Building on Lies (5 page)

“ Sweet dreams, Nellie," was the last thing he wrote. I switched my phone off because I knew I wasn’t going to hear from him again.

My mother poked her head in the room just then.

“ Nellie, how was the mall? Any job prospects?" she asked.

I shook my head. “ Nope. But I’m going to try again tomorrow”.

My mother cocked her head to the side quizzically. “ I’m surprised no one has hired you yet. With Christmas coming, I know a lot of the stores need seasonal workers.”

I shrugged. “ Well, the Heather and Fern store said they’d get back to me”.

“ Heather and Fern? That’s the place that sells candles and soap, right?" my mom asked.

“ Yup! I just love all the soaps in that shop. They smell so good. I’d really love to learn how to make my own scented soaps actually," I said, the lie rolling easily off of my tongue.

“ Did you see Joaquim there? He called for you. Ro told him you were at the mall. I think he told Ro he was going to try and find you there," my mother said, but I couldn’t tell if she’d processed the soap making thing.

“ Yeah, I saw him. We’re going to the Winter Dance together”.

My mother smiled happily. “ Oh, good! I really like Joaquim. He’s such a nice boy. Well, good night you two. I’m going to be gone before you wake up. I’ve got a huge project over in Ardsley Park again, and I won’t be back until late tomorrow night”.

“ Night Mom!" I chirped.

“
Boa noite
, Daisy!" Ro said, in our native Portuguese.

When my Mom left the room, Ro turned to me, with an eyebrow raised.

“ Soap making?" she asked.

“ Never mind," I said. I’d have to explain later.

Chapter 3

Ever since I started dating…OK, sneaking around with Channing…I’d been getting up an hour earlier than I’m supposed to get ready for school.
Why? Because I’ve figured out it takes me an exactly one hour to look as good as Samantha St. John, that’s why.

And it’s not because I’m this atrociously unattractive girl who only looks good after an hour of carefully applied make-up. Actually, I’m really very pretty, even though it’s taken me awhile to accept it. I’d spent most of my childhood as a super short, super thin little girl with brown eyes too big for my face, and bushy brown tangled hair.

My looks didn’t change until I hit my teens, and I grew to a decent five foot three, developed some curves, and put enough weight to go from skinny to slender. Now, at sixteen, I'm petite, with a nice shape most of my friends admired. My eyes, which always had a deer in headlight look when I was a kid, grew into my face. I learned to enhance them even more by arching my brows and applying liner and mascara. My hair underwent the best transformation of all, going from a wild mess to soft brown waves that rarely ever tangled or frizzed.

Ro says I look just like Rachel Bilson, the television actress, and I have to admit there is a huge resemblance between us. I’ve been pretty lucky looks-wise.

What makes me not so lucky is I go to school with lots of pretty girls. Cute, RICH girls, girls from wealthy Ardsley Park, the next town over from ours. Ro liked to point out not all of them were natural beauties like me, but what did that matter? They had the money to buy what they weren't born with.

And even more unlucky for me, Samantha St. John was rich
and
naturally pretty. I’m sure it didn’t take her any longer than five minutes to get up in the morning and look fabulous. She had all the clothes, shoes, and bags to go along with her beauty. For her, looking good was probably effortless.

Since I’m far from rich, and I don’t have designer anything, looking as good as the girls from Ardsley requires a greater effort on my part. My first half hour was spent applying all kinds of lotions and toners and moisturizers to make sure my somewhat oily skin doesn’t break out in zits. Samantha St. John’s zit problems were probably taken care of by a private dermatologist, but Nellie Depaola had to hope Neutrogena and Aveeno cleansers worked their magic.

Then, ten minutes went on applying my make-up. I may be naturally pretty, but naturally pretty doesn’t cut it when you’re up against someone like Samantha St. John. Samantha’s face looked like a personal make up artist helped her out every morning, because her makeup always looked flawless. She probably bought all of her products at Sephora and could afford professional make up brushes. Me, I was stuck with stuff from Target, brushes from the drug store dollar section, and the help of You Tube videos.

My last half hour before school was spent trying to come up with designer style outfits using my bargain priced clothes. This was the hardest task of all. How could you make a Forever 21 dress look like a designer dress? Or my thirty dollar Old Navy jeans look like three hundred dollar jeans? How about my Target brand sandals? How could I pass those off as boutique shoes? Did I have the right scarf to match? Could you tell my accessories came from the clearance rack?

There was a time, last year to be exact, where I used to get up fifteen minutes before I needed to be at school. I'd tie my hair into a ponytail, and throw on a tee shirt and clean jeans, and be on my way. And makeup? Scented lip balm was as fancy as I got.

That was before I started seeing Channing. Ro blamed Channing for my transformation from grungy gal to designer chick, but it wasn't entirely his fault. I mean, when he met me I was cowering in a closet! And even after we really got to know each other, I was still wearing my faded jeans and hoodies.

It was when I saw what I was up against in Samantha St. John that I decided being pretty but plain wasn’t good enough. Every time I passed Samantha in the halls, with her glossy makeup and stylish clothes, I felt like maybe…just maybe…the reason Channing wouldn’t leave her for me was because I wasn’t rich, country club material.

And now, despite knowing the real reason Channing won’t break up with Samantha, I still feel like I need to be just as spectacular looking as she is. Even if it means waking up before the sun has even risen to achieve her level of spectacular.

What’s kind of tragic is Samantha doesn’t even know about me. I’m not on her radar at all. She walks past me in the halls and has no idea I’m copying her style and seeing her guy. I try not to think about how pathetic it is. Maybe competing with Samantha would feel worthwhile if she knew how much I’m trying to take her place. But she has no idea, and I’m sort of frightened to think about what would happen if she did know.

I was trying to decide whether to wear my white tank top and matching sweats ( they looked just like a set Samantha wore last week) or a boho style dress when Ro came up behind me. She reached over and grabbed a black top and blue jeans, and trudged over to the bathroom.

If only it were that easy for me!

I decided on the boho dress because it was easier to dress up than a sweat suit, when Ro informed me Joaquim was going to pick us up for school.

“ What? You didn’t tell me that?" I said, fiddling through my jewelry box for something to match the dress.

“ Yeah, I sort of forgot to mention it last night. He wants to take us to the mall right after school so we can get our outfits for the Winter Dance," she said, with a shrug.

“ Ro! I don’t want to go to the mall with Joaquim. How awkward is that?" I cried, putting on a whole bunch of bangles. I hated wearing bangles because my wrists were so small the bangles always slid off, but they were what best matched the dress.

“ What do you mean, awkward? You’ve known Joaquim all your life," Ro said. “And you said you’re going to the Winter Dance with him, so why not shop together, to make sure your outfits match?”

“ I just don’t want to give Joaquim the wrong idea," I said.

“ Oh, but it’s OK to let your mom think he’s your boyfriend so you can use him as an excuse. You should hear yourself sometimes, Nellie”. Ro rolled her eyes. She pulled her long black hair into a ponytail, then looked at my outfit, not bothering to hide her distaste.

“ Maybe you should wear something more comfortable if we’re going to the mall later," she suggested.

I ignored her, and gave myself one more look in my full length mirror. The dress was pretty, but so not my style. I’ve always felt it was kind of ridiculous to go to school dressed like you’re going to a club, but it’s what all the rich girls at my school did. So, it was what I was going to do, too.

I ran my fingers through my hair to fluff it up a bit, then searched for my bag. There was a honk outside. Ro looked out of our bedroom window.

“ It’s Joaquim! And he picked up Tommy! Yay!" she said, her sharp face breaking into a huge smile. She was so happy to be with Tommy. It made me happy for her. If only she could feel the same about me and Channing.

“ I thought you and Tommy already have what you’re going to wear," I said, as we made our way down the stairs and out of the house.

“ I still need to buy my shoes and maybe a necklace," Ro said, waving at Tommy and Joaquim.

Joaquim’s eyes lit up when he saw me, and I tried to match his enthusiastic smile. I’ve known Joaquim since kindergarten, and I swear he’s liked me ever since then. In grade school, he always used to follow me around, trying to share his bubble gum or candy with me, and invited me over to his house to play video games, or play in his backyard. By junior high, he’d switched to asking if I wanted to go bike riding or roller blading. He was always including me in his plans, and I was always happy to go along. Joaquim was a sweet guy, and fun to be with.

When we got to high school, I started going with him and Ro and Tommy on double dates to the movies or out bowling. Joaquim always hinted he’d be more than happy to go out with me without our friends tagging along. I have to admit, I was kind of flattered by the constant attention. I hadn’t been very interested in ten year old Joaquim, but sixteen year old Joaquim was a lot better looking. With his long dark hair, brown eyes, and tall athletic body, he was definitely one of the hotter boys in our group. We’d flirted back and forth all through freshmen and sophomore year, and everyone thought we’d end up officially dating this year, our junior year.

But that was before I fell for Channing at the start of junior year. Channing and I began seeing each other in late September, and I’d been avoiding Joaquim ever since. I know it confused poor Joaquim, because up until I’d met Channing, I’d been hanging out with Joaquim, even kissing him. Then, I just sort of dropped him cold.

And it’s really too bad, because Joaquim is a nice guy. We have so much in common…from being Portuguese American, growing up in the same town with the same circle of friends. We hung out at the same places since we were kids. Our parents are also childhood friends. Better still, his best friend and my best friend were dating.

But my heart belonged to Channing, and everything about Joaquim paled in comparison. I gave him a half hearted smile as I slid in beside him. He was driving his Dad’s pick up truck. It was a pretty cool double cabin truck, and I was surprised his Dad was letting him drive it.

I told him so, and he said, “ He’s actually buying a new one. So, he’s letting me drive this one until he does. He wants to see if I can be responsible”.

“ That’s so cool, Joaquim," I said, happy for him. Most guys in our side of town had to make do with riding the school bus to school, or walking wherever else they needed to get to.

“ All the girls are going to go crazy for you in this truck," I teased.

“ There’s only one girl I want to drive crazy," he said pointedly. I blushed and pretended to search for something in my bag.

Ro saved me by mentioning the Lexington High Winter Dance. “ I can’t believe they’re going to have it at the Ardsley Grand Hotel this year! How cool is that?”

“ Not cool, actually," Tommy grumbled. “ Not all of us live in Ardsley! I don’t see why they can’t have it at the high school like they do every year. It makes me feel like they don’t want us Cove kids at the dance this year”.

“ Aw, I’m sure that’s not the case, Tommy," I said, defensively. “ I think this year the school decided to have the Winter dance at a nicer place than the gymnasium. Last years dance had such a big turnout, it was almost as big as senior prom. I don’t think they’re trying to keep anyone out, when so many students look forward to it”.

“ Yeah? Then how come they’re charging for the dance this year?” Tommy asked, sounding annoyed. “ One hundred dollars! It’s always been free before. I’m telling you, they’re just trying to figure out ways to keep Cove kids out. I wouldn’t be surprised if they held senior prom at the Ardsley Country club, and the only way to go would be if you have membership!”

Ro and Joaquim laughed, but I kept quiet. The whole Cove kids against Ardsley kids never bothered me before. A few months before, I probably would have agreed with him. My feelings had changed since I started dating Channing. He’d proved to me not all Ardsley kids were stuck up snobs.

Our town is a coastal town in northern Massachusetts. It’s divided into two sections. There’s Ardsley Park, the area where most of the wealthy residents lived. Ardsley Park consisted of sprawling gated mansions and smooth tree-lined streets. It boasted a huge, elegant country club, private golf course, private beaches, as well as the historic Ardsley Grand Hotel, a luxury hotel built in the past century.