Art Geeks and Prom Queens by Alyson Noël

“Sometimes he does commentary on Larry King or Court TV or something.”
    They GOGGLED me????
    “But we read that he’s the one that represented that old guy actor who butchered his wife,” Kayla says.
    “And he
was
innocent,” I say, sounding all defensive.
God, this is getting really weird.
    “So what are you doing after school?” Kayla asks.
    “Um, I don’t know. Homework I guess.” I cover my mouth with my hand since I just took a bite of my sandwich.
    “Detention’s over, I take it?” Kristi says, tapping her French-manicured finger against her Diet Coke can and eyeing me closely.
    I just nod, because I’m swallowing.
    “Well, we’re going to the mall and you totally have to come with us,” Jen Jen says.
    “Oh, okay,” I say, finishing my sandwich.
    “Cool. Well, we have to go to the gym to set up for the pep rally, but meet us in the parking lot after school,” Kayla says, getting up from the table.
    “It’ll be totally fun.” Jen Jen smiles.
    “I can’t believe you ate that entire sandwich,” Kristi says, shaking her head as she walks away.

Fifteen
    So instead of going to the usual malls, we went to the Lab, which is like this alternative mall in Costa Mesa, that’s also called the anti-mall. And we’re in this record store because Kristi, Kayla, and Jen Jen want me to show them the CD with the song that I’m named after. It makes me feel totally lame, but I don’t want to seem like a bitch, so I find it and hand it to them and then they flirt with the guy who works there and make him play it.
    (It’s worth noting that while the alterna girl who also works there is rolling her eyes at us,
the guy
can’t stop smiling. And he turns all red, and he gets all nervous, and his hands are all shaky, as he takes off the hip alterna CD they had playing, and replaces it with the Duran Duran
Rio
CD, track one. Which just goes to prove my earlier point about prom queens and how even the cool, smart guys get sucked in. So if I need to later, I will refer to this moment as Exhibit C.)
    By the second chorus they know most of the words, since it mostly just repeats itself.
    So they’re singing really loud, and it’s kind of embarrassing, so I walk out of the store, and across the way to Urban Outfitters. And it makes me kind of excited to see something familiar since we have that store in New York, too. But then I remember that Mason works here, and I start to leave because I’m not supercomfortable running into her, but she sees me, and goes, “Hey, Rio.”
    So I go over to the register where she’s ringing someone up and I go, “Hey, cool coat.” She has on this incredible little leopard jacket, which has like three-quarter-length sleeves, and this one big red rhinestone button at the top where the collar part is. I mean, it’s
amazing
and I’ve never seen her wear it before.
    “Thanks,” she says. And when her customer leaves she goes, “What happened to you at lunch?”
    “Oh, I, I ate somewhere else,” I say, avoiding her eyes.
    “Why?”
    “Well, I felt kind of bad, saying that about Zane.”
    “What? ‘Cause you said he was nice?”
    I shrug.
    “Listen, I’m sorry if I made you feel bad. We talked a little while ago and we’re gonna try to work it out. It’s just really hard with him living in L.A. and stuff.” She bites down on her lip and hesitates like she’s about to say more but then she just goes, “So I heard you met Monique.” She eyes me closely.
    “Yeah, and she’s
really
nice!” I say, with a big fake smile to match my big fake statement.
    “You think?” She looks skeptical.
    “Totally,” I say, nodding vigorously. Again, bobblehead.
    “That’s weird.”
    “Why?” I ask, picking up a rhinestone ring and slipping it on my finger.
    “Well, it kind of seems like you like Jas.” She’s looking right at me.
    “I don’t like Jas! Why would you think I like Jas?” I ask frantically. Oh, god, my father would not approve of my defense-litigation