Normally, Mal would have shied away from that, but Caroline had good taste and sense, and it might not be so awful to let her have her way. It would have been hard to fight her at any rate.
Sophie was finally satisfied with her look and turned to Jenna for approval, which was immediately given, not that Sophie actually cared. And Bethany… Well, she just whined, but once Brittany, Alexis, and Jenna convinced her she was perfect, she suddenly loved it.
“Blessed day,” Mal groaned, capping her camera.
“Did you actually take any pictures?” Caroline muttered as she got up and came beside her.
Mal lifted a brow. “That is for me alone to know.”
Caroline smiled and scrunched Mal’s loose bun. “I’m glad you’re here. You’re like the only real person in this bunch.”
“Tom’s sisters seem nice,” Mal pointed out.
Caroline shrugged. “Yeah, but they don’t hang with us, so it’s not the same.”
Just then, Grace appeared with a tray of sandwiches and brought them over to where Caroline and Mal were.
“I know the others are on some bizarre fruit-and-nuts diet or something,” she whispered, looking around conspicuously, “but I couldn’t stand it. I asked Rosa in the kitchen to whip up something. Y’all mind turkey and cheddar?”
Did Mal mind? She’d been dying for real food, anything with more calories than she could count on her fingers and toes. Despite her Nutella and Froot Loops stash, she felt on the verge of starving all the time. She was tempted to hug Grace, but she resisted the urge and just smiled and took one.
“Bless your heart, Grace,” Caroline said heavily as she took one as well. “You always were my favorite of Jenna’s friends.”
Grace smiled and scratched self-consciously at her own updo. “I’m all about figure, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not gonna starve for it.”
“Why is the photographer eating?” Sophie said with a sniff. “We are over here. Come on, do your job.”
Mal slowly turned to face her and raised a brow, which was mirrored rather superiorly. “I am doing my job,” she said quietly. “And one part of that involves not passing out from hunger when I’m taking pictures of you. Don’t worry, Sophie. I have plenty of shots of you already.”
Sophie blinked in uncertainty, and Mal felt satisfied about that. No doubt Sophie didn’t expect Mal to respond, only to obey or perhaps to fight, but Mal had dealt with tough customers in the past, and she was professional about it. Plus, there was the fact that Sophie didn’t know what shots Mal had of her, and Mal’s complete control over them just had to be unsettling for a perfectionist like her.
“What about me?” Brittany asked from behind her. “You didn’t get me without any makeup, did you?”
“I’ve got the ones of you,” Taryn said in her best I’m-trying-not-to-kill-you voice. “No worries. You look great.”
“Not in that dress, I won’t,” Brittany pouted, looking in the mirror and frowning at her hair again. “I look like a pageant runner-up. Are we gonna look this tacky and cheap on Saturday?”
Grace gasped from somewhere behind Mal. Taryn made a subtle choking motion with her hands behind the girls, and Mal only blinked. Jenna looked embarrassed beyond belief, and her mouth worked as if she didn’t know what to say. Mal wasn’t surprised. Jenna was a nice girl. Caroline, on the other hand, cracked her knuckles, which caused Sophie to look at her in a sort of disgusted surprise.
“Jenna,” Mal said with what was hopefully a kind expression, “if you don’t mind, I have an appointment with the resort.”
Jenna looked like she wanted to cry, but she nodded. “Of course, sweetie. Go ahead. See you at dinner?”
Mal smiled tightly and nodded. “At the lodge. I’ll be there.”
“Are you going with Hunter?” Sophie asked with another look.
Every girl in the room froze and looked at Mal, mixtures of interest and horror written on most faces. Jenna and Caroline looked surprised, and Taryn was wide-eyed and terrified.
Mal shrugged and picked up her bag. “Not sure, Sophie. All I know is I’m supposed to be at the office in twenty minutes, and someone is supposed to take me to some locations they think would work. If it is Hunter, I’ll tell him you said hi.” She turned and left the room without looking at anyone else, her face absolutely flaming.
Three minutes later, she got a text from Taryn:You are my idol.
Follow-up texts soon came from her cousins. Caroline sent three thumbs-up emojis, and Jenna’s was a longer, very detailed apology that Mal did not have time or patience to actually read.
That house was going to kill her, and if she had to do any more abrupt subject changes to avoid living in a remake of Mean Girls, she would consider vaulting off the third-story terrace.
She was relieved to be going out to the resort and taking pictures, but why did Hunter have to be the one taking her? If people suspected how much time they had been spending together the last two days, and how much she was starting to like it, things would only get uglier. Despite how much she hated girls like Sophie, that sort of high-end clientele was very influential. She needed them to like her in order to achieve her goals—not have them spreading rumors about her and feeling resentful.