[14] Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson

Author:Diane Mott Davidson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780061367014
Publisher: HarperLuxe
Published: 2007-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Upstairs, I walked down a long, plushly carpeted hallway until I found the only room with a rock-star poster on the door. Sometimes teenagers, in their attempt to be avant-garde, end up being remarkably conformist. I’m sure I had been exactly the same way, only with a different star on the door, and no caterer to bring me dinner when I’d been banished to my room.

“Yeah, come on!” a voice from inside called. Not an auspicious welcome, I decided as I tried to balance the tray and simultaneously open the door. But it opened suddenly, and I fell forward. It was only with an enormous effort of balance that I kept the quiche from going airborne.

“Hi there,” I said politely. “I’m Goldy.”

The two girls, who couldn’t have been more than fourteen, regarded me awkwardly. They’d slathered their faces with a bright turquoise, puttylike concoction that I assumed was some kind of skin treatment. The only part of their faces not pasted with blue was their eyes, which peered out from masklike white Os. They’d wrapped their heads with towels, and each had pinned a brooch just above their widow’s peaks, to keep the turbans in place. The one who had opened the door was taller than her friend, although I couldn’t really tell, because the other sat on a bed covered with a plush pink quilt. Her thin mouth was pulled into a disapproving pucker. I noted that she was so thin, her legs and arms resembled twigs.

“I’m Vix Barclay,” said the one who’d opened the door, motioning me forward to a white built-in desk. “And that’s Chantal. I’ll just move all this stuff over.” Vix shoved a pile of papers onto the floor. “Chantal, you’re a slob.”

“I am not,” said Chantal. To me, she said, “Thanks for the food. Did you bring any booze?”

“Why, hello to you, too,” I said pleasantly. “I’m your parents’ caterer tonight. Your mother asked me to bring you your dinner.”

“I said,” Chantal went on in an imperious tone, “‘Did. You. Bring. Any. Booze?’”

“Chantal!” Vix squealed. “How the hell did you get grounded in the first place? Jeez!”

“No, I didn’t pick up any alcoholic beverages on my way to your room,” I said lightly, placing the tray onto the cleared spot on the desk. “But I brought all kinds of good food—”

“Have my parents stopped fighting?” Chantal demanded. “I could hear them all the way up here.”

“They’re working on it,” I replied, my tone still light. “Shall I set you two places?”

“They’re both really pissed,” Chantal said, her voice conspiratorial. Since she hadn’t answered my question, Vix, who seemed more tractable than her friend, kindly began removing items from the tray to the desk. “My mom is pissed because, like, one extra guy is coming to this party you’re cooking for.”

“Extra guy?” I asked dully. Someone besides Neil Tharp? Had I made enough curry?

Chantal went on: “I’m like, ‘Mom, call the cops if you don’t want people to crash your party.’ She’s all, ‘He’s not

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.