Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire

Author:Roxanne St. Claire [St. Claire, Roxanne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780375985775
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2012-07-10T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Bliss is leaning against the brick wall outside the cafeteria the next morning when I arrive at school. She’s on the phone, and gives me no more than a cursory finger wave, turning to block me out of her conversation.

My first thought is that she’s talking to Ryder, but I can tell she isn’t using her phony boy voice, so this must be a girl.

A few kids walk by and look at us—at me—which is nothing new anymore, but a slow burn of embarrassment rolls over my skin as Bliss makes a point of blatantly ignoring me.

“I know, right?” she hoots. “And someone call the ripped-jeans police and send them after Alexis Carillo. So last year.”

She pauses, and I give her a nudge. “Hey.”

She turns away, snorting into the phone. “OMFG with the Uggs already. It’s Miami, people.”

“Where’s Jade?” I mouth to her.

She shrugs and shoulders the phone, letting her hair fall over her face as a barrier to me. “Hey, listen, sweetie, I gotta go,” she says in a whisper, finally looking at me through her strands. “I’ve got some eavesdroppage, if you know what I mean.”

I almost choke. “Who knows what you mean, Bliss?” I hiss at her. “You barely speak English.”

She taps off and makes a show of putting her phone away, then finally looks at me. “Well, somebody had a rough night.”

So all that MAC and Bobbi Brown makeup doesn’t cover the puffy purple circles of my sleepless night. “You look nice today too,” I say, undaunted. I may have had an endless night, but I came to some serious conclusions and worked out a plan for going forward. “Is that skirt DKNY? It’s completely adorable.”

She gives me a dubious look, a little longer than is comfortable, then pulls out her phone even though I didn’t hear it vibrate.

I dig deep for the strength I thought I’d found in the middle of my long night of thinking. The only way to handle this whacked-out world is to live in it as best I can. I can’t change a lot of things, like my parents’ pathetic marriage. I can’t make my two best friends stop doing dumb stuff. But I can change who Ayla Monroe is on the inside, all the while enjoying the fruits of who and what she is on the outside.

I am determined to have the best of both worlds.

“Where’s Jade?” I ask, since she declined a ride this morning.

After a moment’s hesitation, Bliss says, “She’s cutting today.”

“Why?”

“The history test,” she says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Oh, crap! I forgot to study.”

She laughs. “Funny, Ayla. This’ll be a cinch now, since your buddy Flute Fly is in our class. She salivates whenever you breathe on her, so tell her you need her to keep her answers easy to see, then you give me the finger signs, since Guerra only gives multiple choice tests.” She taps out a text, smiling. “OMG. My friend who goes to Gulliver got backstage passes to the Bruno Mars concert.

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.