Chaotic Love
le's
w one second you're broke bartender girl, and the next you're gliding around in designer heel
ler
sn't come w
entire student loan debt. It comes with realizing that you just agreed to be paraded around like a trophy in front of people who would happily eat you alive if
a selection of gowns pre-approved by Mr. Carter's team," she says in her clipped, don't-m
irst dress is pale blue and strapless, making me look like a washed-out Disney princess. The second is deep crimson, tight in all the wrong places, and manages to scream desperate
cognize the girl staring back. The girl in the mirror doesn't have dark circles under her eyes
ear of pretending to belong in Adrik Carter's impossible wo
buy a latte without c
ars and defense mechanisms. These people? They were born with sil
of that world. I'm just
he squeezes my shoulder. "You've survived worse." Yeah. I survived growing up invisible. I survived being
en fake relationships require strategic planning. Sandra clicks through a PowerPoint presentation like we're prepping for a hostile corporate takeover. "These are the key talking points," she says, h
f his all-black outfits, glances up from his ph
Sandra does not look amused. "No," she says. "The public needs to believe this relationshi
e about each other (Adrik: he
ll so.
as
lle
ow, it st
arter Foundation Gala tomorrow night," Sandra continues briskly. "Pose for photos, give a few short
off my sou
ters might ask. By the end of it, my brain feels like it's been run over by a fleet of Teslas. "And remember," she says as I gather my
mile like
to back out." I think of Lila, off the eviction notice taped to the door last week, of the crushing weight of everything I owe. I
eassu
omfor
...
. I don't know whether to be p
l makeup and staring at myself. The ring Adrik gave me glints on my fing
my eyes, I can
shing c
ques
e small talk and the
Ad
ys A
ng nex
. Unre
ehow...
nge co
r, Noelle. You made your choice. Now you have to live with
till wearing my pajamas, staring at the ring. "You look like someone
omeone else, you know," she says. "You just have to survive. Play the ga
She grins. "Because life's complicated enou
and fake smiles. You'll still be Noelle Winters. And no amount of money or contracts or Carter drama can change that." I hope she's
don't surviv
etending b
the thou
he real cir
I put on
ri
sm
ially become Adri
y or