“Wow,” Bree breathed, staring at her. “You look great.” Bree was so happy since meeting Damien, she was practically bursting with love for everyone she encountered.
Porsha turned around, remembering something. “Have you been checking your e-mail?” she demanded.
Bree’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes. Yes, I have!”
Porsha thought about taking credit for Bree’s obvious state of complete ecstasy, but it was actually more fun to watch Bree glow in complete oblivion. Maybe it wouldn’t be so horrible being a big sister after all. She noticed Elise Wells was wearing a tight black cropped sweater instead of one of her trademark prissy pink cardigans. Good. Maybe her mom had finally murdered her father for being such an asshole.
“How are things with your dad, Elise?” Chanel asked, practically reading Porsha’s mind.
To Porsha’s surprise, Elise smiled happily. “Fine. He and Mom went away together this weekend.” She laughed and nudged Bree in the arm. “But never mind me. I think Bree has something to say.”
Bree knew her face was embarassed, but she didn’t care. “I’m in love,” she declared.
Chanel and Porsha exchanged disparaging looks. The last thing they wanted to talk about was love. “Come on, get your coats,” Chanel urged. “We’ll meet you outside.”
The atmosphere in Jackson Hole on Madison Avenue was thick with the smell of hamburger grease and the tittering sound of gossip. As peer group A walked in and sat down at a table near the large glass windows, Alexis Sullivan and Imani Edwards huddled together in the back corner, discussing the latest developments with anyone who would listen.
“Did you hear about Kaliq Braxton and that girl from Connecticut?” Alexis asked. She’d had her hair cut short over the weekend and it made her nose look twice its size. “They got busted for having sex in the broom closet at rehab and now he has to go to private therapy in the city instead.”
“Wait, I thought it was Porsha and Kaliq in the broom closet,” Imani sniffed. She was wearing a sample of Chanel’s Tears that she’d gotten from her mom’s publicist friend who worked at Vogue. It made her nose run.
“No, stupid. Porsha is seeing that old guy, remember? She’s not having his baby anymore, though. She had a miscarriage. That’s why she missed so much school.”
“I heard that Porsha and Chanel both sent in applications to the University of California school system today,” said Lauren Salmon. “They have rolling admission, so you find out which UC school can take you, like, a few weeks after you apply.” She raised her thin eyebrows. “Hey, maybe we should all do that!”
Not that any of them would really have considered going to a UC school.
“So what was it like, being in that perfume ad?” Mary Goldberg asked Chanel while the girls in peer group A were waiting for their hot chocolates. Cassie Inwirth and Vicky Reinerson pricked their ears up on either side of her. The three girls had gotten matching short haircuts over the weekend, but since none of them had gone to see Gianni at Garren, their cuts were only pale imitations of Porsha’s old one, and nothing compared to her new one.
“Cold,” Chanel answered. She blew her nose on a paper napkin and then pulled her long, silky hair up on top of her head, twisted it into a bun, and stuck a pencil through it to hold it up.
Of course now they all wished they hadn’t cut their hair.
“I’d really rather not talk about it,” she added mysteriously.
Porsha leaned across the table. “She and Tahj broke up during the shoot,” she told the ninth graders in a confidential whisper. She sat up straight again. “End of subject.”
The waiter brought their hot chocolates, giant steaming mugs.
“Can we talk about love now?” Bree asked tremulously. She glanced around the crowded room. If she was lucky, Damien might even show up so she could show him off.
“No!” Chanel and Porsha cried in unison. They’d specifically brought the group to Jackson Hole so they wouldn’t have to talk about boys, food, parents, school, anything. All they wanted was to sip their hot chocolates and enjoy each other’s company.
Suddenly a hush fell over the restaurant as Jaylen Harison waltzed in wearing a fox fur hat and a baby blue pea coat, his monogrammed pinky ring flashing as he passed out pink flyers to everyone inside.
“Be there or be square!” he shouted, drifting out the door in a cloud of Chanel’s Tears just as suddenly as he had come in. The flyer was an invitation to a party on Monday night, and within seconds the entire restaurant was positively humming.
“Are you going?”
“Wait. Do you think it’s really Jaylen’s coming out party?
“No. It’s his birthday. Can’t you read?”
“But we went to nursery school together. His birthday is in September. It’s not even his party. It’s some girl’s. He’s just handing out the flyers.”
“I still think he’s bi. I saw him with a girl on Saturday, and they were practically doing it.”
Hey, you never know.
Author's Note
Will Kaliq and his misbehaving heiress remain a bona fide item?
Will Porsha ever get over Kaliq? Will she grow out her hair? And—thank God the answer is just around the corner—will she get into Yale??
Will Chanel and Porsha remain friends...at least until graduation?
Will Chanel become a vapid, redundant, celery-eating, supermodel? Will she ever stay with one guy for more than five minutes?
Will Bree and her new boy live happily ever after? Will her new best friend try to break them up?
Will Yasmine ever even look at Mekhi again?
Will Mekhi keep hanging out with that yellow-toothed poetess? Will his teeth turn yellow in the process? Will he actually write a memoir?
Find out in the 5th book of the Upper East Side series! Also, if you'd like more updates and interaction with me you can contact me at the following:
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: AshValentine__
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UPPER EAST SIDE Page 18
