Confessions of the Lovestruck

Chapter 3:

"Oh dear, how lucky that poor girl is to have people like you and Davion to have enough to take in another mouth," Elena said in a not so quiet voice.

Instinctually, I fell to the back of the group. I didn't want to hear Annabella play up to Elena about how I was just some charity case that she decided to take in. My cheeks were red with embarrassment as I listened to Annabella tell Elena all about my angry teenager years after my mother had been killed.

It's okay. You were just a kid. You're over it now, I tried to tell myself.

"Davie, you okay?" Shy asked, bringing me back to my surroundings. When I nodded she added, "You know how mom gets when she's around her society friends."

I did know what Annabella was like when she was around her friends, but it was never this bad and I didn't know how I was supposed to excuse the woman I'd called my mother for the last 13 years talking down on me and my real mother. I hated when the people closest to me made me feel like more of an outsider than the people who didn't know anything about me. It's why I didn't trust people, whenever I let someone in, they just ended up hurting me and leaving me.

"Yeah, you're right," I said, going against everything that I was feeling at the moment.

To my dismay, Shy had already resumed her conversation with Penelope. The two of them had followed after their mothers while I'd been lost in my thoughts, and the girl who was escorting us around the spa was giving me a dirty look as she impatiently held the door open for me.

"Sorry," I muttered as I rushed passed her to catch up with the rest of my group.

The first part of the day was getting a full body wax, definitely not my favorite thing, but I wouldn't complain because I wasn't paying for anything today.

"You can leave your clothes and purses in these lockers and we will return to this room after your treatments are done." The attendant said as she handed each of us a robe to put on.

The five of us all hurried into the stalls to change out of our street clothes. The robes were fluffy and soft, just like the slippers they provided us with. I slipped the end of my thick braid out of my robe and stuffed my clothes into a locker near Shy's before pinning the key to my robe.

"Now we can take you two at a time for the waxes to make things go faster," the attendant.

I turned with a smile to Shy but she already had her arm linked through Penelope's.

"Guess I'll just go by myself then," I muttered dejectedly under my breath.

Apparently I wasn't quiet enough because Shy said, "Oh Davie, I'm sorry. I'm just having so much fun catching up with Nel. I hope you understand." Not that she was giving me a choice.

Yeah, I understand you get the same way as your mother around your own society friends, I thought.

"Yeah it's fine," I said, fighting not to roll my eyes.

"If it's a problem, I don't mind going alone," Penelope offered, so graciously.

"Are you girls okay," Annabella asked.

"Yeah mom, I just said it's fine," I repeated with a fake smile.

We separated into 3 groups and went for the most painful hour of our lives before meeting back up for facials before heading to nails.

"Mom, I blame you for being so hairy," Shy said, hobbling along just ahead of me.

"I told you to take some Tylenol before we left this morning," I reminded her.

I was in pain from the hair removal, but not as bad as Shy seemed to be. Annabella, Elena, and Penelope all seemed perfectly fine as though every hair follicle on their bodies hadn't just been ripped out. Shy and I just hadn't reached that level of grace, apparently.