took a sip of my water, while Tiffany and Rose waited expectantly.
“I lost a bet with Gage,” I said, rolling my eyes and faking an embarrassed smile. The whole snake episode was just childish enough to be a brainstorm of his. “I said he couldn’t knot the stem of a cherry with his tongue. He did it five times in a row.”
“Omigod, Reed! You should know better than to ever make a bet with Gage!” Rose chided me.
“Especially when it involves his tongue,” Tiffany added, sticking hers out slightly.
“Lesson learned,” I replied. “I will never go there again.”
“What can I get for you ladies?” the waitress asked in the same hushed tone everyone seemed to use around here.
“Mango chicken salad, please,” I said, leaning back in my chair.
I took a deep breath, secure in the knowledge that neither Tiffany nor Rose would ever catch me in my latest lie. Neither of them was particularly friendly with Gage, and the whole bet story was forgettable enough that by tomorrow neither of them would care anymore. Everything was going to be fine. I was even starting to enjoy myself.
And then my cell phone vibrated.
“What was that?” Rose asked, looking around.
“My phone,” I whispered.
I fumbled it out of my pocket and held it under the table.
“Reed! You’re not supposed to have that in here,” Tiffany hissed, glancing over her shoulder at one of the waitresses.
“What’re they going to do, kick me out?” I asked. I pushed back from the table slightly to see the text on the screen. All at once, my lungs filled with relief. The text was from Josh. It read:
Hope we’re still on for tonight. I’ll pick you up at 8! XO
Thank goodness. I wasn’t sure that, on top of everything else, I could handle him dumping me on Valentine’s Day.
“It’s from Josh,” I explained.
Tiffany and Rose nodded knowingly.
I was just about to slide the phone back in my pocket when it vibrated again, startling the breath out of me.
This text was
not
from Josh.
ONLY ONE ASSIGNMENT LEFT. YOU FAIL, SHE DIES. FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS TONIGHT.
And just like that, the shoulder knots Kristianne had worked so hard to uncoil were back.
“Ow! Lorna! You stepped on my foot!” Amberly whined. “Ow! Owwww! Astrid! Stop! You’re smacking me in the back of the head with your brush.”
“Sorry, love,” Astrid said. She turned around too quickly and elbowed Amberly in the eye.
“Ow! Crap! Crappity crap crap!” Amberly blurted, doubling over.
“Oh my God, Amberly! Are you okay?” I asked, jumping up from my desk chair. Not that it was easy to do, what with the crowd of Billings Girls milling around in my tiny single room. I shoved by Portia, got a mouthful of hair spray as I ducked by Vienna, and cornered Amberly near the door, where she clutched her hand over her right eye, bent at the waist. Normally, Amberly wasn’t my favorite person, but she was one of us now—a true Billings Girl, and I had started to see her as a kind of annoying, precocious little sister.Also, that jab had looked pretty bad.
“No, I’m not okay!” she groused, pushing her blond mane back from her pretty, elfin face. “I miss Billings! Do you remember how big the rooms were? We could have all fit in Noelle’s room
with
our dates. And taken group pictures! And had champagne!”
Around me, the other Billings girls sighed nostalgically.
“This is pathetic,” Amberly said, throwing up a hand. “And now I have a black eye.”
“Here. Let me see.” I tugged her hand away from her eye and she blinked a few times. “It’s not black. It’s just watery and … slightly pink,” I told her. “Hey. It matches your dress.”
“You think?” Amberly asked, looking down at her dark pink silk frock. There wasn’t much she loved more than matching her accessories to her clothes.
I laughed. “You’re gonna be fine.”
“Knock, knock!” Trey Prescott stuck his head into my room. Just opening the door slightly, he practically flattened
“I lost a bet with Gage,” I said, rolling my eyes and faking an embarrassed smile. The whole snake episode was just childish enough to be a brainstorm of his. “I said he couldn’t knot the stem of a cherry with his tongue. He did it five times in a row.”
“Omigod, Reed! You should know better than to ever make a bet with Gage!” Rose chided me.
“Especially when it involves his tongue,” Tiffany added, sticking hers out slightly.
“Lesson learned,” I replied. “I will never go there again.”
“What can I get for you ladies?” the waitress asked in the same hushed tone everyone seemed to use around here.
“Mango chicken salad, please,” I said, leaning back in my chair.
I took a deep breath, secure in the knowledge that neither Tiffany nor Rose would ever catch me in my latest lie. Neither of them was particularly friendly with Gage, and the whole bet story was forgettable enough that by tomorrow neither of them would care anymore. Everything was going to be fine. I was even starting to enjoy myself.
And then my cell phone vibrated.
“What was that?” Rose asked, looking around.
“My phone,” I whispered.
I fumbled it out of my pocket and held it under the table.
“Reed! You’re not supposed to have that in here,” Tiffany hissed, glancing over her shoulder at one of the waitresses.
“What’re they going to do, kick me out?” I asked. I pushed back from the table slightly to see the text on the screen. All at once, my lungs filled with relief. The text was from Josh. It read:
Hope we’re still on for tonight. I’ll pick you up at 8! XO
Thank goodness. I wasn’t sure that, on top of everything else, I could handle him dumping me on Valentine’s Day.
“It’s from Josh,” I explained.
Tiffany and Rose nodded knowingly.
I was just about to slide the phone back in my pocket when it vibrated again, startling the breath out of me.
This text was
not
from Josh.
ONLY ONE ASSIGNMENT LEFT. YOU FAIL, SHE DIES. FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS TONIGHT.
And just like that, the shoulder knots Kristianne had worked so hard to uncoil were back.
“Ow! Lorna! You stepped on my foot!” Amberly whined. “Ow! Owwww! Astrid! Stop! You’re smacking me in the back of the head with your brush.”
“Sorry, love,” Astrid said. She turned around too quickly and elbowed Amberly in the eye.
“Ow! Crap! Crappity crap crap!” Amberly blurted, doubling over.
“Oh my God, Amberly! Are you okay?” I asked, jumping up from my desk chair. Not that it was easy to do, what with the crowd of Billings Girls milling around in my tiny single room. I shoved by Portia, got a mouthful of hair spray as I ducked by Vienna, and cornered Amberly near the door, where she clutched her hand over her right eye, bent at the waist. Normally, Amberly wasn’t my favorite person, but she was one of us now—a true Billings Girl, and I had started to see her as a kind of annoying, precocious little sister.Also, that jab had looked pretty bad.
“No, I’m not okay!” she groused, pushing her blond mane back from her pretty, elfin face. “I miss Billings! Do you remember how big the rooms were? We could have all fit in Noelle’s room
with
our dates. And taken group pictures! And had champagne!”
Around me, the other Billings girls sighed nostalgically.
“This is pathetic,” Amberly said, throwing up a hand. “And now I have a black eye.”
“Here. Let me see.” I tugged her hand away from her eye and she blinked a few times. “It’s not black. It’s just watery and … slightly pink,” I told her. “Hey. It matches your dress.”
“You think?” Amberly asked, looking down at her dark pink silk frock. There wasn’t much she loved more than matching her accessories to her clothes.
I laughed. “You’re gonna be fine.”
“Knock, knock!” Trey Prescott stuck his head into my room. Just opening the door slightly, he practically flattened
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