Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Amy

“Alright, beautiful!” Serena says after bursting into my dorm room with a silver case in her hands. “It’s time to make some magic happen.”

She’s here because Nick sent me a text this morning letting me know there’s a frat party tonight. He also added that he’s lined up a few guys I might like, which made my stomach queasy. Are any of his frat brothers actually interested in me, or do they only find me perplexing because of all the attention I’m getting from Tristan?

Nick is going to join Serena and me before the party to review his list of candidates since Serena knows most of them. I’ve been anticipating that part of the evening almost as much as the party itself. How will Nick act around Serena? It’s been six months since they broke up, but he has a warm, open personality, and I can’t imagine he’ll hide his feelings for her.

I can’t wait to watch her make him work for her.

“Let’s hope you’re a sorcerer,” I say, “because you’re going to need all the magic you can get.”

Serena ignores my sarcasm as she heads straight to my closet. She rummages through, examining an item before either placing it back in my closet or on my desk chair.

“I’m surprised you found anything good in there,” I say. “Too bad all your friends are skinny. I’d be much better off borrowing something.”

She smiles. “We’re not going to change your style. Just enhance it.”

I shake my head sharply. “Don’t worry about that. This isn’t an exercise of self-improvement. I’m fine with how I look. This is temporary, and it’s all about taking Tristan down.”

“I think it should be about making you feel beautiful, too. I don’t like how often you criticize your appearance. Here.” She pulls out a black dress. “Dark colors bring out your eyes. This one is perfect for tonight.”

My mouth falls open. “Serena, are you serious?”

She frowns as she turns to me, seeming genuinely confused. “What?”

“It’s lingerie. I bought it for my ex, and I never wore it because I felt too ridiculous in it.”

Her eyes grow wide as she pulls at the lace hem and spreads the fabric outward. “It’s pretty modest for lingerie.”

“Yeah.” I break out into a laugh. “Because I was self-conscious. I don’t like showing off my body.”

Serena’s dark eyes fix on my face. “Because you genuinely don’t like showing it off, or because someone made you feel self-conscious about it?”

“Honestly, I think I have a great ass. And nice boobs too, but we don’t live in a world that likes fat bodies.”

A slow smile spreads over her face. “Tristan likes your body.”

Heat unfurls in my belly. “How do you know?”

She walks over to my bed and plops down next to me. “Because he never takes his eyes off you. Ever. Even when the other contestants are around.” She lifts the black lace and holds it up to my chest. “Amy, if you can handle it, I really think you should wear this dress. Do you want to shock Tristan or what?”

A tingling heat spreads over my skin. I hate showing off my body, but shouldn’t I be saying “fuck you” to the culture that made me feel this way? I do have a great ass. Maybe it’s time to show it off.

Yes, I’m going to do it.

My stomach flips over. “He would be shocked by this.”

Serena’s smile grows mischievous. “He certainly would be.”

I nod jerkily. “Okay, let’s do this before I start to second-guess myself.” I tug at the end of a strand of hair. The game has been too all-consuming for me to reapply the cheap purple dye. That turned out for the best, since Serena is planning to dye my hair a new color. “Let’s see what you can do with this frizz ball.”

“Trust me, you’re going to look amazing,” Serena says. “Let’s head to the bathroom so I can start working on the dye.”

A little while later, Serena is coating my hair with brown sludge. “I stalked your Instagram last night to find pictures of your natural hair color.” The words are delivered slowly, likely from concentration.

“You would have had to go far back to find it.”

Through the mirror, I see her smile. “Many years. I saw pictures of you and Nick.”

I huff out a laugh. “Yep. I didn’t take those down. But I did rage delete every single picture of me and Harper.”

“I think you should have deleted Nick’s pictures, too. Why didn’t he reach out before now?”

I smile. “You’re still mad at him. He’s not going to like that. I bet he thinks you guys are reuniting tonight.”

She snorts. “He doesn’t know me if he thinks I’d take him back that easily. Like you said, he’s spineless. His popular friend wanted me out of their exclusive club, so he dropped me. If he wants me back, he’s going to have to prove he’s strong enough to fight for me.”

“I was pretty surprised that he turned on Tristan.”

She rolls her eyes. “It’s about time. Tristan has led him around like a puppy on a leash for as long as I’ve known him. Here—” she tugs on a thick chunk of my hair “—lean your head toward me a bit.”

“Why do you think Nick turned on him?”

Serena purses her lips as she coats dye at the roots of my hair and slowly drags the brush down to the ends. “I’m not sure, but he also asked me out for coffee.”

“I knew it,” I say, my own eyes growing huge in the mirror. “Did you say yes?”

She shakes her head. “Nope.”

“Good for you. Make him work for it. Make him beg.”

She smiles down at my hair. “Just like you’re going to make Tristan beg.”

I snort. “I’m probably delusional getting this makeover. He’s already planning on taking me down. How is dyeing my hair and putting on a little makeup going to change anything?”

“I don’t know, Amy. I’m still not convinced he’s trying to take you down. It doesn’t make any sense. What would he do with those pictures?”

I sigh. Serena wasn’t as shocked about the pictures or the bet as I expected her to be when I told her the story. ~“Of course Tristan would make a bet like that,”~ she’d said. ~“He’s probably trying to convince himself he can get you in bed faster than the other guys.”~

I can’t brush it off so easily. Not when he’s intentionally humiliated me before.

“I have no idea,” I say, “but he’s probably planning to use them in some way.”

She shakes her head. “I think he’s in love with you. Making that bet was gross, but it doesn’t convince me that he’s out to get you. He’s going to look dumb if he doesn’t pull it off. It makes no sense that he’d spend this much time trying to take you down. What does he have to gain?”

“Maybe Harper’s behind it.”

“Why now, though? It’s been years since your friendship ended. No, I think Tristan is up to something, but I doubt he’s trying to embarrass you. But even if I’m wrong, and he is—” she meets my eyes in the mirror, her own narrowing “—he won’t be able to do it. You’re not going to let him.”

I raise my chin. “No. I’m going to beat him at his own game.”

She smiles slowly. “Yes.”

“Alright.” She steps away from me, glancing down at my hair. “We’ll set the timer for a half hour and then rinse this out.”

My scalp burns for the next thirty minutes, but I use the time to cleanse my skin with a mud mask Serena brought. After I rinse it off, my skin looks as smooth as a baby’s.

“I never do girly things like this,” I say as Serena rinses the dye from my hair in the sink.

“Do you like it?”

“I think I do.” There’s a wistfulness to my voice Serena must hear, because she smiles as she towels my hair dry.

“We’ll do it more often,” she says. “We’ll keep this going if you end up liking it.”

“That would be fun.”

“Alright, let’s start with the makeup,” Serena says as we return to my room. She pulls out a variety of brushes, eyeshadows, and lipsticks from her makeup bag and lays them out on my desk. “I’ll of course touch it up before you leave, but I want to give you a feel for what I’m going for.”

Over the next few minutes, Serena’s graceful hands brush featherlight strokes over my face. With each new color, my eyes grow wider.

“I can’t believe this is actually my face,” I say when she’s done.

She smiles as she looks down at me. “You don’t look much different. I only enhanced what was already there.”

I’m about to make a snarky comment, but I’m momentarily stunned by my appearance. Those huge, sparkling eyes are really mine. Eyes that would have captivated Mr. Darcy.

For the first time since my seduction plan began, I feel like I might actually have a shot at taking down Tristan.

It’s exhilarating.

“Now let’s have you put on the dress,” she says.

“Lingerie,” I correct.

She looks like she’s fighting laughter. “~Lingerie~.” Her voice is strained. “We need to get you used to wearing it. Don’t put anything over it until you leave tonight. Your skin is going to feel bare at first, but it will wear off.”

I try not to roll my eyes as I take it from her hands and slip it over my head. She helps me get it over my hips and fastens it in the back for me.

“Holy shit, this is tight,” I say.

“Oh, Amy. You have to see your butt in this dress.”

When I turn around and look at the mirror on the door, a pleasant thrill rushes through my veins. “It doesn’t look bad,” I mutter.

“Are you kidding me? It looks like it was made for your body.”

I run my hand along the satin fabric hugging my waist. “This corset thing really pushes my boobs up.”

“Your boobs are out of control.” Serena’s voice is giddy. “Everyone is going to be staring at you.”

“People staring… I don’t hate the idea as much as I thought I would.”

“Tristan’s going to hate it. Not the dress, but other people staring.”

I turn to her. “Do you think other guys will like it? I’d like it if guys actually approached me spontaneously, instead of having Nick throw them at me.”

She snorts out a laugh. “Yes, other guys will like it. And Tristan’s going to lose his mind.”

*****

“I can pull up their socials, Amy, so you can see them and decide if you think they’re hot.” He’s talking to me but looking at Serena. He’s barely taken his eyes off her since he got here five minutes ago.

Why would he? She’s gorgeous. Her hair is swept back in a ponytail, showing that swanlike neck I’d kill for. She’s not wearing any makeup as far as I can tell. Nick is probably remembering how naturally gorgeous she looked when she used to wake up in his bed in the morning.

What a fucking moron, giving her up for Tristan’s sake.

“We don’t need to get too carried away,” I say. “Medium ugly is good enough for me.”

Serena turns to me, scowling. “Amelia Harrington, medium ugly is not good enough for you. You’re beautiful, and you should have a man as handsome as Mr. Darcy.”

I smile. “Dearest Jane.”

Serena laughs, and Nick looks at both of us like we’ve each grown an extra head.

Serena’s smile fades as she looks at Nick. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Nick’s eyes flash. “Can you explain it to me?” His voice is gentle. “I’d love to learn.”

I look away to hide my smile. Poor Nick is trying way too hard to get back into Serena’s good graces. He’s making an ass of himself.

She waves a hand. “You had plenty of time to learn, but enough of this. Tell me who you have lined up for Amy.”

Nick looks like he wants to say more, but he wisely returns his eyes to his phone as he pulls up his notes app. “Seth Robertson. What do you think of him, Serena?”

She wrinkles her nose. “He’s cute but a little boring.”

“Boring is good,” I say. “He won’t be intimidating.”

Serena nods. “Put him on the maybe list.”

Nick nods. “He seemed the most excited about Amy. Dominic White was too, but I think he… I got the idea he just wants to sleep with her to piss Tristan off.”

Serena scowls. “I hate Dom. I wouldn’t trust him within ten feet of Amy.”

“Dom sounds perfect,” I say. “If he wants to piss Tristan off, he can be my new bestie. Who cares if he’s a creep? I don’t plan on dating any of these guys after the game is over.”

Nick grins. “You’re ruthless, Amy.”

“She is,” Serena says with a pointed look at Nick. “I’m learning her ways.”

Nick’s smile freezes on his face before it fades. I strain the muscles in my throat to keep from laughing. Serena is really making him work for her, and I applaud her for it.

It’s more than I’ve done with Tristan.

But that will all be forgotten. I’m going to get revenge, starting tonight.