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Chapter 8

Well, you’d probably have screa back at you froed to someone elseNot just someone else, but soazines and the sides of buses and phone booths all over town Wearing nothing but a bra and a pair of pantiesSeriously I looked into the li back at meOnly when I raised my hand to cover my mouth in horror – Nikki raised her hand tooAnd when I dropped my hand away – so did NikkiThat’s when I started to shakeAnd I couldn’t stop‘How’ I asked no one in particular ‘How could this have happened?’‘That’s what WE’VE been trying to figure out,’ Lulu said ‘Now do you see e had to kidnap you? I ers to my hairI mean, to Nikki Howard’s hair It cascaded from the top of my head (or Nikki’s head) fro blonde strands around ht line And there hadn’t been any mirrors in my hospital room‘I’mI’m a model,’ I wailed to my reflectionAnd now, finally, the reason ewasn’t h-pitched and girliecoht,’ Lulu said slowly ‘Do you remember me now? Lu-lu Lulu Collins Your room-mate? I enuinely concerned about me I mean, despite the ridiculous Mission: Impossible black catsuit – obviously her idea of how a kidnapper would dressif any kidnapper in her right hs with five-inch stiletto heels – she looked vulnerable and sort of sweet, with her kohl-rilossBut then I remembered It wasn’t ME she was concerned about It was Nikki HowardWho ently taking o up to the loft to talk about this You probably want to change into your own clothes, right? Have a little so – the fact that I earing someone else’s face; the fact that Brandon Stark, voted one of People ible bachelors, and Lulu Collins had just kidnapped me; the fact that my parents had no idea where I was and were probably worried to death abouttoa le at the word eat The truth hoever I wasI was starvingEveryone heard it Brandon put a hand on my wrist – or should I say Nikki Howard’s wrist, which, now that I was looking at it, looked nothing likeboth bony and devoid of not only a yellow Live strong band but also the forever bracelet Frida had made for me last suently, ‘Coet you so to perk up ‘There’s some leftover blackened sea bass from Nobu Your favourite I just have to pop it in thea colossal marble lobby – Lulu Collins and Nikki Howard, it turns out, share a loft in a converted nineteenth-century police station in SoHo, not five blocks fro into a brass and any elevator, with a uniforold-braid-trimmed hat at me and said, ‘Miss Howard Nice to see you Been awhile ’‘Yeah,’ I said queasily It was a really good thing Brandon Stark was holding on to my arm, because otherwise I was pretty sure I’d have fallen down Not just froer, but because I was so co onNot toaround in soownWhich the lift operator didn’t seem to find at all unusual, if the way he threw open the door e got to Lulu and Nikki’s loft and went, ‘Have a good night, Ms Howard, Ms Collins and Mr Stark,’ in a totally nice as any indicationAnd thenAnd I found e h-tech kitchen – all black granite and stainless steel – at the other, with ceilings that towered ten feet over the top ofout over the rooftops of SoHo on one side and the Lower East Side on the otherThe overall decor theme seemed to be expensive And modern Above the fireplace was aa video of the inside of an aquarium, to make it look like the TV was really an aquariu white couches that looked as if they’d s you whole if you sat on theazines On the cover of each of the azines was Nikki Howard’s faceOr, should I say, my faceBrandon steered ently pushed ulfed in softness‘Sit right there, Nik,’ he said concernedly ‘Lulu, you got soht up,’ Lulu said, pulling open the door to the Sub-Zero refrigerator‘Anddown at’Brandon looked around, then found a cream-coloured blanket that had been tossed down at one end of the couch He pick it up, then settled it overit aroundattached to one end of itOne hundred per-cent cashed the blanket around aze He really was extre Itype, which I -haired, coht I did I had to adht froly green‘Hey,’ he said to azes met ‘Hi ’I had no idea as about to happen next That’s because no guy had ever been that close to me beforeexcept Christopher, of courseBut Christopher has never thought of irl And then there was also Gabriel LunaBut that had been a hallucination Hadn’t it?In any case, hoas I supposed to know that when a guy leans in that close, he’s planning on trying so onto brush offExcept that I didn’t Unless he was planning on brushing it off with his lips Which suddenly landed onmouth-to-mouth resuscitation on hly enjoyedOr at least, Nikki Howard’s body thoroughly enjoyed it How else can I explain the fact that I was totally kissing hiuy beforeStill, I could totally see why everyone was so crazy about kissing In the ro around the apartment all the ti else to read), the heroines were always going on and on about what it felt like when the guy they were in love with kissed the like ‘liquid fire’, and their loins being all aflao up in flames when Brandon kissed me And my lips didn’t burn like liquid fire (whatever that was)But they felt pleasantly toasty Really pleasantly toastyAnd I wasn’t even in love with Brandon Iine what it must feel like to be kissed by soine what it would have felt like if, say, Christopher had kissed me Which hen I realized, however oing on, I totally couldn’t let it go on a second longer Especially since it see else if I didn’t put a stop to it, tout de suite‘M Brandon away so hard oursound

And Brandon ended up losing his balance and almost careened face first into the sofa‘What?’ he asked, looking hurt as he stu?’I guess for a lot of girls, getting kissed by Brandon Stark – who is, admittedly, a known heart-throb – would be a total thrill Frida, for instance, undoubtedly would have freaked (in a good way) over Brandon kissing her She’d even have enjoyed being kidnapped by him too, I’m sureAnd I wasn’t unappreciative of the fact that Brandon was super handsome, and seemed really very interested in meBut that was the problem He wasn’t Interested in me, I meanHe was interested in Nikki HowardAnd I wasn’t interested in him‘II’m sorry,’ I said to him confusedly Because I did feel sorry, when I saw his hurt expression And also when I felt the rush of cold air that swooped in bethere our warm mouths had been attached A part of ? Totally not overrated At all ‘It’s just thatI don’t even know you ’‘We’ve been going out for two years,’ Brandon cried, looking even more hurt ‘I mean, on and off How can you not rehtly I didn’t knohat else to do Or say My mouth felt all weird froainst it His stubble had felt all scratchy It kind of hurtBut likein a good way There was no denying that ly where his had touched thee area nowOh my God! Nikki Howard is a total slut! Or maybe I am, and I had just never had an opportunity to discover it until now!What is wrong with me? Why had Christopher never made a move onout this whole ti of stupid Journeyquest!Oh, waitdid I just think that? God! What’s happening toa pile of clothes‘Here,’ she said, depositing what looked like jeans, a T-shirt and soht you ht want to put this stuff on Ifor you, you know ’‘Uown, not a dress But thanks ’ I picked up the pile of clothes, then hesitated, looking around the loftLulu heaved a sigh ‘I can’t believe you don’t re towards a door off to one side of the kitchen ‘The food’ll probably be ready when you’re done ’I thanked her and got up, a little unsteadily, still clutching the blanket around th of the loft For one thing, walking in my new body waswell, weirdFor another, I could feel his gaze boring into my back the whole ti like ht back over there and so around kissing all the ti is fantasticOh my God I’ve known I’ht process erodes? I’ve got to get a hold of myselfI opened the door to Nikki Howard’s bedrooht line – and was hit in the face by the overwhelrance of rosesI soon sahy The ‘basket’ of red roses Lulu had told me had been delivered to the loft – the ones from Gabriel Luna – sat on top of Nikki Howard’s vanity table Only the ‘basket’ was actually a wooden cratea wooden crate filled to the brim with rosesJeez Gabriel didn’t mess around, did he?Nikki’s bedroo roomall white, with a thick furry carpet and a vast, soft-looking bed In fact, the only colour in the roo ere covered hite satin curtains A hugeover the white vanity table in one corner In the irl in a hospital goearing a terrified expression and clutching a pile of clothes to her chest, and a cashht A pale, skinny blonde girl who, if Frida’s Cosrand a dayUnlike in my own room, back home, Nikki hadn’t decorated her walls with postcards of paintings or posters of movies she liked Nor were there piles of science-fiction and fantasy books and journals andto topple over at any mohtstand Although Nikki did own a computer – a Stark-brand laptop (in a hideous shade of pink) which sat on the vanity table near her bed – she didn’t appear to ownelse, really, except a Stark-brand flat-screen television, which was affixed to the wall across from her bedAnd make-up At least, that’s all I found in every drawer I pulled open, looking forI don’t even knohatBut all I found? Mascara And lipgloss A LOT of lip-glossWhich I supposed she needed, considering all the kissing she was apparently doing She probably had to reapply a lotAnd, when I opened another door, I saw that while Nikki didn’t appear to own any books, she did own a lot of clothes There was a whole walk-in closet full of them – what looked like thousands of shirts, blouses, jackets, jeans, trousers, dresses and skirts of every description and colour, each iteer Sos on them I founddress with a tag that said 3,000 (which had to be aclothes were shelves containing literally hundreds of purses, bags, totes and shoes of every type iinableboots, sneakers, flats, heels, sandals, pus, like the Dutch Boy wearsFrida, I kneould have felt as if she’d died and gone to heaven if she’d walked into Nikki Howard’s closet All I felt, however, was confused What kind of teenaged girl could afford 400 jeans? Who even needed 400 jeans? And who kept her stuff soneat? It was kind of freaky in a way I didn’t like being in that closet Not one bitI hurried out of it and tried the other doorand found myself in Nikki Howard’s bathroomUnlike the rest of the loft, this room wasn’t white The walls were made of a taupe-coloured marble – the ones that weren’t mirrored, that is There was a walk-in shower and a separate Jacuzzi tub The hts, dressing-roo back at me in that mirror looked scaredI put down the pile of clothes Lulu had given me and reached up to undo the ponytail someone had put my (or,downas unlikestick straight and brown, Nikki Howard’s hair was silky and golden and hung in perfectly curled waveseven though it clearly hadn’t been brushed – or washed – in a whileAnd when I reached behind own, and it fell away to land in a puddle at my (I mean, Nikki Howard’s) feet, I saw a body as unlike my own as the hair was It was the sa Dead’s standards – body I’d seen in countless Victoria’s Secret ads featuring Nikki Howard There were no surprises there None at allExcept the main one – that suddenly, that perfect body appeared to be my ownI looked away froiven me – a pair of frilly pink knickers and an equally frilly bra first Then jeans, which slid on to fit like a second skin, and the T-shirt – which, disappointingly, bore the words Baby Soft across the front, in pink curlicue writing – which did little to hide what the under-wire bra was e This was certainly unlike the shirts stocked in my own closet back home, which I’d selected based on their ability to HIDE what Nikki Howard apparently appeared to prefer to flauntHurrying frorab a pair of Skechers, the lowest-heeled shoes I could find, I threw the a last look at this rooed to me – but that, in a million years, I’d never have been able to keep that clean – I staggered back to the bedrooai

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