Chapter Ten
I glanced around at the dozens of underage boys ogling me in my tiny sweater. It was weird, being in an all ages club-even before I'd turned twenty one I hadn't let the fact stop me. I'd had a fake ID since fifteen.
I glanced up at the stage, where my little sister and Chris were singing a duet. She wasn't as good as she normally was-she felt guilty for betraying a guy who thought of her as a friend. I glanced warily at him-he was tall, but very skinny. Not the kind of guy I'd be attracted to in real life, outside of mastermind plots, even with his singing voice.
Everyone applauded as they finished their duet. I glanced at Nathan, staring at his wife on the stage, beside a man he hated. He glanced over at me, and I felt a hint of pity. It was demonic, what I was about to do. One of the worse things I'd ever done, including emailing him as Haley. Including sleeping with my sister's husband.
Chris departed from the stage but Haley ran to me.
"Showtime. Good luck," she said. She squeezed my hand and I smiled a small smile.
His back was facing me as I entered, not bothering to knock.
"Haley?" he said. Jerk. I quickly realized that he was expecting my little sister to abandon her husband again. My pregnant little sister.
"Even better," I said softly.
He spun around. I saw him take me in in confusion-his eyes swept from my head to my toes, and stared at my face. I could tell he noticed our similarities.
"You're not Haley."
"Like I said, I'm a better version," I said, smirking and meeting his eyes flirtatiously.
"You think I like Haley because of her body?" he said. His admiring glances made me doubt what he said.
"Who says I'm not more than a pretty face?"
"Why do you look like her?"
"I'm her sister," I said. Recognition flashed before his eyes.
"Taylor? You're the one that slept with Nathan?"
"And emailed you as Haley?" as I said this, he seemed to wilt. "Truth hurts, doesn't it? But now, I'm Quinn James," I lied.
"Quinn… You're the one at NYC, right?" he asked.
"Yeah. You know TV doesn't do you justice-it makes you look was too skinny," I said, moving closer.
"Oh really?" he said.
"Yeah. You know I saw you guys, the last time you performed in the City?" I said.
"Okay. What'd you think?"
"That you were a hottie," I said, smiling.
"Your sister think so?"
"Who cares?" I said, pressing up to him and kissing him.
He compiled easily. His hands quickly found their way around me and he unhooked my bra through my sweater. It was weird, pretending to be hot for someone who did nothing for me.
"Do you have a hotel room or something?" I asked, breaking off the kiss.
"Yeah. I'm staying at a motel-come on, we'll go out the back exit," he said. I refastened my bra.
We reached the exit without running into anyone. Quickly, covertly, I kissed him again and pressed my back against the door, blindly opening it.
Camera flashes light the night sky. He pulled away from me and looked at it all, astounded. I feigned a deer in the headlights look and pressed up to him again.
"Mr. Keller! What will Miss James say about this?" shouted a reporter.
"Mr. Keller, are the rumours about your and Haley James' child true?" shouted another.
"What's your name?"
"Taylor James," I squeaked.
"As in Haley James?"
"I'm her sister," I said. Another hundred flashes went off.
"Shut up!" he hissed at me.
"Why? What girl doesn't want to be in the newspaper?" I said naively.
He brought back his hand and brought it hard across my cheek-I flinched, forced tears to come and ran.
I answered all the questions that the reporters that followed me answered, informed them of Haley and Nathan, just as we'd all planned. I put myself forward as a victim, as a cruelly used pawn.
I woke up at six the next morning to go to the newsstand. I found myself in all the tabloids and even in some of the newspapers. I was portrayed as an ignorant victim, not as a slut. I saw pictures of him hitting me, of my tear streaked face, of the two of us kissing and even some of Haley with her husband.
"Keller jumps from sister to sister!" screams a headline.
"Taylor James victim of abuse!"
"The truth about the rumours!"
"Haley Scott and her secret husband!"
I smile as I read the stories-my demonic plan had gone off hitchless. Now Chris was a player, Haley was a victim, and Nathan was her husband. Chris's career was ruined. I hardly even looked like a whore, a feat for me.
I drove to their apartment. Their lights were already on, so I climbed the stairs and went in. As I did, Haley ran over and hugged me.
"Thank you so, so much," she said sincerely.
"Like I said, I owe you."
"Maybe not so much anymore," said Nathan, coming over. He surprised Haley and me by hugging me as well. I know he was my sister's husband, and completely contraband, but he was extremely hot as well.
"How did the papers have all that information about you guys?" I asked as she led me to the sofa.
"Oh, we came out after and told them the truth. So now Brooke and Lucas both know I'm pregnant which is sucky, seeing as I hadn't yet told them," she said bitterly.
"Wow. Sorry," I said.
"Why?"
"Well of I hadn't come up with this crazy scheme, your secret would still be a secret," I said.
"Yes. But if you hadn't come up with this crazy plan, I'd still be seemingly linked to Chris Keller, and people would think he was my baby's father. However, now they think he's a dirty, abusive sister doer," she said quite crudely.
"Better, I guess," I said. I saw her eyes slide to the puffiness of my cheek.
"Does it hurt?" she asked. I nodded bravely, and Nathan tossed me an icepack.
"I still can't believe he'd do that to you," she said. It was a good choice that my baby sister had made.
The phone rang, and Haley hurried to pick it up. I noticed her hand across the slight bump that was her pregnant stomach. Haley was four years younger than me, yet still managed to handle her grown up life.
"Peyton? Yeah, it's okay. Taylor lured Chris to incriminate him, and he hit her. Yeah, she's fine. I guess you saw the tabloids? Oh, Karen? You know Brooke and Luke will have as well? I'm going to have to call them. They're going to be mad. No, you tell at Thanksgiving," said Haley into the phone. I glanced at Nathan when she mentioned 'telling at Thanksgiving'.
Haley came back to sit down.
"Peyton's pregnant too?" I asked. Haley laughed.
"Yeah-she and Jake were um inactive for a couple of their first months and then they very suddenly got very active, so she's pregnant. But she already knows how to be a mom," she said.
"You'll be fine. So when's it due?" I asked, eyeing her stomach.
"Mine? February 15th," she recited.
"Oh. And Peyton's?" I asked. It was crazy enough that the two of them were married, but babies too?
"February 28th," she responded.
"So you'll be eighteen by then, right?" I asked. It was sometimes hard to believe that she was only seventeen.
"Yeah, in November," she said.
"Boy or girl?"
"We won't know for about a month," she said.
"That is, if we want to know," tacked on Nathan.
"And we do," said Haley.
