Once her soaked coat darkened, I turned off the hose and started soaping her left foreleg from hoof, to knee, to forearm. Whisper’s eyes remained shut as bubbles covered her body and I scrubbed her coat in a circular motion. I paid extra attention to her girth, withers, and back— places where she’d gathered the most sweat.
After she was clean, I rinsed her coat and massaged conditioner into it. Whisper went in and out of sleep throughout the bath and her calm demeanor relaxed me. Moments like these made me fall in love with her even more.
BREAK A LEG
“ ‘PLEASE, GASTON. I CAN’T. I HAVE TO GET home and help my father,’” Khloe said. “Ugh! I’m not using that. I’m going back to my first choice. That was awful, wasn’t it?”
“No, it wasn’t,” I said. “Khlo, you know every word of your monologues—whatever one you choose. You are Belle.”
Khloe looked up at the media center entrance and took a huge breath. We’d been standing outside for several minutes while Khloe rehearsed parts of her monologue. She looked great in a blue tissue T-shirt that matched the color of Belle’s dress, dark skinny jeans, and black ballet flats. She’d flatironed her hair and had applied a little more makeup than usual.
“You’re such a good friend,” Khloe said. “Okay. I’m going with my first choice. I’m ready.”
We walked inside the media center and I stopped at the theater entrance. Khloe peeked inside to see if anyone was watching the door. I wanted to see her audition and be there for support like she’d done for me and glee club.
Khloe reached over and tugged my hand. “C’mon! Hurry!” I tiptoed after her through the door.
We passed an older girl with gorgeous cat-eye makeup who winked at us and didn’t say a word.
“Jana assists Mr. Barber,” Khloe whispered. “I asked her if I could sneak you in and she said just this once.”
The stage was empty—the spotlight waiting for its next audition.
Khloe took me to a back row of seats and pointed to one at the end. “Sit there and stay still. Duck if you see anyone coming.”
“Okay,” I said. “I won’t get caught. Promise. When do you go on?”
“Jana said to go wait backstage. There’s one person ahead of me then I’m up.”
I hugged Khloe. “Break a leg!”
“Thanks for being here,” Khloe said. “It means a lot.” With a smile, she disappeared and headed backstage.
I sat in the dark, glad no one could see my face. Khloe was so grateful that I was here for her, but I felt like a fraud. She didn’t know Lauren Towers. She only knew the Lauren that I’d introduced her to. I’d kept her at arm’s length—letting her in, but not too much. There hadn’t been one conversation where I hadn’t been waiting for it. With Khloe’s status in dressage at Canterwood, I was almost positive she’d recognize my name. So far, she’d gotten to know me, but not all of me.
That’s it, I decided. I’m telling her after the sleepover.
“May I have the next person?” Mr. Barber asked.
My attention went to the stage as a girl emerged from the wings and stepped into the spotlight.
Riley. She’d curled her hair into soft waves, had pink glossy lips, and mascara that made her eyes pop even from my faraway seat. Like Khloe, she’d dressed in Belle’s blue, only she wore a casual-slash-preppy blue dress with capped sleeves. She’d paired the dress with wedges.
“Hello,” she said. Her voice, clear and strong but not too loud, reached me in the back row. She addressed a teacher sitting at a banquet table with a desk light on, who I’d assumed was Mr. Barber.
“My name is Riley Edwards. I’m auditioning for the role of Belle.”
“Do you have a monologue prepared?” Mr. Barber asked.
“Yes, sir,” Riley said. “I have one that’s a minute long and another that’s two. I’ll perform whichever you like.”
I hated to admit it, even to myself, but Riley looked and sounded great onstage. She hadn’t even delivered her monologue yet.
“One minute is perfect,” Mr. Barber said. “Thank you for having two options. I appreciate it.”
Riley smiled, bowing her head. It was the smile she saved for adults—one that made her seem angelic.
Riley kept her head down, then looked up. She walked to the edge of the stage.
“‘Little town, it’s a quiet village,’” she sang. She started back across the stage and even without props or scenery, I visualized her walking through a town.
Uh-oh. Riley was fantastic. Her voice, presence, and look mesmerized me. If she did this without a costume, other actors, props or scenery, I couldn’t even imagine . . .
“ ‘Every day like the one before. Little town, full of . . .’ ”
Riley sang for minute, but it felt like seconds. I wanted to be bored, but I couldn’t look away. Her beautiful singing voice hit every note and she finished with a smile.
“Thank you, Riley,” Mr. Barber said. “You will be informed of my decision via e-mail tomorrow.”
“Thank you, sir,” Riley said. She exited the stage, disappearing behind the curtain.
Mr. Barber kept his head bent over his desk for a few minutes, probably taking notes on her performance.
Jana walked over to him, showing him the sign-in sheet.
“Next!” Mr. Barber called.
Khloe walked out from behind the blue velvet curtains and stopped in the spotlight.
“I’m Khloe Kinsella. I’ve prepared a monologue for the role of Belle.”
Khloe’s voice had a slight wobble to it. I gripped the armrests. Shake it off, I thought, trying to send a message via ESP to Khloe. I hoped Riley hadn’t said something to rattle her. But I had to give Khloe more credit. She was an actress. It was a cutthroat business and she’d probably encountered a dozen Rileys at auditions.
Like Riley, Khloe had chosen to sing for her audition. In this monologue, Belle was supposed to be singing to a chicken and to her horse.
Khloe reached into her pocket, pulled out an imaginary handful of something and began scattering it like she was feeding chickens. She crouched down, holding out a hand.
“‘Is he gone? Can you imagine, he asked me to marry him! Me, the wife . . .’”
All of the nerves had disappeared from Khloe’s voice. Just like with Riley, I could see the setting in my head as she delivered her lines. Khloe sang with a stunning, sweet voice that gave me chills. I’d see my roommate on Broadway one day—I knew it.
Khloe wrapped up her audition and looked at Mr. Barber. I had to hold myself back from cheering—she’d nailed it! Khloe had been perfect. But so had Riley.
“Khloe, thank you,” Mr. Barber said. “You’ll have the casting list in your inbox tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Mr. Barber.” Khloe left the stage and I sneaked out of the auditorium to meet her in the media center.
Khloe came down a side hallway and I clasped my hands together when I saw her.
“You were très magnifique!” I said. “I didn’t see Khloe Kinsella. I saw Belle on her farm. You hit every note. I’m so proud of you!”
Khloe grinned. “Thanks, Laur. I’m sooo glad it’s over! Now we can enjoy the sleepover and have fun tonight.”
We left the media center, walking back toward Hawthorne.
“Do you agonize over the wait?” I asked. “Or will the sleepover distract you?”
“Actually, I stopped obsessing about whether or not I got cast for roles a while ago. I realized that after my audition, I’d done my job. The casting director either thought I was right for the part or didn’t. As long as I give my best onstage, I don’t really worry.”
“That’s great. It means you’re going to have a really awesome time tonight! Now I can save all of the things I’d thought up to distract you for when they’re needed.”
Khloe and I laughed together as we entered Hawthorne. It was time to get our room ready. People would be at our door in less than a couple of hours. I couldn’t wait to get the evening started!
> TRUTH OR DARE?
“YAY! YOU’RE HERE!” KHLOE SAID, OPENING our door. Lexa and Jill, sleeping bags and overnight satchels in hand, arrived first.
“Thanks for inviting us,” Lex said.
Jill put her hot-pink sleeping bag with black stars out of the way next to the wall. “Yeah, thanks so much. Every time I thought my brains were going to explode during class, I pictured tonight.”
“Same,” I said. “Now I’ve officially survived my first week at Canterwood.”
Lexa high-fived me. “You’re definitely a Canterwood student now. Enjoy every second of this weekend because it’s like the teachers make it their personal mission to give us as much work as possible. They think they let us ‘take it easy’ the first week.”
Jill groaned, taking off her glasses to rub her eyes. “Please don’t even say the words ‘teachers’ or ‘work.’”
The three of us laughed until someone knocked on the door. Lexa’s eyes met mine. She didn’t get along with Riley, but tried to for Khloe’s sake.
I opened the door this time. “Hey,” I said, smiling at Clare and Riley. Both girls were dressed like the rest of us—in loungy pants and T-shirts.
“Hi,” Clare said. “TGIF!”
“Seriously,” I said. “C’mon in.”
Riley didn’t say a word as she stepped through the doorway. I sighed to myself. I wasn’t going to let her drag down the night. Khloe and I had made a pact to include her in everything and not to engage her if she tried to start an argument.
Clare said hi to the other girls and put her stuff with everyone else’s. Riley’s eyes went over every inch of our room.
“Nice color choices,” Riley said.
Everyone paused. Did I hear her right? I waited for a “but . . .” to follow. Riley didn’t say anything else.
“Thanks,” Khloe said. “Lauren and I used our favorite colors and, luckily, they matched.”
We all traded a bit more small talk and everyone seemed to relax by the minute. Even Riley. I wondered if she’d been nervous about the sleepover.
“Want to change into pj’s and decide what to do first?” I asked.
Everyone agreed and we took turns changing in the bathroom. We ended up sitting or lying in different places in the room. Riley and Clare were on their stomachs on Khloe’s bed, Lexa and I sprawled on our sides on the rug, and Jill and Khloe sat on my bed.
“I love our pajamas,” I said. “We look like we could be in a commercial or something.”
“So true,” Jill said. She ran a hand through her brown hair, giving it volume and making a face as if she was looking into a camera.
We all giggled. Our pj’s really were cool—everyone had colorful pants or shorts paired with tank tops. I’d chosen a hot-pink tank with white stitching and white shorts. Khloe had dressed in her favorite color. She wore a spaghetti strap yellow tank top with white polka dots and matching shorts with ruffled hems.
I was glad Khloe and I had stocked up on various sodas. Almost everyone was drinking something different. Clare sipped grape, Riley had diet root beer, Jill and Lexa drank Sprites, I had cherry Diet Pepsi, and Khloe had already finished her Mountain Dew. I’d offered everyone a choice of a different crazy straw and even Riley couldn’t help but smile when she’d picked a red swirly one.
“So, you actually think Hailey is going out with Jason?” Clare asked.
“Yes!” Jill said, nodding so hard she shook the bed. “They’re totally keeping it on the DL ’cause Hailey is only dating Jason to get back at Brad.”
“Oh, stop,” Riley interjected, but not in a mean way. We’d been gossiping and giggling for a while. Khloe had set bowls of M&M’s, popcorn, chips, and pretzels on the coffee table though the food had been forgotten when the talking had started. The TV was on low in the background, set on our agreed-upon favorite reality TV network—Watch!—but no one was paying attention.
“It’s true,” Lex said. She pulled her curls into a high ponytail. “I heard Hailey in the bathroom the other day. She told Kacie that Jason wasn’t even a six, but he was perfect because he’s Brad’s biggest competition on the basketball team.”
“Ouch,” I said. “That’s harsh.”
I’d been having so much fun listening to everyone and learning the scandals at school.
“No kidding,” Khloe said. “Jayllex told me that Brad’s so jealous, he’s going to blow it at the next game if he doesn’t cool it.”
I got up, realizing I’d forgotten some of the candy. I dug through a box in my closet and found the bags of Japanese candy that I’d ordered online for tonight. Becca, crazy about manga and anime, had spent a lot of free time watching Japanese cartoons over the summer. She’d discovered a store full of Asian candy when we’d made a trip back to New York City and, thankfully for Becs, the store had a website. She’d used a lot of her allowance on the candy and had gotten me hooked.
I set the bags on the table and everyone stopped talking, staring at the bags. I’d gotten Meiji Yan Yan sticks with strawberry crème and chocolate hazelnut dip, Hello Kitty sour gummies, and an assortment of Haribo fruit-flavored gummies.
“What kind of candy is that?” Riley asked, her nose wrinkled but her eyes curious.
“It’s Japanese candy,” I explained. “My sister got me addicted to it over the summer.”
Clare got off the bed and knelt by the coffee table. She picked up a packet of strawberry Pocky Sticks and turned them over in her hands. “Oooh. These look good.”
“Where’d you get it?” Lexa asked. Like Clare, she got beside the table.
“I ordered it online. My mom took my sister and me back to Brooklyn this summer to visit our friends and we went into Manhattan. Becca found this candy shop and almost bought everything in the store.”
“You used to live in Brooklyn?” Jill asked. She straightened her glasses. “What was it like?”
Khloe ripped open a bag of Hello Kitty sours. Lexa took a couple and tossed one to Riley. I opened my favorite and Becca’s—Kasugai kiwi gummies. I loved that the candies even had kiwi seeds inside.
“I loved Brooklyn,” I said. “It was eclectic and laid-back. I liked that I had access to the city, but didn’t live in Manhattan. It’s fun to visit, but too busy for me.”
“Manhattan’s just like Canterwood,” Riley said. “You have to keep up or you’ll get run over.”
No one said anything to that. We munched on candy and watched TV. Riley’s phone rang. An odd look flashed on her face. Riley fumbled for her BlackBerry, silencing the ringer. Everyone else’s phones were away, but Riley had kept hers out. She was probably waiting for things to get boring so she could text or play on her phone.
Riley stood, smoothing her white tank with a glittery black heart. “Be back in a sec.” She took her phone, skirted around the coffee table and went out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.
“Okaaay,” Lexa said. “She can’t talk in here?”
Clare picked up a peach candy. “I think it’s an ex or someone from home. She always leaves our room, too, when she gets calls like that.”
“You’re her friend and she won’t even tell you?” Jill asked.
“Nope. I asked once and, believe me, I’ll never ask again,” Clare said.
The door opened and Riley stepped back inside. Her cheeks were a little flushed. Clare was probably right— maybe Riley had been talking to an ex. Or a secret boyfriend back home.
The rest of us pretended like we’d been absorbed in TV while Riley had been on the phone.
“Want to order pizza?” I asked.
“And watch a movie when it comes?” Khloe added.
Everyone nodded. Khloe dialed The Slice and placed our order.
Riley looked at us with a gleam in her brown eyes. “This is a sleepover. We have to play truth or dare!”
That sounded dangerous. Playing truth or dare would be fun with the other girls, but not with Riley. Somehow, she was going to ask the wrong question or dare someone to do s
omething awful.
“Um . . . ,” I said, looking at Khloe for help.
She looked back, wide-eyed. “Yeah, maybe we—”
“I’ll start,” Riley said, cutting Khloe off and not waiting for an answer if anyone else wanted to play.
“Fine, but we have to keep the dares contained to the room,” Khloe said, her voice firm. “We’ll never be allowed to have another sleepover again if Christina finds out we left.”
“Deal,” Clare said. The rest of us nodded. Except for Riley.
“Riley?” Khloe asked.
Riley waved her hand. “Yeah, deal. Whatever.” Riley took her time looking at each of us. “Lexa,” she finally said. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” Lexa said.
“Who was your first kiss?” Riley asked.
Lexa traced the pink stripe that ran down her pant leg. She stared at Riley, her head up. “I haven’t kissed a boy yet.”
Riley smirked then frowned. “That was so rude of me. I’m so sorry for you, Lex. It’s not fun to be, like, the only girl in our grade not to have been kissed.”
“I’m totally cool with it, Riley,” Lexa said, almost spitting out Riley’s name. “I’m not going to kiss any random guy just to say I’ve been kissed.”
“Your turn, Lex,” Jill interjected.
Lexa glared at Riley. I was sure she’d pick Riley and retaliate. “Khloe,” Lexa said.
Major relief. I should have known that Lexa was more mature than Riley.
“Dare,” Khloe said, grinning.
Lexa thought for a moment. “Got it. Take a picture of yourself in a silly pose, scroll through your address book with your eyes closed, stop, and send it to the name you land on.”
“Do it, do it!” I said, laughing.
“Omigod,” Khloe said. “What if I send it to a guy or something?”
Lexa giggled. “Let’s hope not.”
Khloe, being a good sport, grabbed her phone. She turned it around and pointed the camera at her face. She stuck out her tongue, crossed her eyes, and the flash went off.
Everyone, even Riley, laughed.
“Now scroll,” Lexa said.
Khloe held the phone away from her, closed her eyes, and scanned her address book. She thrust the phone at Jill. “Tell me who it is! I can’t look.”
Initiation Page 17
