“Hey, Boss,” Gary says.
“She’s in there, look,” the girl tells me, pointing back to the house.
Squinting through the crowd, I spot that vile Christina girl in the dining room, and I sigh with relief when I see Harper inside.
“Everything okay, Boss?” Gary asks.
“Yeah. Sorry. False alarm.”
I end the call and walk up to the door, but it’s locked.
“Anyone got a key for this thing?” I ask.
Most of the crowd are congregating next to the dining room window, so I barge my way through.
“Move!” I shout. “Back off!”
With my nose just an inch from the glass, I look up to see Christina on the table. I then lower my gaze to find Harper with her hand pressed to her mouth.
“Harper!” I slap the window and she slowly turns her head. “Are you okay?”
She shakes her head as Christina clinks a spoon against a glass and yells, “Attention!”
The background music lowers and everyone gathers closer.
“Harper?” I shout. “What the fuck is happening?”
She doesn’t look at me.
“Dear diary,” Christina says and my heart sinks. “And don’t forget I’m supposed to be Harper. So you’ll all have to imagine I’m a loser in a frumpy green dress.”
Everyone laughs and I watch a tear slip from Harper’s eye.
“Dear diary. Dad never wants to hang out with me. Sometimes I feel like he doesn’t love me. Since Mom died…”
The nasty bitch cups a hand to her mouth and yells, “Don’t forget she’s an orphan! Probably why she’s wearing that dress. No mother to tell her she looks like
Shrek
! Daddy issues, much?”
Harper lunges for the diary, but Becca yanks on her hair and pulls her backward. I clench my fist and punch the glass as tears stream down Harper’s cheeks.
“Fuck this,” I hiss.
Buttons fly everywhere as I yank open my shirt, and the crowd beside me widens.
“The old guy is buff!” some college kid yells as I wrap my six-hundred-dollar shirt around my right hand. “That’s how you wear a tank top!”
Shrugging off the drunk girl who thinksthis is a good time to stroke my arm, I pound my fist into the glass.
The window shakes, so I hit it harder.
Shrieks and gasps echo behind me as the shattered window falls like chunks of twinkling snow. I punch away the excess glass and all eyes turn to me.
Gripping the wooden frame, I lunge forward, spinning a full three-sixty before landing on my feet.
“Holy shit,” some kid yells. “Who invited
Batman?”
“He’s bleeding,” someone else says.
I look down at my fist, the gray shirt fabric now painted red.
Christina smirks at me before flicking open a new page.
“Let’s read yesterday’s entry, shall we?” she says.
I step closer to the table. She’s so fucking lucky she’s not a guy because she wouldn’t have any teeth left by now.
Christina raises her voice as she reads the diary. “Dad’s friend Mr. Collins came to rescue me from some pervert trucker guy tonight. He’s a total DILF. That stands for ‘Dad I’d like to fuck,’ by the way.”
Laughter erupts throughout the crowd.
“He’s changed so much since the last time I saw him and?-“
“That’s enough,” I hiss.
Christina rolls her eyes. “He must work outa lot because he’s so ripped. His arms are enormous. He has this scorpion tattoo wrapped around his huge bicep…”
Dozens of eyes turn to me, but I keep mine locked on this nasty excuse for a human being.
“Problem is, he’s also a total psycho,” she reads. “I honestly thought he was going to shoot the pervert trucker in the head.”
Christina laughs, but when she turns to me, her puffy lips flatten when she spots the gun against my hip. She gulps hard before turning back to Harper.
“Not like your DILF is going to shoot me with three hundred witnesses.”
Don’t count on it. I’m trying so hard not to let the red mist descend inside me, but if it does then I couldn’t give a shit about witnesses.
“Fantasizing about fucking old men is so nasty, Harper.” Christina laughs. “No wonder no one talks to you.”
Becca nudges Harper with her elbow. “I think this bitch is in heat or something. Is all this talk about your weird grandpa fetish turning you on?”
“Three,” I state. “You have to the count of three to close that fucking diary and get your fat ass off of that table.”
Christina pulls a mocking scared face. “What are you going to do, Grandpa? And you’d love to get your hands on this ass.”
“Two,” I state.
“Whatever.” She turns back to Harper. “Maybe your mom killed herself because she was just too embarrassed havingyou as a daughter. Maybe she?-“
“One.”
I grab the table leg and snatch it upward. Christina tries to keep her balance, so I lift higher. With her arms flailing, she falls and bounces on her ass before sliding to the floor in a heap.
“Jealousy will get you nowhere, kid,” I tell her, grinning.
Christina climbs to her feet and attempts to flatten her wild hair. “Jealous? Ofyou?”
“Well, you did offer yourself on a plate the second I walked in.”
“Did not!” she shouts as I step closer to her. “He’s a liar.”
“I heard you!” a drunk guy yells. Christina glares at him until he cowers and raises a hand. “Maybe I got it wrong.”
“But it’s notmeyou’re jealous of,” I tell her. “It’s Harper.”
I glance at my best friend’s daughter. She’s still standing there with her hand covering her mouth, tears rolling into her fingers.
“That’s why you made up that diary entry,” I add.
“I didn’t make it up! I read it word for word. And why would
I be jealous ofher?”
I nod at Harper and turn back to this sorority queen.
Think, Chris. Think. Staring into Christina’s fake blue contact lenses, I hear the music playing on the stereo and smile.
“Because you heard who she was on a date with last night,” I say. “That’s why you’re jealous. And that’s why you made up that diary entry. So pathetic.”
Christina’s eyes grow wide. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”
“Just some jealous, catty, fake little bully who shows up at Harper’s party and takes advantage of her kindness.” Everyone gasps. “Because Harper here was out on a date with Billy McVane…”
From the corner of my eye, I see Harper lower her hand, and the whole crowd frowns.
Christina laughs. “What?”
A kid in a baseball cap turns the stereo up. “This is Billy McVane!” he yells. “He’s the lead singer of Fire Life!”
“I know who he is,” I shout, still staring at Christina. “Because Harper was out on a date with him last night.”
“They’re lying!” Christina yells as I pull out my phone.
“Of course they are!” Becca agrees.
“Fine,” I say, hitting call. “You want proof? I’ll give you proof.”
Fire Life recorded a music video in one of our clubs last week, and now I’m hoping he picks up. Five seconds later, I breathe a sigh of relief when I’m greeted by the wide grin of Billy McVane.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.