Stealing Bradford

11

TAYLOR WAS STILL IN THE BATHROOM, so DJ quickly got ready for bed and considered pretending to be asleep. Instead, she prayed. It was the first time she’d actually prayed today, and she felt guilty for that. Still, she knew she needed some help just now. She remembered how Rhiannon had promised to pray for her tonight. And if DJ was going to apologize to Taylor, she’d need some divine help.

When Taylor emerged from the bathroom, DJ felt ready. “Taylor, I need to tell you something…”

“Wow, I can hardly wait,” said Taylor as she peeled the comforter back from her bed and punched a down pillow.

“I was wrong.”

Taylor turned and stared at DJ. “What?”

“I was wrong to accuse you of inviting Bradford tonight. I thought you’d devised some kind of evil scheme to sabotage Rhiannon. And I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Taylor kind of laughed. “So who invited him anyway?”

“Eliza.”

“Well, remind me to thank that girl in the morning.”

“Yeah…right.”

“And I should thank you too.”

“Why?” she muttered, almost afraid to hear the answer now.

“Because the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Bradford and me as a couple. We actually have a lot in common.”

“Like what?”

“We both have famous mothers, and we’ve been exposed to art and culture and music.”

DJ refrained from rolling her eyes or yawning. After all, she was supposed to be apologizing. It might cancel it all out if she made fun of Taylor now.

“Besides, after all the grief you’ve given me today, I figure I must’ve already paid my dues, DJ. So I might as well just go for the whole enchilada. Don’t you think?”

DJ had absolutely no response to this. And so without saying a word, she went into the bathroom. Although it was getting late, she took much longer than usual to get ready for bed. She even flossed. Anything to avoid going back out there where Taylor was probably planning her next strategy for attaining Bradford. Not that she needed to work too hard at it. Poor Rhiannon. With friends like DJ and Eliza—who’d tried to help but seriously messed up—that girl didn’t need enemies.

When DJ finally slipped out of the bathroom, it was dark and quiet in the room. She tiptoed across the room and crawled into bed. Then, closing her eyes tightly, she prayed for the second time that day. This time, she told God she was sorry. To be honest, she wasn’t completely sure what she was sorry about. She just knew that she was sorry. And she hoped that tomorrow, she’d get a fresh start. Maybe not with Taylor, but hopefully with God.

It took a few seconds for DJ to get her bearings the next morning. Something was different. What was it? This room was blue…not yellow, and her bed was in the wrong spot. Suddenly, she remembered she’d switched rooms, which meant she had a new roommate—a roommate who was already up and literally singing in the shower. DJ wasn’t surprised that Taylor had a fairly decent voice. But she was totally shocked that she seemed to be in a pretty good mood today.

DJ stretched in bed and sat up. Last night, when she and Taylor were arguing, she’d noticed that Rhiannon had placed her Bible—what used to be DJ’s mom’s Bible—on the bedside table. This morning she picked it up and opened it to where Rhiannon must’ve stuck in a bookmark. DJ guessed that the colorful bookmark, with a pretty beaded ribbon tied to it, had been made by Rhiannon. Then midway down the page was a sticky note with an arrow drawn on it. She read the verse the arrow seemed to be pointing to and then she read the following one. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43–44).

But she didn’t understand the meaning of these sentences. In fact, they not only sounded totally alien, like from another planet, but they sounded totally impossible as well. To start with, the verses said to not only love your friends, but love your enemies too. Now, she could almost get that. But it didn’t stop there. It also said to speak kind words to someone who swears and cusses at you. And to do good to someone who hates your guts. And finally to pray for people who use and abuse you. What was up with that? Who really lived like that? DJ even doubted that angelic Rhiannon could meet this standard consistently. And yet, Rhiannon had obviously marked those sentences. Why?

Just then Taylor emerged from the steamed-up bathroom. She had on a thick white terrycloth robe, and even without makeup, she looked glamorous and beautiful as she fluffed her curly hair with a towel. But when she saw DJ with the Bible in her lap, she threw back her head and laughed. “No way,” she said. “You’re not turning into a Bible-thumping fanatic too?”

DJ closed the Bible and set it back on her nightstand and shrugged.

“What is this? Some kind of religious epidemic? First Rhiannon, now you? Who will be next to fall victim?”

DJ stood. “Are you done in the bathroom?”

“For now.”

DJ was surprised at the mess Taylor had managed to create this morning. The area by the sinks looked as if Macy’s cosmetic counter had thrown up in there. She wondered if Inez usually cleaned all this up after they went to school, or was Taylor simply being territorial, trying to make it clear that she dominated in the bathroom as she seemed to do in all things. Well, Rhiannon might’ve taken this, but DJ was not going to give in to Taylor’s selfishness. She used her arm to swipe all of Taylor’s junk over to one side, knocking bottles and things over as she crowded them around the other sink. Much better.

Then she took a quick shower, toweled off, and put on her rather shabby-looking aqua blue chenille bathrobe. It might not be as plush as Taylor’s, but it had been DJ’s mom’s, and she was not giving it up. Then she peeked out into the room to see if Taylor was still there or not. She was. So DJ lingered in the bathroom a bit longer, taking a little more care than usual as she put on her makeup.

“Are you about done in there?” asked Taylor as she opened the door.

“Sure,” said DJ lightly. “It’s all yours.”

Then with Taylor safely in the bathroom, DJ hurried to get dressed and then headed downstairs for breakfast. To her surprise, the other four girls were already heading out the front door, but Eliza waited.

“What’s up?” DJ asked her.

Eliza glanced up the stairs. “I’m taking these guys to school today.”

“A little early,” pointed out DJ.

“So Rhiannon doesn’t have to be around Taylor. We’re stopping at Starbucks to kill some time before school.”

“So I’m stuck with Taylor?”

Eliza gave her a sympathetic smile. “You seem to stand up to her better than the other girls. Do you mind?”

“I guess not.”

She patted DJ on the back. “Hey, you look extra pretty this morning.”

“Thanks…” Then DJ figured this meant she needed to compliment Eliza back. “I like your shoes.”

Eliza pointed a pretty red toe out. “They’re Jimmys.”

“Who’s Jimmy?”

“Choo.”

“Huh?”

“Jimmy Choo.” Eliza laughed. “I can see our work with you is not done yet, DJ. See ya.”

DJ had to appreciate that Eliza was trying to help Rhiannon. But she did not appreciate being partnered with Taylor. Rooming with her was bad enough, but going to school with her too? Then she remembered what she’d read in the Bible this morning about being kind to your enemies. Maybe that’s what this was about. Maybe God just wanted her to be nice to Taylor. Well, she could give it a shot. At least for a day…or maybe just this morning. She wasn’t too sure how long she could pull something this difficult off.

“Good morning, Desiree,” said Mrs. Carter. “Eliza took some of the girls to school early. Apparently they had something they needed to attend to.”

“Right.” DJ nodded as she sat down. “Eliza told me.”

“I’ve been thinking about something, Desiree.” She set her coffee cup back in the saucer.

“Yes?” DJ waited, unsure as to whether this would be a good something or a bad something.

“We seem to be in need of another vehicle.”

“Huh?”

“Ladies do not say, huh, Desiree. Pardon me.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Her grandmother narrowed her eyes slightly. “Well, I suppose that Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

“Huh?”

“Pardon me.”

“What was it you were thinking?” asked DJ, desperate to move on.

“I think it’s time to get you a car.”

“Me?” DJ sat up a little straighter now. “A car?”

“Yes. We will go looking tomorrow morning. Please, plan on it.”

“Looking for what?” asked Taylor as she came into the dining room. Then she paused and politely said good morning to Mrs. Carter.

“A car,” said Mrs. Carter. “I have decided with six girls going in different directions, it would be wise to get a car for Desiree.”

“Cool,” said Taylor, winking at DJ.

“It isn’t that I mind driving you girls to school.” Mrs. Carter smiled. “But I have never seen myself as a chauffeur.”

“I have my Vespa,” said Taylor.

“That may be fine when the weather is nice like this, but winter in Connecticut isn’t like what you’re used to in southern California, Taylor.”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“Perhaps you would like to join Desiree and me in looking for a vehicle tomorrow morning.”

“Sure,” said Taylor. She looked around the table now. “Hey, where’s everyone?”

So Mrs. Carter relayed Eliza’s little fib, and then Taylor offered to give DJ a ride on her Vespa this morning.

“That’s okay,” said DJ quickly.

“You have helmets now?” asked Mrs. Carter.

“I do.”

“That would be lovely,” said Mrs. Carter. Then she frowned. “But you girls are wearing skirts today. That doesn’t seem very ladylike…to ride on a motor scooter like that.”

“Girls do it all the time back in LA.”

“Well, then…”

“And, of course, you can be assured that both Desiree and I will be perfect ladies while riding.”

Mrs. Carter smiled. “Yes, of course.”

DJ was tempted to say she’d rather walk to school than be stuck with Taylor on the back of the Vespa, but then she remembered today’s goal to be nice to her enemy.

“Have a good day, girls,” said Mrs. Carter. “By the way, Desiree, will you let the others know that I won’t be at dinner tonight?”

“Where are you going?”

“The general has invited me to go to the city with him. He has tickets to a show.”

“Which one?” asked Taylor.

“I don’t know. He wanted it to be a surprise, but he promises that I’ll be pleased. Apparently, it’s usually sold out.” She refilled her cup with coffee. “But don’t worry, girls, both Inez and Clara will be here…in case I get home late.”

DJ knew that meant that her grandmother would be quite late, and she had a feeling that Taylor suspected the same thing.

Riding to school on the Vespa actually turned out to be okay, and DJ was relieved that Taylor didn’t try to knock her off going around the corners.

“Thanks for the ride,” said DJ as she removed her helmet and handed it to Taylor.

Taylor set the helmets on the Vespa and then fluffed out her hair, removing her compact to check her image. She handed it to DJ. “Don’t you want to make sure you don’t have helmet head or bugs in your teeth?” she teased.

So, to pacify her, DJ checked. But everything seemed to be in place. She handed the compact back.

“Thanks.” Taylor frowned now.

“What’s wrong?” asked DJ.

She let out a sigh. “I don’t know…it just seems that no matter how hard I try to make friends, there’s this barrier. Girls just don’t like me. Including you, right?” Now DJ felt guilty. Still, she didn’t want to lie. “The truth is…you can be kind of hard to like, Taylor.”

“I suppose.”

“And, believe it or not, I am trying.”

Taylor blinked. “You are?”

DJ nodded.

“We better hurry or we’ll be late,” said Taylor. “And I’ve already been warned twice. I don’t want to push things too far in my first week here.”

So even Taylor had her limits. Still, DJ knew that Taylor’s limits were primarily self-centered. As long as she came out on top, it was okay to break the rules and push the envelope. In fact, Taylor seemed to thrive on pushing everything and everyone to the max. The question was…why?

Still, DJ didn’t have time to think about that as she hurried to English lit. Like Taylor, she didn’t want to be late either. She’d had one tardy already this week and that was more than enough.

The morning seemed to flow fairly smoothly, and as DJ went to lunch—walking with Eliza and Taylor since they’d all just been in US History together—she thought that perhaps this school year was going to be a good one.

“Are those Jimmy Choos?” Taylor asked Eliza as they stood in line for lunch. As usual, they’d already staked out their table by placing DJ’s bag there.

Eliza just nodded.

“Nice,” said Taylor.

“Thanks,” said Eliza, but the way she held her head when she said it sounded a little snotty, like she was trying to put Taylor in her place. Just then DJ noticed that Tina and Madison were looking at their saved table. And then Madison was actually picking up DJ’s bag, holding it between her thumb and forefinger as if she were taking out the trash. Then she dropped it onto the floor.

“Hey, look,” said DJ, nudging her friends. “They threw my bag on the floor.”

“What a couple of—”

“I’m going,” said DJ as she broke from the line and charged over to where Tina and Madison were now making themselves comfy at the table.

“That’s my bag that you just threw on the floor,” she told them angrily.

“That piece of crap?” said Tina. “We thought it was something the janitor forgot to take—”

“That happens to be a Hermès bag,” said Taylor as she picked up DJ’s purse and handed it to her. “Not that you small-town, fashion-challenged hick chicks would know anything about that.” She looked down at Tina’s blue bag. “Like what is that supposed to be? Kmart’s blue light special?” Then she pointed to Madison’s shiny pink bag. “And I’ll bet you got a free Malibu Barbie with that little number. Is it made by Mattel?”

The girls didn’t say anything.

“And you are sitting at a table that we’d saved,” continued Taylor.

“It’s our table now,” said Madison.

“Fine,” said Taylor. “Then, you’ll just excuse us while we go and report what’s missing from DJ’s bag. We have at least three witnesses who will attest to the fact that Madison took—”

“Fine,” snapped Madison, standing.

Taylor looked down on her and smiled in a very catty way. “Let me guess, Madison…you got those pathetic jeans at Wal-Mart?”

As the two girls walked away, Taylor laughed, and DJ couldn’t help but chuckle. “You are something else, Taylor.”

Taylor took a twenty out of her bag and handed it to DJ. “You go and get me a salad and an iced tea, and I’ll save the table.”

“That’s all you want?” asked DJ.

Taylor nodded. “Unlike you, I won’t be sweating it out at volleyball practice after school today.”

“I’m sure Coach Jones would gladly let you on the team,” said DJ. “If you wanted to…”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure she’d love me to join the team. I hear that Coach Jones likes pretty girls.”

DJ rolled her eyes and headed back to join Eliza in the lunch line. Oh, well, like her grandmother had said—Rome wasn’t built in a day.