Page 53 of The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back

"Well, well, well. Mattie Lowe. I barely recognized you."

Crap, crap, crap, crap! I had to forget the whole plan. Mercedes would see me at the dance trying to talk to Jake and she would sabotage it somehow. I knew it. I gripped the sides of the sink.

"Did Ella do that to you?"

I ignored her question. "What are you doing here? Ms. Rathbone banned you from the dance."

"Sorry, I wasn't about to let my three thousand dollar couture dress go to waste."

She ran her hands under the water, looking me up and down. "Aw, look at you. Did you get all dressed up for Jake? You think he'll take one look at your little outfit and that'll be it? So sad." She rinsed her hands off and reached for a paper towel. "I saw Ella dancing. She looks really pretty tonight. It must be so hard for you to live with someone so beautiful when you look, well, like you. It's easy to see why Jake likes her and not you."

She threw the towel into the trash and smoothed out invisible wrinkles in her formfitting Vera Wang.

She seemed so calm and evil, but there was a look in her eye, something I totally recognized. I gasped.

"Ella was right. You are jealous. You like Jake, and you're jealous that he'd rather spend time with me than with you."

"Oh please," she sniped back and patted her hair into place. "If I wanted Jake, I'd have him. You'd certainly never be competition. And as for why he spends time with you…I don't know, charity work? Instead of reading to the blind he's dating the clueless? I just figured he lost a bet or something."

My mind guiltily flashed to our poker game. This time she saw something in my expression that I hadn't meant to give away.

"Are you serious? I was totally kidding. He lost a bet?" She laughed. "You are so pathetic. You had to force him to spend time with you?"

This sensation in my stomach felt just like walking into the school's hallways and seeing my pictures of Jake up on the wall. Like Mercedes had seen something she shouldn't have and would use it to destroy me.

But I was tired of rolling over and playing nice while she went on her rampage. "I didn't have to force Jake to do anything. And you want to talk about pathetic? I'm not the one dating his best friend just to be near him."

Mercedes let out a small shriek of indignation.

"You lose, Mercedes. And you will never win. Maybe you're right. Maybe he does like Ella and not me. But he will never, ever like you."

She started toward me, and I wondered whether she planned on physically attacking me. I thought I could probably take her given that I had a good six inches on her (nine, if you counted the shoes).

"He'll never like you either. Just watch. See who he leaves with tonight. I guarantee it will be your stepsister, and not you."

The bathroom door swung open and I smiled. I didn't need to fight Mercedes. Someone was about to take care of her for me.

"Hello, Ms. Rathbone."

"Oh, like I'm stupid enough to fall for that. Oh look, Ms. Rathbone's behind me," she mimicked in a stupid voice.

"I am standing behind you Ms. Bentley, and I'm wondering why it is that you are at this dance. As I recall, you and your father agreed that you would not be attending tonight."

What could she say? Mercedes stood there; her face had gone completely white.

Ms. Rathbone reopened the bathroom door. "Come with me, young lady. I am going to personally escort you off the premises and I'll be phoning your father to pick you up. And we'll be having another meeting on Monday morning to discuss your inability to follow simple directions."

Mercedes meekly obeyed, keeping her head down as she left. Ms. Rathbone looked over at me. "You look very lovely this evening, Ms. Lowe."

"Thank you," I said. The door swung shut behind her. I felt grateful not only for the compliment, but for the reprieve Ms. Rathbone just gave me. Mercedes wouldn't be ruining anything for me. I looked at my reflection and tried to shake off Mercedes's words. I told myself to remember what I had seen and felt earlier that evening when I saw the made over me. I had to have confidence. I tied my mask back on, determined to give this thing a shot.

It was now or never.

Chapter 17

Jake hadn't moved, and still leaned against the bar. I walked up to the bar, a few people away from him. I took in several deep breaths, trying to psych myself up. I stood between two parents talking loudly about winning a trip to a palazzo in Italy. I watched as Steve Rojas tried to order a cocktail and the bartender carded him. The two men stopped talking about the Italian palace and started complaining about punk kids. I moved further away from them.

"What can I get for you?" the bartender had to yell at me. The music was really loud.

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