The Caterpillar And The Stairs

I knew what I had to do. But how to go about it—that was the problem. What the hell did I know about seducing men? And not just any man—someone like Damien didn’t seem easily manipulated. Still, I knew I needed to do this. It was the only way to protect myself and my mom.

Once Gwen found out her loving boyfriend had cravings for her daughter, she would completely lose it. It would lead to a breakup, and I’d never have to worry about him again.

I spent the entire night browsing books and manuals on how to appear more attractive to a guy—especially one so uptight and cold. After reading so much, I thought I’d at least gotten the hang of it. First, it was all about how one carried themselves; men were attracted to confident women. Fine. Second, appearing sexy might improve my chances of catching Damien’s attention.

But that was all phase two. In phase one, I needed to be subtle. I couldn’t be too direct and give myself away, but I could start dropping small hints to catch his eye.

I went shopping for new clothes, then headed to a salon to get a new hairstyle and my nails done. It was strange how I’d never cared about my appearance until now.

⸻

“What hairstyle do you want?”

I stared at my reflection in deep thought. My usual curly hair was long, with bangs covering most of my forehead.

“I want the bangs gone. Cut it shorter.”

“I got you.”

Two hours later, I walked out of the salon looking like a completely different person—at least in appearance. With my face all cleaned up, I could experiment more with makeup and things like that. I went back home, thrilled with the change.

Gwen was stunned when she saw me.

“Wow, Liz, you look so good.”

“Thanks, Mom. I’m trying something different.”

“That makes me so happy.” She really did look happy, and that made me feel a little guilty. She liked Damien a lot. Too bad he was such a suck-up who obviously didn’t feel the same about her. I promised myself that if she found someone else who was actually good for her, I wouldn’t stand in the way.

⸻

I got stares at school. Understandably so—the different hair and clothing style made me look way more… attractive? I ran into Evan and Daisy a few times. The way Evan’s eyes trailed after me, I knew I looked that good. Daisy didn’t seem too pleased.

The dress-up was just the first part of my plan. I pulled out my phone to execute phase two. Damien didn’t answer my first call. I tried again, and finally, his impatient voice came through the line.

“What do you want?”

Wow. He really couldn’t stand me, could he? Thankfully, the feeling was mutual.

I didn’t bother trying to sound sweet or soft—yet—that would come off as suspicious.

“Can you… pick me up, please? I’m stranded.”

“Why not call your mother?”

“She’s at the office.”

He ended the call. But I knew I’d gotten what I wanted. Grinning, I went to sit on a bench to wait for him. I scrolled through my phone, reading more from the books I had downloaded yesterday. I didn’t notice someone approaching until my phone was snatched right out of my hands.

“Hey!” Iglared up at Daisy. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What am I doing?” She smiled, wearing her usual bright cherry lipstick that made her lips plump and eye-catching. While we were still dating, Evan had once suggested I try dressing more like Daisy. I’d bluntly told him we had different styles. She liked skirts and dresses—I preferred jeans and t-shirts. Maybe Evan had been into Daisy all along, and I’d just been too blind to see it.

“Satisfying my curiosity, of course. Now I see what you’ve been up to.”

“Give me my phone!” I lunged for it, but she evaded me.

“I knew something was off with you. You’re just so pathetic. You still can’t get over the fact that Evan and I are together.”

“I don’t care about you and Evan!”

“Then why are you reading this crap? Planning to seduce him? You think that’ll work? Dressing up all fancy like that? You’re just so damn pathetic, Liz.”

I was too stunned by my ex-best friend’s harshness to even be angry. The Daisy standing in front of me was nothing like the bubbly, sweet girl I had grown up with. Sure, we had our differences, but I never expected her to speak so venomously.

“I’m warning you now, Liz—stay the fuck away from Evan. He might feel sorry for you now, but don’t take advantage of that. Or I swear, I’ll mess you up real bad.”

She tossed my phone at me. I barely caught it before it hit the ground. I watched her walk away, still too shaken to say a word.

A loud honk snapped me out of my thoughts. Damien’s car was parked a short distance away. I grabbed my bag and walked over.

I slid into the passenger seat. He didn’t even glance at me. The drive was filled with silence. I was too deflated to even try to carry out my plan. When we arrived, I got out without a word and watched his car drive off.

“Fuck.” There went a perfectly good chance to make an impression. Who knows when I’d get him alone again?

⸻

That evening, Damien came over for dinner—even though he didn’t actually eat human food. Mom was busy in the kitchen, and Damien was in the living room sorting through paperwork. I was in my room, getting dolled up.

I slipped into a pretty dress that barely brushed my knees. It was sexy and elegant at once—nothing Mom would find suspicious. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and wore heels for the first time in forever. Like a caterpillar emerging from its cocoon, I descended the stairs with elegant, measured steps.

The click-click of my heels caught Damien’s attention. He looked up, and I struck a subtle pose. In the process, I missed a step and landed on my ass in a messy heap.

I quickly looked up. He was watching me silently, the corner of his lips curling—he’d definitely seen the fall.

I jumped to my feet. “ I meant to do that.”

Damien raised a brow. “Sure you did.”