Building on Lies (8 page)

“ Can we talk about something else? Channing Sutton wasn’t asking me out. Ro already told you. He just wanted to talk about a paper for a class we have," I snapped. I couldn’t stand it anymore. What did they know? Had they ever even hung out with any Ardsley kids to know what they were like? Beside, the Lucia Braga situation had happened years before, and who knew if there were more to the story?

Yes, it was true a few A-guys went after Cove girls, thinking they could lure them with their money and status. But not all Ardsley guys were like that. Channing wasn’t like that. Channing didn’t care about money. He didn’t even want to go into his family business. He wanted to work with his hands, just like Tommy did, just like Joaquim did. But I couldn’t tell my friends that. They wouldn’t understand.

And beside, they would probably demand to know why Channing insisted on keeping our relationship a secret. If he was genuinely okay with dating a Cove girl, then why all the secrecy?

Also, I didn’t feel like I was in the same category as Lucia Braga. I wasn’t with Channing because of his money. I was with him because I really liked him. Beside Joaquim, Chan was the nicest guy I’d ever met. The last thing that entered my mind was being with Channing for his money. I’d like him just the same if he was a Cove kid, a Portuguese kid, just like me.

“ I actually kinda like Ty Sutton," Joaquim said unexpectedly. “ He’s really down to earth, and funny”.

“ Yeah, Ty is nice," Tommy conceded. “ But Channing seems kind of stuck up”.

“ He’s not stuck up!" I cried, angrily. “ He’s just quiet, that’s all”.

Joaquim and Tommy both looked at me curiously, and again, Ro had to come to my rescue.

“ Everyone used to think I was stuck up because I’m kind of shy," Ro said, laughing a little too loudly. “ Tommy, you didn’t even want to ask me out!”

“ Who told you that?" Tommy demanded, pulling Ro in for a hug. “ I always wanted to ask you out!”

“ That’s not what Emanuela said! She said you said I seemed like I was too good for anybody, and that’s why you didn’t want to go out with me," Ro accused.

“ And you believe Emanuela? The biggest gossip in all of Egg Cove? No, I didn’t want to go out with you because I thought you liked Thiago. And I wasn’t about to ask out a girl who liked someone else” Tommy said.

“ Thiago! Thiago is practically like a brother to me!”, Ro laughed.

The rest of the ride to the mall was spent talking about whether or not Ro liked Thiago, another boy from our group of friends. I was glad Ro had managed to get Tommy and Joaquim off the subject of Channing. It was just too hard for me to hear anyone badmouth him.

We got to the mall, and found a parking space near the entrance. The Egg Cove mall was more of a shopping strip than an actual mall. It was comprised of low end boutiques, bargain priced stores, and retail outlets. The fanciest store was the Super Target. Still, it was a lot friendlier and much more affordable than the Ardsley Park Mall, which had nothing but luxury stores. I’d only been to the Ardsley Mall once, and found I couldn’t even afford a scarf there.

We headed straight for Alice Fashion, a boutique specializing in evening wear. Ro pointed out the dress she’d put on layaway…a wine colored strapless gown.

“ Ro, that’s going to look great on you!" I said. Ro had a gorgeous body… a perfect hour glass shape, and the dress accentuated all of her curves.

It would be much harder to find a dress for my small frame.

“ You should definitely go with something with a mini skirt," Ro suggested.

“ Show off those sexy legs!" Joaquim teased.

“ No," Ro said, giving him an exasperated look. “ Because she’s not tall enough for a long dress. It’ll make her look even shorter than she already is”.

“ Oh, thanks for calling me short," I snorted. It was true, I was only about five foot two, but I preferred to be thought of as petite, not short.

“ You ain’t exactly a basketball player, Nellie," Tommy laughed, “ I think my twelve year old sister is taller than you!”

I stuck my tongue out at him.

“ That’s what makes Nellie so adorable, how tiny she is," Joaquim said, and there was no mistaking the feeling in his voice.

“ Oh Nellie, yer sew cuute!" Ro teased, pinching my cheeks. I slapped her hands away, and playfully pinched her in the side.

“ I see some nice dresses over there," I said, pointing to a section in the boutique that had cocktail style dresses.

“ This looks like it might take a while. How about grabbing us some iced coffees?" Ro suggested to the boys.

“ On it!" Joaquim said, and strolled out of the boutique with Tommy.

Ro placed her hand over her heart as soon as they were gone. She gave a huge, dramatic sigh. “ It breaks my heart, it really does!”

“ How about this one?" I asked, ignoring her. I lifted up a white dress with gold trim.

“ Great, if you want to look like a Christmas angel," she replied. “ Nellie, doesn’t it melt your soul the way Joaquim crushes on you? How can you resist him?”

“ Easy. I don’t like him in that way," I said, pushing through the racks. I glanced at the price tag of one of the dresses. One hundred dollars! Yikes, there was no way I was going to let Joaquim pay so much for a dress for me.

“ Clearance rack, Ro. These dresses start at one hundred dollars," I said, scanning the store for sale signs.

“ Over there," Ro said, and we headed to the clearance section. “ But we’re going to have to dig. And let’s hope we find something in a size two!”

We found three dresses that were pretty and my size. We had the salesgirl open the fitting room, so I could try them on.

“ I really like the champagne dress, Nellie, I think it would be perfect for you," Ro said. “ Try it on first”.

I put on the champagne colored dress. It was a soft golden strapless dress with a straight skirt, and a scalloped bodice. It fit me fine… it was a little loose in the bodice because I’m not blessed in the boob department, but it wasn’t anything a push up strapless bra couldn’t fix. I decided I wasn’t going to try the others on. The dress was nice, it fit ,and at forty five dollars, it was a good price.

“ I’m going to go with this one," I told Ro, coming out of the fitting room so she could see the dress on me.

“ It looks great on you. But aren’t you going to try on the other two?" Ro asked, straightening out the skirt on the dress.

“ Nah. This one’s good," I said, with a shrug.

“ But the other ones might look better," Ro insisted. “ The purple one would look great with your hair”.

“ Ro, this one’s good," I said, impatiently. The faster we got out, the sooner I could call Channing.

Ro didn’t say anything, but I could tell by her posture she was annoyed.

“ And it’s a great price," I added, hoping to change her attitude. “ The others are like seventy five dollars”.

“ OK, yeah. If that’s the one you like, then get it," she said, her voice cool.

“ You wanna go look at the shoes?" I offered, in order to placate her. “ I don’t think I have anything at home that matches”.

My suggestion perked her up again, just as I'd hoped. “ I need to get my dress from the salesgirl so I can find the perfect shoes to match”, she said, a smile returning to her face.

She headed to the register, while I went to the shoe aisle. There were plenty of dressy shoes to choose from. I decided I was going to pay for my own shoes…I didn’t want Joaquim to go overboard buying me stuff. It would make it seem like I was really his girl, and I didn’t want him to feel that way.

My mom gives me a pretty decent allowance, which I used to be really good at saving. Lately, I’d been blowing all of it buying make up, clothes and jewelry. Just another one of the adjustments I’d had to make to date Channing.

I still had about thirty dollars left, though, so I checked for shoes around that price. I was trying on a pair of jeweled pumps when my phone rang. It was Channing.

“ Hey, where are you?” he asked.

“ I’m at the Egg Cove mall," I said, lowering my voice. “Didn’t you get my text?”

“ I did, but all it said was you couldn’t meet me right after school. What are you doing at the mall?”

“ I’m just buying stuff," I said hesitantly, not wanting to tell him what I was really shopping for.

“ Nellie, I really want us to talk," he said. “How long are you going to be?”

“ I don’t know," I admitted. I could see Ro heading toward me with her dress. “Chan, I’ll call you back”.

I hung up before he could respond. I really didn’t want to have a conversation with him with Ro right there.

“ Who were you talking to?" she asked, putting the dress on a chair.

“ Just Chan. I told him I’d call him back," I answered. “So, what do you think of these?” I held up the jeweled pumps.

“ Those are cute, but the jewels on them don’t really match," she said.

We tried on a few pair of shoes, and I was just about to narrow it down between a pair of gold heels or black stilettos when my phone rang .It was Channing, again.

“ Ro, I’ve got to take this call," I told her.

“ Sure, go ahead.” Ro went back to holding up some shoes against her dress.

I walked out of the boutique and sat down at a bench nearby. I dialed Chan’s number, and he picked up on the first ring.
“ Hey, it’s me," I said, softly. “ I was in the middle of buying something, that’s why I hung up on you before”.

“ Do you think I can see you like in an hour or so?" he asked. “ I can meet you in downtown Egg Cove, if you want”.

“ Um, no. I’m not in my car. I’m with Ro, and Tommy and Joaquim," I told him.

“ Joaquim? The guy I saw you with this morning?"he asked, and I could tell he was angry. “The nothing serious guy?”

“ Channing, come on. Why are you sounding like that?" I said.

“ Nellie, the guy looked like he wanted to tongue you down in the hallway. Sorry, but he didn’t look like a nothing serious guy to me," he snapped.

“ We can talk about this when we see each other. I really don’t feel like this is something we should talk about over the phone," I said, trying to sound reasonable.

“ Yeah, well, when can we see each other? Seems like you’re too busy," he said, impatiently.

“ Channing! Seriously, are you giving me attitude?" I demanded. “ Because I don’t think its fair”.

I didn’t hear his reply because I noticed Joaquim standing nearby, an iced coffee in his hand. He looked at me strangely. I gave him a super bright smile, unsure of how much he’d heard.

“ Nellie? Are you there?" Channing asked.

“ Um, yeah. I am. Sorry about that," I mumbled.

“ Just give me a call when you get home," he snapped, and hung up.

I put my phone in my bag. Joaquim handed me the coffee.

“ Were you on the phone with Channing Sutton?" Joaquim asked, looking puzzled.

As good as I am at lying, I had to tell the truth. There weren’t too many guys named Channing in our town.

“ Yeah. He was just calling about the paper," I replied hurriedly, taking a sip of the coffee. I could barely taste it. I didn’t like the way Chan sounded when he hung up with me.

“ Wow, it must be a pretty important paper if he’s calling you on your cell and hounding you in the lunch room," Joaquim said, rolling his eyes.

“ He’s just one of those straight A students," I said, using Samantha’s words.

“ Yeah, but still. Dude needs to get a grip," Joaquim said. “ So, any luck with the dress?”

I nodded. “ I found a really pretty one. And some awesome shoes. So, now all we have to do is find your matching tux”.

“ Are you feeling better?" he asked. “ Because I know you had a headache. We can leave my tux for another time. I’m just happy you found your dress”.

“ Could we? I mean, if you don’t mind?” I knew Ro wouldn’t be pleased, but I wanted to talk to Channing so badly.

“ Yeah, it’s fine.” Joaquim said, and again, I felt bad for fooling him. He really was a sweet guy, and he deserved to crush on someone who would appreciate him.

I had to wonder what kind of unlucky girl I was. It would have been much easier to date a guy like Joaquim, who was single, and also crazy about me. Someone who knew me, and was part of my same crowd. But no…I had to fall for a guy who already had a girlfriend.

We went back into Alice Fashion, where Tommy and Ro were paying at the register. I went to the shoe section, and picked the black strapped shoes. They didn’t match as well as the gold mules, but they had a higher heel.

I took the dress and the shoes to the register. I tried to pay for the shoes separately, but Joaquim insisted on paying for both. Ro winked at me and mouthed, “ Isn’t he so sweet?”

Tommy and Ro were disappointed when Joaquim told them he was taking me home.

“ Are you sure your headache won’t go away if you eat something?" Tommy asked. “It would be so cool if we could all hang out a little longer”.

“ I really just want to lie down," I told him, and he sighed in disappointment.

“ Why don’t we all hang out this Friday after school? We can meet up at the bowling alley," Joaquim suggested.