Worse Than Enemies

“Sure I do.”

She lets out a frustrated sigh before pulling a dress from the rack. “If I had known it was Mr. Ambrose who your mom got engaged to, I would’ve warned you to buy new clothes right away. Now, everybody’s watching your every move.”

“Thanks. I had no idea until you just told me.” I shake my head when she holds up the dress. “Too short, too low cut.”

“How old are you? Seventeen or seventy-seven? I have a dress just like this, and it looks hot. At least try it on.” She drapes it over her arm, telling me I have no choice.

I check out the price tag and almost fall on the floor. “No way! That’s too expensive.”

She tosses her red hair around and makes me jealous again. “Says who? You have your stepdad’s card, right?”

I don’t bother correcting her. It sounds childish to remind people he isn’t my stepdad yet, even though he isn’t. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I want to max it out.”

She laughs loudly enough to get the attention of a few other shoppers. “You could shop your way up and down Fifth Avenue and not max that thing out, babe. Trust me.”

“You’d know better than I would. It still makes me feel gross to use his money.”

“He’s got tons of it. He won’t miss a few thousand.” She moves onto the next rack while I try to close my mouth after it just fell open.

“A few thousand?”

“At least, to get you started.”

Maybe it’ll help me feel more confident? That’s the only good thing I can come up with, and it still doesn’t make me feel much better.

She must see that because she frowns when she looks over her shoulder. “You’re lucky. He’s a nice guy, and he’s generous. Plus, he’s still trying to impress your mom and make her happy, so he’s bending over backward to make you happy. It could be a hell of a lot worse.”

“You’re right, I guess.”

“I know.” She goes through stacks of jeans on a shelf. “I mean, the guy my mom’s married to now is pretty cool. He doesn’t try to be the stern daddy, but he’s not all distant or cold either.” Her jaw tightens. “And unlike my last stepfather, he’s never accidentally on purpose walked in on me when I’m in the shower.”

I grab her arm. “Are you serious?”

“No, I’m joking.” She shrugs it off. “It’s over now. One day he walked in, and it was my mom using my shower. He didn’t hide his surprise fast enough. She served him papers the next day.”

I don’t want to ask if he ever did more than walk in on her. “I’m sorry that happened.”

“It’s nothing compared to what some people go through. But like I told you in the cafeteria last week, you’ve got it better than most. Don’t forget that. You might as well enjoy it.”

She’s right. I don’t want to take advantage, but I can’t be pointlessly stubborn either. Especially since tonight’s Franky’s party.

I’ve been dreading it for the past three days, so much that I can barely eat without feeling sick. “You’re sure nobody is going to pull anything?” I take out a pair of jeans in my size to try on.

“Pull anything?” She shakes her head, chuckling. “You’ve watched too many stupid teen movies. It’s not really like that. Nobody is going to prank you because you’re the new girl.”

“I’m already getting a lot of dirty looks at school.”

“You’re going to get dirty looks because of who you are now.”

“What happens when those looks turn into something else? When we’re not in school, there’s nobody watching.”

“You worry too much. Trust me, you’ll be fine, and if you stop worrying, you’ll actually have a lot of fun. I’ll be there with you, right? You could do a lot worse.” She holds up a skirt in front of me, tipping her head to the side. “This is cute.”

I have to force myself not to look at the price tag. “Yeah, it is.”

“See? That wasn’t so hard.”

“It’s just that this is all happening so fast.”

“And in all the Disney movies, there was never a scene where the princess had to adjust to her new life. All of a sudden, she’s royalty and happy, and there’s nothing to worry about anymore. Right?” We share a knowing laugh. “They didn’t prepare us for life, did they?”

“I just wish...” I bite off the rest of it, but not fast enough. Salem hits me with a hard look that tells me she’s not going to let it go until I finish the thought. “I wish Hayes liked me a little more. I think that’s what bothers me most of all.”

“Hayes is who he is.” She brushes it off on the way to another rack. “His dad’s a nice guy, but they don’t really have a warm and fuzzy relationship. It’s probably just as weird for him as it is for you, with all these new people in his house. It’s not any deeper than that.”