The Ashley Project

by Melissa de la Cruz

  “Sure, any tourist could shop on Rodeo,” said Lauren in the condescending tone that Ashley recognized as her own. “But we’re going somewhere better.”

  “What’s better than Beverly Hills?” A. A. wanted to know.

  Lili shrugged.

  Did Lauren know something they didn’t? Were they really going to get schooled in shopping from a girl who’d spent her whole life to this point in hand-me-down sweaters?

  Ashley squirmed in her seat. Lauren was probably going to take them somewhere really obvious, like the Beverly Center or something. But there was nothing she could do about it. Outside, the scenery began to change from the glitzy streets of Beverly Hills to the more gritty environs of Los Angeles proper. Ashley couldn’t understand why they had to leave Rodeo Drive without stopping at even one store.

  She reached over and pinched Lili out of boredom.

  “Ow!” Lili yelped, slapping her hand away. “What was that for?”

  “Nothing.” Ashley sighed. Even watching Lili jump out of her seat wasn’t as fun as she thought it would be.

  “Um, hello,” she said to Lauren.

  “Yes?” Lauren asked.

  Ashley spoke slowly, enunciating each syllable, the better to get her point across. “Where exactly are we going? This is not what we signed up for. Ow!” she squealed, feeling a shooting pain on her arm as Lili pinched her back. “No fair. You have a death grip.”

  Ashley pinched Lili back and Lili did the same until both girls were covered in red welts on their arms and legs.

  “I promise you’ll like it,” Lauren said desperately.

  “Promises are made to be broken,” snapped Ashley. “Dude, turn this car around and let’s go back to Saks.”

  “Sorry, miss. Got to go where Lauren tells me,” Dex said evenly.

  “You guys!” A. A. suddenly cut in. “It’s DAPHNE SHEPARD!” she screamed, waving madly toward a wisp of a girl with a blond bob who was making her way quickly down the street, holding a gigantic Balenciaga bag that was almost as big as her torso.

  Ashley immediately pushed Lili away, and the two of them practically climbed all over each other to get a look.

  “Oh. My. God. It is Daphne,” said Lili, gnawing on her bead necklace in excitement.

  “Stop the car!” Ashley ordered. “Now!”

  Dex stopped the car.

  Whether it was Ashley’s sharp, no-nonsense tone, or whether they had finally arrived where Lauren was taking them, Ashley didn’t know. But she didn’t dwell on it too much, since she had to see where Daphne was headed, and more important, what she was going to buy.

  21

  SHOPPING IS A COMPETITIVE SPORT, AND LILI ALWAYS GOES FOR GOLD

  LILI ALMOST TRIPPED ON HER cork wedges getting out of the convertible in her haste to follow Daphne Shepard. The star had been walking on a charming, tree-lined street filled with small, vibrant, one-of-a-kind boutiques, and it was hard to keep an eye on her, since it looked to Lili as if every girl on the street was a Daphne clone. They were all wearing fluttery camisoles and denim shorts as tiny as their sunglasses and handbags were enormous.

  “This is Robertson Boulevard,” Lauren was saying. “My sister goes to UCLA, and she told me this is where everyone in L.A. really shops.”

  Lili nodded approvingly. There was a mellow, laid-back vibe to the place, with nary a Nikon-wielding tourist anywhere. “Where’d she go?” she asked, not seeing Daphne anywhere.

  “I think she went over there,” A. A. said, leading the way to a candy-colored boutique across the street. They tried to get inside but were stymied by a mob of shoppers waiting behind a velvet rope in front of the store. The line was so long it snaked all the way down the block and around the next corner.

  Lili recognized the store as one of those celebrity emporiums, having read all about it in her favorite tabloids. The trendy boutique and its wares—T-shirts proclaiming allegiances in the current celebrity feud, the jeans of the moment (which right now were neon-colored skinny), and Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers line of plastic tote bags—were as famous as the celebrities who shopped there.

  “WTF?” asked Ashley, determined to push her way through.

  Lili had to agree. She’d never heard of a line to get inside a store. Maybe this was why they called L.A. la-la land. Everything in the city seemed larger than life. The sky was bluer. The cars were bigger. Everyone on the street looked like a movie star. Even the stores were run like nightclubs, Lili thought, which reminded her of the mixer and all the items she had yet to tick off her to-do list. It was a week away. Not a problem. She took out her cell and dialed a well-known caterer her mother always worked with. She could at least be productive if they were forced to stand in line.

  “I need hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, a sushi bar, and a buffet station for about a hundred people,” she said. “Fax the menu to my cell phone for my approval. Thanks.”

  Food? Check.

  “This is ridonculous!” Ashley announced, jostling for the best spot like she always did. Lili secretly enjoyed seeing the pained look on Ashley’s face. It was so rare for her to experience any adversity. No one ever said no to Ashley. She didn’t know what “no” meant; to Ashley “no” only meant “not now” or “maybe later.”

  “Excuse you!” screeched an annoyed shopper who was wearing all the season’s trends—patent platform wedges, metallic bag, and argyle vest—in one outfit.

  “Get to the back of the line!” another complained, angrily pushing up the sleeves on her balloon tunic blouse.

  “Watch it,” threatened A. A., standing up straight and staring down a fashion victim who’d poked an elbow in her direction. It was good to have A. A. around at a time like this. She didn’t take any crap from anyone.

  It looked like they would never get inside until Lauren caught up to them. Their new friend had lagged behind to talk to Dex, and of course, none of the Ashleys had bothered to wait for her. Lili couldn’t help but think she looked a tad amused as she approached. “What are you guys doing back here?” Lauren asked.

  “Um, because there’s a line?” Ashley snapped.

  Lauren sighed. “C’mon, follow me. They know me here,” she told them, walking all the way to the front as if she did it all the time.

  Lili exchanged we’ve-got-to-see-this looks with the other Ashleys, but they trotted dutifully after Lauren, not wanting to get left behind just in case she was telling the truth.

  “Hi, Cherry,” Lauren called, trading air kisses with the skinny girl in a faux-vintage Led Zeppelin T-shirt and cropped red jeans manning the door. “These are my friends. Can we go in?”

  “Of course. Hi, girls!” The salesgirl smiled. “Omigod, it’s like madness today. I think there was a feature on E! this weekend or something,” she said, unlocking the velvet rope and waving them inside.

  Lili reached out and grabbed Ashley’s hand and saw A. A. do the same to Ashley’s other hand, and the three of them ran inside the store without bothering to thank Lauren.

  “Where is she?” Lili despaired, not finding Daphne’s sleek blond head anywhere in the store. But she lost interest in star-spotting once she laid eyes on a rack of multicolored dresses. She saw Ashley eyeing the impressive shoe selection and A. A. piling on the jeans.

  For a solid twenty minutes, Lili concentrated on finding the perfect dress for the dance. She knew exactly what she wanted: something on-trend but not trendy, something girly but not cutesy, something chic but also easy to wear that would allow her to move. She didn’t want to spend the entire evening tugging on a too-short hemline or pushing up straps that kept falling. She chose several promising-looking options and disappeared into one of the dressing rooms in the back of the store.

  A few minutes later she pried open the curtain so she could check herself out in the large mirror hanging in front of all the dressing rooms. The store seemed to encourage shoppers to model the items they’d selected, and she had to fight a bunch of gorgeous girls trying on an array of sexy backless
tops to catch her reflection. She assessed herself in a lacy white eyelet number with a handkerchief hem.

  Too Bo-Peep, Lili thought, shaking her head.

  The next one was a black mod shift with a row of oversize buttons on the side.

  Too costumey.

  She put on the last one, a simple black jersey dress with spaghetti straps. It looked like nothing on the hanger, but Lili had a feeling it was one of those dresses that were deceptively simple but effortlessly chic. Once she saw herself in the mirror she knew.

  This was the one.

  The dress skimmed her slim hips, and the soft cowl neckline showed off her delicate collarbone. It was perfect. It was hers. She did a little jiggle of happiness from a shopping high.

  Then she heard the sound of curtains being pushed aside with a flourish and watched with a sickening sense of foreboding as Ashley pranced out of her dressing room. Her shopping high disappeared and she crashed back down to earth. Ashley was wearing the exact same dress.

  “Omigod!” they chorused. Lili felt better when both of them began to laugh after they realized what they’d done. But she stopped laughing when she heard what Ashley said next.

  “You are such a biter,” Ashley teased.

  “Me? You’re the one who always bites off me,” Lili replied, trying to keep her voice light. She was the one who’d suggested they all get Proenza messenger bags for back-to-school, and look what happened.

  Lili noticed A. A. walking over to referee, like she always did. “You look great in that, Lil,” A. A. said. “You too, Ash,” she added, almost as an afterthought.

  Lili had no idea why Ashley would want the dress, since the stark black color made her look totally washed out. Not that she would ever tell Ashley that.

  “Yeah, you guys both look awesome,” Lauren agreed, coming over and adding her two cents, although no one paid attention.

  “I was thinking of wearing it to the dance,” Ashley declared, her hands on her hips.

  “Me too,” countered Lili, her voice tight. “I found it first.” She felt the tension in the room rise as they surreptitiously checked each other out in the mirror. No one said anything for a long time, until Ashley’s cool voice broke the silence.

  “You know, Lil, I think it looks great on you, as long as you’re comfortable showing so much skin,” Ashley cooed. “It’s a little hoochie.”

  “Are you serious?” asked Lili. She grimaced. Was Ashley right? Was it skank city? Now that she thought about it, it was a little daring. Or was Ashley just playing her?

  “I think she looks great in it,” Lauren burst in. “You really do, Lil.” Not that Lili cared what Lauren thought at all. This was between her and Ashley.

  “Oh, definitely,” Ashley agreed, as if Lauren was being completely reasonable. “I don’t think she looks like a baby prostitute at all.”

  “You did not just call Lili a baby ho.” A. A. laughed. A. A. wasn’t going to be any help, Lili despaired. She was Switzerland whenever it came to style skirmishes and never got involved in her friends’ jousting for top position.

  “I don’t know,” Lili said, as she returned to the sanctuary of her own dressing room, a troubled look on her face. She suddenly wished she had gone shopping alone.

  “Yeah, I’m not getting it either,” said Ashley triumphantly, in a voice that implied case closed.

  We’ll see about that, Lili thought.

  22

  DON’T JUDGE A GIRL UNTIL YOU’VE WALKED A MILE IN HER CHOOS

  WHILE LILI HAD BEEN BUSY admiring herself in the mirror, Ashley turned over the price tag. Six hundred dollars. She was shocked. Not because of the price, which was expensive, sure, but in keeping with the many designer clothes in her closet. She was shocked because it was only then that she realized that there was no way she could afford to buy it. Her mother had taken away her credit cards. The only card she had in her Céline wallet was a debit card linked to her allowance account. Which only had two hundred and fifty dollars in it. Enough to cover lunch, maybe a pair of jeans if she foud some Superfine ones on sale. But that was about it.

  If she couldn’t have the dress, she couldn’t very well let Lili walk out with it either. Thank the L that Lili was so easy to manipulate. She certainly wasn’t going to spend six large after Ashley had called it the h-word. Ashley walked back into her dressing room feeling much better.

  She left all the silly, overpriced clothes in a messy pile on the floor of the dressing room and walked around the store again. This place was such a rip. Now that she remembered she was effectively poor for the day, she had lost all interest in shopping. Well, maybe she could find something in the cheapo tables up front. Usually Ashley avoided the trinkets-and-candles section of the pricey designer boutiques. She knew they were there only so that those on smaller budgets could feel better about themselves. As if a ten-dollar key ring counted.

  Then she found something. A gold plastic goblet decorated with fake jewel stones and emblazoned with the word PIMP in multicolored letters. A Pimp Cup. Hilarious. And it was only eighteen dollars. Score! She grinned, without realizing that this was exactly the kind of consolation purchase the tables were supposed to encourage. She brought it to the register, where A. A. was paying for a stack of Serfontaine jeans and a bunch of T-shirts.

  “Do you think it’s cute?” A. A. asked, holding up a “Little Miss Bossy” T-shirt.

  “So cute.” Ashley nodded.

  “That’s all you’re getting?” A. A. looked curiously at the Pimp Cup.

  “I didn’t like anything else,” Ashley lied. She would really have to let her mom have it when they got home. Her whole day was ruined.

  Lili came up empty-handed as well, although Lauren appeared with a bunch of shopping bags.

  “Cool!” said Lauren, pointing at Ashley’s Pimp Cup. “I want one!”

  Of course you do, Ashley thought, as Lauren ran back to the bargain bins near the storefront window to grab her own.

  • • •

  The four of them exited the store, lingering on the sidewalk, where the line to get inside had grown exponentially since they’d arrived. The midday sun was beating down mercilessly, and Ashley was really starting to feel the heat, which prickled on her fair skin.

  “Gross, I think I’m sweating,” she said, misting her face with an aerosol Evian can. She’d picked up the habit from when her family was in the Riviera over spring break last year. “Anyone else want a spritz?”

  “Pass it over.” A. A. nodded, taking the can and giving herself a healthy dose.

  “Girls don’t sweat, they glow,” Lili said, quoting from their gym teacher as she sprayed herself with mist.

  Physical education at Miss Gamble’s was a bit of a joke. The other day they had learned how to play croquet and other “lawn sports.”

  Lauren accepted the Evian mineral spray from Lili and pressed the button, releasing a sharp burst of water. She coughed and blinked, to the other girls’ amusement. Ashley smirked. You can take the geek out of the comic book convention, but you can’t take the comic book convention out of the geek.

  “Where to next, Lauren?” asked A. A.

  “Yeah, where are we going now?” Lili echoed.

  But before Lauren could answer, Ashley decided that it was time to end Lauren’s tour of Los Angeles. “I think I saw Daphne go that way,” she said, motioning to the store across the street. “I’m going over there,” she added, fully expecting everyone to follow.

  “That store does have the best shoe selection,” Lauren agreed, taking off her sunglasses and squinting in the direction Ashley was pointing. “But I thought we should check out this sale down the street. They have good stuff if you’re still looking for a dress to wear to the dance.”

  “I vote for shoes,” A. A. decided.

  “Well, I am still looking for a dress for the dance,” Lili admitted, looking warily at Ashley and A. A. before sidling up to Lauren.

  Ashley’s eyes bugged out of her skull. Was Lili seriously going
to ditch them to hang with Lauren? “Fine,” she said, as if she wasn’t bothered in the least. “It’s not like you need my permission,” she sniffed, rubbing it in because Lili looked like her permission was the very thing she wanted.

  Lili colored. “We’ll meet you for lunch in half an hour?”

  Ashley shrugged and said something noncommittal as she began walking away, A. A. following right behind her.

  “What’s the deal with Lili lately?” Ashley asked as she pushed the glass door open so it tinkled as they entered the all-white boutique. “She’s acting like she’s not even our friend anymore. She’s, like, obsessed with Lauren.”

  A. A. grunted but didn’t respond. That was the problem with A. A.—you could never get her to trash-talk about their other best friend. Much.

  They looked at the shelves of shoes. Lauren was right, the store had a dazzling array of the latest designer footwear. Ashley surveyed the goods: exquisite jeweled sandals by Giuseppe Zanotti, gorgeous peep-toe Carmen Ho pumps, yummy Tory Burch Reva flats with the gold disk on the toe.

  “Love these,” said A. A., snatching up a red patent-leather Jimmy Choo short boot from a nearby shelf and turning it over to check the price tag.

  “Me too!” Ashley enthused, grabbing the other shoe.

  “I know, aren’t they great?” a sultry voice asked from behind.

  Ashley turned around to see Daphne Shepard parading in the very same shoes. She looked even skinnier and prettier up close, with brilliant hazel eyes and a dazzling smile. Her tan was a delicious shade of buttery caramel, and her knees were as tiny as her elbows. She moved like a bird—all flutter and light. She smiled at the girls and turned to the clerk. “I’ll take them.”

  Ashley pinched A. A. hard on the underside of her arm, and A. A. did the same to the underside of Ashley’s arm, but neither of them said anything until Daphne left the store.

  “That was so cool!” A. A. exhaled, releasing her grip. “Let’s call Lili and tell her what she missed.” She whipped out her cell.