Geek Abroad by Piper Banks

Author:Piper Banks [Banks, Piper]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

I couldn’t remember being more nervous in my life than I was when we arrived at the Canyon. Sitting in the backseat of Peyton’s huge SUV, I smoothed down the beaded slip dress, hoping I looked okay. Hannah—who had blow-dried my naturally frizzy hair into sleek waves and lacquered my face with more makeup than a beauty pageant queen—had insisted I looked “adorable.” I wasn’t so sure . . . and I certainly wasn’t comfortable. The high-heeled sandals I’d borrowed from Hannah—her feet were two sizes smaller than mine, but she still insisted I cram myself into them—were already hurting my feet, and my lips felt tacky with lip gloss. Without thinking, I pursed them together.

“Don’t do that,” Hannah instructed me. “You’ll rub off the lip gloss.”

“It feels weird,” I complained.

“You’ll get used to it,” Hannah said with a shrug.

“Here we are,” Dad said, pulling into a parking spot just in front of the restaurant.

The Canyon was at the far end of a red brick L-shaped strip mall that also housed an orthodontist, an interior decorator, and a bakery. There was a covered walkway in front of the stores, as well as a row of palm trees planted in tall cobalt blue pots. Leafy green vines scaled up the outer columns of the walkway.

I’d expected Hannah to be nervous, too, but she seemed completely cool and collected as she unlatched her seat belt and slid gracefully out of the SUV. She looked even more beautiful than usual, in a strapless kelly green Lilly Pulitzer sundress. Her golden blond hair was piled on top of her head in a complicated updo, and her face shimmered with expertly applied makeup. Around her slender neck she wore the gold Tiffany bean necklace her dad and stepmom had given her for Christmas last year.

“Let’s get this party started,” Hannah said. She turned to look at me, still sitting in the SUV. “Are you stuck to the seat or something, Miranda?”

I was so nervous, I seemed to have frozen in place. I wondered distantly if I could just sit out the party here. It wasn’t like anyone would miss me—I hardly knew most of Hannah’s friends, and those that I did know I didn’t exactly love. But Hannah gave an impatient toss of her head and gestured to me.

“I’m coming,” I said.

Reluctantly, I opened my door and slid out. Dad and Peyton were already out, standing with Hannah. The three of them looked like the sort of beautiful, perfect family that photography studios use in their advertisements—Hannah, lovely and lithesome, Peyton and Dad beaming proudly down at her. I felt completely extraneous, a feeling that deepened as they headed toward the restaurant without a backward glance to see if I was following.

I hesitated for a moment—if I was going to bail out on this party, now was the time to do so. It was a tempting idea. There was a Starbucks just down the street. I could hide there, tossing back mocha lattes, and not have to worry about bumping into Dex and his new girlfriend.

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