Playing with Fire by Emily Blake Page B

thick for Kelly’s benefit.
    â€œOf course you may stay.” Grandmother Diamond smiled at her granddaughter affectionately. “But the rest of you have to go. Kelly, I am calling your parents as soon as I get back into the house.” Alison smiled. That phone call was icing on the cake. Aunt Phoebe would be mortified by her mother’s anger, and Kelly would get a lengthy lecture. She would pretend to ignore it but…
    Alison didn’t even have to look up to know Kelly was already fuming. The heat coming off that girl was intense. She was a volcano about to blow.
    Alison scampered up to the boys and gave each of them a peck on the cheek. “Thanks for coming, guys!” she bubbled. Then she waved at her cousin’s retreating back. “Love you, Kel. See you Monday!”

Chapter Twenty-three
    Kelly slammed the door to her bedroom, half wishing it would crack the plaster. The ride back to her house in the limo was awkward, and Chad had seemed…irritated. Kelly had insisted on being dropped off first, just to get it over with.
    Once she got inside, things got even worse. Her mother was sitting like a statue on the sofa while her father paced back and forth in his sheepskin slippers.
    â€œThis is the last straw,” her father said, his voice kind of shaky. He never was good at discipline.
    â€œYour grandmother was very upset,” hermother added. “She thought she was being robbed!”
    â€œShe thought we were robbing the hot tub? I wasn’t the first one there,” Kelly said. “And the midnight swim was Alison’s idea!”
    â€œReally,” Phoebe said, raising an eyebrow. “And did Alison bring boys to the pool?” she asked pointedly. “I understand she’s staying the weekend at Mother’s, so of course she was the first one there. Honestly, Kelly. The way you insist on blaming everything on Alison when you know she is having a tough time…”
    Kelly had stood there saying nothing while her mother waited for an apology that would never come. Finally she’d been dismissed.
    Faceup and arms crossed, Kelly flopped onto her down duvet. The last straw was Alison waving good-bye like a cheerleader. Not to mention the simpering look on her face when she was weaseling up to Her Highness. It was disgusting. It was shameless. And Kelly knew the show was all for her. Alison loved to rub her nose in the fact that she was their grandmother’s favorite—Tamara’s little lap dog. It made Kelly sick.
    Ugh! Kelly rolled over. She hated pouting. Itwas useless. She much preferred to turn her hurt into anger. Being mad helped her focus.
    Only in this case Kelly wasn’t sure she had the power to change anything. No matter how far under Kelly pulled her, Alison bobbed right back to the surface like Ivory soap. It really burned Kelly up. Apparently she and her aunt Christine were the only people in the world who could see past Alison’s goody-goody charms.
    Even Chad was still susceptible. Kelly could have sworn she saw the word “sorry” starting to form on her boy’s lips in the hot tub. He had nothing to be sorry for! Was he sorry he was with her, the most popular girl at Stafford? Was he sorry Alison was so pathetic? Chad was weak. She was going to have to watch him—to make sure he didn’t go astray.
    Kelly stood up and grabbed her purse off the floor. “If you wanted to make me mad, Al, you did,” she said under her breath. “And if you’re wondering how much it’s going to cost you…” Kelly grimaced as she flipped open her phone and looked at the hideous picture she had taken of poor little Alison curled up in her unicorn-covered sleeping bag, hugging herstuffed puppy. Kelly scrolled down and selected “send.” If a picture spoke a thousand words, how many words did hundreds of pictures speak? Alison would know soon enough. The photo would spread like