Inheritance

rack full of blouses and began to hold them up to Reese, while Julian looked on.

“Ew,” Reese said, pushing away an orange shirt with pink flowers on it. “I’m not wearing that.”

“You need to have a more open mind,” Madison admonished her, but hung up the orange shirt. “Just try some things on and we’ll see what looks good.”

Fifteen minutes later Reese was in a dressing room with an armful of shirts. The first was a clingy red tank top with lace edging that made her chest look huge. She opened the dressing room curtain and shook her head at Madison and Julian. “This is not me.”

Madison tugged the curtain aside and gave her an appraising look. “Wow. Yeah, not you.”

Julian poked his head over Madison’s shoulder, making a face. “Yeah, no.”

“I told you,” Reese said.

“Try on the blue one,” Madison said, pulling the curtain shut again. But the blue one was too tight; the purple too loose. As Reese struggled into a billowy white shirt with armholes in very strange places, Madison said, “I can’t believe you’re dating David Li. It’s so crazy.”

“Why is it crazy?” Reese said indignantly. “I’ve been friends with him for a while.”

“You’ve been his debate partner. That’s different. Besides, as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been like ‘I’m not dating anyone ever!’ What changed your mind?”

Amber? But Reese said, “I don’t know.”

“Hey, I’m gonna go look at the belts,” Julian called.

“Okay,” Reese and Madison said in unison. Reese finally got the white blouse on. It made her look like a cross between the Pillsbury Doughboy and—no, that was bad enough. She took it off without showing it to Madison.

She pulled on a gray flannel shirt with black piping as Madison peeked through the curtain.

“I did not pick that shirt out for you,” Madison said.

“I know. I did.”

“It’s not sexy enough.”

Reese buttoned the shirt and looked in the mirror. It fit well. “I like it.”

“You would.” Madison pulled the curtains open and reached out to unbutton the top two buttons.

“Hey!” Reese cried.

“Cleavage,” Madison said. “You have some. You should take advantage of it.”

“I don’t have cleavage.”

“You have more than me.” Madison pointed at her size-A cups and gave herself a mournful look in the mirror. “Guys don’t like these.”

“You’re not dating the right guys.”

Madison smiled. “Yeah, probably not.” She studied Reese for a moment longer and said, “All right, you can have the shirt. But you have to wear it with a miniskirt.”

Reese groaned.

Two shops later, they compromised on a jean skirt. It was shorter than Reese was used to, but at least it wasn’t one of the plaid schoolgirl skirts that Madison kept pushing on her, and Julian approved. “Looks good,” he said, flashing her a grin. “Guys like skirts.”

“You’re gay. How would you know?” Reese teased him.

His eyebrows rose, and he opened his mouth to say something, but then shook his head. “I’ll let you off the hook this time because we’re friends. I’m gonna go look around.”

As he sauntered out of the dressing room, Madison gave Reese a questioning glance. “What was that about?”

“I don’t know,” Reese said, confused. Was she not allowed to make gay jokes anymore? Shouldn’t she have more of a right now that she had dated a girl? Or was Julian pissed at her for dating David? She felt uneasy—as if she had done something wrong, but she wasn’t sure what it was.

As Reese put her own clothes back on, Madison tried on a flowery summer dress. “Reese, can you help me zip up the back?” Madison called. Reese pulled on her baseball cap and went into Madison’s dressing room. Madison was waiting with the dress hanging open, and Reese’s memory flashed back to that afternoon with Amber in her bedroom, trying on her red dress. Taking the dress off. Reese swallowed and zipped Madison up.

“So you and David have this mental connection now,” Madison said, looking at Reese in the mirror. “Like telepathy? Is that true?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you tell what he’s thinking when he kisses you?”

“Um, yes.”

“Really? What is that like?”

The memory of kissing David swept through her body in a dizzying wave. “It’s intense.”

Madison’s eyes widened excitedly. “I knew it. It’s got to be insane. I’m so jealous!”

Reese shook her head. “Don’t be jealous. It’s also kind of weird.”

“I’ll take the weird,” Madison said, then examined herself in the mirror. “What do you think of the dress?”

“It looks good on you. You should get it.”

Madison tugged at the price tag on the sleeve and shook her head. “It’s forty-eight dollars. I can’t afford it. Come on, unzip me and we’ll find you some shoes.”

By the time they settled on footwear, Reese was thoroughly tired of shopping. She couldn’t understand how Madison could go on for hours, pawing through clothing racks like there was no tomorrow. Even Julian became bored and fidgety. “I’m not wearing those,” Reese said over and over, as Madison presented her with heels of all kinds, followed by glossy black boots that looked like they belonged to a dominatrix.

“You’re so hard to shop for!” Madison cried in frustration. They were at their fifth store, and it was almost four o’clock.

“What about these?” Reese said, pulling out a pair of chunky-heeled brown boots. They were scuffed on the toes and had metal buckles over the ankles.

“Motorcycle boots?” Madison said skeptically.

“Very dykey,” Julian observed. Reese avoided his gaze as she sat down to try them on.

“They are dykey,” Madison agreed. “Speaking of which, did you know that Bri had a crush on you sophomore year? She’s totally disappointed you’re with David.”

“What?” Reese gave Madison an incredulous look. “Briana?”

“Yes, Briana. Why do you think she kept trying to get you to do all those gay things with her?”

“I thought it was because she’s my friend?”

“You can be so clueless sometimes, really,” Madison said severely. “You knew, didn’t you, Julian?”

“Yep.” His face was inscrutable as Reese glanced at him.

“But she never said anything about it,” Reese said, bewildered.

Madison gave her a pointed look. “You never had any interest in dating. You made that perfectly clear. Besides, you’re straight. Why would Bri bring it up if she knew you’d only reject her?” Madison caught the furtive glance between Reese and Julian and said, “Wait. What is up with you two?”

Reese stood. “Nothing.” She didn’t look at Julian as she clomped over to the mirror hanging on the wall near the shoe section. “I like them,” she announced.

“If you wear them with the jean skirt and that gray shirt you’re going to look all country hoedown,” Madison warned her.

“They’re motorcycle boots, not cowboy boots.” Reese pulled one off and looked at the price written on the sticker on the sole. “And they’re only twenty bucks.”

Madison regarded them dubiously. “I guess they’re all right. Kind of badass. Is that what you’re going for?”

“I don’t know. Is that good?” She stared at herself in the mirror. She thought she looked uncertain, not badass. And maybe messy: Loose strands of dark brown hair were escaping from the ponytail she had tucked through the back of the baseball cap.

“Sometimes,” Madison said. “It’s not a bad look for you. Just wear your hair down and put on a nice bra.