by Alyson Noel
“Yeah, I’m Anne,” she said, thinking that now that the girl was right in front of her, she did look familiar.
“I’m Lola.” She plopped herself down on the chair across from Anne and smiled ruefully.
“Are you okay?” Anne asked carefully, wondering if she was supposed to say anything or just pretend like a face full of smeared makeup was all the rage in the OC.
“Actually no, I’m not. I’m dying, I’m devastated, and I’ve been dumped,” she said, shaking her head and digging through her purse. “And now I can’t even find a tissue.” Her eyes welled up with tears again.
“Hang on. Here,” Anne said, handing her a crumpled one she’d found at the bottom of her bag. “It’s clean, too, I swear.” She watched Lola blow her nose over and over and over again, wondering how one little tissue could actually withstand all that.
“Thanks,” she said, wadding it up and tossing it into the trash. Then she curled her legs up under her. “Sorry about all this. My parents insisted I come to this stupid thing, and because of it I got dumped. And believe me, it’s not the first time they’ve interfered.” She shook her head. “It’s just so hard when they expect so much from me. I mean, they never would have approved of him, and that’s why it all had to be a big secret. But I think he got tired of sneaking around.” She stopped and looked at Anne. “And you want to know the worst part?”
Anne just nodded, not entirely sure that she did. She wasn’t used to people just spilling their guts like this. But then she remembered how her dad had once told her that in movie speak this was called a California Conversation. Apparently this kind of soul dumping was routine for those who lived here.
“I was actually considering doing something really major with him, you know? God, I’m such an idiot,” she said, covering her face with her hands and starting to cry again.
“Don’t say that. You should be glad that you didn’t, because now you don’t have anything big to regret, right?” Anne said softly.
Lola looked up, nodding slowly.
“Just be glad you found out now.” Anne smiled.
“God, I can’t believe I just told you all that when my best friends don’t even know.” Lola looked suddenly panicked. “Oh God, please don’t mention this to Ellie and Jade. They’ll freak.”
“Don’t worry,” Anne assured her. “Jade’s in my art class, but we don’t sit by each other. And Ellie, well, I don’t think she likes me enough to ever have a conversation with me.”
Lola looked at Anne and shrugged. “Ellie’s cool. Really. She’s just a little leery of newcomers, that’s all.”
Anne didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure she believed that.
“Did you have a boyfriend in—where’d you move from?”
“Connecticut, and yeah, I did. His name was Justin and he just dumped me for his old girlfriend. Didn’t take him long to move on, did it?” Anne said, relieved that she could finally say it out loud without choking up. Even though it did feel kind of weird to talk about him in the past tense.
“Hey.” Lola looked at her and smiled in a way that lit up her whole face despite the mascara trails running down her cheeks. “This movie blows. What do you say we bail? I heard there’s this party tonight at Aliso Beach. It’s just gonna be a bunch of people from school, but it’s gotta be better than this.”
“But what am I gonna tell my dad?” Anne asked, feeling torn between wanting to hang with Lola and leaving her dad, who she’d barely spent any time with. But, was that her fault, or his?
“Tell him you don’t feel well and I’m taking you home. And I’ll tell my parents the same thing. Come on; it’ll be fun,” she said, opening her compact and surveying the damage.
“Okay. It’s not like he’ll miss me, anyway. He’s too busy staring at the screen and inhaling popcorn. He probably won’t even notice I’m gone,” Anne said, hoping that wasn’t exactly true.
“My mom’s not even watching the movie. She’s too busy sitting next to Renee Richards, hoping someone will take a picture of the two of them.” She rolled her eyes.
“Did you see that guy she’s making out with?” Anne asked.
“You don’t know the half of it. She’s my dad’s client. Come on,” Lola said, standing up and grabbing her purse. “I’ll fill you in on the drive to Orange County.”
chapter eighteen
By the time Ellie and Jade were dressed and ready to leave, they’d worked up some major excitement about the party. Never mind that it would just be the same old people talking about the same old stuff. There was something about spending the afternoon with Jade and remembering all the good times with her mom that made Ellie feel lighter, more positive, and less willing to be so damn uptight.
They were in her Mini Cooper, just about to pull out of the driveway, when Ellie’s father drove up. “Hey, Mr. Stone,” Jade said, smiling and waving.
Barely acknowledging her with a brisk nod, he looked at Ellie and said, “Did you finish your homework?”
“Yes,” Ellie said, still backing up slowly. She was determined to get out of there before he completely killed her buzz.
“Okay, but don’t stay out too late. You need to be up early tomorrow. I’ve booked you a coach. She’ll be here by eleven.”
“A coach?” Ellie slammed on her brake. “Dad, I don’t need a coach,” she said.
“Of course you need her! And you should try to get in a few sessions before she shows.”
“But Dad,” she pleaded.
“No buts, it’s already booked. Have a nice night,” he said, climbing out of his convertible BMW and heading toward the front door.
Ellie focused on breathing, slow and deep, as she watched him open the door. So much for being in a good mood, she thought, backing out of the driveway and pulling onto the street.
chapter nineteen
“So aren’t we a little overdressed for a beach party?” Anne asked, glancing at Lola’s stilettos, then down at her own silk skirt.
“Probably.” Lola shrugged. “But who cares. We’ll just tell everyone we were at a big, glamorous Hollywood movie premiere. They’ll be sooo jealous!” she laughed.
“Yeah, as long as we don’t mention how bad it sucked!” Anne said, looking at Lola and smiling. She was finally having some fun, and it was all thanks to her. It was incredible how Lola had gone from choking, sobbing tears to looking completely glamorous. Anne wished she could be more like that. And after listening to Lola’s nonstop chatter on the long drive down, apparently there was a lot she could learn from her. “So like, who’s gonna be there? I mean, not that I really know anyone, but I do have most of the big names memorized.” It was funny how everyone always knew the names of all the alphas, even when they didn’t hang with them.
“All the usual suspects will be present and accounted for. You know, basically everyone from the lunch table.” Lola smiled.
“Please, you don’t even want to know where I’ve been eating lunch,” Anne said, looking out the window, and wondering why she had just confided that—it was kind of embarrassing.
“Well, my friend, that’s all in the past. Now you will officially meet everyone and they will love you. I promise,” Lola said, parking the car and rechecking her lip gloss in the rearview mirror. “And after they get to know you and see how great you are, I guarantee they will no longer call you the East Coast Ice Queen.”
“What?” Anne said, getting out of the car and staring at her.
“Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have told you that,” Lola said, face full of regret. “Listen, please don’t be upset. They only said that because you’re so pretty but you kind of stick to yourself. You don’t talk much.” She shrugged.
“I get shy sometimes,” Anne said, sounding really defensive and wondering if she still wanted to go to this party now that she knew what people were saying about her.
“Oh, come on.” Lola looped her arm through Anne’s. “What could be more fun than proving everyone wrong?”
They walked do
wn the beach, toward the glowing bonfire, and of course, as luck would have it, the very first person Anne saw was the one who hated her the most, Ellie. She was sitting next to Jade and Chris and some guy named Duncan, and Lola was heading straight for them. Anne had the immediate urge to run in the opposite direction. She wasn’t sure she was up for Ellie’s dirty looks and cutting little comments. Ellie was probably the one who came up with the Ice Queen thing. But Lola was cool, and everyone else seemed okay, so if Ellie was determined to be a bitch, well, that was her problem.
“Hey, guys!” Lola said. “You remember Anne?”
Anne noticed Chris and Jade wave, but of course Ellie only narrowed her eyes and stared.
“We were just talking about surfing,” Ellie said, completely ignoring Anne.
“But of course, what else is there?” Lola laughed, settling down onto the blanket and motioning for Anne to sit next to her.
“My dad got me a coach because the Surf Fest is next month, and he thinks I’m gonna choke like last year. It’s so ridiculous.” She shook her head. “I mean, what am I supposed to learn from a coach? I’m either gonna surf well or I’m not. And I just don’t get how some trainer’s gonna change that.”
“I had a coach for my diving,” Anne blurted out, before she could stop herself.
Ellie shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I really don’t think that’s the same thing,” she said quickly Then, turning back to everyone else, “Anyway, it just feels so—artificial. But apparently, Chris is on my dad’s side.” She smiled and poked him in the ribs, a little harder than she intended. She was completely hopeless at flirting, especially with a guy she really liked.
“Everything’s different now,” he said. “There’s major big money in all the sponsorships, endorsements, and contests. A coach will just give you an edge, and maybe some techniques to deal with stress.” He smiled.
“Who, me? Stress?” Ellie laughed. “Look, all I want is a sticker on my board. That’s it, I swear.”
“And a trophy, prize money, free clothes four times a year, and, oh yeah, your face on the cover of SG magazine.” Lola laughed.
“You came really close last year,” Jade reminded her.
“Yeah, until I choked.” Ellie shook her head at the memory.
“Hence, the coach!” Chris said, laughing and throwing his arms in the air to make his point. Then, looking at Anne, he said, “So what’s it gonna take to get you in the water?”
“Me?” Anne asked, surprised at being suddenly included.
“Yeah, you. I mean diving’s great and all, but there’s no dive team at school, so you might want to try it. Besides, you can’t be a cliff dweller and not surf; it just ain’t right. Right, Ellie?”
But Ellie didn’t answer. And something about her absolute determination to ignore her, acting like she wasn’t even worth talking to, made Anne so angry she went into full-blown flirt mode, just to mess with her. “Doesn’t ice melt when it hits the water?” she asked, briefly touching Chris on the knee and smiling.
“What?” He looked at her carefully, while everyone else looked down at the ground, including Ellie.
“I told her. She knows everything,” Lola said, looking at Anne and winking.
“We were just fooling around,” Chris said quickly. “We didn’t really mean it.” He looked embarrassed and guilty.
“Hmmm.” Anne looked at him. “I wonder how you could make it up to me?” She tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder and smiled.
“I’ll teach you to surf,” he offered.
“You’ll teach me?” She gave him a skeptical look.
“Yeah, why not? I’m an okay surfer, wouldn’t you agree?”
Lola and Duncan readily agreed, Ellie just glared, and Jade looked upset.
“I have to think about it,” Anne said, feeling confused by the look on Jade’s face and wondering if maybe she liked Chris too. She’d only been flirting with him to bug Ellie, but if all the girls were secretly fighting over him, then she would definitely back off. No matter how cute he was, it certainly wasn’t worth upsetting everyone.
“Meet me on the beach tomorrow at noon,” he said. “I won’t take no for an answer. And remember, I know where you live.”
Chris was looking at her and smiling, but Anne just sat there, not really sure what to do. It was her fault all the girls had gone all tense and quiet, and even though she was feeling too uncomfortable to look at her, she could feel Ellie’s eyes burning right into her.
“So, who wants a beer?” Duncan asked, getting up and dusting the sand off his jeans.
Chris, Lola, Jade, and Anne all took a pass. But Ellie surprised everyone by jumping up, shaking her long shiny hair from its tight ponytail, and saying, “I’ll have one.”
“You’re having a beer?” Jade and Lola said in unison, staring at their friend in disbelief.
Ellie looked annoyed. “Jeez, you guys, it’s not like I’ve never had a drink before,” she said, rolling her eyes and running to catch up with Duncan.
chapter twenty
By the time Ellie and Duncan were on their third beers the party was pretty much over. “So what do you want to do now?” he asked, leaning in ’til they were almost touching.
Ellie looked at him, his face so close to hers. And even though it was a really cute face, it definitely wasn’t the right face. It isn’t Chris’s face, Ellie thought, glancing over at Chris, who was still flirting with Anne, as he had been all night, leaving Ellie with no choice but to flirt with someone else. But now, after all the joking, laughing, and hair tossing (why does flirting come so easy when you aren’t really all that into the person?), she looked at Duncan, his brown eyes staring into hers, and she felt guilty, knowing she’d been leading him on and that he was way more into it than she was.
But as he looked in her eyes and leaned in even closer she suddenly thought, Oh, what the hell? I mean, how bad could it really be? He was cute, popular, smart, a decent surfer, and she’d known that he liked her since freshman year. She could trust him. And she knew she could trust herself not to like him too much.
The first thing she thought as his lips touched hers was, I hope Chris is watching.
The second thing was, Hmmm—this isn’t so bad …
“Uh, you guys. Yoo-hoo! Sorry, I can see that you’re very busy and all, but I just wanted to tell you I’m getting a ride home with Lola. Just so you don’t worry when you come up for air. If you come up for air,” Jade said, obviously shocked by the sight of Ellie and Duncan making out.
Ellie pulled away and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her face felt warm and raw from all the kissing, and her head felt weird from all the beer. “What?” She squinted at Jade.
“I’m taking off. So, um, good night,” Jade said, giving an awkward little wave.
“Do you need a ride?” Ellie asked.
“Hmm,” Jade said, looking them over. “Tell you what. Why don’t you give me the keys, and I’ll give you guys a ride. What do you say?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m perfectly capable of driving,” Ellie said, rolling her eyes and attempting to stand, but her legs were not cooperating and she ended up right back on the sand, falling smack onto Duncan.
Jade stood there watching them, all tangled up together and laughing like it was so hysterical. “Okay, hand ’em over,” she said, sounding like a chaperone while she reached for Ellie’s keys.
chapter twenty-one
Anne woke to the sounds and smells of breakfast. A real breakfast. Like the kind her dad always used to make on the weekends, after a movie had wrapped and he had a little free time between projects.
She slipped into her terry-cloth robe and matching slippers and padded down the long tiled hallway to the kitchen. “Hey” she said, rubbing her eyes and reaching into the cupboard for a coffee mug.
“Hey, yourself,” he said, turning briefly from the stove and smiling. “Feeling better?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
“Okay, I conf
ess. I wasn’t really sick,” she said, adding half-and-half to her coffee until it was light tan in color. “I met up with a friend from school and she invited me to a beach party. Are you mad?” She looked at him cautiously.
“No.” He shook his head, and reached for two plates. “But you could have told me that.” He came over to the table where she was sitting and handed her a plate full of eggs, toast, fruit, bacon—the works.
“I know. I didn’t want to lie, but I also didn’t want to make you feel bad since we haven’t spent much time together,” she said, inwardly thinking, Not like that’s my fault!
“Well, you can make it up to me today. I thought we could go downtown, stroll around the galleries, have lunch, just relax,” he said, taking a bite of his whole-grain toast.
Anne just looked at him. She wasn’t exactly sure how to tell him that she wouldn’t actually be able to “make it up” to him. “Um, well, I kind of made plans,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. “A friend has offered to teach me to surf. I’m supposed to meet him on the beach at noon.”
“Don’t worry about it,” her dad said. “Go and have fun with your friends. In fact, it’s funny you mentioned it, because I was thinking about getting back on a board myself.”
“You?” Anne wished she hadn’t sounded so incredulous, but the thought of her dad surfing was insane. He was old. He could get hurt! There was no way he could be serious. “What exactly do you mean, ‘back on a board’?”
“Don’t look so shocked. I used to surf,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“Uh, when? I mean, I’ve never seen any evidence of this.” She shook her head and speared a piece of cantaloupe.
“Admittedly, it’s been a few years, but I think I’ve still got it in me.” He nodded. “I had a longboard. And I was pretty good, I’ll have you know.”
“Whatever, Dad,” Anne said, finishing up her eggs. “Just please let me have the waves to myself today. No need for both of us to be humiliated.”
