Pretty Little Devils by Nancy Holder Page A

another peek at the jock table to see if Matty had arrived.
    Ellen glanced over too, obviously mooning over Brandon.
    Sylvia noticed, and her expression went grim. She rapped her fist in front of Ellen’s tray.
    â€œ Pardon moi , what are you doing?” she asked.
    Ellen blinked, as if waking from a daydream. “I—I was just—”
    Sylvia sighed. “Ellie, we’ve been over this. Brandon is an asshole, okay? He has hanging-out privileges, but he is not nice.”
    Ellen shifted. “I don’t know, Sylvia. He seems nice.”
    â€œThey all seem nice,” Carolyn said.
    â€œEven Stephan seemed nice,” Megan muttered.
    â€œWell…he’s nice to me ,” Ellen whispered.
    Sylvia touched her fingers to her chest. “Don’t be so naive, El. Brandon is a user. If you let him, he will chew you up and spit you out. Trust me on this.”
    Hazel thought about the girl in geometry. “She’s right, El.”
    Everyone looked startled. Sylvia raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know?”
    Hazel blinked. Had she overstepped her bounds somehow? “He—he totally humiliated this girl in my geometry class last year. He pretended to ask her out and then he laughed at her when she said yes.”
    â€œNo way,” Ellen protested, stricken.
    â€œIt’s true,” Hazel insisted. “I was there.”
    â€œWell, thank goodness,” Sylvia breathed. “For a moment, I thought you had firsthand experience with the matter.”
    â€œNo, no,” Hazel protested. “It’s nothing like that.”
    â€œGood. Because that’s the kind of thing PLDs share.” Sylvia leaned forward, locking her electric blue eyes on Hazel. “I would hope that if you had been with any of the guys in our circle, you’d tell us about it.”
    â€œOf course,” Hazel confirmed.
    Of course, I would. Don’t go getting so intense about it.
    Ellen turned her head in Brandon’s direction—again.
    â€œJesus, El,” Sylvia hissed. “Did you not just hear what I said? Show some pride. If not for yourself, then for us.”
    Ellen opened her mouth to answer.
    â€œUh-oh,” Megan cut her off. “Trouble, two o’clock.”
    Hazel glanced up and saw Jilly Delgado—one of the cheerleaders—sidling up to their table. Sylvia shot her a withering glance.
    â€œCan we help you?” she asked.
    â€œBreona knows it was you,” Jilly said, glaring at them. “There will be payback.”
    She turned and walked back to Breona’s table.
    â€œGod! We’re terrified!” Megan called after her.
    â€œTais-toi,” Sylvia snapped at Megan. “Don’t give them any satisfaction. They’re not even on our radar.”
    â€œRight,” Ellen said. “Beneath our notice.”
    â€œExactement.” Sylvia looked hard at each of them. “Now is the time to show them who we really are. PLDs act. We don’t react. Breona’s going to try to get to us all today. You have chem lab with her, don’t you, Haze? Don’t let her pressure you. She’ll try to tell you that she’s the victim in all this. It’s a lie. I want you to know that.”
    â€œBut why would she—”
    The others looked straight at Hazel, and she remembered that she was still on probation. Not officially one of them.
    Maybe she’d be able to ask questions later.
    â€œI’ll be fine,” she promised.
    Â 
    When Hazel got to chem lab, she found Breona waiting at her table. She shifted slightly when Hazel approached.
    â€œHey, Hazel,” Breona said, pasting on a big smile. “Do you have the notes I missed while I was out?”
    â€œNo. Sorry,” Hazel said coolly, navigating around her.
    â€œI’m a little behind, you know,” Breona continued. “I don’t know if you heard, but I was kicked out of school when someone planted drugs in my