Crap. Where do I go, where do I go…?
I glanced desperately around the hall, searching for an escape route even as I heard them getting closer. The sound of stilettos on marble was unmistakable.
It’s a sad, sad day when a bunch of twigs in four-inch Louboutins can catch up to me.
Right? Or left? Making up my mind out of sheer panic, I darted right, panting slightly from the exertion. God, I really need to join a gym or something.
“There she is!” I heard someone shout.
I let out a small groan. Why oh why do these things always happen to me?
I was trying to figure out the best way to lose them when the girls’ bathroom door opened and smacked me right in the face.
“Ow!” I cried, bringing my hand up to my stinging forehead.
“Oh my god, I’m so—Maya?”
I blinked. The person who’d opened the door was Venice. “Hi, V.” I waved weakly.
“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, running to my side. She gazed worriedly at my forehead. “Are you ok?”
“I—“ The sound of stilettos were almost on me by now. I grimaced. There was no way I’d be able to outrun them now, especially since I was feeling a bit dizzy. “Do you have to open doors so hard?” I grumbled, resigned to my fate.
Venice was staring, open-mouthed, over my shoulder. “Are they harassing you again?” she exclaimed. “But you’re dating Parker now!”
I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “Oh, they’re harassing me all right,” I muttered. “Just not in the way you’re thinking.”
She looked confused. “What are you talking—“
“Maya!” A perfectly manicured hand grasped by arm eagerly. When I looked up, I saw it belonged to a whip-thin blonde who wore a pair diamond earrings so huge I was surprised her earlobes didn’t fall off. “Finally, I caught up to you,” she simpered. “You know, you’re really…uh, athletic. In the best way possible, of course,” she added quickly. Apparently, in her world, an athletic girl wasn’t a compliment.
I forced a polite smile on my face, wishing for the umpteenth time that day that my parents hadn’t taught me the value of good manners so I could tell her exactly where to shove those earrings of hers. “Thanks, uh…”
“Agnes. Agnes Welden, of the Welden textiles fortune,” she pronounced smugly, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Anyway, you left before I had a chance to ask you, where did you get those fabulous shoes? They’re amazing!”
I stared down at my shoes. They were just plain black flats.
“Um…Nine West?”
“Nine West!” she screeched, letting out a fake laugh. “How… quaint. That’s what I really like about you, Maya, you’re so, um, down-to-earth. How about we go shoe shopping this weekend? Sigerson Morrison just opened up a—“
“Oh, shove it, Agnes,” another girl said crankily, pushing Agnes out of the way. She’d obviously gotten tired of waiting. She turned to me with a big smile. “Hey, Maya! I’m Ricki. I’m in your English class. Listen, a bunch of us are planning to make a quick getaway to the Caribbean and of course, we’d love it if you came—“
“Maya! I’m having a party this weekend! You’ll be there right?”
“Ohmygosh, I love your hair! Who does it?”
“You’re so pretty, did anyone ever tell you that?”
“You know, I think that, like, you and Parker make the cutest couple. You guys are just so adorbs—“
Please, God, make it stop! I pressed my fingers to my temples, a small headache setting in as their high, screechy voices pierced through my eardrums like a spike heel through tissue paper. Didn’t they come with a “mute” button? If they didn’t shut up soon, I was seriously going to throw myself out one of the windows.
“Hey, Maya, we should go to lunch. All the good food’s going to be gone!” Venice, bless her soul, tried to save me by tugging on my arm, but the lemmings were having none of it.
“Um, excuse me, but we were talking to her,” Ricki said snottily, keeping a firm grip on my other arm. “That’s a bit rude of you, isn’t it…” She looked Venice up and down with a sneer. “I’m sorry, who are you again?”
“She’s my best friend,” I snapped. “Don’t talk to her like that! And let go of my arm!”
“You heard her. Get your last-season Pradas out of the way,” Agnes snapped, shoving Ricki aside. She gripped my wrist, her blue eyes wide. “So? What do you say to shoe-shopping Saturday?”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m busy.” I shot Venice a desperate glance.
“Let’s go!” she said loudly, pulling me down the hall.
Unfortunately, for someone who looked as if a strong gust of wind could blow her over, Agnes was quite strong and stood her ground. “What about Sunday? Are you free then? Or we can even go Friday afternoon!”
Sadly, I was unable to answer, due to the pain of having my arms tugged in completely opposite directions.
“You know, if you pull her arm off, she won’t be able to go shopping with you this weekend,” a very familiar voice said.
Venice and Agnes immediately stopped tugging as they stared at the newcomer in shock.
Carlo had managed to sneak up on us without anyone noticing, which will tell you how hysterical all the girls were in their efforts to become my friend since I’m now “Valesca royalty.” As a Scion, he usually couldn’t go anywhere without causing a few hoarse throats and swoons along the way.
“Well? Are you going to let go of her arm, or do I need to surgically detach you two?” Carlo asked, addressing Agnes. He sounded amused.
Agnes turned red. “Oh, of course,” she squeaked, dropping my arm.
I sighed in relief.
Carlo raised his eyebrows, and just like that, the entire horde of twigs scampered away.
“Dear Lord. Thank you,” I breathed, shaking out my hand. Tingles raced up and down my arm as sensation slowly returned.
“No problem.” Carlo gave me a small smile.
Venice cleared her throat.
“Oh, sorry!” I exclaimed. “Um, Venice, this is Carlo. Carlo, Venice.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Carlo said politely.
“Uhmfghsdyastwo,” Venice breathed, utter gibberish coming out of her mouth as she stared at him with googly eyes.
I rolled my own eyes. “Hey, Venice, didn’t you want to go to the DC before they ran out of good food?” I asked pointedly.
“Fine, fine, I can take a hint,” she grumbled, still staring rather dreamily at Carlo. “It was nice meeting you,” she breathed.
“It was nice meeting you too,” Carlo replied politely.
“I’ll see you there in a bit, right?” Venice asked me.
I nodded, and she turned and hurried towards the DC to grab the last of the roasted chicken.
Carlo and I just stood in a surprisingly comfortable silence for a while after Venice left. Well, I suppose it wasn’t all that surprising. For some reason, I feel more at ease around Carlo than I did around any other member of the Scions.
“Thanks for saving me from those girls back there,” I finally said, rubbing my arm. “I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he answered. A glint of amusement lit up his dark eyes. “They’re pretty scary, aren’t they?”
I shuddered. “Scary, and faker than Pamela Anderson’s breasts. I think I preferred it when they were throwing stuff at me.”
Carlo laughed, a rich, deep laugh that filled the hallway and enveloped me like a warm hug. “You know, you’re one-of-a-kind, Maya Lindberg.”
I smirked. “Really?” I fake gushed. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me!”
He glanced at me wryly. “Keep up the sarcasm, and I’ll call Agnes back here so you two can plan your shopping date.”
I was horrified. “No! No, I didn’t mean it, I swear!” I waved my arms frantically around. The thought of spending another minute with the twig made my whole body go limp with dread. “No sarcasm from me again. Promise.”
Carlo chuckled. “I was just joking, no need to freak out. I don’t hate you, you know.”
“That’s a relief,” I quipped. Suddenly, I noticed something sticking out of his pocket. “Is that…is that Grapes of Wrath?” I stuttered, a bit stunned that Carlo Tevasco was carrying my favorite book of all time around with him.
He glanced down at the tattered paperback. “Oh, yeah,” he said, pulling it out of his pocket and staring at it fondly. “It’s my favorite book.”
Un-freakin’-believable. Who would’ve thought I’d ever have anything in common with a Scion, even if it was as something as simple as a book?
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” Carlo leaned against the lockers and crossed his muscular arms over his chest.
“Sure. What is it?”
He glanced around, probably to make sure no one else was in earshot. “Why are you and Parker pretending to date?”
And just like that, my brain completely froze. I just gaped at him in shock. What—he—did—how?
“What—what are you talking about?” I laughed shrilly. It sounded fake even to my own ears. “Parker and I really are dating!”
“Uh-huh.” Carlo looked unimpressed. “And Valesca has just been voted the friendliest town in the US. Maya, you and him are pretty good actors, but come on, I’ve known him since we were babies. He is not going to date someone he’s never even had more than a dozen conversations with.”
“We’ve had more than a dozen conversations,” I muttered. The majority of them just happened to last under thirty seconds. I sighed, not even bothering to try and hide it anymore. Carlo seemed way too smart to fall for any of my excuses anyway. “You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”
“Of course not.” He looked slightly offended. “Why would I do that? Although I’m warning you, I think Adri already knows.”
I groaned. “She does?”
“It’s ok, she won’t tell anyone either,” Carlo assured me. “Besides, it’s best she figured it out, or—“
He stopped.
I tilted my head curiously. “Or what?”
He cleared his throat. “Nothing.”
“You’re so weird,” I complained. “Well, do Zack and Roman know?”
“I don’t think Zack knows, unless Adri told him. And Roman’s a bit slow,” he added mischievously.
I snickered as I suddenly flashed back to Saturday. Boy, did Carlo get that right.
"You never answered my question, though. What's going on with you guys?"
With a sigh, I told him about my grandmother, her incessant matchmaking, and her desire to match me up with every boy who possessed an IQ above 130.
Of course, Carlo thought it was hilarious. "Oh man, I'd love to meet her," he laughed. "She sounds like a riot."
"Oh, she's a riot all right," I muttered.
Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the start of the next class period.
I blinked, thoughts of my grandmother flying out of my head. “Oh no! I missed lunch!” I whimpered. "And I just left Venice alone in there!" Eating was one of my greatest joys in life, and the DC’s food was just about the only thing I could stand in Valesca. I stared sadly down at my stomach, which let out an obedient hungry growl. “Stupid twigs.”
Carlo laughed again. “Venice will be fine. Are you really that hungry though?”
“Yes.” I couldn’t help but pout. “I’m a growing girl! I need sustenance.”
He shook his head and reached into his pocket again. “Here, hopefully this’ll hold you over till you can get something to eat.”
He tossed me an Almond Joy.
I wrinkled my nose. I liked chocolate, but I hated Almond Joys. “Do you have something else?” I asked hopefully. “A Twix, maybe? Or Snickers? Or even a Three Musketeers?”
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Carlo mock scolded me. “Now eat, before you faint.”
“You suck,” I grumbled, grudgingly unwrapping the candy and taking a bite. I made a face. Ick.
“Keep on making that face and it’ll freeze that way.”
“You know, I think I like you a whole lot better when you’re not talking,” I huffed. I took another, annoyed bite without thinking, and almost gagged. God, I hate Almond Joys.
“That’s what everyone tells me,” Carlo said cheerfully. “Come on, let’s get you to class while you enjoy that delicious chocolate bar.”
I glared at him. I take back everything I ever said about him being nice. Carlo Tevasco was a terrible person.
* * *
Poor Mr. Martin. I actually liked the man, since he managed to teach physics in a way that wasn’t utterly boring, but unfortunately, no one was listening to him today.
That was because everyone’s too busy staring at me. Or, to be more specific, me and Parker, who had waltzed in here five minutes after class started, plopped down in the seat next to mine, and proceeded to steal the entire class’s attention.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed, trying to keep my voice as low as possible so no one else could hear.
“Coming to visit my girlfriend, of course,” Parker replied innocently. “I missed you at lunch today. Where were you?”
“Running from twigs,” I muttered, annoyed. My stomach let out another growl. Ugh.
“Running from twigs?” Parker gave me a strange look. “How… uh…entertaining.”
“It’s all your fault too,” I added, conveniently forgetting the fact that I was the one who’d made him become my fake boyfriend.
“How is it my fault when you’re the one who has a deathly fear of tree parts?”
“That’s not what I meant. I—“
“Excuse me, can I help you?” Mr. Martin’s voice stopped me.
I looked up and saw a skinny boy holding a brown paper bag in his hand. “I have a delivery for…” He looked down at the receipt. “Maya Lindberg?”
Mr. Martin frowned at me. “What’s this, Maya?”
“Um…uh…” I had absolutely no idea. “It’s—“
“Here you go,” the boy said, dropping the bag on my desk once he saw me respond. He left without another word.
Unable to help my curiosity, I peeked into the bag, my eyes widening when I saw a sushi combo box, a bowl of miso soup, and a bottle of water. My stomach growled again, even louder this time.
“Maya missed lunch today and I just ordered in something for her to eat,” Parker explained to the class as a whole, and to get Mr. Martin off my back.
Of course, it worked.
“You didn’t really order this, did you?” I whispered, pulling out the sushi box. It was terribly rude to eat in class, but I couldn’t help it. I was just so hungry.
“If I say yes, will it get me laid? Ow!” He winced in pain as I stomped on his foot.
Mr. Martin shot us a scandalized look but didn’t say anything.
“There’s your answer,” I replied sweetly, bringing a dragon roll up to my mouth. My eyes nearly crossed at the heavenly goodness. Oh my god, this was…this was unbelievable. I’ve never tasted anything so good in my entire life! I eagerly scarfed down another roll as Parker plucked something out of the bag.
“Oh, hey, there’s a note.”
I stopped. “Really?” I snatched the note from him and opened it.
Maya,
Check the bottom of the bag. It’s to make up for the Almond Joy.
~Carlo
I blinked in surprise, touched. Carlo had sent me the food?
Although I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. Who else could've done it?
Curious, I reached in the bottom of the bag and pulled out…a Twix. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Parker asked, obviously baffled as to what could be so hilarious about a chocolate bar.
“Nothing,” I chuckled, feeling…well, I wasn’t sure what I was feeling. But this was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.
Today was just turning out to be a day of surprises.
* * *
“Where are you taking me?” I asked suspiciously, as Parker wound his Lamborghini down a road I’ve never been down before.
“Relax, honeybee, you can trust me,” he answered cheerfully.
“You’re a girl. You’ll love it.”
“Honeybee?” I was appalled. “You can’t come up with a better nickname than that? Actually, can you just not call me by any nickname? It’s weird.” I perked up as a thought hit me. “Are you taking me to a spa?”
“Nope.” Parker smiled slyly. “Of course, if you really want, I can give you a personal massage…”
I was about to whack his arm when I decided that wasn’t the best idea, considering he was maneuvering this deathmobile of his at ninety miles per hour. “Sorry, but that’s a privilege only my real boyfriend gets to have, perv,” I said cheerily.
“Ouch, that hurt.” Parker pouted. “See, that’s why I call you honeybee. You look sweet as honey but you sting like a bee.”
I snorted. “How clever of you, Ricky Martin. Seriously, though, where are you taking me? I need to be back in time for dinner.”
“No you don’t. I already called your mom and told her you’ll be with me.”
My jaw dropped. “What? You can’t just—just go around, calling other people’s families!” I spluttered. “Besides, I have homework!”
“You’re such a nerd,” Parker complained. “Stop stressing. It’ll be fun. Besides, it won’t take that long.” He paused. “Actually, knowing Adri, it’ll take very long.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, disgruntled. “What will be fun.?”
Parker came to a stop and pointed at something out the window. I followed his gaze and gasped when I saw the gleaming private jet idling on the tarmac we were currently parked by. “That will be.”
“A jet?” I couldn’t help but be awed at the sight. This was the first time I’ve ever seen a private jet in real life. “Why do we need a jet?”
Parker turned off the engine. “Homecoming’s coming up and Adri decided it’s time to find an outfit,” he explained. “And since you’re my girlfriend now, you can’t exactly go to homecoming in any old dress from the mall.”
I stared at him warily. “So where are we going?”
“Relax.” He ruffled my hair. “We’re just taking a short trip to New York.”