Teacher's Pet

Corsica stood still and didn't meet my eyes. "I don't need the dress. Thanks, though."

"You'll need something for the engagement party my friends are planning. Was that true about your mother?"

"That was a long time ago." She shrugged.

I bought the dress and the silver heels the clerk unearthed. Corsica was quiet and let me carry the bag as we left the shop.

"What next?" I asked.

She stopped on the street and gazed out over the Pacific. "What about paddle boarding? I hear it's really fun."

"You're messing with me," I said with a surprised laugh.

"If you can buy Versace just to make a point, then I can kick your ass in paddle boarding."

We were playfully battling when someone called Corsica's name. Her blonde head snapped up, and her whole expression changed. It settled into that perfect and still smile that made me want to roar in frustration.

The cool, collected, and primly aloof Corsica turned to greet her friend. "Kara, how nice to see you. What are you doing in Monterey?"

"I was just going to ask you the same thing. Everyone on campus seemed to think you'd gone off to the city." Kara tipped down her Ralph Lauren sunglasses with a perfectly manicured hand. "I thought you had to work all summer."

Corsica tittered. "No, not at all. Unless you call staying there work."

Kara's head snapped around to study my house on the shoreline. Her plumped smile thinned a bit, but she turned back and kept her voice friendly. "Out doing a little shopping?"

I opened the bag for the nosy woman to see. "She treated herself to a Versace dress. Or maybe she's treating me to the view of her in it."

Kara slipped her sunglasses off and batted her eyelashes at me. "You look so familiar. Have we met before?"

"You might know his father, though I'm not certain you run in the same circles," Corsica said. "Nice running into you again. We'll have to get together while you're in town."

She waved over her shoulder as she dragged me away.

I waited until we reached the end of the block. "Back to pretending?" I asked.

Corsica dropped my arm. "Like you're one to talk. What's this about an engagement party?"

"That's to make my mother happy," I snapped. "What was all that about?"

"Kara always thinks she's better than everyone else. I just wanted to knock her down a peg or two." Corsica frowned. "And, you don't get to make a big deal out of it. You're the one lying to your parents. All I did was let some snob make the wrong assumptions."

"Fair enough," I said. And it was.

Corsica was only pretending because I had asked her to, but it bothered me how far her desire to appear rich reached. What did she care what some snob from her college thought? It made me think I had been right about what Corsica was really after.

"So, how about paddle boarding?"

I glanced at my phone and saw a lifeline. "Sorry, but it looks like I'm meeting Phillip for drinks. Are you okay heading back to the house on your own?"

Corsica's eyes skimmed away from me. Then she squared her shoulders and smiled, though not at me. "Probably better that you go to happy hour. I was planning on practicing the piano for a while, and it doesn't sound too pretty yet."

Watching her delicate fingers dance over the black and white keys while her voice soared above the notes was very tempting, but I shook it off. "Ten to one Phillip's got girl trouble. You'd probably just sit there and roll your eyes at us anyway. Good luck with the piano."

We went our separate ways, and I didn't look back until I reached the end of the block. I had hoped I felt her eyes on me, but when I looked over my shoulder, Corsica was halfway up the sidewalk towards my house.

It took all I had to pull out my phone and keep walking. "Phillip? Yeah, I'm on my way. Order me a whiskey."

Phillip pushed the double shot towards me when I slumped into the seat across from him. "Why do I think you could use this more than me? I thought I was the one who just got dumped."