Free Daughter of Darkness by V.C. Andrews Page B

play into it, too. Now you’re thinking. The one left behind might be so upset about it that she would say something at home, something that would get her sister in trouble.”
    “How do you know all this?”
    “Some of it Brianna taught me the way I’m teachingyou. Some things I read. Most of it will come naturally to you, just being out there among them.”
    Among them
, I thought. That really did make us sound as if we had come from another planet.
    She started to go through some of my earrings and necklaces.
    “Daddy didn’t want me wearing any jewelry with this dress,” I said.
    “When did he tell you that?”
    “When I put it on for dinner. He thought it would take away from my natural beauty.”
    “That was then. This is for now. There’s understated and overstated. Daddy doesn’t keep up with the youth scene out there. That’s why he needs us. This would be all right,” she said, plucking a pair of teardrop diamond earrings out of my jewelry box, “and this matching necklace. You need some color, some glitter,” she added, before I could voice any protest.
    “But Daddy knows style,” I blurted, still not taking the jewelry from her.
    “Is Daddy taking you out for this field trip, or am I? Well? Make up your mind. He put me in charge of this for a reason. He has faith in me. I think I know what I’m doing. I don’t fail out there, do I? Well?”
    I took the jewelry from her, but I couldn’t help feeling I was disobeying Daddy. Even something as small as this seemed like a great defiance, a possibility of disappointing him. But then I thought that if Ava wasn’t afraid of getting him angry, I shouldn’t be so timid about it. I couldn’t imagine her taking any such risk.
    “Okay, finish up,” she told me, and went to do her own makeup and get dressed.
    When she was finished and came for me, we stood before my full-length mirror and looked at ourselves standing together. She was wearing a light pink silky one-piece dress that was tapered at her waist and a little shorter-hemmed than my dress. Her collar didn’t go as low as mine, but she had put on one of her uplift bras. She looked as if she could fall out of her dress at any time.
    We had different looks entirely. Ava, despite what she had wanted me to wear, was not wearing any jewelry. Her hair was straight, down around her shoulders. I thought I looked like a young lady dressed for a formal dance, and she looked as if she worked in a strip club.
    “You’re not even wearing earrings,” I said.
    “Don’t worry about what I’m wearing and not wearing,” she said. “I know what I’m doing, what has to be done tonight. Let’s go.”
    I followed her out. I half expected to see Mrs. Fennel standing at the door waiting to inspect us, inspect me, but she was nowhere in sight. Daddy had left earlier in the day to meet some business associate and wasn’t home yet. I was happy about that. No matter what Ava had said, I still felt he would be disappointed in my appearance. Marla heard us, however, and came hurrying out of the den, where she was watching television.
    “Oh, you both look so beautiful,” she said, dripping with envy.
    “Relax. As Daddy told you, your day will come, Marla,” Ava said. “Don’t be in such a rush to grow up. It’s not all fun and games. There’s more responsibility.”
    Marla grimaced and then muttered to me, “I don’t care what she says. You’re lucky, Lorelei.”
    She retreated with her shoulders sagging, her head lowered.
    “She’s lonely,” I said. “I usually spend this time with her.”
    “You want to stay home?” Ava snapped. “Go ahead. Sit with your little sister, and watch some cartoon.”
    “I didn’t say I wanted to stay home, Ava. I just felt sorry for her. Didn’t you ever feel sorry for me? Even a little?”
    “No,” she said. She held her gaze on me a moment, as if she were searching for some sign, some proof, that I was indeed too different.
    “Okay, okay,” I said.