weekend.”
I had a sudden vision of all of Hannah’s friends sitting around the living room, wearing birthday hats and looking bored, while Peyton tried to talk them into hitting a piñata with a broomstick.
“At first I was like, no way. Birthday parties are soooooo juvenile. But then Mom told me it’s going to be at the Canyon,”Hannah continued.
“The canyon?”I repeated, confused. We didn’t have canyons in Florida. Was it possible Hannah was throwing her party somewhere out West? Like in California or Nevada?
“Yeah. That new restaurant downtown. Mom planned the whole thing while I was away as a welcome-home surprise for me,”Hannah said. “We’re going to have the restaurant all to ourselves, and there’s going to be a band and everything.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if Peyton had planned the party in order to compete with Hannah’s stepmom, Jackie, who always spoiled Hannah rotten whenever she visited. Then again, as evil as Peyton was, she did seem to genuinely love Hannah. Sure, she expressed that love by showering her daughter with material goods, but even so. There was real affection there. It’s pretty much the only thing that’s convinced me so far that Peyton isn’t directly employed by the devil to wreak chaos and misery on the world. Unless the minions of Satan are capable of love . . .I wasn’t sure about that. It might require some Internet research.
“Anyway, you have to come,”Hannah continued.
“Really? You want me there?”I asked, surprised. Hannah and I had reached a détente in our previously hostile relationship. . . . But that didn’t necessarily mean she was going to start being nice to me in front of her friends.
“Uh-huh. It’ll be fun. And you should bring a date,”Hannah continued.
“Can I bring my friend Charlie?”I asked.
Even though Hannah had met Charlie at the Snowflake Gala—which Hannah attended as Emmett’s date—she looked at me blankly.
“Boy or girl?”she asked.
“Girl. You met her. Remember? My best friend? The artist?”I reminded her.
Hannah still looked blank.
“She has pink hair?”I tried again.
“Oh . . . right. I remember. No, you can’t bring her,”Hannah said.
“Why not?”I asked, stung.
“Because you have to bring a real date. A guy. Like Dex,”Hannah said.
I sighed heavily. “I’m not bringing Dex,”I said.
“So who are you going to bring?”she asked.
I could always bring Finn, I thought. But, then again, probably not the best idea. Finn is incapable of missing the opportunity to pull a prank. He’d end up doing something that he alone would find funny—like switching out the Diet Coke with the full-sugar, full-calorie Coke to screw with the girls who had eating disorders—but that would tick off almost everyone else. And I’d end up in trouble by association.
“I’m not. I’ll just come on my own,”I said.
Hannah pouted. “But you can’t. Everyone’s going to have a date,”she said.
It was the story of my life: dateless among the dated. I wondered briefly if Henry would consider flying out for the event, before dismissing that idea as crazy.
“I’m going back to sleep,”I said.
I shut my eyes. Hannah sighed heavily. I felt the bed shift as she stood, and then a moment later my door squeaked open and closed with a soft thud. I was finally, blessedly, alone.
Chapter 10
Still on London time, I was up and dressed by five the next morning. As a result, I was the first one to arrive at geology class, a subject I was just starting that semester. While I waited for the rest of the class to arrive, I opened my new laptop and checked my e-mail.
To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Subject: Greetings from London Hi Miranda,
Hope you had a nice flight back. Think of me here in cold, gloomy London while you’re basking in the Florida sunshine.
Top Three Reasons I want to visit America, in reverse order:
3. Not having to wait for all of the top movies to be released.
I had a sudden vision of all of Hannah’s friends sitting around the living room, wearing birthday hats and looking bored, while Peyton tried to talk them into hitting a piñata with a broomstick.
“At first I was like, no way. Birthday parties are soooooo juvenile. But then Mom told me it’s going to be at the Canyon,”Hannah continued.
“The canyon?”I repeated, confused. We didn’t have canyons in Florida. Was it possible Hannah was throwing her party somewhere out West? Like in California or Nevada?
“Yeah. That new restaurant downtown. Mom planned the whole thing while I was away as a welcome-home surprise for me,”Hannah said. “We’re going to have the restaurant all to ourselves, and there’s going to be a band and everything.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if Peyton had planned the party in order to compete with Hannah’s stepmom, Jackie, who always spoiled Hannah rotten whenever she visited. Then again, as evil as Peyton was, she did seem to genuinely love Hannah. Sure, she expressed that love by showering her daughter with material goods, but even so. There was real affection there. It’s pretty much the only thing that’s convinced me so far that Peyton isn’t directly employed by the devil to wreak chaos and misery on the world. Unless the minions of Satan are capable of love . . .I wasn’t sure about that. It might require some Internet research.
“Anyway, you have to come,”Hannah continued.
“Really? You want me there?”I asked, surprised. Hannah and I had reached a détente in our previously hostile relationship. . . . But that didn’t necessarily mean she was going to start being nice to me in front of her friends.
“Uh-huh. It’ll be fun. And you should bring a date,”Hannah continued.
“Can I bring my friend Charlie?”I asked.
Even though Hannah had met Charlie at the Snowflake Gala—which Hannah attended as Emmett’s date—she looked at me blankly.
“Boy or girl?”she asked.
“Girl. You met her. Remember? My best friend? The artist?”I reminded her.
Hannah still looked blank.
“She has pink hair?”I tried again.
“Oh . . . right. I remember. No, you can’t bring her,”Hannah said.
“Why not?”I asked, stung.
“Because you have to bring a real date. A guy. Like Dex,”Hannah said.
I sighed heavily. “I’m not bringing Dex,”I said.
“So who are you going to bring?”she asked.
I could always bring Finn, I thought. But, then again, probably not the best idea. Finn is incapable of missing the opportunity to pull a prank. He’d end up doing something that he alone would find funny—like switching out the Diet Coke with the full-sugar, full-calorie Coke to screw with the girls who had eating disorders—but that would tick off almost everyone else. And I’d end up in trouble by association.
“I’m not. I’ll just come on my own,”I said.
Hannah pouted. “But you can’t. Everyone’s going to have a date,”she said.
It was the story of my life: dateless among the dated. I wondered briefly if Henry would consider flying out for the event, before dismissing that idea as crazy.
“I’m going back to sleep,”I said.
I shut my eyes. Hannah sighed heavily. I felt the bed shift as she stood, and then a moment later my door squeaked open and closed with a soft thud. I was finally, blessedly, alone.
Chapter 10
Still on London time, I was up and dressed by five the next morning. As a result, I was the first one to arrive at geology class, a subject I was just starting that semester. While I waited for the rest of the class to arrive, I opened my new laptop and checked my e-mail.
To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Subject: Greetings from London Hi Miranda,
Hope you had a nice flight back. Think of me here in cold, gloomy London while you’re basking in the Florida sunshine.
Top Three Reasons I want to visit America, in reverse order:
3. Not having to wait for all of the top movies to be released.
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