“This is Devlin’s shirt?”
“Course it is.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course I’d have the shitty luck to walk into his room.”
“He left you here?”
“Yeah,” I say. “He told me to run home. I’m a literal dog to him.”
“Oh, yeah,” she says. “You are the Darling Dog, aren’t you? Sweetie or somethin’ like that?”
“Crystal, actually.”
“Well, Crystal Actually,” she drawls. “Believe it or not, I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat.”
I snort at that. “Oh, right. The mayor’s daughter wants to be dragged around a party in her bra with a leash around her neck and barked at when she walks by.”
“Yeah,” she says. “I got it all, don’t I?”
“Sorry,” I say, feeling shitty for assuming to know anything about her. To her, maybe it really does look like I have it all. Four protective brothers, a wealthy family, and the one thing she really wants—Devlin Darling’s undivided attention.
“It’s okay,” Dolly says glumly. “Everyone thinks that.”
“If I could trade with you, I would,” I assure her.
She laughs quietly. “No, you wouldn’t.”
“Well, it’s not really an option, so there’s no use arguing about it,” I say. “I’m sure you have your reasons for wanting Devlin, but trust me when I say that I don’t.”
“They all say that,” she says with a sigh.
“Who? Hisdogs?”
“Yeah,” she says. “One of the guys usually throws them a pity fuck as a kind of consolation for all they had to go through. And the thing is, they end up wishing they could be the dog again when their turn is over.”
“Wait, were you a Darling Dog?”
“Oh, honey,” she says. “Bless your heart.”
“Is that a no?”
“Gosh no. I was the original Darling Doll. That’s why people call it that. After me.” She sits up straight when she says this, as if she’s so proud that the Darling boys’ groupies are named after her.
“I’m assuming no one can go from Dog to Doll and vice versa.”
“Course not,” she says. “Though the Dogs keep dreaming one day they will.”
“Uh huh,” I say. “And what exactly is the difference between one of thesedogs,who chase after the Darlings wanting to get back their position as whipping boy, and the dolls who chase after them wanting basically the same thing?”
“To the Darlings? There’s probably not much difference. I don’t know. A Darling Dog might last for a whole year, or a whole semester. A Doll is lucky to get a month or two. I bet you’ll know Devlin better than most people when he’s done with you.”
“And yet, I’ll be scum to the rest of the school. Pathetic, worthless trash that he got tired of and threw away. While you get a whole legion of groupies named after you.”
“I supposed it’s a matter of perceived value,” she concedes. “A girl they date has value afterwards. If she’s good enough for a Darling, just about any guy wants her. A Dog is all broken when they finish with her. She’s forever ruined for other guys.”
twenty
A tapping on my window wakes me. I sit up and rub my eyes, my mind heavy with sleep and confusion. It’s not even fully light outside. I’m about to lie back down when the tapping sounds again.