Gorgeous by Rachel Vail Page B

Behind me I heard one of them ask the other, “Who was that?” and made a silent prayer not to let those two Neanderthals eat up my allotment of admirers. I only had five or maybe four more to go, if you counted somebody making decisions at zip . I obviously couldn’t afford to waste any on partially evolved boys.
    Just as I spotted Roxie across what was either the family room or the living room of Madeleine Smith’s highly decorated, vibrating house, my arm was touched.
    “Allison Avery?”
    I turned to look right at Tyler Moss.
    “Tyler Moss,” I said.
    “Having fun?” he asked.
    “I always do,” I lied.
    “Yeah,” he said with that crooked smile just starting. “Me neither.”
    “Hello,” said Jade, beside him, unsmiling.
    Her smooth brown hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and her pale pink lipstick glinted in the dim light. She looked, as always, exactly the way I would want to look.
    “Hi,” I answered, willing myself not to sound shaky. “What are you doing here?”
    “I think I should ask you the same thing.” Jade raised her perfectly tweezed eyebrows and scanned my outfit, down then up. I forced myself not to gather the suddenly even skimpier cardigan over my nonexistent chest. Jade didn’t have smoky eyes, far from it. She had only her mascara, and was wearing a white short-sleeved button-down with a very cute light blue flared skirt.
    Clearly sensing the tension despite his boyness, Tyler asked us, “You two know each other? Jade Demarchelier, Allison Avery?”
    “We used to,” Jade answered.
    “Why aren’t you in Sag Harbor?” I asked, remembering that Serena’s older sister was best friends with Madeleine freaking Smith. Ugh.
    “We came back early because my grandmother got sick,” Jade answered so coldly icicles formed around the words. “I texted you.”
    “You did?”
    “Yes, twice, and called you. I left three messages on your voice mail. I was really upset about my grandmother and needed you.”
    I grabbed my phone. As soon as it was in my hand, the You have voice mail chimes went off. I looked: three new voice mails, two text messages.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. “I never heard—”
    “I figured maybe your parents took your phone away,” she practically growled. “Aren’t you grounded?”
    “Oh. Yes,” I spluttered.
    “So you snuck out?”
    “Kind of,” I said.
    Jade shook her head slowly.
    My phone played a short series of high-pitched bird screeches and went dead in my hand. Not feeling up to explaining it, I asked Jade, “How’s your grandmother?”
    “Better, thank you for asking,” she said formally. My cheeks felt frostbitten as I slipped my dead phone back into my clutch. “You’re looking…different,” Jade added, moving her gaze to my other hand, the one holding the beer cup.
    “I am different,” I lied.
    “So I see,” Jade agreed, and then, clearly done with me, flicked her flirty eyes up at Tyler and blinked them twice. “Anyway, Tyler, what were—”
    “I think I need some air,” I said, turning away from them. No way was she dismissing me, not again, not in front of Tyler Moss, not with me wearing my mask of invincibility. I was a jerk. Fine. I never thought anything better of myself than that. I didn’t need her shoving my face in it, was all.
    I was maybe two steps away, stretching my fingers to dispel their sudden numbness, when I heard Tyler, behind me, say, “I’ll go with you.”
    I didn’t trust myself to turn around, no matter how much I wanted to see the look on Jade’s face. I could feel him following me through and then out of the house.
    We walked side by side up Madeleine Smith’s walk as I poured out my stinky untouched beer in her bushes. I tossed my cup in her trash can and we took a left onto the sidewalk, still without a word. It was only when we rounded the corner that I said, “Now she’ll hate me more than ever.”
    “Jade? Why?” Tyler asked.
    “We’re best friends.”
    “But you just