“Not if I swoop in first,” Amo replied.
Nero shook his head as he walked away. Tonight might not be so bad. He could get even with Cassandra, and keep making his father think Elle was just a job. Nero smiled, thinking it was all working out.
What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter Twenty—Six
You’ve got This All Wrong, Motherfucker
Elle flipped through the rack of clothes. The Goodwill gods are not looking out for me today. They had scoured every thrift store, and all Elle had been able to find was more t-shirts. She had only been able to find three she liked, and they were a little iffy with all the holes they had accumulated. Elle was looking for something different, but of course, those staple pieces only came along every so often.
Going through the racks, Elle thought about what Nero had asked her on the drive home. He had asked her if she was planning to drive with Chloe again once her car was fixed. She had told him she hadn’t made her mind up for his sake. She liked riding with Nero, but she would be there for Chloe before him. That wasn’t what bugged Elle, though.
He had then proceeded to ask her why Chloe’s car had still been parked at the school until this morning. That brought up a whole can of worms Elle would never talk about. She had been thankful when he dropped the conversation pretty quickly, yet now she was thinking it might have given him some information he had wanted to know.
Elle moved to another rack, this time smiling at remembering when Nero had parked a house down. She had been able to see he was a little upset still that he wasn’t going to take her on a date yet; as a result, she had promised him, the next time she was off, she was all his. That was when it dawned on Elle.
They were becoming pretty serious. Yes, it might have only been a few days between them, but Elle had seen since freshman year that Nero was never around only one girl. She had watched the way he treated girls, and he didn’t treat her the same as them. Well, maybe in the beginning he did.
Elle couldn’t describe the feeling. She didn’t even attempt to understand it, but something in her said it was right. It only grew stronger every second they spent together alone as well as when Nero kissed or touched her when no one was looking.
“What about this?” She saw Chloe hold something up a few racks down. The emerald green color struck her.
“I love that.” Elle walked over and took the garment from Chloe then headed to the dressing room.
She threw off her shirt and put it on. Elle looked at herself in the mirror, loving her reflection. It was a tight, V-neck sweater that was almost meant as a dress. It hugged all her curves and the color looked fantastic next to her hair and skin coloring. Elle knew it would match perfectly with her black leggings at home.
Elle opened the door so Chloe could see the outfit.
“Oh, my gosh, you have to get that. I would wear that. Well, if it was black.”
Elle laughed at her friend. Chloe only wore one color and that was black. She could barely remember Chloe in bright and cheery clothes so long ago. Honestly, Chloe looked good in anything. Her clothes might be black, but they were expensive. Her father forced her to dress in the nicest ones, and even though he didn’t approve of the color that much, he at least didn’t force her to wear a different one, like pink.
Elle shook her head at the thought of Chloe wearing the color pink.
“Thank God. I was beginning to think I wouldn’t find anything. At least this will replace my white sweater Bimbo Number One destroyed.” Elle had loved that sweater, but this one was definitely going to make up for it.
“Me, too. Maybe the person who donated that brought more. We better hurry up and look through the rest of the racks. It’s late and they close soon.”
Elle nodded and turned around to head back in the dressing room. She heard Chloe laughing behind her, making her stop to look at her before she closed the door.
“What is so funny?” Elle inquired.
“I was just thinking about what Nero’s face is going to look like when he sees you in that.”
*
Nero listened to the obnoxiously-loud music playing. It was very dark with almost-neon lighting all around. They sat at an uncomfortable, high table as they ordered some drinks and appetizers.
Nero looked around the full table. Amo and Vincent looked like they were at home, sitting beside two public school girls who were wearing glitzy, tight dresses. Unfortunately, the girl beside him was dressed the same way and there was not a shy one out of the group.
Nero hadn’t even caught their names when they’d introduced themselves. Before Elle, he would have had all their names in one second and their dresses off the next. Looking at Amo and Vincent, he could tell they clearly liked that Nero was out of the game.