Chapter 30: Chapter 30

"A frat?" Kyle asks, moving away from the table to put his dishes in the sink.

"Yes, a frat." Piper is adamant, and she and her clones are already dressed and standing around the dining room table.

Piper is making plans for tonight, but no one had told me that. Also, it looked like she hadn't told anyone that she wanted to go to a frat party.

"I thought you said Apex was where we were going," he said. Mark says with a narrowing of his eyes. Apex was a cheap downtown club for students. Just like a frat house, it was dark, loud, and had cheap drinks. It would be a million times grosser in a frat. It didn't interest me, especially since I knew that it would be full of first- and second-year students on a Friday night looking for something to do.

"I thought about it, but my sorority was invited, so I thought this might be a better plan." She says this with a happy face. "At least there won't be anyone hiding at the door."

"It might be for you." Kent mumbles something and puts his arms across his chest. "They charge a lot because they want one guy for every five girls at those parties."

Still, he did have a point. Five of the people going out tonight are guys, and it would be bad if our group got split up or something.

"Bring twenty dollars and you'll be fine." She shrugs, and I blink. That was a good amount to spend for a party at someone's house.

"This is a good place for a party." Mark tells us why. "If you invite a lot of people right now, we might be able to do something good in a few hours."

"I say let's do it." The kitchen is where Kyle says something. "We could start right away to make it party-proof."

"No!" Piper makes a point by stomping her foot like a child. "Tonight I planned for us to go to the frat, and that's what we're doing." When she says that, I just roll my eyes. "Call and text the girls you know and try to get as many of them as possible to come."

"Is this really something we need to do?" He sighs. "You four could go for a while, and then you could come back and join the party." When he tells her, she narrows her eyes and purses her lips.

"Mark, you and your other dumb roommates are bringing down the room." I raise my eyebrows when she says something really annoying. What did / do? "And Julianna, bring some money."

"What?" I say.

"Sometimes, they only let a few girls in for free, and you don't want to be one of them." She says this to me with a nasty smile.

"Whoa, that's wrong!" Mark says to her as he points at her.

"Piper, why would a frat say no?" As I ask, I cross my arms and lean back in my chair. I'm just curious about what she thinks. It won't bother me or anything; I just want to know what stupid, rude things are really going through her mind.

"Oh, I have no idea." She breathes out. "Maybe that wouldn't be a problem if you worked out, took care of your skin, and did your hair."

That woman.

The dining room is quiet, and it takes everything I have to not get mad or cry. I didn't like getting picked on for things I couldn't change, like my body, hair, and skin.

"What is the matter with you?" Kent asks Piper, who seems very angry, and I felt better. It was the first time I'd seen him really stand up for me. He was talking to me when I realized that he might have seen what a mistake Piper was. He may have been more serious than I thought when he said he didn't like her.

"No, that's all right." I say as I put my hands down on the table. "Piper, do you want to spice this up?" I just shrug and ask this.

"I like the sound of that." She says this while sitting in Kyle's chair and trying to look interested.

"I'm going to change my clothes, fix my hair, and put on a little more makeup." As I pick at my fingernails, I tell her this. "Hell, when I'm in there, maybe my pores will close and I'll lose ten pounds."

"It sounds like it was said before." She gives a head nod. "And not at all."

"If I can get into this frat party for free, we can have a party at my house." When I tell her, her smile fades just a little bit. "If you're right and I'm so ugly that they want me to pay, I'll give them $20 so we can go inside and dance with 18-year-olds all night."

This test was risky. If she was right and these frat guys thought I was too ugly to pass, I would probably want to stay in my room and cry all week. But I wasn't going to let her hurt my self-esteem for no good reason.

"Well, that doesn't seem fair, but I guess they'll take anyone." She says something, and my eyebrows go up and her smile falters.

"That's not what you just said." I tell her this while crossing my arms. "What do you worry about? If I do look as bad as you say, it should be easy, right?"

"Fine." She gives a shoulder shrug and moves her hair out of her face. "But how is this plan supposed to work? You're going up by yourself, right? Because that's weird, that never happens, and they always let a girl in who is alone."

"Not my problem, it wasn't even the bet." When I tell her, she puckers her lips.

"No, the original bet was that it couldn't be done with a group." Again, she brings it up, and I sigh. "But I'm in a giving mood right now, so you win the bet if you can take Kent and get him in for free."

"What?" At the same time, we say the same thing, and she nods.

"Yeah, you two hate each other, so good luck making someone believe you're close." She guffaws. "Plus, Kent is ten years old and is not in a fraternity."

"Who said you get to make the rules?" When I ask, she smiles.

"I always decide what the rules are, and that's my condition." She says, and I'm mad. "I win, and we go to the frat if Kent pays, if you pay, or if either of you gets turned away.

"That's a dumb idea, Julia." Kent keeps babbling, and I shake my head. I care too much about this, and I'd do anything to get that smile off her face.

"Deal." I tell her this as I reach out to shake her hand. She does it in that annoying, dead-fish way, so I get up from the table and go to my room.

"Julianna, we're going to leave in 20 minutes, so don't stay there too long!" When she calls, I close my room door and rub my face with my hands.

What did I do? I've never been the hot friend, and I never will be. Why did I make a stupid bet because of what this one horrible person said to me? Not to mention that I had to include Kent?

I have to try to change how I look, no matter what.

I remember what Abby said on the beach about how guys like boobs. I was wearing a regular tank top that didn't show much cleavage right now. I pull out my corset top by opening my drawer. I hadn't worn it anywhere yet, mostly because I lived with men who always went out in blue jeans and Budweiser t-shirts. This was a lot fancier than what I would usually do to hang out with them.

After kicking off my shoes, I quickly take off everything but my underwear. I pull the top up and make sure it fits my breasts. Some parts of the bodice were see-through, but the cups were solid, and the bra was pretty supportive all around.

I had to choose between a skirt and some pants. Since I was tall, I knew I should wear a skirt to show off my legs, but pants seemed so much more comfortable. No, skirt, forget it. I look through my rack and pick out a tight black leather skirt. I might not have been able to sit down comfortably in it because it was so tight. Perfect.

I do the same thing, and then I take my socks off because I'm going to wear heels tonight. If I wore them, I'd look very tall. When I was in high school, I bought them so I wouldn't have to shorten my prom dress. I've used them for a lot of different things since then.

The fact that they were black and closed at the toes was the best part.

Then I put my things in a shoulder bag because Piper and the clones were carrying bags that looked like mine.

I only have ten minutes left, so I need to figure out what to do. I have to get Kent through the door with me no matter what.

I tweezed out more eyebrow hairs than I had before, made my eye shadow a little darker, and put on a little more mascara. I just wanted to add more depth to my look. I hadn't tried this hard to look good in a long time, and even though I usually look put together, this was different. I put some highlighter on my collarbones and shoulders to make my chest stand out more. I put on a different necklace to finish off this look.

Then I get up and go to my nightstand, where I pull out the vodka bottle and unscrew the top. I had to let go if I wanted this to work. To go out there like this, I'd have to drink a lot. After two good sips, I stop and put the bottle away.

I finish this look by putting on a fresh coat of lip gloss and a spritz of perfume. I look at my earrings again to make sure I'm still happy with them. Then I take a deep breath and look at my hair. I wouldn't change anything else, so I'm glad I did it right tonight in loose waves.

I can hear the noise in the kitchen when I open the door.