My Know-It-All Nemesis: Sweet Mountain High

by Dallen, Maggie

  “…maybe you’d even have fun.”

  My sister was still talking, and I jerked my head to the side to give her an apologetic look.

  “You haven’t heard a word I’ve been saying, have you?”

  I shook my head, and she sighed wearily. “I was saying…maybe if you just let go of the competition between you two, you’d actually enjoy your first party.”

  I sniffed. “It’s not my first party.”

  She eyed me evenly. “Harry Potter marathons with me and Mom don’t count.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine, it’s my first party. But I’d rather think of it as my first campaign event.”

  She furrowed her brow. “Seriously? That sounds like more fun to you?”

  Fun? No. But it sounded far more manageable. Sad as it might have been to announce aloud—I didn’t do fun. I didn’t know how. I’d spent my entire life working toward one goal—college. Ivy Leagues. Now, it was so close I could taste it…

  And then?

  I shook off the wayward thought.

  And then I’d be happy, obviously. I’d have the future and the life I’d always wanted. I took a deep breath, feeling far more certain now that my eye was once more on the prize.

  Daphne, on the other hand… “I just think that this is the time for you to be having fun. Figuring things out.” She shrugged. “Making bad choices.”

  I gaped at her. “What kind of older sister are you? Are you seriously promoting bad choices?”

  She laughed as she tossed a pillow at her screen. “No, goody-two-shoes. Of course not. I just mean…” She trailed off with a sigh, and I got the unpleasant feeling that I’d disappointed her by not understanding what she was trying to say.

  I looked down at the costume in question. “What do you think I should wear?”

  “It’s not up to me, I just think you should take a minute and think this through. This is your first party, Kate—” She cut herself off with a roll of her eyes. “Sorry, your first campaign event, which makes it an ideal time to…” She waved a hand as she searched for the words she wanted. “Reinvent yourself.”

  I scowled over at her. “I like the way I dress. I’ve worked hard to get good at sewing, and I’m proud of the clothes I make—”

  “And you should be,” Daphne said quickly. “But Halloween is a time to show the world a different side of ourselves, you know?” She shrugged. “It’s a time when you can try out a new look, or a new image—try being a different you for the night.”

  I frowned at her, inexplicably hurt by her words. “I like who I am.”

  “And you should,” Daphne said with so much sincerity it made me want to cry. “You are the best. I just…I just want everyone to see you the way I do.” Daphne sat up straighter. “I want them to see the real you, not just the ambitious, always-smiling teenager they’re used to. I want them to see how strong you are—how strong you’ve always been. There’s so much to you, Kate. So much more than what the kids in your school see…more than what you let them see.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the intensity draining from her voice. “You know?”

  I couldn’t speak right away, my throat felt oddly tight. I did know what she meant, and I didn’t, all at the same time. Sure, there were times when I felt like I’d painted myself into a corner. I’d become so good at being the Kate that everyone knew and could rely on that I sometimes didn’t even recognize myself. Sometimes I saw myself through other peoples’ eyes, and I just saw a caricature of myself. The image I’d created. Everybody’s pal, but nobody’s best friend, nobody’s girlfriend. The girl who got it done, but who’d never had time to do something stupidly ordinary…like go to a party.

  I glanced down at my silly, childish poodle skirt—the one that screamed Gidget, or goody-two-shoes, or Brainiac Barbie, or whatever else it was that people saw when they looked at me.

  Something in me rebelled at the thought of changing that. I’d worked long and hard to earn the school’s respect and their admiration—to achieve more than almost anyone else, despite the fact that my dad walked out on us and my mom was struggling to make ends meet.

  I’d done that. Me. I swooshed the skirt automatically. Maybe I had given myself a reputation that I hadn’t initially intended, but it was a part of who I was, just like my good grades and my charity work.

  “Look,” she said. “I know what it’s like to have goals. I get what you’re trying to achieve better than anyone. But…” She hitched her lips to the side as she studied me. “I guess I wish someone had told me in high school that life isn’t only about racing to the finish line or winning every competition. There’s more to life than the things you list on your college application.”

  I settled my hands at my sides with a sigh. “I think I know what you mean, Daphne, and I appreciate it. I do.”

  “I only want what’s best for you, Kate,” Daphne said. “I don’t want you to wish away your life, you know? I want you to enjoy what you have while you have it. I want…”

  This time when she trailed off, I rushed to fill the silence. “I know. I do. But I also know what I gave up for my dreams, and I’m not about to turn back now, not when I’m so close.”

  She wanted me to have fun. To enjoy my teen years and all that stuff that sounded so great when people said it on Hallmark cards or infomercials, but in reality…there were goals, there were dreams, there were awards and grades and events and campaigns.

  I could enjoy life when I was firmly established at college. Or maybe in med school…

  Whatever. One day, there’d be time for fun, but for now? Now was the time for winning.

  I glanced down at the silly costume with a resigned sigh. Was it cheesy? Yes. Was it playing right along with the morons who’d been calling me Gidget? Of course. But it would also be giving them what they wanted, what they expected. It would allow me to take the power back, make the joke my own and take away any influence it had over me.

  It would show the guys on the football team—guys like Cal and Logan—that I could take a joke, even if it was started by my arch nemesis.

  Daphne broke the moment with a loud sigh, and then an awkward silence filled the room. I tried to lighten the mood. “So what did you want me to wear, anyway?” I teased. “A slutty nurse outfit? A slutty vampire costume? A slutty nun, perhaps?”

  She laughed, as I’d known she would. “Never!”

  “All right then, what?” I could admit it…I was honestly curious. Her expression was torn, and her whole demeanor during our talk had been off. Like there were things she’d wanted to say but hadn’t said them.

  It made me curious. But I also wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what she wanted to say either, so I didn’t push it.

  She shrugged. “I just wanted you to try something new, that’s all. Get out of your comfort zone.”

  I shifted, tugging at the skirt. “Yeah, well. I don’t care what they think.”

  “It’s not about what people think,” she said with a huff of annoyance. “It’s about you. How you feel. That’s all I’m saying. It’s about how you see yourself and how you want to be seen.”

  I stared at my reflection. How did I want to be seen?

  I gave my head a little shake, the ponytail swinging over the prim white cardigan that buttoned down and matched the white poodle applique.

  Like this?

  Maybe. Maybe not.

  Maybe I’d outgrown my old look. Maybe it was time to explore different sides of myself—parts that had been shoved to the side in my quest to run every committee and spearhead every event.

  “Well?” Daphne said from the screen.

  I shoved aside those thoughts for another day. A day when the acceptance letters had arrived and my future was set. For now, I had a rival to see and party planning to discuss.

  “I say…” I turned to her with a little grin. “I say I’d better change out of this unless I want to make a scene at football practice.”

  6

  Miller


  “So what’s the deal with you and Kate, man?” one of the guys from the team asked from behind me.

  I winced. This was the question I’d been dodging all day, from everyone. I’d been hoping I could escape it—escape her—while at football practice.

  But my buddies were falling into step beside me, and they showed no signs of letting this go.

  “Seriously, dude, I heard she’s coming to your party?” Cal said. “I didn’t even know she knew how to party.”

  Tim was shaking his head. “I’ve definitely never seen that girl party.”

  I picked up my pace toward the locker room. If I could just stop hearing about Kate Andrews for five seconds, maybe I’d stand a chance of forgetting about her. But nooo. Everyone in this school seemed determined to bring her up every time I turned around.

  “So, does this mean you two are friends now?”

  I turned to give Cal an unimpressed look, and he laughed. “Okay, okay. Not friends, then.”

  “So this is you playing nice, huh?” Logan said, laughter in his voice.

  “Uh, yeah, I guess so.” That’s what this was. It was all this was. It was me taking pity on a wounded grizzly bear, and I had no doubt that my efforts would only end in her lashing out at me the moment she found her footing again.

  But she hadn’t been able to say no in front of Mr. Gentry, and I suspected she hadn’t even wanted to.

  Oh man, she must be hating this.

  I found myself grinning down at my feet like a fool at the thought of it.

  “Incoming!” one of the guys called out.

  “Don’t look now, but your new party planner is heading this way.” Logan’s comment was all the warning I got before she was right there, in my face. Arms crossed, and prissier than ever, Kate had her chin tilted high as she faced me.

  “We’ll, uh…” Cal patted my shoulder. “We’ll see you in there.”

  And just like that they were gone. The freakin’ wusses. They might all love their cute, cuddly little Kate, but even they went running when they knew she meant business.

  I snatched a towel from one of the freshmen who was carrying in the supplies and used it to swipe at the sweat dripping down my face as I stood across from Kate. When I dropped the towel, I saw her nose wrinkled up in disgust.

  “Never seen sweat before, princess?” I meant it to sound teasing, but it just came out…unpleasant. I held back a sigh. It had been a long day, a long week, a long semester.

  And now I had a party to get ready for and a campaign speech to write and a candidacy to announce…and I had to do it all while playing nice with this girl, who was eyeing me like I was some leper and my sweat might give her the plague.

  “Why do you still play?” she asked.

  I blinked. That was…not what I was expecting. “What do you mean?”

  She shifted from one foot to the other, and I noticed that once again she was wearing a skirt that tucked in at her waist and a tight-but-not-too-tight sweater on top. “I mean,” she gestured toward the field. “You’re not first string, right?”

  I sucked in a deep breath. The funny thing was—from anyone else that might have been a dig. An insult, even. But when I looked at Kate, I saw honest confusion, and I knew exactly what she meant.

  If I wasn’t a star, the team leader, the top of the crop, so to speak—why do it?

  I lifted one shoulder, wondering how honest to be. In the end, her even stare made it impossible to lie, or even to hedge. “I needed a sport on my applications,” I said. “You know…well rounded.”

  She nodded instantly. Well-rounded was a sort of buzz word around here. The only thing colleges seemed to like better than a perfect GPA was a well-rounded student. That was why Kate and I were always trying to nab the highest positions in every committee and join every club. I knew it, she knew it—why pretend that football was any different?

  She hitched her lips to the side. “That’s a big-time commitment for an extracurricular.”

  I nodded. For a second there, it almost felt like we had a truce going on. For one split second I realized how nice it was to be talking to someone who got it. One of very few people in this school who was as hungry to succeed as I was.

  Oh sure, there were some other kids who were vying for valedictorian, but I wasn’t sure anyone was going after the after-school activities with the same kind of strategic, precise tactics as me and Kate.

  Between the two of us, we basically ruled this school. Combined, we’d be unstoppable… I had the good will of the entire school thanks to my parties and my popularity, and she had the respect that came with running a thousand charity drives and every school committee under the sun.

  Her level stare turned to a glare. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  I bit back a sigh. To work together, we’d actually have to spend time together, so there went that idea. “Just wondering why you’re here, Kate.”

  Man, even I could hear the exhaustion in my voice, and for a second, Kate’s glare eased up. I may have even caught a flicker of concern there.

  “What do I need to bring for tomorrow’s party?” she asked.

  Her expression was so earnest, so very prim and proper, I couldn’t have stopped my low chuckle if I tried. “What do you need to bring?”

  She nodded, shifting again uncomfortably. “Should I bring drinks or…dessert?”

  I wanted to mock her. I wanted to tease her so bad. Seriously, when was the last time she’d gone to a party if she thought she needed to bring dessert? I had an image of her showing up at the pool house with a tray of pink-frosted cupcakes in hand and had to clamp my lips together to keep from laughing again.

  Her brows drew down in a fierce glare. “You’re laughing at me.”

  Yes. Yes, I was. I shook my head. “No, not at all. Just…just bring yourself, Kate.”

  She looked confused. “Are you sure? Because if I’m supposed to be co-hosting, I want to help and—”

  I gripped her arms to cut her off, and we both froze at the contact. For all of our run-ins, we’d rarely ever touched. At least, not on purpose. I realized this now with a jolt as I felt the heat of her skin through the thin material of her sweater, as I smelled the delicious, citrusy scent of her shampoo or her body wash or something.

  She blinked up at me in surprise, and I gave my head a little shake to clear it. “Seriously, Kate, there’s no need to bring anything or do anything. I’ve got it all under control.”

  She nibbled on her bottom lip, and I tried not to stare. The air had grown too thick between us, the silence uncomfortably loaded.

  What the heck was this? I was…aware of her. Like, every nerve ending in my body was suddenly attuned to her. I could see her chest rise and fall with her unsteady breath, I could hear my heart pounding as my arms fought the urge to pull her closer.

  Holy crap.

  What was happening here?

  I took a step back quickly, releasing her arms and taking a deep breath of fresh air—that didn’t have her heady scent mixed in, clouding my senses. I wasn’t entirely sure when close proximity to this girl had become a liability, but there it was.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kate,” I said. “Come by whenever you want.”

  I was being rude, and I knew it, but when I slipped around the side of the school, I let out a sigh of relief.

  It was exhaustion, clearly. Stress from all the tests coming up, plus the late nights cramming, and the never-ending practices and games. I leaned against the wall for a second. Exhaustion was the only explanation for the way she’d gotten under my skin just now.

  I was used to her driving me nuts—but I definitely wasn’t used to her making my heart race or my skin turn to fire. Whatever had just happened back there? It couldn’t happen again.

  “Yo, man, what did Gidget want?”

  Tim Pfeiffer. There was literally no one I wanted to see less right now. But there he was, walking back out the back door of the school, all beefy arms and still sporting his practic
e uniform.

  “Don’t call her that.” I didn’t mean to growl, but my hold on my temper was dangerously low right now.

  Tim frowned in confusion. “Why not? You came up with the nickname. It’s fitting.”

  I scrubbed a hand over my face. How to explain to this idiot that I didn’t come up with the name—it was from a movie and a TV series. And how to explain that it was a stupid slip of the tongue, not fitting at all. Not even a tiny bit.

  I couldn’t. Looking at Tim’s blank expression right now I knew it would be useless to try. Besides, there were worse names to be called, right? My mind flashed back to that stupid poster that had started this whole co-hosting a party stupidity.

  “Hey, man, was it you?” I asked, my tone mild. Too mild. Anyone with half a brain would have been on high alert.

  Obviously, Tim Pfieffer did not have even half a brain. He gave me a big, dopey grin as he sauntered on over. “Was what me?”

  “The poster—” Doofus. “That drawing of Kate in her work uniform—”

  “Yeah, man.” Tim laughed. “Funny, right?”

  I moved before my brain could even process what I was doing, slamming his big frame back against the brick wall so hard his head jerked forward and he let out an oof.

  “No, man,” I bit out. “Not funny.”

  “Whoa, Miller, relax.” He held his hands up, confusion written all over his face. “What’s your deal?”

  My deal? My deal? I dropped my arms from his chest. I had no idea what my deal was, all I knew was I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Kate’s face when she’d seen that stupid sign. Her hurt. My guilt.

  “It wasn’t funny,” I said. “Kate doesn’t deserve that.”

  Tim’s eyes grew wide. “Whoa, dude, I didn’t mean anything by it. I like Kate. We all do.”

  I nodded. Yeah, everyone liked good old Kate…everybody except me.

  “It was just a joke,” he said.

  I stared at him in horror because…he sounded just like me. “Again,” I said slowly. “Not funny.”

  “But you—”