Infinite (Strange and Beautiful, Book 1) (18 page)

With
my piece said, Mom had obviously dismissed me. With money burning a hole in my
pocket, I couldn’t be too upset. I shrugged and crossed to the refrigerator. I
took out the orange juice and poured myself a large glass of it. Just as I was
about to put the carton back in the refrigerator, Luke swept into the room and
grabbed it. He opened the top and started drinking straight from the carton. I
made a face as Mom turned just in time to witness his actions.

“Lucas
Sawyer Granger! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?” she
scolded.

“There’s
not a lot left,” Luke shrugged. “I’m going to finish the carton.”

“I
don’t care,” Mom said through clenched teeth. “You are not an animal. Use a
glass.”

“Fine,”
Luke sighed. “That just means more dishes for you to wash.”

“Excuse
me, mister,” Mom glared. “You’re perfectly capable of putting dishes into the
dishwasher. I suggest you do that as soon as you get home from school tonight.”

“But
mom—” Luke began.

“Do
whatever your mother told you to do.” Dad had just entered the room. He looked
thoroughly unconcerned. Probably due to the fact he had no idea what was going
on, but he and Mom were usually pretty good about backing each other up. It
wasn’t especially fun to be on the receiving end of the tag team, but after the
way they’d circled each other for the last week, it was nice to see them
agreeing for once.

Luke
made a face but didn’t say anything as he crossed the room and got a glass out
of the cabinet. He poured the remaining orange juice into said glass before he
threw away the carton while Mom handed me a plate of bacon and eggs and
motioned for me to go sit at the table. I took my plate and orange juice and
sat down in my usual seat.

Mom
handed Luke a plate and then pointed to another and told Dad, who was busy
fixing his morning coffee, it was for him. I felt envious of his coffee. I
didn’t understand how he could drink it black, but the smell of it always set
my taste buds on edge. Of course, my parents always sent me disapproving looks
if I reached for a coffee mug. I suspected they thought it would make me hyper,
but it didn’t. I drank coffee when I stayed at Tegan’s and was perfectly fine.

Mom,
Dad and Luke paraded into the dining room a minute later, and we all started to
dig into our breakfast. Dad was, of course, reading the morning paper while he
ate, and Luke barely came up for air as he shoveled food into his mouth. After
a few minutes, Mom asked, “Where’s Skylar?”

As
if on cue, she hurried into the room. She didn’t bother to speak to anyone.
Clearly she was running a little late this morning. She was normally the first
one downstairs for breakfast.

She
grabbed her plate and fixed herself a cup of coffee—heavy on the sugar and
cream. Dad, when he was paying attention, usually asked, “Would you like some
coffee with your cream and sugar?”

My
coffee envy only increased as Skylar sat down beside me and the rich scent
became stronger. For a mutinous moment, I considered getting up to fix myself a
cup, but I decided that was a battle for another day; a day when I didn’t have
a wad of cash in my pocket that Mom could easily demand back.

It
seemed Skylar’s diet had been lifted because she dug into the bacon and eggs
without complaining about how fattening they were. Like Mom, she seemed
somewhat distracted, so it took a moment for the question to sink in when Mom
asked, “Sky, would you mind taking Silly to the mall after school today?”

From
the look on her face, it was plain she did mind very much, but the look on
Mom’s face said the only right answer was a positive one. Skylar sighed and
nodded her agreement.

The
rest of breakfast was quiet except for Dad’s typical complaints about something
he read in the paper. No one seemed to notice anything different about me, but
I wasn’t really expecting them to. After all, it was okay for Mom to discern my
chest was bigger, but it just would’ve been creepy for Luke or Dad to notice.
As for Skylar, she was always too self-absorbed to observe anything about
anyone else unless it would affect her directly, and I didn’t think my breasts
would have any bearing in her life, or at least hoped they wouldn’t, so she
paid me no mind as usual.

Tegan,
on the other hand, immediately noticed something was different when we met up
at school. At first, she just stared at me, as if working out a puzzle. Then
she snapped her fingers and pointed at me with a grin. “You’re taller,” she
exclaimed.

“How
could you tell?” I wondered.

“We’re
the same height,” she said. “Did you get new shoes?”

I
shook my head, grinning, and explained about my morning of discovery. She
glanced at my chest briefly before she blushed and looked away, but I simply
laughed.

“Well,
congratulations,” she chuckled.

“You’re
just happy you won’t have to hear me complaining about being as flat as a
pancake,” I teased.

Tegan
shrugged but didn’t protest. I would have been offended if I weren’t so happy.

I
invited her to come shopping with Skylar and I after school, but she had
horseback riding after school. Tegan’s palomino, Buttercup, was fully boarded
at a stable a couple of towns over, which was fine most of the time, but Tegan
didn’t get to go riding as much during the winter, so I knew she was trying to
take full advantage before the weather turned.

Because
the facility was out in the country, the roads were sometimes bad and weren’t
always plowed well. Tegan and Tierney got stuck in a ditch on their way home
last winter. Luckily, Tierney had her cell phone with her and was able to call
for help. Otherwise, they probably would have been stranded there for hours.

After
school, Skylar and I went straight to the mall. She didn’t seem as annoyed
about taking me shopping as she’d been that morning during the ride to school.
The mood shift wasn’t that surprising since Skylar usually loved shopping. I
suspected most of her paychecks were blown on new clothes even though Dad was
always saying to her and Luke, “You should put at least half of every paycheck
into your savings account.”

“I
don’t see why it matters to him. As long as my car insurance and other bills
are paid, it’s none of his concern,” I heard her ranting to Stevie once. “It’s
my money and I’ll spend it however I want.”

Our
first stop in the mall was Victoria’s Secret because getting a new bra was top
priority. Even though I thought their bras were kind of expensive, I was able
to have one of the sales women measure me and figure out what size I needed to
look for.

It
was kind of awkward, letting a stranger measure around my chest, and I flushed
scarlet when Skylar joked, “That’s probably the closest you’ve ever come to
being felt up.”

Thankfully,
she didn’t make that snide comment until after the sales lady was gone, but I
was certain my face wouldn’t return to its natural color for days.

There
were too many styles to choose from, but, despite her rude comments, Skylar did
help me look. She recommended the Secret Embrace style, and we were able to
find a couple on sale in ivory and cherub pink. I was ready to go and pay then,
but Skylar insisted, “You have to get matching panties.”

“Why?
My underwear still fit just fine,” I shrugged.

“Silly,
come on, think about it,” Skylar said, rolling her eyes. “I know you’re single
right now, but before long you’re going to have a boyfriend—he’ll probably be
just as weird as you—but, undoubtedly, he’ll have a libido just like every
other guy. You don’t want to go out and get hot and heavy with him and be in
underwear that don’t match, do you?”

“I
sincerely doubt that a guy would actually care whether or not my underwear
matched if we were getting hot and heavy,” I retorted.

Skylar
sighed, clearly frustrated, and I knew it pained her to explain, “It’s not
about him so much as it’s about feeling confident and sexy.”

I
decided maybe she had a point, so I caved. The theoretical guy, who I happened
to imagine with raven hair, hazel eyes and sexy as hell lips, probably wouldn’t
care; the color of said intimate wear would probably be the last thing on his
mind, but I didn’t think it would hurt if matching underwear could make me feel
sexier and more confident. Of course, it was all just wishful thinking on my part.
Despite my newly acquired rack, I doubted I even registered on Jackson’s radar
in any way that might affect his libido.

Most
of my funds were depleted after purchasing two bras and matching panties, so I
was glad Mom would be taking me shopping again later. She’d probably use her
credit card, which in essence meant there would probably be a bit of a free for
all. I never went crazy about shopping for clothes since it wasn’t necessarily
one of my favorite pastimes, but when Mom used the credit card she was less
pushy about prices and wouldn’t keep trying to direct me to the sales or
clearance racks.

Skylar
and I went to Old Navy next. I’d tried to stop and look at Hot Topic just to
see if they had anything new, but Skylar refused to go in there. Anyone could
see from the way she dressed that it was probably her favorite store, so I was
confused.

“Why
don’t you want to go in there?” I wondered as we passed the store. I glanced
through the window, craning my neck to see beyond the signs. I thought I
spotted Scott’s brown curls toward the back, probably helping some customers.
“It looks like Scott’s working.”

“Good
for him.”

Skylar’s
nonchalance and reluctance to go inside turned the light of realization on
inside my head. “You two broke up?”

“Mmm
hmm,” she said, biting her lip and striding quickly toward the other end of the
mall where Old Navy was located. I didn’t have to fight quite as hard as usual
to keep up with her. The new length of my legs seemed to make my gait bigger,
but my body still ached from all the changes it had gone through, literally,
overnight.

“Why’d
you break up?”

Skylar
shrugged. “We got bored with each other, I guess.”

“I
liked Scott. He was nice.”

“Well,
maybe you can date him now,” Skylar smirked and that cruel look I was familiar with
flashed in her eyes. “Since you’ve graduated from the itty bitty titty
committee, he might actually notice you’re female.”

My
face, which had finally started to return to its original color after the
comment about being felt up, heated again as if it were on fire. Instead of
being embarrassed, I was angry. “Why do you have to be such a bitch?” I glared.

“Because
I’m so damn good at it,” Skylar spat over her shoulder and kept walking. That
time I didn’t bother keeping up with her. I saw her disappear into Old Navy,
and I followed a moment later.

I
looked around, but I didn’t see Skylar, and that was fine. I couldn’t
understand why she was so mean sometimes. She usually didn’t get nasty when I
asked about her boyfriends, so I wondered if maybe Scott broke things off with
her. The whole thing was kind of odd, actually. She’d kept Scott around nearly
a month longer than most guys. I’d begun to think maybe things were changing
with her, but, apparently, I was wrong.

Of
course, if she treated him anything like she treated me, I couldn’t blame him
for breaking up with her. I didn’t care if she was pretty or not, and I didn’t
care if she was nice to me sometimes either. It sure as hell didn’t make up for
the times, like now, when she was a complete and utter shrew. I was coming to
realize I must have been out of my mind when I was younger and wanted to grow
up and be just like her.

No
thanks. I’ll pass,
I thought bitterly.

I’d
heard it said that desperate times call for desperate measures, but I had
personally never been despondent enough to go to great lengths for anything.
That is until one afternoon while I sitting at my window seat reading
The Da
Vinci Code—
I may or may not have hurried to the library to get it after
Jackson’s recommendation.

I’d had
the book for three days, and I was nearly finished. If I hadn’t been afraid to
take the book with me to school, I’d have been done already. Alas, I didn’t
want to risk the wrath of Mark Moses, so I’d kept to reading at home.

My
stomach growled hungrily, so when I finished the chapter I was on, I forced
myself to go downstairs and find a snack. I dug through the cabinets and came
out with strawberry pop tarts, and when I went to grab a napkin, I remembered
that I’d forgotten to ask Mom to take me to the mall to pick up a few things
for my Spanish class’s fiesta.

We’d just finished a unit in Spanish, and because everyone was doing so
well in the class, Mrs. Willis decided we could have a party during lunch one
day. Most everyone else in class was bringing a Mexican or Spanish dish, and
because I didn’t know how to make any other Mexican food besides tacos, I’d
offered to bring plates, napkins and flatware. Unfortunately, buying said items
slipped my mind until then, the night before the fiesta.

I checked the cabinets to see if we had any of those things, and while
we had some napkins, there was no plastic flatware or paper plates to be found.
Mom was still at work, and I knew she probably wouldn’t feel like going by the
store after work and then coming home and cooking dinner. Dad wasn’t home yet
either, but asking him to do something as soon as he walked through the front
door was never a good idea.

Luke had already left for work, and I had no idea where Skylar went.
She’d driven me home and come inside for a few minutes before she left again
without a word. Not that I would have asked her for a ride anyway. She was
still extremely grouchy. I’d heard her complaining to Stevie about everything
under the sun on the phone the other night. I wasn’t too happy with her either.
We’d barely spoken to each other since that night at the mall.