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helped launch this complex plan—nearby took pounds of pressure
off my chest.
    Looking surprised at how
easily I agreed, she twisted her head to the side, causing her mane of brown
hair to cascade over one shoulder. “Really?”
    “Really.” I shoveled another
bite of yogurt in my mouth, already feeling thoughts of Oliver evaporate from
my brain. “When are you going to go get your stuff?”
    Pen’s eyes crinkled when she
grinned, and once again, I knew what she was going to say next. She was
impossibly easy to read, which I loved about her. The only thing I’d ever
regretted about our relationship was that it had taken so long for her to come
into my life.
    “I’ve got a couple bags
already in my trunk,” she announced, with a sheepish shrug. “Surprise, Gemma,
I’m all yours until you see this through and get your answers.”

Chapter 3
     
     
    “Gem?
Were you expecting a package from E & T?” Pen shouted, nearly causing me to
poke myself in the eye with the mascara wand. Her footsteps drew closer, and a
second later, the bathroom door flew open. She poked her head inside, holding
up a manila envelope, and heard its contents shift. “This was downstairs in
your mailbox. It’s from them , so I figured it might be important,” she said,
raising her voice slightly to be heard over the Anya Marina cover playing on my
phone.
    Moving my head to either side, I brushed
the pad of my thumb across the smooth screen to pause the song. “I doubt it. If
it were, they would’ve called already.”
    I’d replaced my phone the same day that
Oliver caused me to break it, but I’d splurged on an updated, shinier model in
deference to my new job in the land of all things fake. I was a habitual
message checker—both this phone and the one associated with my real life that I
kept in my nightstand drawer were looked at multiple times a day. There
definitely hadn’t been anything new from Emerson & Taylor.
    Dropping my mascara in the makeup bag
sitting between the double sinks, I faced Pen and took the envelope. Not even
glancing inside, I tossed it behind me on the counter beside my new iPhone.
“You’re not still worried about going to work, are you?” she asked
sympathetically.
    Returning my attention to the mirror, I
swallowed hard and then forced myself to take a few deep breaths. “I swear, I
wish I could’ve gotten this over with on Monday,” I admitted, rummaging around
in my cluttered makeup bag for my favorite lipstick—Hourglass’ Icon. “Nothing
blows more than having a few extra days to marinate in nervousness.”
    “Stop talking about marinating stuff,
you’re making me hungry,” she groaned and rubbed her stomach. “Besides, you’re
perpetually nervous. You’ll do fine with the stepmonster. Just don’t push her
down an elevator shaft or throw water on her.” She nodded down at the envelope.
“Make sure you open that thing. I’ve got to call my brother—he’s been bugging
my mother about me. Can you tell how excited I am about this call? I’m
practically throwing myself at my phone.”
    Finally spotting my lipstick, I plucked
it out of the bag. As I opened it, I caught Pen’s tart expression in the mirror
and held back a smile. “You’ll be fine.” After I carefully swiped the deep
cherry red color over my lips, I turned sideways to look at my best friend
head-on. “Make sure you tell Linc I said hello. No, wait—” I arched a light
brown eyebrow questioningly. “He knows you’re out here with me, right?”
    “Yep, told him you were out here
apartment sitting for one of your friends.”
    Shaking my head, I started to pull the
giant curlers from my pale blond hair. “Wow. That has to be the lamest excuse
I’ve ever heard.”
    “Whatever.” She shrugged her tattooed
shoulders. “He bought it, so it obviously wasn’t that bad.” Sucking in her
cheeks, she pulled her phone from the shallow pocket of her sweatpants. She
held it up for me to inspect, and I realized it was