Page 170 of We Shouldn't Be Together
My stomach swirls, wanting to expel its contents.
Cammy unfolds the poster, and I gasp at the display. A blonde of about twenty-years-old, poses against a stripper pole, wearing a silver bikini. I’ve seen an identical smile to this one, worn by someone directing it at Kai. There’s no doubt it’s Jamie’s mother.
“Where did you find that?” Yvie asks, barely containing her laughter.
“My dad took me to one of his buildings in Logan’s Point,” Cammy explains. “There were scraps of these posters amongst garbage and decay. This chick looked so familiar. I explored behind the old bar, and I found a ledger. And there it was in black and white. One employee was named Lily West. Coincidence? I think not.”
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.
This is bad.
This is so very, very bad.
“Eww.” Yvie squirms. “Like, I knew this was true, but to see it in real life…eww.”
Cammy cackles. “I know, right?”
Yvie tilts her head, studying the poster. “She’s kinda hot, though. How did Jamie turn out to be such a little tomboy?”
Cammy taps the poster. “Maybe her goal was to avoid this line of work.”
Yvie squirms again, laughing. “Eww.”
Unable to help it, my breath becomes labored. I pant, taking in the girls' movements as I figure out how the heck I'll get the poster out of their grip.
This spells the end of me and Kai. If this goes around the school, humiliates his best friend, then that’s it. He’ll never trust me.
I glare at Cammy. Because she’ll blame this on me. No matter what happens, somehow, she’ll weave a tale of how I first came into possession of the poster and brought it to her.
No. I’m not having it.
Cammy sets the poster on the carpet and does her best to smooth out the wrinkles from the decade-old poster. She then angles her phone above the poster and takes a photo.
She grimaces. “Ugh. The lighting in here is terrible.”
I stand on my knees and blurt, “What about the desk lamp from your mom’s study? Remember when we took selfies in front of it? They looked incredible.”
Cammy shrugs and moves toward her bedroom doorway. “Worth a try.”
My heartbeat is in my throat. Okay, got one out of the room. Now, how do I distract Yvette?
I almost laugh out loud, but swallow it. She’s basically a parrot in a cage. I could give her a mirror, and it’d enamor her for hours.
“Yvie?” I hand her my phone. “Can you look at the settings on my camera? I don’t think the portrait mode is working. My photos never look as good as yours.”
She takes my phone and taps on the screen. “Girl, it’ll be your lighting setup more than the camera settings.”
I edge toward the poster and gently lift it up. I hover it only an inch above the carpet, checking I won’t get caught. “I know,” I tell Yvie, lifting inch by inch toward myself. “But can you still check? You’re better at it than me.”
Yvie shrugs and sits back against the bed frame, glued to the screen.
With the poster clutched against my front, I slide it around my middle until it’s hidden behind my back. I haphazardly fold it in half and tuck it into the back of my jeans. With a quick flip, I let my clingy T-shirt conceal the top half of the poster, letting my sweater fall over the top.
Pretending I’m not doing anything suss, I launch onto Cammy’s bed and watch over Yvie’s shoulder.
“Oh!” I overemphasize the vowel. “Dang, I never thought to check that setting. See? Told ya I needed you.”
Yvie blushes at the compliments, like putty in my hand.
