As cute as Keelie was, Jade was breath-taking by comparison and I’d seen plenty of beautiful girls in my day. She was Asian with tan skin and the largest, darkest eyes I had ever seen. When she looked at you, you couldn’t help but want to guess what mystery they held. Her silky, black hair hung far down her back. Jade wore a pair of ripped skinny jeans, silver flat sandals, and a tiny tee that showed her midriff. Both girls had Gucci bags slung over their shoulders.
I looked down at my own ensemble. Bookington’s didn’t have a uniform, but we did have a dress code. I tried to revamp my wardrobe as much a s possible to keep up with the latest trends but that grew to be expensive. Most of my clothes came from the clearance racks of the cheapest clothing stores or thrift shops. If I was lucky enough, I could find some designer clothes at bargain prices.
That day I had on a simple navy blue dress which I’d paired with my brown boots. I always wore boots, even when the hot Houston weather didn’t require them. That day I might as well have been wearing a paper sack compared to what Jade and Keelie were wearing.
As the girls waited for their orders to be prepared, they flipped through some tabloids on the magazine rack. Once their names were called they hurried over to the counter. Keelie’s purse bumped against the rack, sending magazines spilling to the floor. Of course, she didn’t bother to pick them up.
Sighing, I made my way over to clean up the mess. This was nothing new. People seldom cleaned up the messes they made in stores. I stopped getting upset about it a long time ago.
As I thought about seeing Brayden later that day, I gathered a small stack of magazines and put them back in their appropriate places.
One of the girls gasped. It was Jade. “I love your Tims.”
I looked down at the Timberland boots I wore. Normally they were expensive but Brayden had caught them on sale and given them to me as a Christmas present. I’d scolded him about getting me something so extravagant, but he insisted that I deserved to have at least one nice item.
“Oh, thanks.”
Keelie took a sip of her drink and pursed her lips. “Isn’t it a little hot for those though?”
Yes, it was way too hot but, I had a good reason for wearing them.
“Yeah, but they’re comfortable and I’m on my feet all day.”
The girls nodded and went back to their drinks. I could tell they had no concept of work. They would probably never have to work a day in their lives.
The girls hung out for a little while sipping their lates and flipping through more magazines before they finally left, leaving the magazines on the table for me to put away.
Surprisingly they came back the next day claiming that particular Starbucks served the best coffee. As I passed their table on the way to the Women’s Fiction section to scan some inventory, Jade waved me over. “Hey, you get to take a break or something, right? Come sit with us. We’ll treat you to some coffee.”
I looked around for Lionel, my manager, who was probably in his back office dealing with some managerial stuff. I was due a fifteen-minute break and there were no other customers in the store at that time. I’d never had Starbucks, not even as a treat because I couldn’t afford it, so I took them up on their offer.
I ordered myself a mocha late while Jade swiped her card.
“Thanks a lot,” I told her as I settled down at the table with them.
“What’s your name?” Keelie asked.
“Ella. Ella Sanders.”
Jade nodded, watching me over her steaming cup of frap. “Ella, you’re very pretty.”
“Thanks, you guys are too.”
Keelie narrowed her eyes at me like she was trying to figure me out. “Why are you working at a boring book store? This place is dead.”
I shrugged. “I like books.” That sounded so corny but it was the truth. Then I cleared my throat. “It’s a job, you know. Got to make a living.”
Jade cocked her head to the side, studying me hard. “You should totally get a sugar daddy. Make things easier on yourself. You wouldn’t have to work and you’d have a lot more money than you do now. You’re definitely hot enough to swing a really good one. Keelie and I could help you. Our daddies have lots of rich friends and they love blondes.”
Her comment reminded me of Queen Angeline telling me I was pretty enough to attract a wealthy suitor. That type of arrangement was the last thing I wanted. “No thank you.”
Jade looked disappointed as if she expected me to leap at the chance. “Ella, instead of getting up every morning to come to here, you could be shopping on their dime, lounging around the pool, going to lunch with your friends—whatever you want to do.”
There was a time in my life when I would have jumped at that opportunity. “No thanks,” I repeated. “That’s just not me.”
Jade rolled her eyes in disapproval, but she thankfully dropped the subject. “You go to school?”
I shook my head. Brayden had always encouraged me to apply for financial aid so I could earn a degree, but I had never been to school in my life and I wasn’t about to start with college. The only reason I knew how to read was because Merna had taught me. I’d earned the equivalent to a high school degree on line so I could apply for jobs, but that was it. “No, I don’t go to school. You guys?”
Jade nodded. “Yeah. We go to the University of Texas. We’re on summer break right now. A few more weeks and we start back. So, Ella, what do you and your friends like to do?”
“I just moved here so I don’t have many friends,” I lied because that seemed to be the only acceptable excuse for not having one single person I could call a friend besides Brayden. “It’s just me and my boyfriend.”
Keelie pursed her lips. “Well, that’s no good. Every girl needs some girlfriends. You are totally going to be hanging out with us from now on. Don’t worry. We’re tons of fun.”
And just like that we became friends. The girls took me under their rich little wings and I experienced the world of the wealthy and privileged through their eyes.
Brayden didn’t care much for them. He thought they were stuck up, materialistic, and entitled, but he tolerated them for my sake. The girls didn’t care for Brayden either. He was too poor and enlightened for their taste. I tried my best to keep peace amongst the three of them. I needed the love of my life and I needed my best friends. They were all I had in the world.
One evening, after a particularly stressful day in the book store, I couldn’t wait to get home to Brayden. He was typing away on his laptop working on a ghost writing project for a client and another chapter of his own book.
He had Ramen noodles already boiling on the stove for me. Friday was payday and I would be able to go grocery shopping. That meant Hot Pockets and cereal—fine dining for us. I ran my fingers through his dark locks and gave him a peck on his cheek. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I removed the black boots I had worn that day.
No matter how many times I did it, taking off my boots in another person’s presence made me anxious. Brayden was the only person in my current life who’d seen my bare feet. The queen in her bitterness had replaced my scars. My feet were marked and reddened. There were places where skin had never grown back.
I told Brayden that when I was younger, I pulled a pot of boiling water down from the stove and the scalding liquid had burned me, leaving me permanently disfigured. He never even flinched when I’d first shown him my feet. Sometimes he would even rub my feet after a long day of work.
I didn’t know how long I could keep up the façade with Keelie and Jade though. Brayden was one thing, but I was too ashamed to let anyone else see my scars. My friends often made comments about me always wearing boots and I was sure they talked about it when I wasn’t around. I had to admit as high-maintenance as they might be, I liked having them around. When we hung out we had a great time and they gave me a small peek into the life of the rich and beautiful.
I took a shower and dug into my Ramen Noodles. Brayden and I fell asleep in bed while reading. He kissed me on
my ear like he did every night when he thought I was already in a deep sleep and didn’t want to wake me. “I love you, Ella,” he would whisper and I knew he meant it. He was the only person in my current world who felt that way about me.
13
Friday was supposed to be girl’s night out. I’d made a bad habit of buying designer dresses, wearing them once, and then returning them and getting my money back. That was the only way I could keep up with Jade and Keelie’s ever-changing fashionable wardrobes. They would have had no problem lending me their clothes, but Jade’s clothes would have been too small and Keelie’s, a little too big. Still, I was leagues behind them. Brayden didn’t approve of any of it. No matter how much I tried to explain things to him, he didn’t get it.
“If you have to go through all that to keep friends, are you sure they’re worth it?”
It was totally worth it. Brayden was perfectly content with the simple life so I never wanted to admit to him how much I enjoyed Jade and Keelie’s lifestyle and every second they let me experience with them. The luxury cars, meals at fancy restaurants, front-row-seat concert tickets; I couldn’t have any of those things if it weren’t for my friends. Sometimes I was reminded of my days in the palace where I was provided a small taste of the princess life.
I dialed Jade's number to ask what time we were meeting up. She always called the shots in our trio. The plan was dinner, followed by a night of dancing at The Purple Moon, one of the most exclusive night clubs in town. If it weren't for Jade and Keelie, it would be impossible for me to afford either of those places. The girls were always discreet about it, never making me feel like a charity case. My salary from Bookington’s would never pay for all the coffee shop visits and weekly appointments at the nail salon. My friends spent money like it was nothing, while I had to watch every penny to make sure Brayden and I could pay our rent.
Jade smacked on a piece of gum. "I'll pick you up and we'll meet the guys at the restaurant."
“Guys? I thought this was supposed to be girl’s night out.”
Jade sighed. “Plans changed. Jack and Matt are coming too.”
I clicked my tongue. “Oh, great! Just make me the awkward fifth wheel, why don’t you?”
Jade popped her gum impatiently. “Hey, you could bring your boyfriend along. It’s not our fault he’s too much of a hippy to hang out with us.”
“He’s not a hippy and what does that even mean?”
“Look, Ella, this isn’t going to be a problem, is it?”
“No. It’s fine. What time should I be ready?”
I pictured her twirling her gum around her finger. “Eightish. The Purple Moon doesn't get jumping until ten or eleven. Maybe somebody important will drop in tonight." She popped her gum again and I cringed. That was the one thing about Jade that annoyed me, besides the fact that she was always on the prowl for a boyfriend richer than the one she currently had and made no effort to hide it.
“What are you wearing?" Jade asked. "You're not going to wear that striped dress again, are you?”
I pretended that question didn't hurt. I hadn’t had time to return the striped dress for another so I’d repeated it the week before. "No, I got a new red dress that's really cute."
"Good,” she said, sounding relieved. “I'll call you when I'm on the way.”
I hung up and lay across my bed, staring at the ceiling. As excited as I was about a night out, I had a sinking feeling that something unpleasant was going to happen.
I slid into my red dress, brushed my hair up into a messy bun, and applied some light make up. When I was satisfied with the way I looked, I hurried down stairs to wait for Jade. When I dressed up, I wore my ankle boots. They weren’t the best match for my dress, but it was better than the other boots I wore. Thankfully Friday was a busy night for pizza delivery, so Brayden wouldn’t be home until late. I didn’t need one of his lectures about how short my dress was or how awful my friends were.
As soon as I hit the lobby. Jade pulled in front of the building and honked the horn of her cherry red Mercedes. I hurried out to the car and slid into the front seat. Jade and I blew kisses at each other.
"You look gorge!" Jade said.
"Thanks, you do too."
Jade wore a short blue sequined tube dress that looked amazing on her, like everything else. She’d brushed her black curls over one shoulder, revealing the small Asian symbol tattooed on her neck. She told me it was the Japanese word for beautiful and if anyone should have had that tattooed on them, it was Jade. Wherever we went people asked her if she'd ever thought about modeling, but she was revolted by the thought. Modeling was too much work and she had already primed herself to be a trophy wife. She was only in school at her parent’s insistence.
Jade made a face. "I knew you were going to wear those shoes again. I brought you those. Put them on." She pointed to the pair of strappy leopard print shoes by my feet. "You told me you were wearing a red dress so I knew they would go perfectly."
A lump rose in my throat. There was no way I could wear those shoes without revealing my hideous feet. “I—I can’t wear those.”
Jade frowned, checking her gloss in the mirror. “Why not?”
“Uh, they’re not going to fit.”
“Silly, we wear the same size shoe.”
Yes, we did. Think, Ella. Think.
“Okay, the truth is I might have some kind of foot fungus thing going on.”
Jade scrunched her face. “Ew, gross! If that’s the case, definitely stay away from my shoes. Those are Louboutins. How did you get a fungus anyway? Probably because you wear those damn boots all the time. Your feet need to air out.”
I wished I had come up with a better excuse but it was all I could come up with on the spur of the moment. “Yeah. Maybe.”
“Anyway,” Jade said pointing to the back seat. “Keelie and Jack broke up this morning.”
It was only then I realized that Keelie was lying on the back seat, her short brown tresses covering her face. I reached back and touched her arm. “Oh, Keels, I'm sorry. What happened?”
Keelie blubbered something inaudible through her sobs.
Jade filled me in. “He hooked up with Carly Hampton, this ugly skank we went to high school with. It was like two weeks ago, when they had broken up for like five minutes. Can you believe him?”
I shrugged. He and Keelie broke up so much I couldn't blame him for being confused, although he had cheated on her in the past and she’d taken him back.
“Is he still coming tonight?” I asked.
“Matt said he is,” Jade replied as she pulled out of the circular driveway of my apartment building.
“Isn't that going to be a bit awkward?” I whispered.
Jade shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe they'll make up. You know how they are.”
The guys were late as usual, but it didn't matter since there was almost an hour’s wait at the restaurant. I was tired of waiting in lines at the best restaurants every weekend, especially just to eat sushi, which I wasn't too fond of. Unfortunately, my friends wouldn't eat anywhere if it wasn't in high demand. “If there's no line, the place must suck,” Matt would always say.
My life had been simpler just a few months ago. Now it was filled with frivolous rules and the uphill struggle to keep up appearances.
Once we were finally seated, Keelie and Jack sat at opposite ends of the table and ignored each other. Keelie looked so depressed I wondered why she just hadn't stayed home. Jack didn't look bothered at all; I was sure when we got to The Purple Moon he would find a girl or ten to flirt with, and Keelie would be even more miserable.
We ordered several dishes to share between us. Jade had kicked me twice underneath the table to remind me not to eat too much. "The last thing we need is for our bellies to poke out," she texted me during dinner.
I rolled my eyes and stopped eating. Not because Jade had warned me to, but because I’d had enough of raw sea food. I suddenly longed to be home, curled up in my comfy bed, having a movie nigh
t with Brayden.
The Purple Moon was as packed as it usually was on a Friday night. People waited in line for hours sometimes, only to be turned away. All Jade had to do was walk us to the front of the line and we were let in right away. I was determined to have a good time even though Keelie was miserable and Jade had been annoying me. Somewhere between leaving the restaurant and arriving at the club, Keelie had fallen deeply in love with Jack again and couldn’t keep her hands off him. After we showed our IDs and entered, Jade looped her arm around mine. “Hon, do yourself a favor, use this opportunity to score a hottie. You look amazing tonight.”
“Jade, I’m not trying to score a hottie. I’m with Brayden.” I was tired of having to remind her of that. She was always trying to get me to dump him which was probably one of the main reasons he couldn’t stand her.
She wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “I know you love him and yada, yada all that, but he’s broke and love doesn’t buy you anything. Look at how you live. He delivers pizza and that whole writing thing, he’s never going to make any money doing that. He’s never going to be able to take you to nice places like this. Is that the kind of life you want?”
I pulled away from her. “I love Brayden and I’m not dumping him. I wish you would stop telling me to.”
She threw her hands up. “Fine, fine. Suit yourself. But at least try to have fun and dance with someone. Get someone to buy you a drink. You can do that, can’t you?”
Thankfully at that moment Matt pulled her over to a group of friends he had run into. It would have been nice having Brayden there to dance with, but clubs totally weren’t his thing. Neither was dancing.
As I made my way to the bar for a cup of water a man who looked way too old to be in The Purple Moon with teenagers and people in their early twenties, made his way over to me. I tried to swerve around him but he stepped in front of me, blocking my path. He wore a shiny blue suit that looked to be from another decade and a purple hat with a feather in it. Jade and Keelie would have doubled over with laughter if they had seen him.
Forever Ella: The Everly Girls Book 2 Page 8