Front Page Face-Off by Jo Whittemore Page A

to the middle shelf, leafing through the contents. “Her date book! What—” I looked back at Paige just as she raised a glass bottle and squirtedme with the contents, most of which found their way into my open mouth. “Ack!” I sputtered and gagged as the heady smell of perfume overwhelmed me. “You Chanel-ed me!”
    â€œYou weren’t supposed to turn around,” said Paige, “and I would never waste Chanel. This is Pink Sugar. I use it on my gym sneakers.”
    â€œI’m not allowed to wear perfume … or drink it!” I smacked my tongue against the roof of my mouth, making a face.
    â€œJust tell your stepdad someone accidentally got you with it.” She took the date book from me and flipped to October. “Ha! She doesn’t have the Woodcliff Pumpkin Romp in here or any Halloween parties planned. But … she does have this whole week marked off.”
    Paige pointed at the first week of the month and frowned. Katie had drawn a line across the entire week, with the letters NFP written above it. “NFP … and on that Friday night there’s a banquet.” Paige gasped. “NF. Do you know what that is?”
    â€œSome sort of awareness group.” I wiped my face with the bottom of my shirt.
    â€œNo. Nouveau Fashion!” When I didn’t cheer and wave pom-poms, Paige gave me a pained look. “They’re one of the top designers on your fashion card. When was the last time you looked at it?”
    â€œWhen I used it to scrape gum off my shoe. Listen, Katie said NFP was an awareness thing.”
    â€œAn awareness of fashion , maybe.” She tapped her fingernails on her chin. “It must be their premiere week.”
    â€œNeat.” I started fiddling around in Katie’s locker again.
    â€œAlthough why she got invited to the banquet and I
didn’t … Delilah, now you really have to take her down. She’s stealing the exclusive invitations I should be getting.”
    â€œThe nerve of that girl.” I studied the inside of Katie’s locker door. She definitely had an obsession with sea turtles. There were pictures of sea turtles swimming, pictures of her petting sea turtles, pictures of her in sea turtle T-shirts …
    â€œPaige!”
    â€œHmm?” She continued to read the date book until I snatched it from her. “Hey!”
    â€œWhen I talked to Katie on the beach, she said she never wore T-shirts, but look!” I stabbed the locker door so hard, it swung back into the one behind it.
    â€œShe’s wearing T-shirts.” Paige looked at the pictures, then at me. “You think that’s her big secret? That she bares her elbows in private?”
    I squeezed my fists into frustrated balls. “No! But why would she lie about that? And what’s with this thing?” I grabbed the red metal globe. “There’s something tying it all together, but …” I sighed. “I have to talk to her friends.”
    â€œMonday,” Paige agreed. “But before then you have the Debutante social … which brings me to my second question.” She closed Katie’s locker door and spun me to face her. “What are you wearing tomorrow night?”
    â€œNothing,” I mumbled, jotting myself a note about Katie’s old schoolmates. “I don’t own a single thing appropriate for a social. My options are a flower girl dress from when I was eight or a bath towel with sequins stapled to it. Take your pick.”
    For a moment, I was afraid she might take the bath towel option, just to punish me for making her life difficult, but she smiled and reached into her designer book bag.
    â€œI had a feeling you might say that, so I brought you this.” She withdrew a green bundle and let one end tumble from her fingers until it unfurled into a dress.
    â€œWow.” I held up the dress to study it. “I didn’t think rich people did the whole