by Seven Steps
Our good mood continued through our train ride and on our walk from the subway to the school. It improved further when Jeff Schwartz met us at the school doors.
“Ladies.”
“Jeffy.”
Jasmine hugged him around the shoulders, while the rest of us waved. Jasmine had recently joined the chemistry club to up her extra-curricular activities for college. Jeff was the president of the chemistry club, though not for long I’d bet. Jasmine had a thing about being in charge, and I had a feeling that she was planning a possibly hostile takeover in the near future.
“You all look well rested and lovely as usual.”
“Aw, Jeff. You’re such a charmer.”
“I try.” Jeff grinned. “Anyway, I am having some friends from school over on Friday. I thought that you ladies may want to stop by.”
“That sounds fantastic,” Jasmine said.
I raised my hand. “I can’t. Plans. Sorry.”
“Plans?” Jasmine asked. “What plans?”
“I got invited to a party on Friday.”
Ariel and Jasmine frowned at me.
“Stephanie Pleasant’s party?” Ariel asked.
I nodded, feeling embarrassed and stupid for going to the same party that I had condemned only a few hours ago.
“It’s a pre-party. Some of the kids are heading to the Stamford Club afterward. I just found out last night,” I said apologetically. “Jake invited me after I hung up with you.”
My friends looked at me with expressions that said, ‘what else haven’t you told us’.
I cringed.
“Next time, Jeff,” I said.
Jeff shrugged, though I could tell that he was disappointed. After all, I was now the coolest girl in school. Having me at his party would have given him a few extra popularity points for sure.
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “Next time.”
Ariel and Jasmine’s judgy frowns made me shift my weight. I decided to use my out instead of explaining myself further.
“I have to meet Jake. I’ll see you guys later.”
I could tell that my friends weren’t happy, but I had no choice. I was doing this for them, after all. Well, mostly for them.
I walked down the hallway, my name echoing off the walls as my fellow classmates called for my attention.
“Nice shirt, Bella!”
“Hey, Bella. Want to hang out after school?”
“Awesome sneakers, Bella.”
I nodded, smiled and called my hellos back to them, even as the flags in my mind stirred. I wanted people to know that I existed, but the fact that it took me dating Jake to make it happen made me feel dirty. If Jake never asked me out, no one would care what I was wearing. They wouldn’t even know that I was alive.
Was this what I wanted? To have my voice depend on who I was dating? What would they think if they knew I got the shirt and the sneakers from a half-off sale at Walmart? Would they still think they were cool? Would they still think I was cool?
As I gazed at the girls around me, I noticed something odd. Whereas before the look was straight hair, aka Dana, today there were way more curls and French braids. For once, other girls’ hair looked like mine.
Not only was I not invisible anymore, I was being copied. But were they copying me, or were they copying Jake’s girlfriend?
I sighed. Suddenly everything in my life ended with a question mark, and I had no idea how to find the answers. It sucked.
Jake spotted me and smiled.
I forced a smile on to my face and walked in to his arms.
“Hey, baby.”
He smelled like expensive cologne. Like some well-crafted mix of spicy, sweet and lavender. He didn’t dab it on, either. It smelled like he’d dumped the entire bottle over his head. I struggled to breathe.
“I’ll meet you by the lunch room after this period,” he whispered.
“Fine. But I have to be back by the end of school. I have an English project with your brother to work on.”
“Cole?” He raised an eyebrow. “You two are working on an English project together?”
I nodded. How did Jake not know this? He was there when Ms. Mitchell teamed me with Cole. How Jake passed without doing any of the school work was beyond me. I would have given him a dirty look if I hadn’t been so lightheaded over his cologne. What was in that stuff? Meth?
The first period bell rang.
“We’ll talk about it later. I’ll see you.” He kissed my cheek and walked in to his classroom. With his mind-numbing cologne dissipating, I could finally think clearly. From across the hall, Dana scowled at me.
I scowled back.
Then, to my surprise, she walked over to me. Her long blonde hair was perfect as usual, cut into long layers that fell gently around her perfectly heart shaped face. Her makeup was perfect, her seafoam green mini dress fit her perfect body like a glove and her kitten heels were the height of style. Dana Rich was perfect. Next to her, I felt like a cheap imitation.
She looked at me with bright green eyes that matched her dress and smirked.
“I hope you know what you’re getting into,” she said. “Being with a Winsted is all fun and games, until it’s not.”
I straightened my shoulders, wishing that I had dressed up today.
“I know exactly what I’m getting into,” I replied.
She smirked, and took a step back.
“You want a free piece of advice?” she asked.
I nodded, because it felt awkward not to.
“Run.”
Then she turned, flipped her hair over one perfectly pale shoulder and walked away, her body swaying down the hallway.
Run? From who? Jake?
I frowned. I expected her to say something catty like, “stay away from my man”, or “Jake is still in love with me”. But, run? Why would she say that?
Pursing my lips, I walked to my first period class.
Maybe she was just trying to scare me? Maybe she was still in love with Jake and this was her way of showing it?
If she was, I hoped that she would hurry up and beg for him to come back. God knew I wanted him out of my life.
I put Jake and Dana out of my mind and slid in to my seat in Art.
25
I pushed the curtain open with a whoosh and stepped out on to the red, carpeted floor of The Boutique, a small shop on Fifth Avenue. Thank god that I shaved my legs that morning, because every dress Jake picked out only came down to mid-thigh and had some form of pink. I normally hated pink, but in these expensive clothes, I didn’t mind it so much.
My current outfit was a white, sleeveless shirt, a mini, pink, pleated skirt and a fitted pink sweater. The pink heels were already at the register. I’d seen this outfit before. On Dana.
Had he chosen her clothes too, or just memorized her outfits?
“Wow,” he said, a big grin on his face as I stepped in front of him. He looked at me as if I were a bowl of cream and he were a cat. It made me feel dirty. Did he see me in this outfit or was he picturing Dana’s head on my body?
“You are going to blow everyone away tomorrow.”
“Isn’t this a little much?” I asked, stepping forward. “The clothes, I mean.” I looked at the price tag hanging off the skirt. It had three figures and was more than our electric bill. “This stuff is expensive.”
He chuckled. “Expensive? What does that mean?”
He held out his hands and I stepped forward, taking them. He looked me up and down, his grin turning wolfish.
“Very nice.”
I snatched my hand back.
This wasn’t me. I wasn’t some plaything to dress up and show off. I had a mind. I had pride. I probably would have protested more but the clothes were cute, and I’d never be able to afford them on my own. I was positive that this made me a hypocrite and the worst kind of person but I had to admit that it felt nice to wear clothes that hadn’t been rotting in the back of somebody’s closet.
“So, I hear that Eric is taking Ariel t
o the Stamford Club on Friday night. It’s their official coming out.”
“Coming out? As in they are going to be an official couple?”
My heart did happy flips. I forgot about my broken moral compass and mentally patted myself on the back.
Jake nodded.
“He’s going to be making it Facebook official soon. Funny. He didn’t need much nudging, either. I said her name and he practically did a backflip.”
Happiness fluttered within me. So it was real. Eric liked Ariel for real.
“That’s fantastic.”
“It is, as long as you continue to play along. I mean, you know Ariel, right? How would she react if she knew about our little arrangement? It might be hard to stay in a relationship based on a lie.”
My good mood dissipated.
He released my hand and sat back.
God. I wanted to kick him.
“Why don’t you try on another outfit? The black one, maybe? With the heels this time.” He leaned back on the couch, stretched his legs out in front of him and put his hands behind his head. “This day is turning out to be way more fun than I thought. Where have you been hiding that tight little body of yours? It’s amazing.”
“Beneath books, homework and extracurricular activities.”
He looked me over again.
“Shame.”
I closed my eyes to keep from strangling him. When I opened them, he was standing, a navy blue, velvet box in his hands.
“I was going to wait to give this to you but after seeing how amazing you look, I just couldn’t wait.”
He held out the box to me, a half smile lighting his beautiful face.
How could one boy be so gorgeous and so manipulative at the same time? It should have been illegal.
“What is it?”
He shrugged.
“Just a little present to say thank you.”
I eyed him wearily, then opened the box. Inside, amidst soft white lining was a gold necklace with a diamond heart. My breath caught in my throat as the sparkles from the diamond caught the light. It was easily the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen.
I gasped and put my free hand up to my mouth.
“Jake, this, this is…”
“This is yours.”
He gently pulled the box from my hands, took out the necklace, stepped around and clasped it around my neck. The diamond was surprisingly lightweight. I ran my fingers along its rough edges.
“It’s just a little present to say how grateful I am.”
I went on high alert. Jake was being … nice? For what? What was this new angle? What did he want?
“And to keep away any other dudes sniffing around. Once guys see that necklace, they’ll know exactly who you belong to. I don’t want you wandering off before I’m done with you.”
And there it was. The reality of the situation. He was branding me with the necklace and I had fallen for it. Stupid me.
He moved in front of me and placed my face between his hands.
“What do we say?”
His lips were a breath from mine. I considered kneeing him between the legs.
“If you don’t take a step back, I am going to personally ensure that you never have any children. Ever.”
He heeded me and retreated.
At least he had sense enough to do that.
“You’re weird.”
“Am I?”
“I buy you thousands of dollars worth of clothes, expensive jewelry, compliment you. And yet, you still resist me. Why?”
I scowled. “Because this isn’t real. We are doing this so that you can get back with Dana, remember?”
He shrugged. “Can’t we have a little fun, too?”
“You might be used to skanky girls but I’m not one of them. Keep your hands to yourself and everyone will be happier for it.”
“What if I was someone else?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. “Maybe you’d rather be here with a different brother.”
My heart sped up. I smoothed the shock from my features.
“I’d rather be here with your credit card while you are far, far away in the jungles of India, getting trampled by an elephant with dysentery,” I said. “It looks like neither of us are going to get what we want today.”
He kept his eyes on me for the longest time before he turned and walked to the register.
“Get your stuff,” he growled.
The workers had already started to pick up the clothes and shoes that I’d left in the changing room and bring them to the register. Jake pulled out a black credit card and paid.
He didn’t look over his shoulder as he called to me.
“You’d better put on your shoes or else we’re going to be late to the stylist.”
I frowned. Stylist?
“I can feel you frowning,” he called, still not looking at me. “Do it while we walk. You’re getting a haircut.”
26
By the time I arrived at Mr. Reynolds’s science class, I was a new person. My clothes were trendy, my hair was blown straight and cut into layers and my makeup was flawless. My favorite piece though, was the necklace. It was gorgeous.
Like a blood diamond, I reminded myself. A symbol of everything that Jake’s holding over my head.
The entire classroom stared at me as I walked in and took my seat.
Ariel looked as if she was about to faint.
“Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”
I shrugged. “Just a little shopping spree, courtesy of Jake.”
“Jake took you shopping?”
I nodded.
“That’s incredible. He must really like you.”
I didn’t reply. Jake didn’t like me. I was a toy to him. Something to use for his own means and toss away. I smiled at my friend, reminding myself why I was allowing Jake to use me in the first place.
Science class passed quickly and Ariel and I parted. She went to swim practice and I went home to await Cole.
I’d missed our seventh period French tutoring session, thanks to Jake’s shopping spree. I wondered what he’d say about it.
Would he be back to the old, smart mouthed Cole or would his mood be as miserable as it was the day before? I hoped it was the former. I kind of missed our banter.
I unlocked the front door and walked in to my apartment.
I froze. My dad was there. Along with another man in a suit that I’d never seen before.
They both turned to look at me.
“Bella,” Daddy said, covering the space between us and wrapping me in his arms. He looked like he was about to fall apart.
My stomach clenched. What was going on?
“Bella, what have you done?” He hissed in my ear.
“Miss French.” The man in the suit stood, and put one hand in his pocket. “My name is Detective Bruce Harding from the NYPD Drug Enforcement Task Force, and I’d like to ask you a few questions about your boyfriend.”
27
This had to be a dream.
What this man, Detective Harding, was saying had to be made up.
It couldn’t be real.
“Honey, if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to,” Dad said. “It’s completely voluntary, and frankly, I don’t know if you should be involved with this kind of stuff.”
Detective Harding had told me the impossible.
Jake Winsted, my fake boyfriend, was the leader of an organized drug ring in my school. The Drug Task Force were initially tipped off when several parents anonymously reported that some students, presumably their own kids, were in possession of marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy. After doing some digging, the officers came up with a name. Kenny Jennings. But Kenny was a little fish in an ocean of sharks. Putting away one junior at a high school would not solve the problem. They had to find out who was supplying Kenny with the drugs. And, according to Detective Harding, all signs pointed to Jake.
Detective Harding gazed at me with brown eyes that looked like they’d been kind o
nce. Now, they were hard. His mouth was permanently turned down at the corners and he wore an ill-fitting gray suit and a striped blue and black tie. He seemed young to be on a Task Force. No more than thirty, if I were to guess. His skin was still smooth and he still had a full head of slicked back, dark brown hair.
“We are not asking you to arm yourself, or to go snooping, or to do anything that would put you in danger.” His voice was like sandpaper. Rough. A gun peeked out from beneath his suit jacket. Had he killed anyone with that gun? Was he planning on killing Jake if he ever came across him?
“Of course, she’ll be in danger!” Daddy cried out, jumping up from the couch and running his hand through his hair. “Just being around this guy, this Jake, is dangerous!” Worry flowed beneath his skin, mixing with his blood. He turned to me again, his eyes pleading and full of fear. “I want you to break up with this guy. I want you to stay as far away from him as possible.”
My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water and I momentarily lost the power of speech.
“Sir, I can’t tell you how to parent your child, but we have been trying to put away Ivan Sokolov for years. And right now, our best shot at getting to him, is your daughter.”
“Ivan Sokolov?” I gasped. “The drug lord?”
The detective nodded.
“What does he have to do with this?” I asked.
“Ivan Sokolov is Jake’s father,” Detective Harding said.
My blood ran cold. My lungs locked. It couldn’t be. Jake’s father couldn’t be a drug kingpin? That was insane. This was real life. Not a movie.
“No. It’s not possible,” I stuttered. “They don’t even have the same name.”
Detective Harding reached in his bag and pulled out a manila folder. He placed three pictures on the table. One of Jake. One of Cole. One of Regina.
“Yakov, Kolenka, and Regina Sokolov. Children of Ivan Sokolov and Sabine Petit, a French national. Ivan immigrated to this country sixteen years ago, when his wife was pregnant. He’s been running New York’s Russian drug cartel ever since. Six years ago, Ivan went underground. No one has seen or heard from him, and yet according to our informants, his business is still booming. We think that he may have passed the business down to his son, Jake.”