COULD LIFE BE EVEN MORE unfair? this was not how it was supposed to go down. You’d think that after the welcome splat they’d given her that morning, this Lauren chick would get the message. So what if her dad had become some kind of Internet gazillionaire like everyone in class was saying? And okay, so maybe Lauren was now really pretty. Even Ashley had to grudgingly admit that the girl was like some sort of Jennifer Lawrence clone.
But c’mon, this was Lauren Page they were talking about—in kindergarten the Ashleys had made her eat mud! Every day! Until Lauren’s mom had finally complained to the school that her daughter was coming home with strange stomach pains, and they had to stop. Things just didn’t change around Miss Gamble’s. There were those on top and those at the bottom, and that was how it was. Everyone knew their place. Otherwise the whole system could come crashing down.
And now this!
The back-to-school tea was supposed to be all about debuting her new look. She’d picked out the Chloé dress especially for its unique design, and to see Lauren wearing it was, like, more than blasphemous. Her thunder was totally stolen.
Ashley stood with a huge fake smile plastered to her face as her mother made nice with Lauren’s scary mom. Someone should tell that lady that zebra print, leopard print, and paisley should never, ever be worn all at the same time. When Matilda finally led Lauren’s mom away, Ashley abruptly turned on her heel and walked quickly back to her friends. She made it clear that she didn’t expect Lauren to follow her, but Lauren kept up anyway, matching her stride for stride.
The Ashleys were seated in a prime spot by the window. Lili was sipping carefully from her teacup, while A. A. was playing with Princess Dahlia von Fluffsterhaus, Ashley’s labradoodle puppy. They both looked up when they saw Ashley and Lauren.
Lili gasped. “Twins!” she squealed, beginning to laugh. But she quickly cupped her hand over her mouth when she saw the death-ray look on Ashley’s face.
“I know. We’re, like, separated at birth!” Lauren joked, brazenly taking a seat next to A. A. on the floor as if she had always been in their inner circle.
“If only.” Ashley smiled thinly, knowing she would have to continue to pretend that the whole debacle didn’t bother her in the least, although now that she was pretending to be so chummy, it looked like they had planned to wear the same clothes on purpose. As if they were friends or something. Hello.
“Cute puppy! Can I hold him?” asked Lauren, looking nervous.
A. A. looked at Ashley, who shrugged. Let Lauren play with Princess Dahlia. Maybe if she was lucky Princess Dahlia would bite her.
Ashley knew that the other girls at the tea were beginning to notice that Lauren was seated with them. Now everyone would think that the Ashleys liked Lauren, when nothing could be further from the truth.
She licked her teaspoon and watched Lauren laugh with A. A. while they played with the puppy. This had to stop. She could smell an interloper a mile away. In fourth grade, Kennedy Taylor had tried the same thing—to join the Ashleys. She had the complete set of Bratz dolls and thought that was all it took.
But if anyone could be an Ashley, then what was the point of being an Ashley? Kennedy had to transfer schools after the Ashleys were through with her.
Somehow Ashley got the feeling Lauren wouldn’t be so easy to get rid of. She would have to take the matter in hand immediately.
“I’m bored!” Ashley announced, putting down her teacup with a clatter on the coffee table. She bit her cuticle and looked around the pale paneled room, with its fluted columns and crystal vases filled with abundant bouquets. Some big fat guy in chef’s whites was passing out a tray of hors d’oeuvres to the oohs and aahs of the assembled guests. Her mother was still greeting new arrivals by the entrance, playing with the string of pearls around her neck and trying to look interested in what Suki Atwater-Smith’s mother had to say.
“I call Truth or Dare,” she finally decided. “Who’s in?”
A. A. and Lili perked up, while Lauren looked slightly anxious. Good.
She decided to start off slowly. “Lili.”
“Dare,” said Lili, tossing her glossy curls over one shoulder and looking game for anything Ashley had in mind.
“I dare you to kiss Princess Dahlia on the lips,” Ashley said with a grin, knowing that Lili wasn’t too fond of animals.
Lili rolled her eyes, scrunched up her face, and gave the puppy a quick smack on the lips. “Done,” she said. She daintily wiped her lips with a Kleenex. “Puppy cooties, eww.”
“Princess Dahlia is cleaner than you!” Ashley retorted, picking up the dog and kissing her on the lips as well. “Pick your victim.”
Lili pointed a breadstick in A. A.’s direction, but put it down before eating it. “A. A. What’ll it be?”
“Truth,” A. A. said cheerfully.
“Do you stuff your bra?” Lili asked quickly, so it was obvious it was a question she’d been meaning to ask A. A. for some time now.
Ashley snorted. “Lil, that’s so lame. We all know A. A. is rolling Cs,” she said, noticing A. A. hug herself tightly so no one could look at her chest. “Do-over,” she ordered.
“Fine,” Lili huffed. “Truth again?”
A. A. mulled it over. “I’ll take a dare this time,” she mumbled.
Ashley whispered in Lili’s ear, and when she pulled away Lili had a slightly mocking smile on her face. “I dare you to text your boyfriend you love him,” she said. All the while, Ashley noticed that Lauren was hunched over her teacup, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.
“Do I have to?” groaned A. A.
“You know the rules,” Ashley reminded her gleefully.
A. A. sighed, took out her phone, and began to type. “Okaaaay. God, I hope he doesn’t think I’m some kind of stalker!” she said, putting away her iPhone.
She turned to Ashley. “Your turn!”
“Dare,” Ashley said, knowing that A. A. thought up the least exciting dares. Sure enough, A. A. came through. “I dare you to yell ‘Miss Gamble’s sucks!’ right now,” A. A. ordered.
“Easy,” Ashley mocked. “Watch this.” She threw her head back and yelled, “MISS GAMBLE’S SUCKS!” to the surprise of the room. Spoons clattered to the floor. Her mother shot her a look, but she shrugged it off.
“Done,” she said. “Now it’s my turn to choose.” Ashley looked intently at the three girls. She loved this part—the anticipation on her friends’ faces, the barely disguised anxiety on Lauren’s. Ashley prided herself on thinking up the most revealing questions and the most impossible dares. Last time they’d played, Lili had to walk around at the mall with her skirt tucked into her underwear and toilet paper hanging out, and A. A. had to moon a bus filled with Gregory Hall boys. A picture of A. A.’s butt was still floating around in cyberspace.
“Lauren,” she finally decided, zeroing in on the intruder in their midst. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare?” Lauren asked tentatively, with a nervous smile frozen on her face.
“Good choice.” Ashley got up and walked through the room, pausing to smile at a few mothers on her way out of the party.
“Uh, bye,” said A. A. as she looked at Lili. “Totally random.”
Ashley smiled to herself. If Lauren thought her dare would be as easy as kissing a dog, she had another thing coming. And then she was back, holding out her hand to Lauren. On her palm were a few dark clumps. “I dare you to drop these into the chocolate fountain,” she said.
“What? Why?” asked Lauren, giggling nervously.
“Because I dared you, duh,” Ashley snapped.
“What are they?” Lauren asked.
“Poisonous mushrooms grounded up. I’ve been saving them for a special occasion. Oh, don’t look at me like that, A. A. They’re not going to kill anyone. These are pretty benign. All they’ll do is make a few people throw up.”
“C’mon it’ll be funny,” Lili cooed.
“No, it won’t,” muttered Lauren, picking up the puppy and holding her so close that they couldn’t see her face.
“You could call a double dare,” put in A. A. helpfully. “But I wouldn’t, since Ashley’s double dares are even worse than her dares. And if you take a ‘Promise to Repeat,’ you can postpone it, but then you’d have to do it twice in the future.”
“Either way, you’re just making it worse, really,” Lili pointed out.
“And if you forfeit a dare, you have to do whatever we tell you for a whole week. Those are the rules,” Ashley declared. “And we all have tons of homework, don’t we, girls?”
“Tons.” A. A. nodded. Ashley wasn’t kidding. Miss Gamble’s was one of the top academic institutions in the city, and everyone obsessed over ISEE scores, which were mandatory for prep school admission.
“Gee, and it would be nice if someone could get us lunch from Gino’s Deli every day too. I’m so tired of brown-bagging,” Lili agreed.
“You don’t want to have to fetch our lunch every day, do you, Lauren?” asked Ashley sweetly.
Lauren paled. She put the dog down, snatched the mushrooms from Ashley’s hand, and slowly walked over to the chocolate fountain.
Ashley watched her go with satisfaction. No one ever dared turn down a dare. After Lauren put the mushrooms in, she would make her eat some chocolate from the fountain. This was even more fun than kindergarten.