by Kate Brian
"Okay, that guy should be a politician," Vivi said. "He is all slime."
"Why? What's going on?" Curtis asked, finally buying into the soap opera.
"First of all, he said he still cares about her and always will," Vivi grumbled. "And that he'd never give the sweater she gave him to another girl."
"Well, that's good, right?" Curtis asked before chugging his milk.
Vivi rolled her eyes. "Then he told her that she should move on. That he thinks she's too good for him and she can do better," she whispered furiously.
Lane snorted. "Well, he's got that right."
"Yeah, but to him it's a total joke. He knew she was going to disagree, which of course she totally did. I don't understand why you're so hard on yourself. I love you. You know that1'" she said, doing a perfect imitation of Isabelle's voice. "He's totally keeping her hanging. I swear I could just--was She curled her hands into fists and grunted in frustration.
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"Okay, okay. Calm down," Lane said, putting her hand over Vivi's.
"She can't take him back," Vivi said, shaking her head. "She can't be second to Tricia Skank-Ho Blank. We need to stage an intervention. Threaten her with something."
Lane rolled an empty straw wrapper in her fingers and laughed. "Like what?"
"I don't know . . . maybe we should tell her we won't be friends with her anymore! Freeze her out," Vivi announced. "Tough love, like in that DVD we watched in health class sophomore year."
"Um... Isabelle's not a crack addict," Lane pointed out.
"No. But she is a Shawn addict," Vivi shot back.
Lane's heart dropped. Vivi couldn't be serious. At least, Lane hoped she wasn't. Because usually, when Vivi came up with a plan, she stuck to it. And she made everyone around her stick to it as well.
"We can't do that," Curtis said, crumpling up the empty milk container. "It's way too mean. And besides, none of us could actually go through with it."
Vivi's face dropped and she slumped. "You're right. But we have to do something to make her realize she doesn't need this jerk," Vivi said, glancing over at them. Lane saw Isabelle nod at something Shawn was saying, and the very sight made her tense.
Lane shook her head. "Isabelle is way too good for him. If she goes back to him, it'll be a total disaster."
Curtis nodded, his mouth full.
"Good. At least we all see it," Vivi said, setting her jaw in a determined way. She pulled her sneaker-clad feet up on
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the chair and rested her chin on her knees. "Now we just have to come up with a way to make her see it."
"Do you really think empowerment-movie night is going to help?" Lane asked, sifting through the pile of DVD's Vivi had rented.
"It's just a preliminary plan. Until I come up with the real one," Vivi said, setting a huge bowl of popcorn down on the table in her basement.
The basement door opened. "Hi, honey! I'm home!" Vivi's mother trilled jokingly as she tromped down the stairs.
She was wearing one of her more colorful head scarves, with her curly blond hair sticking out in two perfect triangles on either side of her head from her ears to her shoulders. Huge wooden monstrosities dangled from her earlobes, and her makeup was even more elaborate than usual. As always, Vivi's mom had gone all-out for her work party that evening. It was one of the hazards of working at the regional theater, the Starlight Playhouse. There was, apparently, a lot of pressure to look as boho kooky as possible.
"I just thought you girls might want some snacks!" She lifted a grease-stained brown bag. "Leftovers from the cast party!"
"Oooh! I knew I loved you for a reason." Vivi grabbed the bag from her mother. Inside was a stack of white takeout plates with clear covers. Mini hot dogs, mini quiches, mini spring rolls. She tore off the lids and started laying the food out on the table.
"Hi, Ms. Swayne," Lane said, standing up. She walked around the table and hugged Vivi's mom.
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"Hello, dear!" Vivi's mother exclaimed, high on life. "What are you girls doing? Movie night? Got anything good?" She inspected the array of films. "Oh! Kate Winslet? I just love her. The actress who starred in my production of Twelfth Night last month reminded me so much of her."
"Cool, Mom. And we'd love to hear all about it. Really. But Isabelle's gonna be here any second s..." Vivi advanced on her mother, steering her back toward the stairs.
"Oh. Okay. Well, if you girls need anything--was
"We won't," Vivi said, patting her mother on the back. "But thanks for the snacks."
Her mother's shoulders drooped, and her hundreds of plastic bracelets clicked together. "Okay. Well. I'll be upstairs."
"Bye!" Vivi smiled until her mother was gone, then turned around and rolled her eyes. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her oversized track hoodie and slumped down onto the couch.
"I don't know why you're so mean to her," Lane said with a sigh, munching on one of the mini hot dogs.
"Lane, you know that she'd stay down here all night if I didn't kick her out," Vivi said, grabbing a quiche from one of the plates. "She thinks she's one of us."
"Well, she's cooler than my mom," Lane said, pulling her long hair into a high ponytail.
Vivi laughed. "I'd give anything to have your mom."
Lane's mother worked as an image consultant at a huge media conglomerate in New York. She was stylish, sophisticated, and unmeddling. In other words, the exact opposite of drama queen Sylvia Swayne.
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"Yeah, well, if I ever see her, I'll tell her you said that," Lane deadpanned.
The doorbell rang, and Vivi and Lane both jumped up. "Finally!"
"I got it!" Vivi shouted.
She barreled up the stairs with Lane on her heels and slid across the hallway in her socks. But when she got there, her younger brother, Marshall, was already talking to Isabelle, who was eyeing him uncertainly from the front step, as most people eyed Vivi's book-loving, pasty-faced brother. His blond hair was, as always, slicked back from his face with some thick gel, and he was wearing a T-shirt that read love me, love my mac. Vivi wanted to groan just looking at him. The kid could have been somewhat cute and maybe halfway cool if he wasn't so intent on being a dork.
"I got it, loser," Vivi told him, hip-checking him out of the way.
"Shut up," Marshall grumbled, blushing slightly. "See you later, guys. I'll be in the living room," he told them.
"Don't care," Vivi shot back. Marshall narrowed his green eyes--exactly the same shade as Vivi's--and went.
"Bye, Marshall," Isabelle said, polite as ever.
She stepped inside, and Vivi closed the door. "Okay, what do you want to watch first? The Holiday'? She's the Man? Erin Brockovich?"
"Iz?" Lane said uncertainly. "Are you all right?"
Vivi's heart clenched, and she turned around. Tears were streaming down Isabelle's face. She dropped her Kate Spade overnight bag on the floor and wailed, "He's going to the prom with her!"
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"Omigod, Izzy!" Lane said. "How did you . . . Who told you?"
"She did! I ran into her at the mall, and she was all showing off about it!" Isabelle cried. "He's taking her to the prom in the tux I picked out. The one that I paid for!"
"What an asshole," Vivi said through her teeth. The prom meant everything to Izzy. They all knew this, especially Shawn. It wasn't like Vivi wanted Isabelle to go with him, but for him to ask someone else, and for her to find out this way, was devastating. "Am I allowed to kill him yet?" Vivi asked.
"I hate him," Isabelle said as she gasped for air. "I hate him so much!"
As Lane hugged Isabelle, Vivi saw something move from the corner of her eye. Her brother was standing just on the other side of the open doorway to the living room, listening to every word that was said. She shot him a look that could have melted steel and put her arm around Isabelle's shoulder.
"Come on. Let's go downstairs," Vivi said.
'"Kay," Isabelle replied, her voice all watery.
/> After about ten minutes of incoherence and sobbing, Isabelle finally calmed down. She looked around the wood- paneled basement with heavy-lidded eyes and sniffled.
"What movies did you guys get?" she asked, pulling her hands into the sleeves of her fuzzy sweater.
"We don't have to watch anything if you don't want to," Lane said.
"Yes, we do! She needs the distraction," Vivi put in, reaching for the DVD's.
"True," Isabelle said weakly.
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Vivi got up and popped The Holiday into the DVD player. Just as the previews were starting up, the door to the basement opened and Vivi saw her brother's dorky brown shoes on the stairs.
"Did we invite you down here?" Vivi shouted.
"I'm just bringing you guys some soda," Marshall replied. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs with a bottle of Mug root beer and three plastic cups. "Seemed like you could maybe use something to drink."
"Thanks, Marshall," Lane said, cutting off the insult Vivi was about to spew.
"I love root beer," Isabelle said blankly.
"Well, there you go." Marshall placed everything on the table and backed up. "I'll be upstairs."
"Again, don't care," Vivi replied.
Marshall shot her an irritated look, but turned around and retreated.
"Vivi, he was just trying to be nice," Isabelle said.
"No. He just has nothing better to do on a Friday night," Vivi said.
She got up, took the stairs two at a time, and latched the old-school lock on the door. On her way back down, she turned off the lights, then settled back on the huge leather sectional between her friends. It was time to put Operation Distract and Empower Izzy into motion. No more diversions.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Brian is the prolific author of many books for teens, including the Private series, Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys, and Fake Boyfriend. She lives with her husband in New Jersey.
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