Ultimatum (Dirty Secrets #1) by Mercy Amare Page B

get real glasses?
    “Hey, Mads!” she greets me.
    “Hey, Lex,” I say back.
    Lexie and I don’t hang out much at school because we are in different groups. Lexie is kind of a nerd, not that there is anything wrong with that. I’m a nerd too, but somehow I pushed my way to the top. I hang out with all the popular girls and guys. It’s not like I need to be popular, but I enjoy it. Like I said, I thrive on being the center of attention.
    “I heard a rumor that the winter play is going to be a retelling of Cinderella,” she says.
    School hasn’t even started and there are already rumors. “Awesome.”
    “You’re going to make a great Cinderella.”
    “If I get the part,” I say, waving her off. We both know that I will, but I don’t want to jinx it… or sound arrogant.
    “Of course you will get the part. Can you believe that we’re seniors now?” she asks, bouncing up and down.
    I spot Daisy Lewis standing by Mason Holt and Robert Dixon. I say a quick goodbye to Lexie and head toward them. Daisy greats me with a hug, as always.
    Everybody calls Daisy Dee, and she is kind of a bitch. She’s definitely the mean girl at our high school, but I love her anyway. And if I didn’t I would fake it, because I’ve seen what she does to people who don’t like her. She’s kind of vicious.
    Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer… And Daisy the closest.
    “Hey, bitch,” she greets me in the same way she has since we became friends our freshman year. “I missed your beautiful face this summer!”
    Daisy’s family is rich, so she spends her summer in Barbados, right on the beach. She has an awesome tan, but mine is darker. I spent most of my summer outside too. I played softball every Saturday, and pretty much went swimming with Trey, Jace, and Hailee every day. It was wonderful.
    Daisy’s appearance is always perfect. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her wear anything that isn’t custom-fitted, including her pajamas. She always wears her bleached blonde hair parted to the left, and it’s always down. Most of the time she straightens it, but occasionally she’ll curl it into soft waves on the weekends. And even when she is completely wasted, I’ve never seen her get an ounce of vomit on herself.
    “Did you have fun?” I ask her.
    “You know it. Sat by the pool, worked on my tan, drank fruity drinks, and flirted with guys all day. At night, I’d go out to a club and usually hook up with a hot guy. It was the best.”
    I didn’t talk to Daisy once this summer… not that we normally talk a lot or anything. I wasn’t worried about her lack of conversation directed at me. I figured she was having too much fun in Barbados to think about texting me. I know I was having too much fun to text her.
    Before anybody has a chance to say anything else, the warning bell goes off. We all head off in different directions.
    English is my first class of the day. When I walk in the classroom, I take a seat in the back corner. A few seconds later, Jace sits down beside me. He looks surprised to see me.
    “What?” he says, trying to sound angry. He slaps his hand down on the desk. “I specifically told them not to put me in the same class as you.”
    I roll my eyes in response.
    He leans closer. “I’m willing to ditch if you still want that quickie.”
    I shake my head at him and laugh as the bell rings.
    Mrs. Duff walks in the room and starts talking. She hands out the syllabus. I glance over at Jace to see that he’s trying to get my attention.
    “Your legs look really hot in that dress,” he signs to me.
    Jace’s little brother, Thayer, is deaf. When Jace was seven, his mom got married and got pregnant with Thayer. When his mom was nine months pregnant, her then husband beat her almost to death. She and Thayer both are lucky to be alive, but Thayer has never been able to hear because of it. Trey, Jace, and I all learned sign language together. Thayer is nine now, so sign language comes just as natural as