Brett did feel guilty about kissing Sebastian, but… “I wouldn’t have kissed him if I thought you were serious about him,” she said honestly, twisting her watch nervously. “You weren’t, were you?”
Callie paused. “He was a bit of a work-in-progress,” she answered petulantly, running her fingers over the iPod stereo. “But that doesn’t mean it feels good to have him taken away.”
“But he was a project to you, not a person. And that’s not fair.” Brett placed her hand on Callie’s thin forearm and squeezed it gently. “You liked the person you thought he could be if you got rid of his Bon Jovi. And bad cologne.”
Callie considered this, glancing away while chewing the corner of her lip. “He has terrible taste in music.”
“I know.” Brett grinned goofily, just thinking about the ride home from New Jersey with Sebastian, when they both sang along to the lame lyrics of “I’ll Be There for You.” “But I like him despite the bad taste. Or maybe because of it. I don’t know.”
Callie twitched her nose and arched her well-plucked eyebrows. “That’s impressive.”
“I know.” Brett laughed. “And don’t take this the wrong way, but I kind of think you were… just looking for someone to help you get over Easy.”
Callie sighed. Brett was right. Callie hadn’t really been interested in Sebastian at all. She just liked the idea of having someone to keep her mind off Easy. As her eyes strayed briefly from Brett’s face, she caught the gaze of Parker Dubois’s pretty blue-gray eyes from across the room, and a surge of electricity shot through her. That definitely wasn’t a look a gay guy gives a girl.
Suddenly Callie remembered why she’d broken up with Easy. Because she wasn’t ready to be with the love of her life. Not yet, at least. Not when she was so young, and there were still so many boys to kiss. Ones who looked like Parker Dubois.
Finally, she dragged her eyes back to Brett and gave her a sheepish grin. “I guess you’re right.”
“Right about what?” Tinsley asked, sidling up next to them.
Brett looked at Callie and threw an arm around her shoulder. “Right about needing another drink.” Callie giggled.
“I’ll get it.” Brett caught Sebastian’s eye in the drink line and held up two fingers. “You want one?” she asked Tinsley.
“Julian’s getting me one.” Tinsley shrugged and tugged at the top of her sunshine yellow dress, which was sliding down a little. “But thanks.”
“What are we going to drink to?” Brett asked, watching Benny Cunningham try to flirt with Sebastian as he poured a couple cups of punch. He smiled politely at her before turning back to Brett and winking.
“How about… starting over?” Tinsley asked, flashing another smile at Brett. Brett just stared at her. They’d been civil to each lately, sure… but was Tinsley actually saying she wanted to be friends again? Real friends?
“Did you just get high or something?” Callie asked, pressing the back of her hand to Tinsley’s forehead.
Tinsley rolled her eyes. “No. I’m just saying… it’s practically a new year, turning over a new leaf, et cetera, et cetera.” She made a “blah, blah, blah” motion with her hand.
“I think she’s high on Juuuuulian,” Brett teased, kicking away an empty plastic cup that had rolled into her foot.
“Fuck you,” Tinsley shot back, but it was one of those friendly fuck-yous that you can only say to people you love. All the skirmishes of the past four months flashed through Brett’s mind, but she realized that none of them mattered as much as having Tinsley’s friendship back. She could be a manipulative bitch, sure—but that was what made her so much fun.
Sebastian strode up balancing three cups of Hell Fire in his hands. Brett and Callie each grabbed one. Sebastian glanced at both girls, relief registering on his handsome face when he realized they’d made up. “Cheers,” Brett cried, holding up her glass and planting a big kiss on Callie’s cheek.
“Knock it off.” Callie shoved Brett away affectionately. “I’ve got work to do.”
“Those girls suck,” Tinsley proclaimed, watching a couple of sophomores fall off from their perch on the coffee table. “Come on.” She grabbed Brett and Callie by the hands and jumped up on the hand-carved coffee table as catcalls went up around the room. Sebastian cranked the volume as the girls danced, holding their cups over their heads.
Callie could feel the music moving through her as she gyrated above the crowd, all eyes on her. She flashed a smile at Tinsley, who turned and smiled down at Julian. She caught Brett winking at Sebastian, who gave a hearty thumbs-up from the back of the room. She wished she had someone to smile at, or throw a wink at… but then she realized that at least half a dozen guys—maybe more—were staring right at her.
It felt good to have fun again. Not fake fun, like she was trying to have with Sebastian. She finally admitted to herself that her last good time had been spent with Easy—she wasn’t totally over him yet.
But she’d get there. She moved her body in time to the music that made the whole room vibrate, closing her eyes to feel it in her bones.
29
A WAVERLY OWL KNOWS THAT FAILURES ARE WHAT MAKE SUCCESS SO SWEET.
As the room spun around her, Jenny pushed through the crowd, desperately searching for her black wool Banana Republic peacoat. It wasn’t where she left it, and she wasn’t about to freeze her limbs off walking home without it. She must have picked up a dozen black peacoats only to discover that they belonged to someone else. She felt sweaty and humiliated—everywhere she turned, people were staring at their phones, giggling, or asking her really embarrassing questions, like Can I see your bra again? and Where are your bunny pajamas? All she wanted to do now was find her coat, slink to her room unseen, curl up under her baby-soft quilt, and never come out again.
Heath Ferro sat in a giant leather rocking chair in the corner. The line of girls waiting to sit in his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas had only a few drunken stragglers in it. “J-bear!” he cried out, drunkenly, when Jenny brushed past him. “Come ask Santa for a sexy negligee. Anything’s better than those flannels you wear.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. She spotted the open door of a hall closet, and remembered Kaitlin offering to hang up her coat. She wasn’t even mad at the freshman girls anymore. She deserved what they’d done to her after spending the last two weeks prancing around like she was the star of her own reality series. What had she been thinking? She didn’t even like reality TV.
“Jenny Humphrey!” someone screeched. Even though the last thing she wanted was for someone else to tell her she looked terrible in the morning, Jenny couldn’t help whirling around.
To her surprise, it was Tinsley Carmichael who’d called out to her. She stood on top of a coffee table, looking fabulously elegant in a canary yellow cocktail dress with a sweetheart neckline. On one side of her was Brett, her bright red hair looking dramatic against her pale skin and dark purple dress, and on the other, Callie, whose loose blond curls hung around her head, making her look like some kind of sun goddess. Jenny immediately thought of the Three Graces, the figures in Greek mythology who represented beauty, charm, and elegance.
Jenny felt her cheeks flush. All eyes were on her, or at least, it felt that way, and she swore the room got quieter as everyone strained to hear what Tinsley would say to her. “What?” she asked shakily, kind of hoping it would be the end of everything. Was Tinsley about to put the icing on the cake and tell her she had no place at this school and she might as well crawl back to loserdom—or join the chess club or something? Brett and Callie were too good for her, too. Jenny should have known better and stuck with the dorky, safe people like Yvonne Stidder from the very beginning.
Tinsley tossed her dark mane of hair over her shoulder. Then she reached her hand down, a thick platinum cuff sliding down her wrist. “Get your cute little butt up here.”
Jenny just stood there, her cherry-ChapSticked mouth slightly open. She felt like time had stopped, the way it did in
a nightmare—or a dream. Tinsley Carmichael, who’d been a bitch to her all week, was inviting Jenny in front of the whole world… to dance with the cool kids? Jenny’s feet felt like they were glued to the floor. She would have stayed there, if Brett hadn’t hopped down, her bare feet landing gracefully on the carpet. She grabbed Jenny’s wrist and tugged her toward the table. Jenny could practically feel the tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m sorry I blew off your party.”
“Whatever. It sucked.” Brett laughed, a carefree look in her almond-shaped green eyes that Jenny hadn’t seen in a long time. “But that means you have to make up for it now.” She pushed Jenny toward the table, and Callie and Tinsley moved aside to make room.
Jenny took a deep breath just as the first notes of the AC/DC song “You Shook Me All Night Long” came on. She felt eyes on her as she hopped up on the table with the three most glamorous girls in school. Her friends. Tinsley bumped her hip against hers, and Callie gave her a wink, as if to say, Yeah, you looked like a total dork in that video but we still love ya. Jenny’s head whirled, and as she started to move her body to the music, the blood pulsing through her veins, she felt like a new person. Or maybe just the person she’d always been.
After all, who needed a fan club when you had great friends?
* * *
Owl Net
Instant Message Inbox
* * *
BennyCunningham:
It was Cliff Montgomery who gave me my ferret. Think I should ask him out?
VerenaArneval:
Sure. Gifts of rodents bode well for romance.
BennyCunningham:
Who was your Satan? U find out?
VerenaArneval:
Yvonne Stidder! She gave me penis-shaped lollipops!
BennyCunningham:
Ew.
* * *
* * *
Owl Net
Instant Message Inbox
* * *
HeathFerro:
Sorry to hear your boyfriend likes redheads better than blondes! Need someone to lick your wounds?
CallieVernon:
Gross! Don’t you have some penis candy canes to eat?
HeathFerro:
You’re my Secret Satan? I KNEW you had a dirty side!!
CallieVernon:
Don’t get used to it.
* * *
* * *
Owl Net
Instant Message Inbox
* * *
AlisonQuentin:
Guess who I saw in old lady Apthorp’s office when I handed in my Chaucer paper? Her replacement. She’s retiring over break!
EmilyJenkins:
AFT. I think she wears Depends.
AlisonQuentin:
Wait till you hear the good part. The guy replacing her has two kids that are transferring in. Saw the whole fam on my way out of her office.
EmilyJenkins:
Ohmigod. Boys, I hope. We need some new blood.
AlisonQuentin:
A boy and a girl. Both tall, well-dressed, dark hair with green eyes. And otherworldly hot.
EmilyJenkins:
Happy New Year to Waverly!
* * *
Cecily von Ziegesar, Adored
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