I had a feeling that one more moment's hesitation would push her over the edge, and as of now I was getting off relatively easy. So I took the dress and left, just hoping that somehow, some way, all of this would just work itself out.
210
WEIRDNESS
An hour and a half later, as the Amtrak train zipped through rural and suburban towns, blurring by trees and steeples and schools and parks, I understood what Noelle had meant when she said they hadn't decided what they were wearing yet. It meant that all the Easton girls who were going were gathered in the back of the train car, slipping in and out of gowns, passing them around, trying them on, giggling and flashing their skimpy underwear for all the men to see. They did this while I sat alone in a double seat in my gold dress, my Legacy necklace securely fastened, avoiding Natasha for dear life, wondering how I had ever gotten here.
'Yeah, baby! Take it off!" Gage shouted toward the back of the car, whooping it up with Dash. A silk thong came flying over and hit him in the face, accompanied by a round of girlish laughter. Dash passed Gage a flask of liquor as Gage pocketed the lingerie. He took a swig of vodka, never taking his lascivious eyes off the show.
“And you didn't want to take the train,” he said to Dash mockingly.
211
Dash smirked. “I can admit when I'm wrong.”
“Don't feel like playing dress-?up?”
I looked up to find Josh standing in the aisle, one hand on the back of my seat, one hand on the back of the seat in front of me. He looked adorable in his black tuxedo, his curls as unruly as ever.
“I'm fine with what I have,” I said, lifting the gold mask from my lap by its gold handle. I had changed into my gown in the tiny square of a bathroom the moment I boarded the train and I wasn't taking it off for anything. Never in my life had I even imagined wearing anything this divine.
“Good. I'm fine with it, too,” he said. I smiled and felt myself blush. “May I?”
“Sure.”
I was all too happy to have Josh sit with me. It would prevent Whittaker from taking the seat when he was done debating the latest Supreme Court debacle with the other guys from his floor. The ones who had either seen all the naked girls they needed to see or who didn't swing that way.
“So, you don't get a plus-?one?” I asked as he settled in.
“Nope. I'm lucky I'm even here,” he said with a shrug. “I'm third generation. Just made the cut.”
“Ah.”
“But look at you! You bagged one of the few plus-?ones in the entire school. You must be so proud,” he teased. “Not that I'm surprised.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not sure if I should be offended.
212
“Just that of all the girls in school I'm not surprised Whittaker picked you,” he said.
I flushed with pleasure. So not offended.
“I don't even know if I'd bring someone if I had a plus-?one,” Josh said. “Unless I found someone truly worthy, I'd still go stag. That's just how I roll.”
I laughed and shook my head. “The girls at school would eat you alive.”
“So be it,” he said. “So, how are you, Reed Brennan?”
I took a deep breath. “Fine. I'm fine.”
“Convincing,” he said with a facetious nod. “Keep saying that and even you might start to believe it.”
I smiled sadly, snagged. “Do you really think Thomas is going to be at this thing?”
Josh faced forward and blew out a sigh, puffing his cheeks out momentarily. He picked at a slit in the back of the seat in front of him. “I hope so. So I can kick his ass.”
I looked at him quizzically.