“You don’t want that one. It’s got orange undertones,” Ivy said, grabbing it out of my hand. “It’ll clash.”
My stomach turned and I avoided her gaze. She had to be here because all the BLS members had decided to come over, but I still had a feeling she had something to do with Noelle’s disappearance. Just being around her was making my skin prickle.
“Here. Try this.”
She handed me her own lip gloss with a smile.
“No, thanks,” I said, tossing it back to her. “I think I’ll just go neutral.”
Ivy eyed me for a second, as if she sensed something was up, but then shrugged. “Whatever you say.”
“Your dad is cute too. For an old guy,” Lorna said. She looked at me over the top of the photograph. “But you guys look nothing alike.”
“Everyone always says that,” I replied. “I look like my mom and Scott looks like my dad.”
“Which is probably a good thing,” Kiki joked, leaning over my shoulder to fluff her hair in my mirror. “Otherwise you’d have a five o’clock shadow and he’d have those delicate cheekbones of yours,” she said, giving my cheek a pinch.
“Hey, Ivy! You in here?” Gage shoved open the door, slamming it into Vienna’s foot. She fell against the side of my dresser, grabbed her injured toes, and let out a string of curses worthy of a backstage Kanye outburst.
“Dude. Watch where you’re standing,” Gage said.
“You suck, Gage Coolidge,” Vienna said, hopping over to my bed to check for bleeding. Her dark gray strapless dress barely restrained her breasts, and for a second there, I was sure one or both was going to pop out. Which, of course, Gage would have loved.
“Only on certain body parts,” he replied, giving her a lecherous glance.
“Ew!” Portia, Rose, and Tiffany exclaimed as one.
“Ah, my date. I couldn’t be more proud,” Ivy said. She dropped her lip gloss back in her purse and joined Gage at the door. “See you guys there!”
Portia rolled her eyes as the door slammed behind them. “If those two were any more off-again-on-again they’d be a light switch.”
A few of the girls giggled, but I felt a knot growing in my chest. Were Ivy and Gage really back together, or was he just a beard for her real man—Tattoo Guy? Or maybe Tattoo Guy wasn’t a boyfriend at all. Maybe he was only in Ivy’s life to help her wreak havoc on mine and Noelle’s.
I turned back to my reflection and reached for my original lip gloss again, trying not to think about it. Tonight was supposed to be fun. Romantic. It was supposed to be about me and Josh. If only I could manage to stop obsessing about Noelle’s kidnapping and my ability to save her for more than five minutes.
There was another knock at the door. One by one, all the hottest guys of Easton showed up to squire my friends off to the dance. Weston Bright was Tiffany’s date, Jason Darlington came for Vienna, Dominic Infante picked up Portia, and Marc Alberro, much to my delight, arrived for Kiki. Finally, Carson Levere, who was a year younger than us, but smart and insanely cute, showed up clutching a dozen red roses to claim Lorna, and Rose and I were left alone.
As Lorna closed the door behind her, I felt a thump of foreboding. Maybe Josh wasn’t coming for me after all.
“Is Damon coming up here?” I asked.
“Nah. New Hathaway rule. Apparently since he’s an off-campus date, he’s not allowed inside the dorms, so I told him I’d just meet him at the hotel,” Rose said, perching on the edge of my bed. “But I’ll wait for Josh with you.”
Might be a long wait, I thought, glancing at my phone. It was already 8:15. Not hugely late. Unless you lived a thirty-second walk away from your date, of course. But the last shuttle over to the Driscoll Hotel in Easton was supposed to leave at eight thirty. What if he didn’t get here in time? Or at all?
Then, just like that, there was a knock at the door. Both Rose and I stood, and I smoothed the skirt of my red satin dress.
“Come in!”
Josh opened the door with a smile. “Sorry I’m late. Would you believe some freshman outside asked me to tie his tie for him?”
Rose and I laughed and Josh produced a single red rose from behind his back. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“I think I’ll leave you two alone,” Rose said, reaching for her coat, which was folded at the end of my bed. “See you there!”
I smiled and twiddled my fingers at her as she slipped out. Josh wrapped his arm
s around me and gave me a long kiss on the lips. “I hate that we’ve been fighting,” he said.