Page 32 of Habits

I don’t say a word. Are they blind or do they really enjoy humiliating me so much?

Maddaline’s eyes take me in from head to toe before they settle on mine. She smirks, a knowing look in her eyes.

Does she know? Impossible. I’ve been giving my best so nobody would notice. Not even Max. But the way those blue eyes stare at me … the way her lips curl into a knowing smirk, it’s like she knows.

“Wear the boots with the dress,” Maddaline says before she turns around and disappears into the bathroom.

* * *

In the end, I wore the dress and boots. It didn’t seem like Maddaline left me much of a choice, not with the look she shot my way.

Shrugging off the feeling that she knows my secret, I try to concentrate on the here and now. I try to reason with myself, because if she knows … if she really does know, I’m screwed.

The dress starts sliding up.Again. Irritated, I tug it back down.

“Stop fidgeting! You’re making me nauseous,” Nikki grits through her teeth.

The dress continues to slide up, and I can feel it barely holding on to the curve of my ass. My fingers itch to pull it down, but I hold back.

People move as we walk through the house. Two hours fashionably late.

There are whistles and catcalls as our little group strides about, with Maddaline at the center. I try to keep at the back and stay as invisible as possible, but I can feel all of their looks on me.

What do they see?

My heart starts beating harder as all these thoughts assault my mind. I can feel my body’s temperature rising, a fine layer of sweat coating my skin.

“Look who finally decided to show up!”

The loud words snap me back to reality, the nervous breakdown withdrawing, if only for a moment.

Maddaline giggles, accepting a one-armed hug and a kiss to the cheek from Nicolas, another one of the hockey players and one of my brother’s friends.

“Don’t tell me you missed me already.” Maddy winks playfully, her hand brushing against his bicep. “We aren’t even that late.”

“Well, as long as you show up looking like this.” His eyes slide down her body and then back up, slowly taking her in. “You can be as late as you want.”

She giggles again, shaking her head at his antics, but doesn’t say anything.

“Did you girls …” Nicolas turns his dark eyes in our direction. They slide over Nikki and Lana until they land on me. And then they don’t move.

His eyes bulge out and his mouth falls open as he stares at me, not even trying to be subtle.

“Is that … is that Little Jeanette Sanders?”

I shrug weakly, not knowing what to say as his eyes roam my body. Uncomfortable, I switch from leg to leg, but the only thing the motion does is help my skirt rise even further.

Dark eyes stay glued to my legs, and for a moment, I stop breathing. My heart beats faster and faster as he keeps staring at me.

I want him to stop.

Ineedhim to stop.

Cold sweat coats my skin, and the only thing I can hear is my heart thumping wildly in my ears.

The bile rises in my throat, and just when I think I’m going to throw up in the middle of the party, his eyes finally leave my body and concentrate on my face.

“You’re looking hot, girl!” The surprise in his voice is clear.

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