“What are you doing?”
“What?” I mumble, refusing to tear my lips away from her body.
“Whatever it is that you’re doing right now,” she says. Her breathing is still heavy. “It feels nice.”
I don’t even knowwhatI’m doing. I’m just kissing her, just touching her. My hands are all over her body, in her hair and under her shirt and on her hip. “Of course it does.” I pull away for a second, grabbing myT-shirt and pulling it off. I reach for the belt of my jeans, but Tiffani is quick to grab my wrist.
“Tyler!” she gasps. She’s shaking her head at me, but her eyes flash in amusement. “We’re not doing that here.”
I am just about to narrow my eyes at her, just about to ask her why the hell not, when I hear a voice call out, “Eden, are you still in here?”
Instantly, we both freeze. We aren’t the only ones in here anymore.
“Shhh,” Tiffani hisses sharply, and the alarm is written all over her face. Then, she raises her voice and asks, “Who’s here?”
There is a silence. And then, “Tiffani?”
“Rachael?”
Thank God. I would much rather be caught by Rachael than some store employee, and both Tiffani and I exchange a glance of relief. She slides the curtain open and steps out, but I don’t join her.
“Um, I didn’t know anyone was in here,” Tiffani says, and I can hear the embarrassment in her voice. Though at the same time, she’s probably ecstatic that we’ve been walked in on. It’s just the type of gossip she loves.Did you hear Tiffani and Tyler were caught hooking up in American Apparel this weekend? It reminds everyone that yes, we’re still together, and yes, we must just besoin love with one another that we can’t keep our hands to ourselves.
“What are you doing?” Rachael questions, and then louder she adds, “Tyler, are you in there too?”
I grit my teeth, rub my temple, and then finally say, “Yeah, I’m here.” I step out of the fitting room, pulling my T-shirt back on. My hair is a mess, so I run my hand through it in an attempt to tame it. I’m not exactly happy to be interrupted. “Ever heard of privacy?”
Rachael is staring at me with that disapproving, disgusted look of hers that she always, always gives me. “Ever heard of not hooking upin the middle of American Apparel? That’s gross.” Awkwardly, Tiffani begins closing the buttons of her blouse.
Rachael isn’t alone. Next to her, Eden is staring at me with a pile of clothes in her hands. She keeps her head down slightly, but I can see that she’s curiously watching us.
“What the hell are you guys even doing here?” I ask, staring straight back at Eden again, wondering what she thinks of menow. Was she in here the entire time? She saw me turn up late for the barbecue yesterday, then she saw me wasted on the damn lawn, and now, she may not have seen anything, but I’m pretty sure she knows I was just getting it on with my girlfriend in a damn fitting room. She probably thinks I’m an asshole. Good.
“Trying on clothes,” Rachael answers with the roll of her eyes, “which is a normal thing to do in fitting rooms.”
Tiffani isn’t too happy about being disturbed either, because she fires Rachael a threatening look and then seems to notice Eden for the very first time. I don’t know if they’ve met yet. She cocks her head to the side and asks, “And you are?”
She is back to being the Tiffani shewantsto be. We are both good actors, and Tiffani is quick to establish her imagined authority whenever she meets someone new. That’s why she’s looking Eden up and down in an effort to intimidate her, and I feel a little bad when I see just how uncomfortable Eden looks. “Eden,” she says with apprehension. God, her voice sounds so good when she says her name like that, all nervous and quiet, bringing out that husky tone again. She glances at me and adds, “His stepsister.”
“You have a stepsister?” Tiffani angles her body to look at me, her gaze sharp. I don’t think I ever mentioned it to her. I didn’t find it necessary. It’s not like Eden lives down here, and honestly, I totallyforgot she was even coming for the summer. But Tiffani likes to keep tabs on every single part of my life, so this information is a big deal to her.
All I can do is shrug. “Apparently.”
Tiffani stares at me, blinking. She is annoyed now, I can tell. “Why were you in here?” she demands, turning her glare back to Eden. “Were you spying on us?”
“Chill, babe.” I reach for her arm and give her a look. After Eden helped me out last night, I owe her one. The least I can do is stop Tiffani from grilling her just to fuel her own ego. “It’s not even a big deal. Stop tripping out.”
She shrugs my grip off and then crosses her arms over her chest. She will be pissed at me for stopping her, but whatever. “I’m just saying,” she mumbles.
“Yeah, well, don’t.” I steal another glance at Eden. She is still watching us closely. “She doesn’t care. Let’s just go. I need to go to Levi’s.” I don’t, actually. I just want to get the hell out of these fitting rooms. I throw my arm around Tiffani’s shoulders and pull her in close, but she doesn’t even budge.
“I’ll see you on Tuesday,” she tells Rachael. “You’re still coming to the beach, right?”
“Yeah,” Rachael agrees, and then she looks at Eden, and it’s pretty clear what she’s about to say next. It makes me wonder when the hell Rachael and Eden even became friends. That damn barbecue…“Eden can come too, right?”
Tiffani sighs slowly, pursing her lips. She is quiet for a while, making it all the more painful for Eden as it becomes more and more evident that Tiffani doesn’t want her there. Our circle of friends was established in middle school, and Tiffani hates having anyone else around us. Sheknows she can control not only me, but our friends too, and she doesn’t like that certainty being threatened. “I guess.”
I’ve had enough at that point. Enough of Tiffani’s ego, enough of Rachael’s glances. That’s why I pull Tiffani away again, and this time, she is happy to leave with me. We can continue this later. Tonight. That’s if she doesn’t stay pissed off. As we head out of the fitting rooms and back into the bustling store, I try to steal one more glance over my shoulder, but the door has already closed behind us.Damn, I think. I wanted to see Eden’s expression again, because I haven’t had enough ofheryet.
