Chapter 5: Cheyenne and Ivy

That Friday night, Ivy got all dressed up for her date with Damian. She wore her little black dress and Cheyenne's amber necklace. When Damian came by to pick up Ivy at eight o'clock exactly, Cheyenne thought she'd never seen a more magnificently handsome guy, resplendent in his dark blue suit and red tie.

Damian gave Ivy a light kiss on the lips, then hugged Cheyenne. "How's your head feeling, Cheyenne?" he asked solicitously.

"It's fine," Cheyenne told him, still starry-eyed from the hug. "You can call me Shy if you want. All my friends do."

"No they don't!" Ivy objected. "I'm the only one that calls you Shy. You flip out if anyone else does."

Cheyenne thought of Thomas, who had called her "Shy" and she hadn't flipped out. "Well, you're Ivy's boyfriend, so you're allowed to call me that."

Ivy took Damian's arm, and he led her out of the dorm and across the quad to where the Town Car was waiting to drive them to the Red Barn.

When she was sure Ivy and Damian were gone, Cheyenne walked over to Thomas's dorm and knocked on his door. Thomas opened the door to greet her, and standing behind him was Noelle Lange.

Cheyenne hated Noelle, though she was always nice to Noelle's face. Noelle came from a family just as old as Cheyenne's, but with a lot more money. Plus, Noelle's long dark hair and pale skin gave her a classical beauty Cheyenne could only dream of. For these reasons, Noelle was almost guaranteed to be invited to join the Billings girls next year, while Cheyenne's own acceptance into Billings was by no means assured.

"Cheyenne." Noelle's voice was polite but distant. Brushing past Cheyenne, Noelle strode off down the hallway with the air of a queen overseeing her domain.

Thomas invited Cheyenne in and closed the door behind her. "What was Noelle Lange doing here?" Cheyenne demanded suspiciously.

"Actually, we were talking about you," Thomas confessed.

Cheyenne raised an eyebrow. "About me?"

Thomas nodded. "She thinks I'm not good enough for a future Billings girl. She warned me to stay far away from you."

"Are you going to listen?" Cheyenne asked, intrigued that Noelle cared enough about her to do this.

Thomas shook his head. "I don't give a flying fuck what Noelle thinks. I like you, and I don't care who knows it." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a New York City subway token on a leather cord. "I wanted you to have this, as something to remember me by."

"Oh, how sweet!" Cheyenne exclaimed. So Thomas had a romantic side too; he wasn't a total bad boy after all.

After a couple hours of talking and making out, Cheyenne returned to Bradwell with the subway token around her neck. Ivy returned half an hour later, her eyes shining bright with excitement.

"Oh, Shy, I had the most wonderful time!" Ivy burbled. She then proceeded to give Cheyenne a blow-by-blow account of her date, until finally Cheyenne couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it!" Cheyenne shrieked. "You know I'm in love with Damian. It rips me apart hearing how happy you guys are."

"I'm sorry, Shy," Ivy said. "But I think I'm falling in love with Damian too, and he says he feels the same way. You're just going to have to deal with it."

"You're right," Cheyenne said contritely, but inside she was seething with resentment. One day, Ivy would pay for this, Cheyenne swore.

"Are we still friends?" Ivy asked.

Cheyenne hugged her. "Friends," she swore. But as far as Cheyenne was concerned, their friendship had a hairline crack right down the middle. It would only take one hard blow to shatter the fragile façade.

"What's that?" Ivy asked, pointing to the subway token.

"Thomas Pearson gave it to me," Cheyenne explained.

Ivy clapped her hands. "Cool! You guys should double date with me and Damian sometime."

"Maybe…" Cheyenne hedged. "Listen, it's been a long day. I should get some sleep."

"Okay," Ivy agreed. "Night, Shy!"

Cheyenne popped a sleeping pill, then lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, hoping to dream of Damian.

If you have any ideas for continuing this story, please let me know. Thanks! And thanks to everyone who reviewed! Your comments really inspired me.