Char (2 page)

I smack his arm playfully. “She’s the
centerfold
for the September issue.”

“So she’ll be totally nude?”

“Yep. And she keeps telling me how
classy
it is. Ha. What a joke.”

“Trashy is more like it,” Aaron says.

“Exactly!” At least he gets it. “Would you date a centerfold?”

He thinks about it for a second. “Date, yes. Marry, no. Dating a centerfold could be fun. And your sister is fucking hot. I bet she’s a freak in bed.”

I roll my eyes. “Right.”

“You look just like her,” he says.

“I so do not!” I hate when people tell me that I look like Candi. Not that she isn’t gorgeous, she is. But that is
all
she is —
 
a gorgeous body.

“Do too. And you should take it as a compliment. She’s fucking hot.” He looks over at me, and smiles big. “Seriously, your ass looks great. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up.”

Aaron likes my butt.

So why doesn’t my boyfriend?

“Stop checking out my ass,” I tell Aaron playfully. “But seriously, if Chloe and I were as trashy as Candice, I bet we’d have our own reality show. We’d give the Kardashian sisters a run for their money.”

“The York Sisters…” He nods approvingly. “Now that’s a reality show I would watch.”

“Shut up.” I grab the joint from his hand and take another hit.

“I am starving. Let’s get food,” he says.

“I’ll get us something.” I get up and wipe the sand off of myself. “It’s too beautiful to be inside. I’ll be right back.” I start to walk away, but then turn towards Aaron. “Don’t even think about looking at my ass on the way in.”

I turn back around, and walk towards the door. I glance back to see that Aaron is in fact checking me out. I flip him off.

Once inside, I head into the kitchen and look in the fridge.

“Why don’t you put a cover-up on?” my mom asks, as she comes up behind me.

I ignore her and just shake my ass. I keep my head in the fridge. All we have is healthy shit, and I want sugar.

“Charlotte Ashley York, answer me when I talk to you.”

I roll my eyes, and turn around. “Since when does our family care about modesty? Was it before or after Candi posed naked for
Playboy
?”

“Your sister is an adult. I have no say over what she does.”

That is a BIG. FAT. LIE. My mother controls everything when it comes to Candi and Chloe. She’s just mad because I’m the one daughter she can’t control. I pull the string on my bikini top, and let it fall to the floor. If she’s going to be a bitch, I’ll just walk around the house naked.

“Char, put that back on. Aaron is out back. He could walk in and see you.”

How funny. She’s worried about
one guy
seeing me naked, but millions of guys will see Candi naked.

“I want some good food. All we have is vegetables and fruit.” I use my best little kid voice. “Why can’t we have
normal
food?”

My mom smiles as she looks at me. “You have abs.” For once she sounds like a proud parent.

“I’ve been working out with Candice four days a week. I want to look hot when school starts back.”

“With a body like that, you don’t need school.”

Should I be more creeped out that my mom is checking me out, or that she basically just told me I could drop out of school and make money with my body? “Mom, I am so not becoming a prostitute. Or a Playboy Bunny. I aspire to do more than pose naked and have guys jack off to pictures of me. Though I must say, the girls are liking the air. I’m thinking I should walk around topless more often.”

My mom rolls her eyes. “I’m talking about modeling. Or acting. You’ve always been such a drama queen. I could get you some auditions.”

Mom. The manager… She lives vicariously through Chloe and Candi. However, I am so
not
going to do anything that involves me being in the spotlight. I prefer the shadows.

“No thanks.”

“What’s taking so long?” I hear Aaron’s voice.

I go to grab my bathing suit top, but it’s too late. Aaron is standing there in the middle of my kitchen, staring at my boobs with a HUGE smile on his face. I cover up my boobs with my hands. “Turn around!”

Aaron turns around, and I put my top back on. My mom is smirking at me. Once my top is back on, Aaron turns back around.

“Aaron,” my mom says, “do you think Charlotte has a nice body?”

He looks shocked at my mom’s question, but he answers. He’s used to her weirdness. “Ugh… Yes. Very nice.”

“Do you think she’d make a good model?”

Aaron looks at me. I’m glaring at him. He knows that he better answer this question right or I will be pissed. He turns back to my mom. “Well, she definitely has the body of a model, but she’s too smart to waste it. She should probably do something that acquires a few more brain cells.”

This pisses my mom off. “Modeling is art. It takes a lot of talent and skill. It isn’t a
waste
of brain cells, as you say.”

I grab Aaron’s hand. “Come on. We’ll go grab something somewhere else. We have like no junk food.”

“We’re having dinner at seven. Don’t eat too much!” My mom yells after me. “And put on a cover-up!”

Gah. My mom really does think I’m a slut. I’m obviously not going to a restaurant in a bikini.

7pm

Dinner with the fam…

Candi is late for family dinner. As always.

Tonight’s family dinner is at a fancy restaurant in Beverly Hills. On the way inside, paparazzi snap a bunch of photos of me. Which I don’t get. I’m not the celebrity. WHY PHOTOGRAPH ME?

At least I look cute tonight. I actually fixed my hair. My dirty blonde hair is naturally wavy. I usually don’t worry about fixing it, because I’m always surfing. It gets frizzy in the water, but I don’t care. Tonight, I put mousse on it to keep it from frizzing. I decide maybe I should care more often.

I’m wearing a new dress. It’s a beautiful aqua color, and it goes off my left shoulder. I’m also wearing a matching pair leather pumps. They’re open-toed. I just got a pedicure, so my toes look good. Maybe I’m not as pretty as Chloe and Candice, but still… It is a requirement to look hot at all family dinners. I swear my mom scores us.

“You look very pretty tonight,” Mom tells me.

Uh oh.

This is like the second compliment I’ve gotten from my mom today. She must want something.

“You do look adorable, Char,” Chloe tells me. “Seriously, I miss my teenage body.”

I laugh at this. Chloe has a great body. She works out like five hours everyday. And she
does
have a teenage body. Well, except her boobs are bigger than the average teenager. I’m jealous of her boobs. She’s the lucky one in the family that didn’t have to have surgery. But I’m not jealous enough to actually have surgery. I’d rather keep it real.

Finally, Candice walks in.

She’s wearing a super-short dress. Like it’s so short that when she sits down I’m sure the whole world will see her vagina. It’s tight, and hugs her curves in just the right spots. She’s also wearing a pair of six-inch heels, and I’m wondering how she hasn’t broken an ankle in them.

“Please tell me you’re wearing underwear,” Chloe says to her. “I really don’t want to be seen with you when you pull a Britney Spears.”

I laugh. Hard. I can’t help it. I swear Chloe and I are kindred spirits.

Candi glares at the two of us.

“Don’t listen to them. You’re beautiful,” my mom tells her. My mom
always
sides with Candi. She will drag the family name to the ground, and my mother will be cheering her on the whole time.

My phone vibrates, so I pull it out. Candi and Mom are too busy talking about how beautiful Candi is to notice anyway. Not that it would matter. Before this dinner is over all four of us will have our phones out texting other people… We’re close like that.

Landon:
Hey, babe. Sorry about earlier. I was joking about your ass. It’s really nice.

Me:
Whatever. I’m sure you’ll find a way to make it up to me.

Landon:
Are you coming to the show tonight?

Me:
Sure. I’ll be there right after family dinner. More centerfold talk I’m sure. (Eye roll).

Landon:
LOL. Have fun. See you soon. And be prepared to stay the night.

Me:
Not the whole night. I am surfing early tomorrow. But I will make up for earlier.

Landon:
Works for me. See you soon, sexy.

I smile at his text. That’s the Landon that I know. He’s sweet. And
totally
head over heels in love with me. He usually treats me like a princess, so I will overlook his behavior lately. I’m sure it’s just a phase.

“You texting Landon?” Chloe asks me.

“Yep. He was asking if I was going to come to his show tonight. His band is playing.”

“Oh right. I forgot about his band,” Chloe says. “Following in his big brother’s footsteps…”

I nod.

“Is it bad that I’m jealous of a seventeen year old’s relationship?”

“You’re too busy for a boyfriend.”

“It doesn’t mean that I don’t want one.” Chloe sighs.

“Boyfriends are overrated.”

She changes the subject. “So I heard Mom has
big plans
for you.”

This makes me roll my eyes. “Mom’s not happy unless she is controlling and living out her own dreams through all of us.”

“What do you want to do with your life?”

“I don’t know. I’m seventeen. I want to graduate high school, maybe go to college, then I’ll figure it out. I do know that being an actress or a model isn’t my dream.”

Chloe grins, and I can tell she’s proud of me. “You were always the smartest of us all. You could follow in Dad’s footsteps and become a lawyer. He would be very proud of you.”

“That would totally piss Mom off.”

I look over at Mom. She’s hanging onto every word that Candice is saying. And I so wish
that my mom was like that with me. But she’s not. And I’m not about to take off my clothes to get her attention.

Well, I guess I technically did take off my clothes to get her attention. The sad part is it worked.

Ugh.

My family is all kinds of screwed up.

11pm

Private show.

After dinner, I go to Landon’s show. I miss the first half, but I get there in time to watch the last half.

Landon’s band really isn’t that good, but I’m too good of a girlfriend to tell him that he sucks. So I lie and I support him. I tell him that he’s awesome. Because one day, with a lot of practice, I think he could be. Though, I don’t think he’s dedicated enough to apply himself. Either way, I’ll be here for him.

After the show, we go straight to Landon’s house. We usually hang out with the band, but Landon says he simply can’t wait any longer to have sex with me.

“Are you ready for your private show?” Landon asks as we get up to his bedroom.

I’m trying to remember the last time Landon and I hung out without having sex. And I can’t. It’s been quite a few months since we’ve just hung out and talked. And it makes me sad to admit that. I hope that we aren’t drifting apart.

He pulls me closer to him, and puts his arms around me.

“Let’s go outside. We can dance under the stars on the beach,” I say.

Landon and I have never danced together. Even when we went to homecoming together he wouldn’t dance with me. Then he complained when I danced with Aaron.

Maybe Aaron was right. Maybe Landon has always
been a jerk, and I’m just now noticing.

“You know I don’t dance,” he says. “Can’t we just have sex? I’m horny and I’m tired.”

“Can we talk first?”

Landon rolls his eyes, but sits on his chair. “Sure, Char. What do you want to talk about?”

“Us. Why don’t we ever do anything besides have sex?” I ask.

“What are you talking about? We totally went to lunch today. And last week we went to dinner three times.”

“That’s not what I meant. All we do is eat and have sex. We don’t ever really go on dates. Or talk.”

“I’m not seeing the problem.” Landon sounds annoyed. Like really annoyed.

And maybe I am being stupid. Maybe I am expecting too much out of a relationship. I’m honestly lucky that I have Landon. He’s sexy. He’s a great kisser. And he’s not overly clingy like my last boyfriend. He lets me hang out with all my friends.

Well, at first he did have a problem with Aaron. He said I shouldn’t spend so much time with him. But I set him straight pretty quick. He doesn’t complain as much as he used it.

Screw it.

Landon wants to have sex. And it has been a couple of days. I’m kind of horny.

I take off my dress, and pull Landon onto the bed with me. I kiss him hard, showing him just how bad I want him.

And then he shows me how bad he wants me too.

SATURDAY, JULY 27

9am

Surprise.

The next morning, I decide I should be a good girlfriend. I skip surfing and instead decide to surprise Landon. I run by his favorite coffee shop and get us both a coffee before showing up at his house. He will probably be asleep, but I know the perfect way to wake him up.

I don’t knock on Landon’s door. His mom and dad are never home, but when they are they don’t mind that I come and go as I please. They love me. And I really like them too. They’re always so nice. They’re what I always picture when I wonder what my life would be like if I had
normal
parents.

I look cute today. I’m wearing a layered sundress. The top layer is white, the middle layer has a thin black pattern, and the bottom of the dress is blue with white and orange roses. I am also wearing a pair of Toms. Landon says he
despises
flip flops. Which sucks, because that is what I normally wear, but today is about him — not about me. And today I am going to be a good girlfriend. Because despite how crappy our relationship has been lately, I still want to be with him. I want to work it out.

When I get to his bedroom door, I walk right in.

But Landon isn’t in bed alone.

His arms are wrapped around another girl. Not just
any
girl. It’s Ashlee Vernon. The school slut. They’re both asleep, but more importantly, they’re both NAKED.