Clique Bait by Ann Valett

Author:Ann Valett [Valett, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: 2020-04-27T18:30:00+00:00

Seventeen

Monica,

I always wondered what it would have been like to be you. You were bright, from your hair to your smile. I was darker, darker hair, a darker sense of humor, a darker style. You could make anybody like you.

I’m different. I feel like I have to try so hard. I was always jealous of you in that sense. You’re scared of nothing. How do you do that, Monica? You see something and you fight for it. I overthink to the point I just don’t know anymore. You’ve really taught me a lot over the years. I don’t know who I’d be if you weren’t my best friend.

Love, Chloe

AS SOON AS I found a bathroom, I leaned over the toilet bowl and threw up. When the worst of it had passed, I feebly stood, my knees bumping together as they shook. I reached out to support myself on the counter and turned the tap on at the sink. Catching my reflection in the mirror almost made me throw up again. There was a trail of black mascara seeping down each cheek from the vomit-induced tears, and I was ghostly pale.

I cupped water in my hands and scrubbed at my cheeks and mouth, trying to rid myself of the dirty feeling that had crept over me. The ends of my hair felt gross too, so I ran them under water. I searched through the drawer below the basin and found a tube of toothpaste, which I put onto my finger in an attempt to brush my teeth.

I couldn’t stay at the party looking like a wreck, not around Level One.

I was trying to control the uneven intake of my breath when the door flung open. I hadn’t even thought to lock it in my haste to get to the toilet.

Platinum-blond hair and ruby red lips told me it was Sophie even before I could process the exuberant expression on her face.

“Oh, sweetie, I knew you had issues, but bulimia?” she asked, closing and locking the door behind us before plonking her purse onto the counter.

I couldn’t even find the strength to tell her off.

“Aw,” she cooed, cupping my cheek in her hand. “It’s okay. Everyone struggles with their weight from time to time.”

I gulped, trying to stop myself from projecting vomit down the front of Sophie’s cleavage. She reached behind her and into her purse, pulling out her phone.

The camera flashed. I moved to shield my face with my hand, but it was too late. The evidence of my drunken state was now in the hands of a Level One.

As my eyes readjusted, the blinding light leaving stains on my vision, I could see Sophie in the mirror touching up her lipstick.

“You know,” she said, catching my eye in the mirror. “This wasn’t exactly a party you could invite your own friends to.”

“Wh-what?” I asked, my words involuntarily stuttering.

Sophie rolled her eyes. “The freckled girl and the Asian guy?”

Claire and Jack.

“I didn’t think anyone would care,” I said, my voice frail.

Sophie sighed dramatically.

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