Pretending to Be Erica by Michelle Painchaud

Author:Michelle Painchaud [Painchaud, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Girls & Women, Law & Crime, Art & Architecture
ISBN: 9781101618103
Google: lfaoBAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0670014974
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2015-07-20T16:00:00+00:00

That night, after the fondue and dinner and a shower but before sleep, I dial Taylor. She picks up with a sleepy voice.

“Yo.”

“You were sleeping? Sorry.”

“I just passed out in front of the TV.” I hear a shuffling as she rights herself. “Why’re you bugging me?”

“On Friday—” I swallow. “James invited me to a pizza place.”

“I’m so surprised.” She yawns. “I couldn’t see this coming—”

“I’ve never been on a date before,” I blurt. Violet and Erica say it at the same time, with the same urgency.

There’s a silence, and Taylor starts laughing. “Oh God, this is golden.”

“I was wondering if you could, you know, give me tips, or something. I don’t know what to wear. You’ve known him longer than I have. Does he like heavy makeup? Curled hair? Skanky clothes or not skanky?”

“Why don’t you ask your bimbo friends to help you? They’re better at this stuff.”

“Because I don’t want to go looking like I’m trying out for Miss America?”

She laughs. “Touché. All right, but you owe me again after this.”

“I can’t go clubbing again, Taylor. Kerwin saw me there, and he’s just the type to tell my mom and ruin everything—”

“Kerwin? As in crumpet boy with the girly face?”

“The same.”

“Huh. That’s weird.”

“Why?”

“He transferred here two months before you, right? Club Riddler moves from warehouse to warehouse and district to district. Sometimes it’s on the other side of town. It’s a local thing—locals usually know where it is and when. I didn’t even know about it until Jeff texted me where it was.”

“What’s your point?”

“My point, Fakey”—she sucks in a breath—“is the jocks he hangs out with aren’t the raving type. They don’t know about it. A handful of students know when Riddler happens, and they graduated last year or don’t talk to him.”

“Maybe he overheard them?”

“No. He had to do some digging. Or he had to follow you real close. Like, from-when-we-met-at-Green-Foods close.”

“He wasn’t on the bus with us.”

“No. Look, I’ll help you with the James thing, okay? But you can pay off that debt right now.”

“How?”

“Stay away from Kerwin and watch your back. A guy that determined to follow someone has something up his sleeve. It’s creepy.”

He might know about me being fake. That’d explain a lot. But if he knows, what does he want from me? Why does he care? What is stalking me going to get for him? Is he police? Undercover, maybe? No, he looks too young. But there are some undercover cops who have baby faces. Maybe he isn’t on the good guy’s side. Maybe he’s trying to get in on my con.

“Promise me, Fakey, that you’ll be careful.” Taylor’s voice is low.

“Why do you care?”

“You’re the only halfway decent asshole in this place, even if you are a fake. I’m not going to lose you.”

We hang up. Her gruffness means she’s getting more comfortable with the idea of me being a friend. She won’t admit it. It’ll take her a long time to trust me. But by then I’ll be gone. And she’ll be bleeding that trust all over the floor.

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