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No one interrupted, not even Suzie, though I caught her watching through the crowd.
As the song came to an end, I held Megyn’s waist and pulled her in for a kiss. She pressed her lips to mine, her breath hot and shuddery. When she pulled away, I caught sight of my lipstick-smeared reflection in the black mirrors of her irises.
I kept it there, because it made her laugh whenever she looked at me, and because it was a sign that in some way, however small, I had been marked and belonged to her.
CHAPTER18
MEGYN
My feet ached from dancing and my mouth was sore from smiling so much. Regardless, I paced while I talked, and smiled the whole while, recounting the events of the previous night to Maggie while she sat enraptured on her bed. When I finally finished, I flopped down on the little cushion at the foot of Maggie’s bed, grinning, out of breath.
Maggie leaned over onto her elbows, looking down at me. “First of all, I’msoglad you went to that party with him. I’m really glad he talked you into it, anyway.”
“I really wanted to go with him, but I was so scared,” I admitted, feeling a pang of nerves all over again as I recalled his invitation. “But he made it seem okay. And I really did want to go.”
“You need to do things like that more often,” Maggie told me. “You shouldn’t let your fear hold you back so much.”
“It’s pretty hard,” I said.
“I know. I’m just saying, you’d be so much happier if you kept fighting against your nervousness.”
I rolled onto my back, looking up at the ceiling. “I wonder if I really will need to fight on my own or if Carter will do it for me.”
“What do you mean?” Maggie paused. She was sharp and got it right away. “Did something happen at that party?”
“I may have skipped over the part with Suzie.”
“Ugh,” Maggie groaned. “Of course she was there. What happened?”
I shivered, recalling how I’d come back with the punch, overhearing Suzie’s hissed words. I’d heard a lot more than even Carter seemed to realize. “She called me a pauper. She said I would never make a good match for Carter because I don’t have money and don’t know anything about money.”
“That bitch!” Maggie cried, sitting upright. “I want to slap her. I need to slap her. Do you know where she lives?”
I also sat up, watching Maggie as she seethed with rage on my behalf, wavering like a wave of heat rising from a concrete sidewalk. “If I told you where she lived, you’d go and slap her?”
I wouldn’t believe that from anyone but you.
Maggie nodded. “She deserves to have it done to her. I’d sneak to her window and climb in and slap her. While she’s still reeling, I’d escape again. I could do it to every person who’s ever wronged you.”
“The media would have a field day with you.”
“The Serial Slapper,” Maggie said.
I laughed, and Maggie laughed too, though she was still serious.
I managed to get my laughter under control. “Anyway, Carter told her off and stood up for me.”
“I’m really glad that he’s almost as protective of you as I am.”
I laughed again. Sometimes I forgot that, while I might not have many people in my corner, the ones who were there would do anything for me. I needed to work harder to remember that. “He told me that Suzie’s just jealous of me.”
“Of course she is. You’re beautiful and sweet and you put your all into everything you do. Suzie doesn’t know the half of that.”
I nibbled on my thumbnail. “Part of me wonders if it has to do with the apron I’m making.”
“The what?”
I flushed a little while letting Maggie in on my project that I was doing for Suzie. She started out frowning and that frown only grew in intensity as I kept talking. I finished by saying, “Maybe she feels indebted to me and that’s making her even worse. All the stuff she said to Carter, but she’s the one indebted to me.”