CHAPTER SIX
“Beauty awakens the soul to act.”
-Dante Alighieri
CALEB
I spent the next hour of the party observing Gianna in what I now liked to call her natural habitat. I relished the power I possessed over her. I just needed to figure out what precisely to do with it.
I noticed how Jared took every opportunity possible to touch Gianna in some way, or he’d find ways for her to touch him. An arm slung over her shoulder in a friendly manner seemed not to faze her. Maybe he meant it only as a friend, but either way, it bothered me. I was starting to think of Gianna as belonging in some way to me. Not in a relationship sort of way, of course, because I didn’t do relationships. I just felt protective of her. It was completely natural, given our relationship as stepsiblings. It was also clear that the girl was mixed up and needed to get her life together. This double life business, where she was one way during the week at school and something else altogether on the weekends couldn’t be healthy.
It amazed me that at home she clearly did what her mom and everyone expected of her. It was almost as if she wasn’t a real person at home, but some alternative universe version of Gianna. Here, with people she was comfortable being around, I watched her and she seemed to be a more likable person. It was like Gianna and Gigi were two different people. Which one was the real Gianna? I was guessing Gigi. Why was Gianna the way she was at home? Why didn’t Gigi exist at home and school? I’d definitely be finding out.
Dante was still hitting it off with Nina, but I’d lost interest in Skylar even though she’d suggested we go out to my car to be alone. The air of desperation in her eagerness was a turn off tonight. Normally, I’d be all over that.
I weaved through the crowd of people until I spotted Taye. Needing to get rid of her, I asked him to do me the favor of taking Skylar off my hands. He was more than happy to oblige and within seconds was sitting on the couch next to her.
I located Cece and asked her if I could talk to her privately. She nodded with a serious look on her face and I followed her to what must’ve been her bedroom, unless it was Jared with the purple walls and bedspread.
“What’s up?” she asked, plopping down on the bed. I pushed from my mind the memories of other girls’ bedrooms I’d been in. Gianna would have my balls if I put the moves on her cute little friend.
Figuring out the best way to play this out, I started by saying, “I’m worried about Gianna.”
She immediately became alert and I didn’t even have to say anything else, because damn did the girl like to talk. Her wild hand gestures combined with long curly black hair whipping around made it all the more animated.
“I know exactly what you mean, Caleb. We all worry about her, especially me and Jared. She’s like a sister to us. I first met her when we started ballet together when we were little. She was always really quiet and the other girls thought she was stuck up because even then she looked like a mini supermodel. You should’ve seen her mom, though, she was so overbearing. Wanted everything to be perfect, especially Gianna, and always talking about how beautiful Gianna was. No wonder the girl was shy, with a mother like that. When we got to middle school, her mom started letting her spend the night on some Saturday nights. That’s when Jared was really getting into breaking. We used to watch him and his friends and eventually we learned the moves and became part of the crew a few years ago. Now, Gianna is with us almost every Saturday night!” She ended the last sentence with a pleased smile.
I opened my mouth to comment on a couple things she said, but she wasn’t done yet. “When Gianna started hanging out with the crew, she really came out of her shell. I feel so bad for her, though, being so gorgeous. You know she hates it, don’t you? She knows that most girls only want to be around her because she attracts guys’ attention. And, of course, you know why guys want to be around her.” She tilted her head to the side and studied me. “No offense, but I’m getting a definite player vibe coming off you.”
“None taken,” I replied wryly.
She shrugged one small shoulder and continued, “Anyways, in eighth grade, she heard all the other popular girls at school, who pretended to be her friend, talking shit about her in the bathroom. After that, she tried making friends with some unpopular kids, but they acted weirded out and nervous around her, like they had to impress her. I really hope she stays broken up with Josh, though.”
“Me, too,” I got in quickly, thinking of last night.
“He’s so obsessive about her. She told me once that she wishes she could come live with us, but she knows her mom would never allow it. I tell her to say fuck off to everyone, but she won’t. She’s always worried about pleasing everyone else around her, especially her mom, and in the process she makes herself miserable. Her mom has been conditioning her to be a certain way since she was little. It just makes everything jumbled in her head, her wants and her mom’s expectations. So, what exactly are you worried about?”
Like I said, this girl liked to talk. Summing it up to her satisfaction, I told her, “Basically the same thing.”
She popped up to give me a hug. “I’m so glad there’s someone up in Broomfield looking out for Gigi.” This made me feel guilty, for about two seconds.
“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “I’m going to make sure things are different for Gianna at home and school from now on.” I was feeling mixed up myself. I hadn’t decided my intentions in this new game between me and Gianna. I’d think about the stuff Cece told me and figure it out later. “By the way,” I began, “the nickname, Gigi?”
Cece looked proud as she explained, “Cece and Gigi, they rhyme.”
This girl was adorable. I could see why Gianna cared about her. However, if she were my sister, I’d probably put a muzzle on her when the yapping became too much.
GIANNA
I hadn’t seen Caleb for awhile and was annoyed his absence even registered in my mind. Maybe he went home. A girl could dream. My life sucked enough already. What’d I do to make the universe punish me with an evil, devious stepbrother like him?
While I was sulking and feeling sorry for myself, I saw Caleb and Cece come out of her room down the hallway. What the hell? He was such a manwhore. He brought some girl named Skylar to the party and now he was hooking up with Cece. And what was wrong with Cece? This wasn’t like her at all. Your best friend wasn’t supposed to hook up with your stepbrother. Maybe they’d just made out. That was more like Cece. I wouldn’t even care what Caleb got up to, but this was my best friend. They were totally off limits to each other.
Caleb walked up to me and I did my best to ignore him, but he put his arm around my shoulder and asked, “Miss me?”
“Fuck no,” I told him acidly.
“Gigi, watch your mouth! Am I going to have to tell mom?” he teased me, faking astonishment.
I said through clenched teeth, “She is not your mom and it’s Gianna to you”
“You know, Gigi,” he started as if I hadn’t spoken. “I was thinking you need to have more fun, and I think I’m just the person to help you out.”
“Unlikely,” I replied sarcastically. “I’m not into banging random sluts.”
He was quiet long enough for me to turn my head to look at him. “Just a moment,” he whispered. “Okay, image burned into my brain. Gonna have to save that one for later.”
“So gross,” I muttered, shuddering in distaste dramatically.
He ignored me and continued, “Tomorrow, when I’m in charge, we’re going to work on this new goal of ours.”
“I didn’t realize you knew what the word goal meant. Unless you count that your only goal in life is to not have any real goals at all.”
“You know, that may be true in the past, but now I have two goals. Making sure you have more fun is one of them.” He glanced at his wrist where a nonexistent watch rested and said, “Hey, it’s past midnight! Technically, it’s Sunday now and you’re supposed to do whatever I say.”
Before he could say anything else,
Jared came up to us and asked to talk to me alone. Seizing on the opportunity to ditch Caleb, I quickly walked with Jared to the front door. When I glanced over my shoulder at Caleb, I saw a disgruntled expression on his face. Good, it wouldn’t be fair if I were the only one annoyed.
Jared and I sat on the front porch. The late summer night breeze was nice. “Thanks for interrupting us. He gets on my nerves.”
“Really?” Jared seemed surprised. “I thought he was pretty cool.”
I nudged him playfully. “That’s because he beat up Josh.”
“I’m glad you broke up with Josh.” I watched as the breeze picked up a chunk of Jared’s dark hair. Then I noticed he seemed tense.
“Well, I don’t know if we’ve technically broken up. I mean, the words haven’t been said. I’ve been ignoring his calls and texts all day, but I haven’t told him it’s over yet. I do plan to officially end things with him. I’m just not looking forward to dealing with his protests.”
Jared was thoughtful for a moment before saying, “Good enough for me.” His lips were on mine a moment later. This was the second time in one night a guy surprised me like this. I hoped it wasn’t a new trend.