“Only seventy-five more school days until Christmas vacation,” Bianca said, tossing her Gucci shoulder bag onto the floor while taking a seat next to Paige in the school auditorium for afternoon assembly.
“Are you counting down the days already?” Paige asked in disbelief.
“Aren’t you?”
“It’s only our first day back!”
“I wish it was still summer vacation.”
“Look, I chipped a nail,” Rachel said, taking a seat on the opposite side of Paige.
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. “Hello, Ling? I need to make an appointment this afternoon. It’s an emergency. You have to fix a nail.” Rachel examined the rest of her nails. “Actually, why don’t we do all of them. My pinkies are looking a bit ragged and I could use a new color. Something autumny.”
“Can’t you just do that yourself?” Colleen asked, joining the group and taking the aisle seat next to Bianca.
“It never looks as good as when it’s done professionally,” Rachel said.
Colleen rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
Paige stifled a giggle. Rachel and Bianca were such girly-girls, always worrying about the way they looked, while Colleen went with the flow. If she needed to dress up, she did, but she was usually dressed casually. Bianca and Rachel, on the other hand, always looked ready for a fashion spread in Elle magazine.
It was strange how the four of them had become friends. Separately, they had nothing in common, yet as a group, they seemed to click.
Paige had become friends with Colleen first. It was Paige’s first day at Peppington Prep and no one had gone out of their way to make a place for her at their table as she’d walked into the cafeteria with her lunch tray. Except Colleen.
Every day after that, they had lunch together. They didn’t get to hang out much after school, though, because Colleen’s mother had her signed up for every kind of lesson imaginable. But when they were able to get together—for a movie or a trip to a museum or just a day of shopping—they always had a fun time.
What Paige loved about Colleen was her confidence. Yes, she was larger than the other girls in their class, but that didn’t matter to Colleen. Nor did the catty comments about her weight; about how she could be such a pretty girl if she only lost a few pounds; of how she could get a boyfriend if she were thinner. Colleen ignored it all—she liked what she saw when she looked in her mirror. If no one else did, tough.
And Paige knew there was more to the twins than met the eye. Yes, they were pampered princesses, but that was because they were treated that way by their father. When Paige was at their house, she’d heard their dad say things like: “You don’t need to worry about working. All you have to do is look pretty and one day get married. Your husband will take care of you and manage all your money someday.”
No wonder the twins paid more attention to their clothes, and boys, than to school!
Paige felt that that was also why they were so obsessed with trying to become celebrities. She felt like they were trying to prove themselves to their father and that made her sad.
Because she knew what it felt like to have a parent who ignored you. It was one of the reasons why she had bonded with the twins. But they were also very funny, and sometimes you just needed to have a friend who was silly and made you laugh.
“Think Ling can squeeze me in?” Paige asked Rachel. “We’ll have a girls’ afternoon.”
“Not a prob!” Rachel said reaching for her cell phone.
“So, have you checked out some of the hot new guys?” Colleen asked.
“High school boys!” Bianca sniffed disdainfully. “So immature! We need to start expanding our horizons! And I know exactly how we can do that.” Bianca looked around to make sure she wouldn’t be overheard. “There’s a keg party at one of the fraternities this weekend up at Columbia.”
“No! No more keg parties!” Paige said firmly. “Remember what happened the last time we went to one? You drank too much beer and I wound up holding your hair back from a toilet.”
“I only had one beer!” Bianca exclaimed. “It was food poisoning! I had some bad mayo that day. Come on, don’t be such a spoilsport. Think of it as a sneak peek of what we can expect next year!”
Colleen shrugged. “I could be up for a little college excitement. How about it, Paige? I’ll go if you go.”
Now it was Paige’s turn to look around to make sure she wasn’t overheard. “If I tell the three of you a secret, do you promise to keep it to yourselves?”
“Swear,” Rachel said, crossing her heart.
“I’m interested in one of the new guys.”
“Which one?” Bianca asked.
“Max Coulter.”
“Isn’t he the one who’s buying new uniforms for the cheerleading squad?” Rachel said.
“Where did you hear that?!” Paige exclaimed.
“One of the girls in my Web design class told me. Max had a free period this morning and was watching the squad practice. He noticed how crappy the uniforms are and said that his father would be happy to make a donation to the school.”
“Sounds like Max knows how to score with the ladies,” Bianca said. “I bet he walked away with at least ten phone numbers.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Paige murmured.
Rachel nodded. “Girls were throwing themselves all over him. Hugging and kissing him. Including Sheena Wolverton.”
“Oooh, we hate the She-Wolf,” Bianca hissed, using the nickname Sheena had been given for her ability to devour and discard boyfriends that belonged to other girls.
“If you’re interested in Max, you better make your move,” Colleen advised as the auditorium lights dimmed and a slide show presentation began. “Sounds like you might have some competition.”
Paige was at her locker after assembly getting her books for her afternoon classes when she heard a voice calling her name.
“Paige. Hey, Paige!”
Paige turned around and looked around the crowded hallway. Her whole face lit up when she saw who was calling.
Max!
She waved. “Hi! I didn’t recognize your voice.”
Max leaned against the locker next to Paige’s. “Guess we’ll have to do something about that.”
Like what? Paige was tempted to ask.
“Sorry I’ve been out of touch. Busy with back to school stuff, ya know?”
Paige tossed a thick textbook into her backpack. “I know. Me too.”
“I wanted to ask you a question.”
“Sure.”
“How easy is it to cut a class?”
“What?!”
“You know. Skip out. Are the teachers really firm about taking attendance?”
“Uh, yeah. For what our parents pay to send us here, they better be.”
“Ugh! I thought so.”
Paige slammed her locker shut and began walking down the hall to her next class. “Why do you want to cut class?”
“I don’t feel like hanging around here,” Max said, walking with her. “It’s a beautiful day outside. I feel like going to Central Park and tossing around a Frisbee. Can’t toss a Frisbee by myself. What do you say? Let’s be bad together.”
Oooh! That sounded so sexy. Who would have thought that Max was not only possible boyfriend material, but also bad boy material. But she couldn’t! It was the first day of school. This was when their teachers were most diligent about taking attendance and college transcripts were still being put together.
“Maybe in the spring.”
“Come on,” Max pleaded. “Pleeeeease…I promise to show you a good time.”
How good a time? Paige was tempted to ask. Her heart fluttered as she imagined herself alone with Max and she felt herself wavering.
Then she remembered all the phone numbers he’d collected from the cheerleading squad.
But he was asking her to go with him to the park.
He hadn’t asked the She-Wolf, had he?
“You’re tempting me, Max. You really are. But I can’t. I’ve got a ton of A.P. classes and I can’t mess up.”
“Yeah, I’m taking A.P. History. It should be a piece of cake.”
“Piece of cake? History’s my hardest subject. I always have a tough time remembering all those names and dates.”
“Really? When it comes to names and dates, I kind of just absorb that stuff like a sponge. Plus I love watching the History Channel. Just think, hundreds of years from now, students will be reading about our lives and thinking we lived in the Stone Age!”
He’s good-looking and smart, Paige thought to herself. Could it get any better than this?
“Maybe we’ll have to have a private tutoring session,” Max suggested. “How does that sound?”
Paige felt tingles going up and down her spine. “Sounds like you know your stuff.”
“You’d be surprised at what I could teach you.”
He said the words with such sexiness! The tingles traveled all over Paige’s body and she found herself speechless.
The bell for the next class rang and Max sighed. “Well, since I guess there’s no escape, I might as well head to my next class.”
“Which is?”
“Gym.” Max gave Paige a wink. “Talk to you later.”
“Bye,” Paige whispered, as she watched Max disappear down the crowded hallway, wishing she could switch places with Anthony. If she wasn’t such a goody two shoes, she’d be the one spending the next forty-five minutes with Max. Instead, it was going to be Anthony.
Don’t say I’ve never done anything for you, Mr. DeMarco!