LISA
“What the heck is going on in the dorms?” There was a crowd gathered outside as we turned the corner, and my phone rang just in time. “Hello!”
“Hello, Lisa Davenport? This is Roadshow with your car. We’re five minutes away.”
“I’ll be here, thank you.” My heart raced with angst and anticipation like I hadn’t been preparing for this forever. I was nervous as heck.
“Who’s that?”
“Our car is here.” I clapped my hands like a three-year-old and waited for him to come around and lift me down from the truck. A good size crowd had gathered already, and I felt some of my old fears on the rise. One look at Cody’s face was enough to put that to bed, though, and surprisingly, it was at that moment that I realized, truly realized how big a part he’d played in the changes in me.
Cody shelters me without even seeming to. It kinda reminds me of my dad when I was much younger, the way he’d hover outside the classroom door my first week in pre-school and even later until I was old enough to notice. It was the same feeling, almost, that warmth of knowing someone cared. With Cody, it was a whole lot more because of what it does to my heart.
He took his sweet time putting me down, which worked well with my plans even though I’d forgotten them for a moment. It’s easy to get distracted with him around, that’s for sure, but the crowd’s excitement sorta rubbed off on me. News had spread about the car in specific circles to suit my purposes. Like Sherman directing his troops, I’d set his friends to work getting that particular job done, and they did not disappoint. I knew none of the people gathered there, but someone else did.
Even some of the sisters had shown up, thanks to my dropping hints at the last minute. I’d made sure to choose the ones who I knew were not too fond of Susie and, more importantly, were always dying for information about Cody and me. It’s only after joining the sorority that I came to see just how popular my guy is with the ladies.
No one else had ever come right out and told me to my face, and Jess and Alexis had only shared campus gossip in the beginning about how hot he was and how sought after. But these sisters, maybe because we were now pledged to the same sorority, who knows, were bold and brave. They weren’t nasty or anything, and most of them had boyfriends of their own. But neither were they shy about letting their admiration for all things Cody be known.
I waved at two of the girls I’d just left at the meeting; they were here for drama. Did I mention that I let it be known that I couldn’t drive and that Cody was the one charged with teaching me in my new luxury car? I didn’t even know that many females knew the difference between a G-Class and a Cabriolet, down to the MSRP.
Maybe Susie shouldn’t have let her obsession with Cody be known, or she should’ve been nicer to these girls because they hadn’t needed much prodding to get their minds on the right track. Almost to a man, their first thought had been, ‘wait until Susie finds out,’ which was just what I wanted. So, here we are, with everything in place for the opening act of this new saga.
“I bet you Steve gabbed about your car, and that’s why all these people are here. How did they know it was coming now, though?”
“Who cares? They should be here any minute. Are you excited?” He shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t, like I hadn’t sat next to him the one hundred times he pulled the model up online to make my ears bleed with stats and whatnot that I didn’t understand, but just liked sitting beside him for stolen hugs and kisses.
I was more excited now that the car was almost here than I had been in the days leading up to today. That’s because I have no real interest in the thing other than for the purpose of getting Cody something that Susie would envy. But now that it was almost here, I saw the merit in it.
It’s a fine line I’m walking, to be sure, doing things like this for face value, so I have to keep reminding myself to be human and not lose myself, lest I become that which I hate. Plus, it’s not like we don’t need a new car anyway, right? Some days I think I’m not cut out for this mean girl stuff because my conscience kicks in at the oddest times.
Cody frowned at his friends, and I pretended not to know why the crowd was there or that I’d seen Susie hidden away amidst them. And by the time the enclosed vehicle with the emblem announcing who they were pulled up, I’d seriously forgotten everything and everyone but Cody. This truly was for him, after all, and not just an overly expensive way to make Susie’s day as horrible as I could.