Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Author:Leila Sales
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 2011-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

THE TOP FIVE

Saturday evening, after Essex had closed for the day, we were having a War strategy meeting.

Okay, no. Not quite true. It was indeed Saturday evening, and we were going to have a War strategy meeting. But Tawny was running late. Until she showed up, we were all waiting for her out by the creek, playing Top Fives.

“Lenny, Nathaniel, Ezra, Robert, and, um . . .” Anne twirled a strand of hair around her finger and gazed up at the night sky, trying to think of her fifth name. “Bryan,” she said at last.

I made an involuntary gagging noise. Both Anne and Bryan glared at me.

“Well, you have to have five,” Anne defended herself.

“Bryan’s turn,” Patience declared. Patience is usually the person in charge of Top Fives.

Bryan squinted his eyes and rested his chin on his fists, deep in contemplation. “Hmmm,” he drawled. Hardly anyone ever asked for updates on Bryan’s Top Five because no one cared. Now that his moment had come, it was obvious he was going to drag it out for as long as possible.

“Fiona,” he began at last, “Rosaline, Caitlin, Patience, and Anne.”

“Whoa,” Fiona said. “Stop the presses. When did Chelsea get knocked out of your Top Five, Bryan?”

I wasn’t going to complain, but I had been wondering the same thing. When the boy who has had an untreatable crush on you since you were eleven years old suddenly ousts you from his Top Five, you know you’ve hit rock bottom.

Bryan puffed out his chest in a way that was maybe intended to look self-important, but actually just resembled a toad preparing to ribbit. “After Chelsea undermined the Undercover Operation, I stopped seeing her appeal.”

“Hey, my parents are the ones who trashed our Civil War uniforms!” I protested. “Do you think I wanted that to happen?”

“Well, you let them.” Bryan shrugged, like there you have it. Everyone else nodded along.

“I should never have trusted Chelsea with the uniforms,” Patience said for the millionth time since Wednesday. The look on her face implied that not only had I lost the costumes, but also I had probably handed the Civil Warriors a kitten with a sign tied around its neck reading, “Please torture me.” Patience went on, miserably, “We worked so hard on them. I should have given them to someone who would have been more careful.”

I wondered if Lieutenants during the Revolutionary War had to put up with this sort of bullshit too.

“I’m sorry,” I said, also for the millionth time. “It was my parents’ fault, but I’m sorry.” And I did feel sorry because, even though it was ninety-eight percent my parents’ fault, it was two percent my fault. My fault for thinking about Dan so much that I forgot to think about the War.

Fiona said, “Even if she weren’t sorry, Bryan, that’s no reason for you to take her out of your Top Five!”

Because obviously my standing in Bryan’s list of hottest girls was the real issue here.

Fiona was correct, though: Top Fives are supposed to be purely appearance based.

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