The Weaker Sex (Unedited)

Chapter 11

First thing the next morning, Stephen sat me down and told me that I had to either stay one step ahead of him, or I had to play off whatever he did to me. Tonight the Jefferson's were having a barn dance. Their son was part of Beta Gamma Phi and had invited the fraternity and the sister sorority, Kappa Iota Mu, which was Stephanie's. For this party, an outsider could only get in if they were invited by one of the established members. Jenny Woods had invited him, Jean-Louise was going with TJ of course, and he had had me invited by a guy named Eric White.

Next he told me to wear a conservative dress. I raised a skeptical brow. Michelle never wore conservative anything. I didn't think she even knew what that word meant. Stephen made me look him in the eye and agree to wear a conservative dress. Fine, fine. It was too cold to be letting the legs loose. Since we weren't sure just what Tobias' plan was, the only thing we could do was wait. I was already a good step ahead of him because I had a date. After that conversation, Stephen dismissed us and sent us to the store to shop for a dress. Jean-Louise rolled her eyes whispering to me that he'd gotten into handing out orders ever since he'd made sergeant a while back.

Ugh, men. Jean-Louise took up the keys to her mom's car then we headed out to Charlottesville for their shopping strip. Stephen sent a message to Jean-Louise with specifications for the kind of dress he wanted us to get. It had to reach a little below my knees and have a modest neckline. He had better be right about this. We searched high and low for a black modest dress. Apparently Stephen was the only one who thought a black dress should be modest, because it took us hours to finally find one that met his specifications to the T. 45 dollars in the cash register and I had a new dress. This had better be a guy-getting dress or I'd just given up 4.5 weeks of Netflix standard service. We returned home so Stephen could give it a once over.

He nodded his approval, finally letting it slip that this was a formal dance, even if it was in the barn. If I really wanted to catch his eye, no matter how much I tried to deny it, I had to look like I could truly be the future mayor's wife.

"Whoa, I'm not looking for marriage here. That's the last thing on my list." I said.

"Don't look like a deer caught in headlights. The Delaney family won't let him date anyone that can't entertain the idea of one day marrying him. That was the only reason they liked Michelle Crawford, because she met the requirements."

My tummy curled up in anxiety. If marriage was on the table right off the bat I was better off not even trying to mess with him. I was 18 and sure as heck not looking to settle down with the first guy I'd be dating without my father's approval.

"What were those requirements?" I asked anyway.

"A nice, modest girl."

At least they didn't look into family history or else they'd blacklist me as the worst possible candidate for the Future Mrs. Delaney seat. "If he's eyed you already it's because he thinks you match the criteria, so you have to reinforce it. He won't give you the time of day if he thinks you're a wild girl and people always think they can dress down just because it's a barn. He knows you're coming and he'll be watching out for you."

I slumped on the sofa, so much for being one step ahead. "You'll be fine. Just know he's aggressive and he always gets what he wants." Why did he sound like a predatory animal? I wanted to date a man, not a puma. The hours passed too quickly and before I knew it, Jean-Louise was on my butt about getting ready. Stephen knocked on the door just as I had finished slipping on the dress. He wanted a modest neckline, but this one had no neckline and was long-sleeved. I smoothed out the soft skirt, giving myself a quick twirl in the mirror.

"Looks great." He said.

"Thanks."

I grabbed a pair of silver studs and slipped on a faux diamond bib necklace then slipped on my black satin heels. The accessories weren't modest, but I wasn't going to dress like a nun so he'd like me. That just wasn't me.