Page 115 of No Headlines Please

Oh, for God's sake. "You do know they were fake, right?"

"The earrings? No, they weren't." She sounded scandalized by the mere suggestion. "I remember Mom telling us—"

"That they were real? Yeah, well, they weren't."

"How do you know?"

"Because the day after Christmas, I tried to sell them."

"You did?"

"Oh, yeah." I laughed without humor. "You should've seen the pawnbroker's face. The guy thought I was trying to swindle him."

"But why would you sell them at all? Were you that desperate for money?"

Forget desperation. I never would've sold them if Mom hadn't spent all of that time gushing about Tessa's eyes while I opened my only Christmas gift – well, from Mom and Dad, anyway.

Meanwhile, they'd gotten Tessa three gifts, not that I was counting.

Okay, yes I was.

I told Tessa, "No, I was desperate to get rid of them."

"But why?"

Unbelievable. "That's your question?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, here I tell you that Mom lied about the earrings being real, and all you can do is ask why I'd sell them?"

"Well maybe I'm confused."

"Yeah, me too," I snapped. "Because your story's impossible – unless you sold those earrings to some poor sap who didn't bother checking."

"Oh, my God." She sounded genuinely horrified. But then, just as I was starting to feel bad for telling her, she asked, "Are you sure both of us got fakes?"

The question stung.

I'd wondered the same thing myself, and the fact that Tessa had wondered it, too, only proved the idea wasn't nearly as ridiculous as I'd been trying to convince myself.

I was still processing it when Tessa blurted out, "Sorry. Stupid question."

"It can't be that stupid," I said. "I asked myself the same thing..." Did I dare tell her? Oh, screw it. I plowed onward, finishing the thought. "Which is why I took yours in later that same day."

"You mean…to sell them?"

I almost flinched. So that's what she thought of me? "I'm no thief," I told her. "I was just curious, that's all."

"And…?"

My mouth tightened. "Yours were fake, too. I was so surprised, I almost fell over." But that wasn't the point. "And as far as your rent, we both know it's paid by someone else."

"If you mean the thing with Mom—"

"Forget Mom." I almost shuddered as I recalled everything I'd done to snag that stupid receipt. "I meant Ryder Vaughn."

"Wait…who?"