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.He seems fascinated with the process of lipstick and mascara as he watches my face transform from plain to glamorous.I don’t wear a lot of makeup normally, just the occasional eyeliner or lip gloss, but tonight is prom and I want to look glammed up, even if I’m just going as Marcus’s beard.“Wow, Lo,” James says, smiling.“I can’t believe how pretty your lips look.”“Jeez, thanks.” I smile back at him.“Seriously, you could do a fuckin’ lipstick commercial.”I give him an exaggerated supermodel pout and then blow him a kiss.He raises his eyebrows and playfully applauds.“All right, out.” I grin at him as I motion for him to stand up.“I’ve gotta put my dress on, and you don’t need to be in here for that.”“Lo,” he says, smirking, “I’ve seen you in your underwear before.I’ve seen you naked for fuck’s sake.”“Yeah, when I was, like, eight,” I scoff.We used to do a little you-show-me-yours-I’ll-show-you-mine when we were kids.“I’ve seen you in those tiny-ass bikinis you wear, so a bra and panties is nothing to me,” he counters.I pause for a minute and shake my head at him.“Nope, out of here.”“Aw! But I was so comfortable!” he whines with phony exasperation before he grumpily stands up and steps toward the door.I laugh as I go into the closet and slip on my pale, orange sherbet colored dress.I mostly picked it out because it was on sale, since I’m not really doing the whole prom thing, but I do like the way it fits.The top has bunched strips of fabric that go diagonally across my chest to downplay my ginormous boobs.It’s fitted through the waist, then it flares out at the hips and becomes silky and flowing, which makes me look taller.I bought it because it was my version of an Oscar-worthy gown—at least as much as a $29.99 T.J.Maxx dress can be Oscar-worthy.“Need me to zip you up?” James’s voice says from behind me.“Really, dude?” I chuckle.“You really couldn’t wait until I was dressed?”“What?” He flashes me the classic James Laird: Lovable Troublemaker smile.“You’re pretty much dressed.And, like I said, I’ve seen you in less.”I roll my eyes at him and then lift my hair over my shoulder so he can zip up the back of my dress.Might as well have him do it, since he’s standing right here.“Not used to putting clothes on a girl, I bet,” I tease.“Look out!” He laughs.“She’s bringin’ the sass tonight.”I chuckle and turn around to face him.He gives me a smart-ass grin.I’ve seen that grin many times, usually when he’s gotten his way and convinced me to do something risky.Most of the time, that meant ditching class or staying out late with him.I was quite the Goody-Two-Shoes, so I think he liked getting me into a little bit of trouble every now and then.“What do you think?” I giggle, doing a little twirl.“Perfection!” He smiles broadly.“It’s too bad Marcus is gay, because that dress makes your tits look amazing.A straight guy would get a boner just looking at you.”“Charming.” I roll my eyes.He laughs loudly and then flops back down on the bed to watch me finish my hair.I curl the ends so the waves all go the same direction instead of the wild mess that usually sits atop my head.James is quiet as he watches me, occasionally cocking his head to the side to see what I’m doing.“Enjoying the show?” I smirk.He nods with a big smile.“You’re, like, all womanly now,” he murmurs.“I remember when you were scrawny with braces.Now you’re, like, this hot chick.”I chuckle and blush.James always compliments me in less-than-eloquent ways.He can be smooth and charming with other girls, but he tends to be very straightforward with me and tell me exactly what’s on his mind.For the past few years, he’s told me that my tits look big in my tank tops or my ass looks good in my shorts.He never means it in a come-on kind of way, just as an observation.He’s slept with nearly every girl in town and he’s very familiar with the nuances of the female form, so I take his compliments in stride and appreciate him telling me I look attractive.He’s usually the only boy who says it, since he spent so many years terrifying the other guys in school away from flirting with me.Finally my hair is all done, and I slip on my heels as I await Marcus’s arrival.Prom is going to be short and sweet for me.Marcus and I will get in the limo with a few of our friends, take lots of pictures so he can show his parents later, arrive at the dance and quickly part ways so he can spend prom with his boyfriend and I can ditch the teenage cliché soiree altogether.He gets to let his parents go on believing he’s straight, I get to make my mom happy by saying I went to this totally lame “milestone” of high school life, and neither of us has to inconvenience ourselves with awkward pretenses and expectations.“Let me get some pictures of you in your beautiful dress,” my mom says when James and I walk into the living room.“Mom,” I whine, rolling my eyes, “this isn’t even real.”“I know, I know,” she says, “but you still look lovely, and I still want pictures.”My mom knows the deal, that I’m only doing this to cover for Marcus.Still, she seems as excited as if it were the real thing.I think that, deep down, she wishes I had some great boyfriend and I was going to be whisked away to a glorious prom like some kind of fairy tale.I just get the impression that a tiny part of her wants me to be excited for normal high school things like all the rest of the girls.“She looks totally gorgeous,” James says as he stands beside my mom and watches my sarcastic posing.“Doesn’t she!” my mom gushes.“So grown up.”He smiles proudly at me before I whine in protest of this impromptu photo shoot.“I never went to prom, you know?” he confesses to my mom.“Get out of here! With all the girlfriends you had, how did you not go to prom?” she asks with surprise.“I just wasn’t feelin’ it.” He shrugs.“I think I was pretty over high school by that point [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]