Jealous?

by Melissa de la Cruz

  "Oh crap." A guy came over to stand next to her. His face was flushed. He had a mess of dark blond hair and twinkling green eyes, and had a huge dark stain in the middle of his rugby shirt.

  "Nice move, huh?" he asked, rubbing at it. "I wasn't even playing and I get sloshed." He shook his head. "I guess it goes with this one," he added, pointing to a red ketchup stain.

  Lauren smiled and handed him a few napkins. She recognized him as one of the guys who hung with Tri Fitzpatrick. It was kind of cute how he cared about his shirt. Most guys were totally comfortable running around in rags.

  "How bad does it look?" he asked.

  She shrugged. "It looks okay. You can't even see it."

  "Good." He heaved a dramatic sigh. "Some Miss Gamble's girls would make me leave the room or tell me to go home and change."

  Lauren couldn't help looking over at Ashley, standing outside on the terrace, talking to Tri, not a hair out of place. Ashley would probably think that a soda stain was an insult and a ketchup stain was an abomination.

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  "As long as it's not blood," Lauren cautioned.

  "I swear it isn't. Unless a Reed Prep defender stabbed me on the way up the stairs. Crashers," he said with a smile, motioning to a group of loud boys who had just arrived.

  Lauren followed his gaze, and sure enough, there were a bunch of guys from the Reed Prep team making their way into the loft. The Gregory Hall guys didn't seem too fazed by the appearance of their rivals. Most of them were friends who'd gone to the same preschools.

  "Then you'll live, I guess," she said with a laugh.

  "I guess." He sighed. "If you say so."

  Could this be happening? Was Lauren Page actually flirting with a guy? And was he actually flirting back?

  By the time his friends dragged him away--they were hitting some other party in St. Francis Wood--Christian had asked for her phone number.

  As soon as he left, Lauren ended up talking to another boy who'd wandered over looking for something to wipe up a spill on the coffee table. She happily supplied him with several napkins as well. Like Christian, he was a lax player, but he was in seventh grade at St. A's. It seemed it was her duty to save the boys from dirt that night.

  He was easy on the eyes as well, but in a different way from Christian. Alex was dark, with olive skin and eyes that looked

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  almost black. She helped him mop up the mess, and they fell into a deep conversation, taking about everything from the music at the party to the freakishly bad weather they were having in San Francisco.

  She told him about her parents, and he told her about his family. His grandmother was Catalan, he said, and she used to sing to him in Spanish when he was a little boy. When he got all embarrassed and apologized, saying he didn't usually talk about his personal life, Lauren's heart melted like a gelato on a hot day. Something about Alex's dark, brooding eyes and the way his hair flopped over his face made her feel squishy and silly. When he asked for her number, she gave it to him without hesitation.

  Lauren looked around the room. There was still no sign of the Ashleys anywhere, but she didn't mind. Two boys had asked for her number, and neither of them had tried to drag her into a closet.

  Boys liking her. How weird was that? Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. But then again, that was LBTA. Life Before the Ashleys.

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  CHAPTER 13 THEY SAY A KISS CAN BE A COMMA, A QUESTION MARK, OR AN EXCLAMATION POINT, BUT FOR LILI IT'S ALL THREE

  LILI SPOTTED MAX AS SOON AS HE ARRIVED AT THE

  party, and she knew he'd seen her, too. Their eyes met from across the room (really from above the room, since she was gazing down at the first floor from the second). He gave her a shy smile and her heart flip-flopped, but she tried not to show it, focusing on the makeup advice one of the eighth graders was dishing.

  She had to play it cool and not act as though she was a desperate sports groupie with a massive crush on a lax star.

  Even though that's exactly what she was.

  Lili gave herself one hour to float around the party, check out the entire loft, air kiss everyone she knew, and flirt with as many random boys as possible. One hour to let Max see

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  her walking up and down the curving iron staircase wearing her cute dress with the super-short hem and her new tango shoes with the three-inch heels. One hour for him to notice her glossy hair swinging and her pink lips smiling. After the hour was over, she would make sure she got as close to him as possible and stayed there.

  Like all of Lili's plans, this one worked like a charm.

  After sashaying the length and breadth of the loft numerous times, she found herself in the middle of a crush of people standing in the hallway. They were all waiting to get onto the terrace, where someone was supposed to shoot fireworks. She wormed her way through until she was near-but-not-too-near him, hoping it would look natural that she was just by his elbow.

  Max turned around and looked pleasantly surprised. "Hey!"

  "Hey, you," she said lightly, as if she had just noticed he was standing there. "What are you doing here? Aren't you guys, like, the enemy?"

  "We were invited!" Max protested. "What's a victory party without the real victors?" he joked.

  Lili smiled. A few people behind her jostled her to the front, pressing her closer to him. "Oops. Sorry!"

  Max steadied her and returned her smile. Lili thought the two of them must look a little funny, just standing there

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  smiling at each other, but she felt really happy. She was sure she was getting a vibe off him. He liked her, too.

  "Madame LeBrun's a real trip, isn't she?" asked Lili.

  "I think I counted fifty-five sneezes last session." Max laughed. "Is she allergic to everything?"

  Lili nodded eagerly. "That's nothing. Last year it got so bad she fainted!"

  "Really?"

  "You should have seen it. She was sneezing so much, and then she kind of swooned and tripped over the rug and hit her head on the floor. She was bleeding so badly, me and Greg--the other guy who used to be in the class--thought we'd have to call 911."

  "No way!"

  "Yeah. It didn't happen. I made it up." She winked. What had gotten into her?

  Max looked confused for a second, and then he laughed. His shoulders relaxed, and he grinned down at her. "You're a real trip too." He moved closer to her to make room for a couple of people who'd squeezed past them to get to the terrace. Outside, they could hear the first whiz-bangs of the bottle rockets. More people crowded into the hallway in an attempt to get out to the terrace, and the next explosions were so loud Lili had to hold her hands to her ears.

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  "Wanna duck in here?" Max asked, finding a door that led to a small butler's pantry. "Just until it's all clear?"

  Lili nodded, glad to be away from the mob and the noise. The pantry was a small, dark space. They stood so close to each other that his denim-clad knee was almost touching her bare one.

  "So Madame didn't faint. How can I trust you now?" asked Max, arching an eyebrow in the dim light.

  "Are you calling me a liar, Maxwell Costa?" she demanded, pretending to be completely indignant.

  "Your words, not mine, Ashley Li."

  It was the first time he'd said her name. And he called her Ashley, which no one ever did, which made it sound more intimate, more special. Then the two of them were standing so close together she was practically in his arms, and his head was bent down very close to hers. Someone's elbow--hers? his?--brushed the light switch, and then it was so dark she could barely make out his face. Neither of them spoke, and Lili knew what was about to happen.

  He was going to kiss her.

  She closed her eyes and their lips met.

  Whatever the Ashleys believed, Lili had kissed a boy before. But it wasn't anything like this. Just like she told her friends, she'd kissed a boy in Taiwan last summer. The boy was a friend of Lili's cousin, a thirteen year old
who was

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  cute, shy, and nervous. That was the problem. He was so shy and nervous that when he went to kiss her, he actually missed her mouth and kissed her on the chin! It was pretty icky. Wet and cold and unexpected, totally disappointing, and the boy was so embarrassed he never came anywhere near her again.

  Her friends didn't have to know all the gory details, and there was no way they'd ever find out. Unless Ashley was planning to send spies to Taiwan to track down the truth, of course. Lili wouldn't put anything past her.

  But this kiss was completely different. This kiss was soft but confident, utterly intense. Her mouth went dry, and she could barely remember how to speak English, let alone French.

  She lost herself in his kiss, and all the stress in her life-- the competition with Ashley for the Preteen Queen crown, the parental pressure to succeed academically, the constant surveillance and assessment on AshleyRank--floated away. She soared ten feet into the air.

  When they finally pulled away from each other, Max drummed his fingers on the wall and looked away. When he turned back to her, an alarm rang in Lili's head. Something was up. His cute face was troubled, as though he'd just remembered something really bad.

  "Is everything okay?" she managed to say, still breathless from the kiss.

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  "Yeah, yeah." He couldn't even look her in the eyes. "It's just . . . weird."

  "What's weird?" Now she was nervous. Now she was terrified.

  "I mean, uh, I'll see you around, okay?"

  See you around?

  Uh-oh. Lili didn't like the sound of that.

  "Look, I'll call you. ..." Max let her hand go and opened the door.

  "Where are you going?" she asked. "Can't we talk about this?" What was going on? Why was he acting so freaked out? It was just a kiss. Did she have cooties or something? Why was he acting like he wanted nothing more than to be really, really far away from her? Was this what happened when you kissed a bad boy? Was her mom right?

  "Bye," Max said, moving so fast that he knocked into some fat guy with a backpack.

  Then, just like that, he walked away, leaving Lili to walk out alone into the now deserted hallway, her face crumbling into tears.

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  Our hearts are still pounding from all the Red Bull we drank at the first B-G (that's Boy-Girl) party of the year! Whoohoo!

  #1 ASHLEY SPENCER

  STYLE: 10

  We heart that Boy Meets Girl Deesh sweatshirt she was wearing, which had Adorable Boyfriend's name on top of a silhouette of a little boy and her name above a silhouette of a little girl. Way to wear your heart on your sleeve!

  SOCIAL PRESENCE: 10

  Because she's one-half of the seventh grade's

  It Couple.

  SMILE: 10

  Bestowed upon one and all.

  SMARTS: 9

  Took a pass on the chip selection. Probably a good idea. (Burp!)

  CUMULATIVE SCORE: 39

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  #2 ASHLEY "A.A." ALIOTO

  STYLE: 10

  Always looks effortlessly chic. Bet her cool asymmetrical top was yet another hand-me-down from her model mom.

  SOCIAL PRESENCE: 9

  Disappearing into a closet with a new boy? If she doesn't watch out, she'll start to get a reputation!

  SMILE: 8

  The Closet Queen didn't look too happy once the doors opened.

  SMARTS: 8

  Not sure it's wise to get another boy all hot and bothered about you when you just got rid of your former stalker!

  CUMULATIVE SCORE: 35

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  #2 ASHLEY "LILI" LI

  STYLE:10

  Looked so girly-pretty in a breezy, romantic, dove

  gray minidress accented with a floppy bow.

  SOCIAL PRESENCE: 10

  Smooth operator, dazzled all the boys at the party, including one particular Reed Prep player.

  SMILE: 8

  Never seen her looking more joyful at the beginning, but she left party looking upset. Does anyone know what happened??

  SMARTS: 7

  Skirt looked a little short for constant up-and-down on the stairs.

  CUMULATIVE SCORE: 35

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  AND THE REST OF THE WORLD . . .

  #6 LAUREN PAGE

  STYLE:10

  Her silk jersey Foley & Corrina dress (we asked!) was just too cute!

  SOCIAL PRESENCE: 8

  Spotted flirting with not one but two boys at the bash!

  But maybe that's too much of a good thing?

  SMILE: 7

  Practically a little Miss Sunshine these days.

  SMARTS: 9

  Word has it she was behind our invitation. Nice move!

  CUMULATIVE SCORE: 34

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  CHAPTER 14 THE ONLY THING ASHLEY IS CELEBRATING IS HERSELF

  THE FRIENDSHIP CEREMONY WAS GENIUS-- even if Ashley had to say so herself. She'd come up with it on the spot in that producers' meeting and now, just a week later, it was a reality. Not just that: It was reality television. How cool was that?

  In front of the cameras in Miss Charm's class, groups of nervous girls stood up to make their presentations. Ashley wasn't surprised they were nervous. She'd be nervous as well if the Ashleys had made such pathetic banners.

  Just as she predicted, everyone went for the most obvious thing. Sheridan Riley had stuck a row of false eyelashes onto her group's banner to represent her (too short) bangs. Melody Myers and Olivia DeBartolo had stuck Olsen Twin paper dolls onto their banner to show how similar and

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  inseparable they were. Gag. Some people had actually used colored pens to make their banners. Hello! Were they poor? Or just lazy? Ashley couldn't believe the lack of initiative.

  Even the songs everyone else chose were totally predictable. The first group sang "You've Got a Friend," which was some kind of hippie song that Ashley's father sometimes played on his guitar. It was super sappy, and not helped by the fact that two of the four girls were crying while they were singing. The second group was even more lame, singing the old Beatles song "A Little Help from My Friends." Daria Hart actually looked like Ringo. Ashley had to pinch herself so she wouldn't explode in hysterics.

  But she had to admit that Daria's group--the three mousiest girls in the class--hadn't done a bad job with their banner. They'd used the cover from the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, because that was where their song was from, and they'd had their three plain-Jane faces photo-shopped in. At least they'd made an effort. Miss Charm was oohing and aahing over it, but she hadn't seen the Ashleys' banner yet.

  Melody and Olivia's group tried to sing the theme song from Sex and the City, but since there were no words, they got a little confused around the "bum, ba bum" parts. In their speech, they talked about one another as though they were all characters from the show. "You're so like Carrie," Melody

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  said to Doro Hansen. "Flaky, goofy, but with really pretty hair." The problem was that even though there were four of them, no one wanted to be Samantha, the slutty one, so there were two Charlottes instead.

  The Ashleys--and Lauren--were up last, just as the producer had requested. Their 3-D banner looked amazing. Even Lili, who'd turned into an attention hogger and whiny baby ever since the cameras showed up, had let Ashley use her superior designs, realizing that Ashley actually knew what she was talking about.

  Lili had been acting a little weird all day. She'd left the party last Saturday red-eyed, without telling anyone what happened. Ashley heard something had happened with the Reed Prep Froggy (because he was taking French, geddit) and vowed to get to the bottom of that, and she hoped whatever it was wouldn't affect Lili's participation in the program.

  Everyone in the room gasped when they unfurled the heavy, ivory-colored canvas, Lauren holding one end and A.A. holding the other. Ashley was represented, as planned, by a giant diamante tiara sewn onto the canvas. To shut Lili up, they'd mock
ed up a Blackberry, just as she requested, getting an oversize replica made from hand-stitched black leather. For A.A. they cut a soccer ball in half and glued one side to the banner. Ashley had never been serious about the kissing thing--she was just saying all that for the camera to create a sensation.

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  The trouble with A.A.: She was gorgeous. With her sharp cheekbones and long legs, she looked like a model. Plus she had a naturally sweet personality, and Ashley couldn't have A.A. coming across on TV like the angelic, beautiful one. The public had a right to know she could be a bit of a ho.

  A.A. had forgiven Ashley for her jibes, as Ashley knew she would. Well, she'd let the matter drop, which was almost the same thing. With Lili being so pouty and difficult all of a sudden, and Tri still acting like a pretend boyfriend, still not brave enough to kiss her, Ashley didn't need any more stress on her hands.

  The hardest person to represent on the banner was Lauren, for obvious reasons. They didn't really know her, and it was hard to tell what her personality was, exactly. She did well at school and her parents were insanely rich. So what? Everyone who was anyone at Miss Gamble's was rich. Finally they decided on a mock-up menu from the Ivy, the restaurant they'd gone to in L.A., to represent how she knew a lot of cool places. Ashley got the calligra-pher her mother used for black-tie events to reproduce the menu exactly by hand.

  Across the center of the banner, the words "The Ashleys" had been hand-embroidered by one of her maids, who came from Guatemala. And each of them had a speech to make (learned by heart, of course, and rehearsed ad infinitum)