Art Geeks and Prom Queens by Alyson Noël Page B

me.
    When I unlock the door she pushes ahead and walks deep into the empty living room. “Wow, how many square feet is this?” she asks, looking up at the ceiling.
    Square feet? Is she kidding? But all I say is, “I don’t know.”
    “How many bedrooms?” asks Kayla.
    “Um, five?”
    “How many baths?” asks Jen Jen.
    “Um, six and a half?” I say, not entirely sure what half a bath is, but I overheard my mom mention it to someone else.
    “This is really nice.” Kristi nods approvingly as she walks into the kitchen. “Sub-Zero fridge,” she says, running her hand over the front.
    Okay, this is bizarre. Do kids in Newport really care this much about real estate?
    “Let’s see your room,” Jen Jen says.
    “It’s upstairs,” I say, motioning for them to follow.
    “Wait.” Kristi looks at me. “Is there anything to drink?”
    “Well, there’s some bottled water, and iced tea in the fridge.” I shrug.
    “No, dummy. I mean, you know,
to drink?
”
    “Like what?” I ask, watching her roll her eyes and open the fridge she was crushing on a moment ago.
    “Like this,” she says, holding up a bottle of champagne and smiling.
    “Oh, I don’t know. We probably shouldn’t drink that,” I say, thinking how my mom’s gonna kill me when she finds out.
    “Please. They’ll never even notice.” She pops the cork and takes a swig from the bottle.
    “Um, I can get us some glasses,” I offer.
God, I’m so lame.
    “Nah, too much cleanup. Come on, let’s go check out your room,” she says, leading the way upstairs.
     
    So we’re in my room and Kristi and I are lounging on my bed, Jen Jen is propped on some floor pillows near the window, and Kayla is spinning around in my desk chair and we’re all taking turns chugging from the bottle of champagne.
    I’m feeling kind of tipsy ’cause it’s been a while since my last meal, and I’m not really used to drinking, but I’m trying to act all normal (well, cooler than my
usual
normal), since I’m really nervous about doing something stupid. Because even though they’re being really nice to me now, it still kinda feels like this is an audition and I’m just one dorky moment away from hearing. “Cut! Next!”
    So I’m not really saying much because I’m just trying to concentrate on making sure I laugh at all the right moments, when Kristi reaches over to my mghtstand, and grabs the silver-framed picture of me, Paige, and Hud that was taken on my last day at my old school. We’re all in our school uniforms and Paige and Hud are on either side of me and they’re smiling, and I’ve got my arms around both of them and my eyes are kind of squinted closed because I was cracking up. I mean, even though it was my last day with them, I was still just happy to be there.
    But Kristi takes one look at it, shakes her head, and goes, “Oh, my god! Geek alert! Don’t tell me that was your boyfriend!” She holds the picture up so Kayla and Jen Jen can see it and everyone starts cracking up.
    I just sit there, nervously rubbing my arm, while everyone laughs at my two best friends. “You guys don’t know them,” I say, sounding more lame than forceful. “They’re actually really nice, cool people.”
    “Nice? Maybe. Cool? Doubtful, Brazil, very doubtful,” Kristi says, placing the picture back on my nightstand, facedown. Then she looks at me and goes, “So if that’s your idea of hot, I can’t even imagine who you like at school.”
    And without thinking twice I say, “Jas Klein is totally smokin’!” But while I’m nodding and smiling I notice everybody’s just sitting there, staring at me. So I take a small sip of champagne, and go, “Well kinda.”
    And then Kristi, having completely lost her patience, shakes her head, sighs loudly, and says, “Listen Rio. I know you don’t get the whole social-ranking system, but let me just inform you that
everyone
knows Jas Klein is a total stoner and a big loser, and we can’t allow you to like him.