Page 10 of Girl Like Me

“Ok, take a few minutes and relax. I will distract Mum. Tess is here to get you dressed and she will do your hair and makeup.” I look up and Tess gives a small wave.

“Time for you to go.” She says to Carter and ushers him out of the room. Tess pulls out the dress bag as Carter shuts the door behind himself. “Your mum has good taste.” I look at the yellow dress, I know I have seen it somewhere before. “I loved when Kate Hudson wore a dress similar to this inHow to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. The only difference is this has a slightly higher neckline.” She spins the dress around, and my eyes go wide. It has no back, like none.

“Are you sure it will fit?” I ask.

“Yes, it was tailor made just for you. A strapless bra is on the bed and no underwear would be best, but I found a very tiny G-string that could work.” I make her turn around while I get my underwear on. Tess pulls me over to the white washed vanity in my room and sits me in the chair in just my underwear, while she blow dries my hair and does a simple elegant knot at the base of my neck. She keeps my make up simple, going for a natural look over all. A light dusting of powder, black liner winged perfectly and a coating of mascara. She finished off the look with a shiny gloss on lips. I’m super pleased she went that route. I can’t stand the makeup plastered all over my face, like my mother has been forcing me to wear it, every time I leave the house.

Tess grabs my hand, pulls me from the chair and stands me in the middle of my room. She takes the dress from the hanger and carefully slips it on my body. She wasn’t kidding when she said it was tailor made for me, it fits me like a glove.

She places a strip of tape to keep my butt in, saying that it will hold all night and probably take a layer of skin off when I take it off. She hands me a small packet that looks like an alcohol wipe. “This will help if you can get someone to help you take it off.” She grabs a box I didn't notice before and bends down to help me slip on a pair of nude heels. Just as the second heel is on, Carter knocks on the door. “Let’s go. Mum will pass out if we don’t leave on time, I think she has already popped half a bottle of Valium. Dad is pacing trying to calm her down, it’s quite funny actually.” I thank Tess for her help and follow Carter down stairs.

My mum Shandra, not Sandra, is ranting that we are already late. Her floor length gown looks amazing on her, a pale pink that goes well with her skin tone and her bleach blonde hair pinned up in an elegant up-do. Even in her, what I presume is early forties, she has an amazing body. My father has broad shoulders and seems built, if the wide expanse of his chest is anything to go by. I still get scared just looking at him, he walks in a room as if he owns it. He follows behind her, fanning her with a pamphlet of some kind, murmuring reassurances that everything will be okay.

“Ellis, stop following me around with a damn Indian restaurant menu!” She snaps at him, I hold back a laugh but a choked snort comes out. “It’s about time,” she says looking up at me.

My father and my brother are decked to the nines in Tuxedos, classic black with a white shirt underneath. It still feels strange even thinking of him as my father when I still have no memory of him. The only thing that keeps me going is hoping something here will spark my memories.

Carter’s hair is parted slightly off centre and gelled down. My father is sporting a similar look. I can only assume my mother delegated how we all look for this event tonight.

We follow our parents out the front door and into a sleek black stretch limo. Carter and I take the seats furthest from the doors, our parents sitting in the seats facing forward. As the limo takes us to our destination, I gaze out the window watching the scenery pass by in a blur. I don’t know how much longer I can pretend to be part of this world, everything is so fake. I have to constantly remind myself I can leave when I turn eighteen. I found out my birthday happens to be the very last day of the year. I know I can survive a couple of months of this torture. Even though it’s slightly longer than I have known the guys and I risk them moving on, what other option do I have? Rory is in trouble, but I run back and I put them all at risk. I still don’t remember anything useful, so we would be going into this blind and I can’t bring myself to do that to them. I just need to find out who I can and can’t trust around here. Can’t be that hard, right?

I don’t know why I agreed to this. Rory is refusing to go, he promised JD he wouldn’t go to an event without telling her, I told him it doesn’t count if she isn’t here. Kicker is if Cindy doesn’t have a date she will go to the police and imply he did kidnap Bristol or JD. She didn’t exactly say this to Rory, but she cornered the rest of us when she couldn’t find him. She left it up to us to decide who would be joining her and I drew the short straw literally. Rocky made us draw straws and I pulled out the lucky or in this case the unlucky one.

I managed to find one of Rory’s father’s suits that fit me perfectly. He is off again after spending a week with his son. He left a message on Rory’s phone saying he will be back in a few weeks, which is typical, he drops in acts like he’s a decent caring father and pisses off again but not before dropping extravagant gifts his son's way. Rory hates it but this one was big, he finally signed the house into Rory’s name. It never belonged to him and Rory’s mum, the land has been passed down to the eldest son in each generation on their eighteen birthday. He also told Rory that he is planning to divorce his mum when she is better and no longer staying at the hospital. He has made sure she has a place to go, not in a house like this but with the settlement she should be comfortable for a very long time.

“Are you ready yet?” Cindy snaps for what has to be the tenth time. Her limo driver pulled up a few minutes ago, I made sure to make her wait. Cindy is beautiful, I’ll give her that. She is tall, her lean figure is a perfect Barbie shape. She actually somewhat resembles a Barbie but then she opens her mouth and the bitch comes out. I have never understood why Rory has remained friends with her.

“As I’ll ever be.” Her driver holds the door open and I slide in. She looks annoyed, a real man would have waited for her to get in first but she is shit out of luck when she uses blackmail to get me here.

“Remember you’re my arm candy for the night. Your only job is to just stand there and look pretty.” She tries to fuss with my bow tie but I gently slap her hands away, I don’t want her to touch me.

A silent auction seems weird to me. These people love to show off their money, the more they can flash in people’s faces the better. These people we will be surrounded by tonight are the ones Cindy and Rory’s parents wish they could rub shoulders with. Cindy has a friend named Baron who extended us an invite. Since she has given up on Rory being interested in her, she has started looking to find herself a man who is better off than her father. Her words, not mine. When I asked her why she wouldn't want to marry for love, she laughed in my face and said why would she when she can marry up and be the perfect arm candy for a husband. She wasn’t impressed when I said that is only good for about ten years and two kids before her husband trades her in for a new model. The upside, she hasn’t spoken to me for the last twenty minutes and it has been bliss. A two-and-a-half-hour trip for a chance meeting with rich kids.

When the limo pulls up to the front of a building that looks ancient, the driver gets out and opens our door. I play the part and help her from the car and we link arms walking down the red carpet together. There are even photographers flashing their cameras in our direction, as if we were famous celebrities. Cindy smiles and leads us inside to a massive room setup with tables around the edges. Each item up for auction tonight is on display. I pick up a card on the first table that explains it’s a trip to some place I have never heard of in some rich dude’s holiday house and the starting bid is at 200k. Are these people serious? I scoff at the price tag, throwing the card back down on the table in dismay and Cindy whacks me in the chest because I apparently embarrassed her.

Cindy walks us around the room, chatting and laughing with the others. I stand at her side dutifully and it doesn’t take me long to realize she really has a knack for this. Her face lights up when she notices a group of four guys walk into the room, they look to be around our age but they scream rich snob. She grabs my arm quickly and before I have the chance to protest she practically drags me to where they are. One of the guys recognises her and his face lights up.

She drops my arm and embraces the dark-haired dude. “I’m glad you made it. Cindy, these are my friends Linus, Oliver and Oscar.” She politely says hello to them.

“Mercer.” I interrupt their small talk, holding out my hand to her friend. He looks down at my hand tilting his head to the side as if it’s a foreign object. For a brief moment, I don’t think he is going to take it.

“Baron.” He says forced to acknowledge me. “Do you go to Edgewater with Cindy?” The way he saysEdgewaterI hear the distaste roll off his tongue.

“Yeah, I’m there on a scholarship.” I hear Cindy gasp; the four guys look at me like I’m a nobody. “Her real date had a family emergency and she was stuck bringing me. Cindy is always giving back to the poor.” I try to hide my smile but fail miserably. I can almost see the steam coming from her ears as her face starts turning different shades of pink.

“I have a passion for charity work.” Ugh, I don’t think I have ever seen Cindy lift a manicured finger to help anyone except herself.

“You should find a minute before you leave to talk with my mother. She runs a few charities and I’m sure she would love the extra help.”

I tune out of their conversation and so have Baron’s friends who have all started to talk amongst themselves. I move closer to them and leave the two love birds to talk.

“Oliver.” The tallest of the guys says, offering me his hand when his other two friends see a group of girls and leave him standing there by himself.

“Mercer.” He shakes my hand like it’s a business deal.

“It’s always fun being dragged to these things, I don’t even know why we get made to come. It’s like they try to marry us off at these things.”

“So, all the expensive trips are just a guise to set up their kids.” He laughs.

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