable, but it wasn't too long either. It was perfect and I loved it.
“Now, let's do hair and makeup. Do you want your hair down or up?”
“I don't mind either one.”
We spent about thirty minutes doing my hair and make up and chatting about everything. Brooklyn told me about her life.
She was the only child. Her parents were divorced and she stayed with her mom. Her father lived in Europe because of his business but he visit the States once in a while. She didn't along well with other girls and hadn't mind it. She enjoyed motorcycles but was terrified to learn how to ride.
The last one came as a shock to me. She'd seen the violence at the Vault and had barely freaked out, while I'd had a full panic attack on the spot.
“Okay, we're done. Time to go raise hell. Not literally.”
We both snorted a laugh. We walked out of my room and out of the Sinclair's mansion after telling my mom goodbye. Surprisingly, she didn't have a problem with me going out with Brooklyn.
A tiny bit of excitement slithered into me as I headed towards my very first party at King's School for Elites.
Was I going to regret it?