Winter Games #12

by Melissa J Morgan

  Brynn gasped. “Omigod, I’m up! I’ve got to go.”

  “Call me later to fill me in on how it goes,” Grace said. “Bye!”

  Brynn quickly hung up, but she couldn’t hide her quivering lip from Tanya.

  “What was that all about?” Tanya asked. “As your agent, I strongly disapprove of people causing you any sort of pain or suffering right before a big performance.”

  “Oh, now you’re my agent, are you?” Brynn sighed. “It’s this whole ski trip thing. I still can’t believe I wasn’t invited.”

  Tanya squeezed her shoulder. “Me neither. A stellar actress like you is in such high demand. Tori has no idea what a huge PR mistake she’s making.”

  Brynn laughed. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

  “Only when you need a good laugh.” Tanya gave her a quick hug. “Forget about the ski trip. Right now, you’re a British street urchin who will soon be transformed into the fairest lady of them all.”

  Brynn took a deep breath, shook off her worries, and put on her best Eliza Doolittle smile. Then she stepped out from behind the curtain and onto the brightly lit stage.

  “Are you ready for your audition, Brynn?” Mrs. Callaway asked, double-checking her clipboard.

  “Ow, I’m bloomin’ ready, all right,” Brynn said in a British accent, making the casting crew seated in the audience laugh.

  She would deal with Tori and the ski trip question later. For now, she was channeling her best Eliza Doolittle and hoping beyond hope that she’d get the part she was dying for.

  That night as Brynn crawled into bed, she replayed the audition in her mind one more time, a huge smile growing on her face. There was no doubt about it . . . she’d nailed it. Even if she didn’t get the part of Eliza, she knew she’d given it her absolute best shot. And now it was out of her hands. Just as she was fading off to sleep, her cell rang. But when she saw that it was Grace calling, she decided, for the first time ever, not to pick up. She was exhausted, and she was still hurt that Grace had forgotten about her audition, even though she knew she might be blowing the whole thing out of proportion just a little. She waited until the call went into voicemail, and then she checked her messages.

  “Hey, it’s me,” Grace’s voice said. “I was just calling to see how the audition went. I’m sure you blew everyone away! Anyways, I’m sorry—again—for forgetting about it before. That was a total brain fart. Call me when you get a sec. I want to hear your British accent!”

  Brynn listened to the message twice, and then felt a sudden pang of guilt. Wasn’t she being pretty tough on Grace? She wasn’t mad at Grace, but about this whole ski trip in general. The truth was, she didn’t understand why Grace had been invited and she hadn’t. And that was what hurt more than anything.

  chapter THREE

  Tori nearly dropped her nail polish all over her math homework when her cell rang.

  “Can you see who it is?” she asked Michael, who had come over to help her study for the algebra test she had tomorrow.

  Michael checked the caller ID. “It’s Alyssa.”

  “Oh!” Tori smiled in relief and grabbed the phone. Since she’d sent out the Evite last Saturday, Brynn, Alex, Chelsea, and Priya had all tried calling her, but Tori had let her voicemail pick up every time. Ever since Nat had e-mailed her to tell her about the blog entry Jenna’d posted spilling the beans to everyone about the trip, Tori’d been keeping a very low profile. She wanted to pretend that everything was okay, at least for a little while longer. She knew Jenna, Grace, and Sarah were definitely coming on the ski trip, though, which made her feel better. Nat and Alyssa were still working out their tickets, but she hoped that Alyssa was calling her with good news. And sure enough, when Tori picked up, Alyssa told her she’d booked her flight.

  “But,” Alyssa added after Tori’s initial excitement died down, “I actually called to talk to you about something else.”

  “Okay,” Tori said, even though her heart had started racing. She had a feeling she knew what was coming.

  “Have you talked to the other girls from camp?” Alyssa asked. “I mean, I know what the deal is with your parents and the ski trip, but not everybody else does. And it’s not fair to just keep them in the dark about it. We’re all going to see each other at the camp reunion, and it’ll be super-awkward if nobody ever talks about it.”

  “I know.” Tori sighed. “But I don’t have a clue how to explain who I picked to come on the trip.”

  “That’s a tough one,” Alyssa said. “I mean, we all know why Chelsea didn’t make the cut.” She laughed.

  “That’s not very nice, Lyss,” Tori said, then paused. “True, but not very nice.”

  “Okay, okay,” Alyssa said. “I take it back . . . sort of. But I think you just have to be honest with everybody. You don’t have to give specifics about why you picked who you did, or even who you picked, but you still owe the rest of your friends an explanation, don’t you think?”

  “I know,” Tori said. “I should’ve done it way before this, when I first saw Jenna’s blog entry. I’ll do it tonight.”

  “And I’ll e-mail you my flight itinerary as soon as I have it,” Alyssa said. “But I’m just warning you. I’m a much better painter than I am a skier.”

  “After a weekend with me, you’ll be flying down those black diamonds,” Tori said. “Of course, it may be on your butt, but you’ll be flying.”

  Alyssa laughed. “I’ve gotta go. Nat and I are trying to get on the same flight as Jenna, so I’ve got to give her a call before I go over my cell minutes.”

  “Okay,” Tori said. “I’m really glad you’re coming on the trip.”

  After Tori hung up, Michael glanced up from his algebra book.

  “So?” he said. “Everything okay?”

  “I’m not really sure,” Tori said. “Alyssa was fine, but she’s right. I have to stop being such a chicken and get back to the girls about this trip.” She gave Michael an apologetic smile. “Can we take a ten-minute break from studying so I can write some e-mails?”

  “No problem,” Michael said, grabbing the remote for Tori’s TV from her nightstand. “Just let me know when you’re ready to get back into X plus Y equals Z.”

  Tori groaned. “I may never be ready. Did you forget how much I hate math?”

  “Nope,” Michael said. “But that’s why I’m here . . . to make sure you stick with it.”

  “Yeah. How lucky am I to have you?” Tori said teasingly.

  She took a deep breath, and then logged onto her computer to post the blog message she’d been dreading for so long. She’d send out a blanket apology on the camp blog to all the girls from 4A and 4C who hadn’t been invited, and hopefully that would at least be a start in the right direction. But before she clicked on the blog site she checked her e-mail, then immediately wished she hadn’t. There were three e-mails waiting for her from Chelsea, Brynn, and Alex. She cringed as she read Chelsea’s:

  To: Tori90210

  From: Chelsea1

  Subject: How to Lose Friends and Disappoint People

  Tori,

  I can’t believe you’d exclude so many of us from your posh ski weekend and not even have the guts to tell us to our faces. I checked with Karen, Valerie, and Priya, and none of us got the Evite. But the worst part is, you didn’t even explain why. Nice show of friendship. Well, don’t worry. Even if you did invite me and Karen now, there’s no way we would go as your “second choices.” Thanks for not thinking of us. Have a great trip.

  Chelsea

  Tears welled up in Tori’s eyes as she reread the e-mail three more times. Then she finally got up the courage to read Alex and Brynn’s e-mails, too, and was at least a little relieved to see that theirs weren’t nearly as awful.

  I’m pretty sure I’m not invited on your ski trip, Brynn’s e-mail said, but I wanted to double-check in case, you know, there was mistake or something. It’d be great to hear from you either way, Tori. I’d just like to know for sure.

  Alex
’s e-mail wasn’t as mean as Chelsea’s either, but she said how disappointed she was that Tori hadn’t even sent out an explanation about the trip.

  Tori closed her e-mail and let her head sink to her desktop.

  “Hey,” Michael said, clicking off the TV, “what’s the damage? It can’t be that bad, can it?”

  “Yes,” Tori murmured, “it can. Chelsea’s fuming, and Brynn and Alex are hurt, too. This is way worse than I expected.”

  “What are you going to do?” Michael asked.

  Tori sighed. “I can’t just post a note on the blog. That’s how this whole thing got messed up in the first place. I’ll have to e-mail each of the girls to explain everything. Right now.”

  Michael nodded. “That makes sense. But I guess this means no more studying tonight.”

  “Oh, I’ll be studying,” Tori said. “But it won’t be until after I’ve done this. And believe me, even algebra is sounding better to me right now than sending these e-mails.”

  “I hear you,” Michael said, gathering his stuff together. “Well, call me if you need help with equations later. Or if you just need to talk.”

  Tori gave his hand a squeeze. “Thanks.”

  Once he’d left, Tori turned back to her e-mail. First she knocked out one to Brynn, explaining everything about her parents’ stupid five-person rule, and apologizing for not being able to invite everyone. She read the e-mail half a dozen times and then finally clicked Send. Well, that one wasn’t so awful. She actually felt a little better now that she’d finally done it. And she’d managed to avoid mentioning the names of the five girls she had invited, which was a lot easier than having to get into specifics. She’d e-mail Alex, Valerie, and Priya next, and then keep going until she’d e-mailed all the girls. If she wanted to go back to camp next summer with all of her friendships intact, this was her only chance.

  Sarah slam-dunked the basketball through the hoop just as the final buzzer rang, and landed on her feet to the cheers of the other girls on her team.

  “Score one more for the winning team!” Abby shouted, high-fiving her. “That was an awesome shot.”

  “Thanks,” Sarah said, grinning as they put the balls back into the phys ed storage room.

  “I still wish they’d let us play some kind of sport outside, though,” Abby said, crinkling her nose. “I hate the musty way the school gym smells in winter.”

  “I hear that.” Sarah nodded. “They should offer sledding in phys ed. That’s aerobic.”

  “Or cross-country skiing.” Abby grinned. “That would be really cool.”

  Sarah’s insides froze. Had Abby mentioned skiing on purpose to see if she’d get a reaction out of Sarah? Had she found out about Sarah buying the ticket to Tahoe? Sarah couldn’t imagine how she would’ve found out, unless . . . maybe Tori had told her. Or Nat. Sarah had seen the blog Jenna’d posted about the trip, but she knew that Abby wasn’t into checking the camp blog that often. “I can’t sit still for that long,” Abby’d once explained when they were talking about the Internet. “At least if I’m on the phone, I can walk around kicking a soccer ball.”

  She shook off her uneasiness. This was ridiculous. If she’d only told Abby she’d been invited on the trip from the beginning, she wouldn’t be a complete paranoid freak right now. But telling her about it now—almost a week after the fact—seemed, well, pretty much impossible.

  “Hey!” Abby waved a hand in front of Sarah’s face. “Zombie-girl, snap out of it! Do I have a mongozit on my chin or something?”

  Sarah blinked, coming back to reality. “No. Why?”

  Abby leaned forward and slugged her playfully on the arm. “Because you were staring at me like I’d just grown two wings and a pair of fangs. What’s up?”

  Sarah shrugged, dunking the last of the basket-balls into the ball bag. “Nothing. I was just wondering when our camp reunion is going to be. It’ll be great to see David again.”

  “I should’ve known that look on your face was boy-related.” Abby grinned. “I’m sure you’ll get to see your boy before the winter thaw. I don’t know anything about the reunion, but I finally got around to checking the camp blog during study hall this morning and there was a note from Jenna about some ski trip Tori’s planning to Tahoe. Did you see that?”

  Sarah heart shuddered. So Abby had seen the blog after all. Great . . . now what was she supposed to say? “Um,” she stalled, thinking fast. “Yeah, I saw it. But at first I couldn’t figure out what Jenna was talking about, so I didn’t think it was a big deal. I never got an Evite from Tori.” She couldn’t believe she’d just lied like that to Abby. What was her problem?

  “Me neither,” said Abby, still not showing any signs of anger. “And then, after I read Jenna’s post, I logged onto my e-mail for the first time this month and there was this totally strange note from Tori. She sent it last night, and it went on and on about how she was really sorry that not everyone could come to Tahoe. But she never said who she ended up inviting. How ridiculous is that? Did you get an e-mail from her, too?”

  “Uh huh.” Sarah nodded. “Mine said the same thing.” She was lying right and left and all over the place now. “I guess that means neither one of us was invited.”

  Abby shrugged. “Well, that’s good. At least we’re outcasts together, right?” She giggled. “I don’t get what all the drama’s about, anyway. I don’t care that she didn’t invite me to go.”

  “You don’t?” Sarah asked, surprised.

  “Nah. My parents could never afford to send me, not with my brother and sister both in college this year. Besides, we’ll get to see everyone at the reunion, no biggie.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Sarah took a deep breath. Now was her chance to tell Abby the truth. If Abby really didn’t care about the trip, would she care that Sarah was going without her? Probably not. But then again, what if she did? Even though lying to her friend about the trip didn’t feel right, wasn’t it better to protect Abby from being hurt? “I wouldn’t have been able to go skiing in Tahoe, either,” Sarah said. “My parents are taking me out to visit my grandma in Maine that weekend.”

  “They are?” Abby asked, surprise in her voice. “You never said anything about it before.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Sarah bumbled. “It just came up at the last minute. We’re going to drive up.” This was turning into lie after lie, and now she couldn’t stop herself. “Skiing would have been better than visiting my grandma, trust me,” she said, laughing nervously. “She’s kind of a grump.” Well, that part was true, at least.

  “Hey,” Abby nudged Sarah and pointed out the gym window, where snow was starting to fall fast. “If this snow keeps up and they don’t cancel school, we may have to try skiing home. So who needs Tahoe?”

  Sarah smiled. “You forget, we don’t have skis.”

  Abby slapped her forehead melodramatically. “Oh, right. So, whose mom do we call to pick us up from school? Yours or mine?”

  Sarah panicked. She’d forgotten all about their snow rule. Usually, her mom and Abby’s took turns picking them up in bad weather. But today, her mom had promised to take her shopping for a new ski jacket after school. And if Abby came along, then Sarah’d have to confess the whole awful truth. She just couldn’t do it. Not today, not any day.

  “Actually,” she said, feeling shame coloring her face, “my mom’s already picking me up, but she has to run some errands for her work right afterward. I promised I’d help her, but I’ll spare you the torture. And the thing is, she’s not going to have time to drop you off before the errands.”

  “Oh.” Abby’s face fell ever so slightly, but she quickly pulled on a nonchalant expression. “No problem. I’ll give my mom a call. She’s been complaining lately about how we never get any mother-daughter bonding time together anymore. I guess a car ride alone with her might keep her happy for a while.”

  Sarah laughed. This was what she loved about Abby—her laid back, go-with-the-flow style.

  The bell rang, signaling that the girls h
ad five minutes to get to their next class.

  “I better get a move on,” Sarah said. “I still have to change out of my gym clothes.”

  “I’m going to rinse off real quick,” Abby said, heading for the showers. “I’ll see you later. And try to stop daydreaming about David. Too much thinking about guys kills brain cells, you know.”

  Sarah laughed, but as she turned to head to her locker, the smile faded from her face. She was sinking deeper into a web of lies with Abby, and as much as she loved their new friendship, she had no idea how to dig her way out of this one.

  chapter FOUR

  Nat had never seen so many clothes in her entire life, and for a minute she felt like she’d died and gone to shopper’s heaven. The racks of ski pants, jackets, hats, and gloves, stretched out for what seemed like miles in all directions. If she couldn’t find a fab ski outfit in this place, it would be a sin against all good fashion sense.

  “I think we’ve rendered Nat speechless,” Jenna teased, elbowing Alyssa and Grace.

  “Nah.” Hannah grinned at Nat. “She’s just a newbie to Jersey outlet shopping.”

  Jenna had called Nat yesterday to invite her and Hannah (Nat’s NY BFF) out to New Jersey for a Saturday shopping spree at the massive Sports Authority Outlet in the New Jersey Commons, and Nat suddenly felt like a whole new wonderful world of discount designer clothing had been opened up to her.

  She walked from rack to rack, running her hands through the rainbow of colored fabrics. Soon, her arms were spilling over with mounds of jackets and pants to try on.

  “Alyssa!” she cried, trying in vain to see over her armful. “Do you know where the dressing room is?” Somewhere to her right, she heard Alyssa and Grace break into giggling fits. Alyssa grabbed some of the clothes off Nat’s pile, which she could do easily, since she’d only picked one funky metallic-blue snowsuit to try on.

  “Follow me,” Alyssa said. “And by the way, have you ever thought about joining shopaholics anonymous?”

  “Hey,” Nat said. “I haven’t bought anything yet. I’m just trying on.”