Pride

than she did, and after a full day of mopping up the diner’s bathrooms, that was saying a lot.

“It’s laundry day, sweetie. As you can see-” He gestured toward his lower half. “I’m fresh outta pants. And-” here he leaned toward her and winked. “I’m almost out of unmentionables. If you know what I mean.”

Harper recoiled from his hot, musty breath-and left the bag on the ground.

“I’ll give you ten bucks to take care of this today. And if you do a good job, you can do it every week.” He turned away from her and sat down at his desk again. “You’re welcome.”

“You want me to… do your laundry?” Harper could feel her good employee routine slipping through her fingers. “Are you kidding me?”

“Don’t play coy with me, sweetie,” White said, gazing at the TV. “You may have a fancy name, but I know you need the cash.” He chuckled. His laugh sounded like a garbage disposal. “Otherwise, why the hell would you be working here?”

Harper looked down at her feet. She could see a dirty gray piece of cotton peeking out of the top of the bag, but didn’t want to think too hard about what it might be.

As she saw it, she had two options.

She could suck it up and take the laundry, prove to herself and the world that, contrary to popular opinion, Harper Grace didn’t mind a little hard work once in a while. More importantly, she could pay back her parents that much faster, hastening the blessed day when she could finally walk out of the Nifty Fifties and never come back.

Or she could throw the bag of dirty underwear in his face and remind this loser that class and money were two separate things. He may have her beat on the latter, but where the former was concerned, he wasn’t even worthy enough to shine her shoes.

“Oh, what, did I offend you?” he snarled. “Bethie never had a problem with it.”

Harper rolled her eyes. Of course not. Little Miss Perfect let White walk all over her. Watching Beth get bawled out by the manager on a daily basis had been the only glimmer of pleasure in Harper’s dark diner days.

What would Beth do?

Beth would probably accept the laundry gratefully, like a dog begging for scraps. Beth would smile sweetly and thank White for his Christmas “bonus.” Beth would hold her nose, wash the underwear, and come back eager for more torture.

But Harper wasn’t Beth-thank God. And it was about time people started to appreciate it.

She gave the bag of laundry a sharp kick, pretending her foot was connecting with something far more satisfying. It skidded across the room, strewing pants and underwear all over the office floor.

“Did you forget who you’re dealing with here?” White growled, standing up. His face had turned a deep, purplish red.

“No-I forgot who you were dealing with,” Harpercorrected him. “But now I remember. And just in time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I used to think your burgers were the nastiest thing in town-and then I met you. I quit.”

Kaia was having a bad day. And the e-mail didn’t help.

K-Merry X-Mas! New Year’s at Smash. Be there!-L P.S. J’s been asking about you…

Lauren was the only one of her New York “friends” who kept in touch with regular-if brief-e-mails, tantalizing missives about the life Kaia had left behind. She was also the only one who didn’t rub Kaia’s face in the fact that she was missing everything. And “J” was, of course, Joshua Selznick, an ex-boyfriend with a model’s build and a mogul’s wallet.

Kaia fantasized for a moment about making a grand reentry to New York for New Year’s Eve. A private party at Smash, one of the hottest clubs in the city (and, conveniently, owned by a friend’s father). A wild, all-night adventure filled with glitz and glamour, just like the old days…

New Year’s had always been Kaia’s favorite day of the year, but her father had all the power-and all the credit cards. Which meant she was stuck.

Unless…

Kaia was pretty sure her mother hated her, but there was one person she hated more: Kaia’s father. Motherly affection might not be enough to win her approval for a trip back east-but maybe divorcee disgust would.

Such a strategy would, of course, mean contacting her mother-but sometimes it was necessary to make a small sacrifice for the greater good. Five minutes later, she was dialing the number, half hoping there would be no answer.

“What is it?” came the harsh greeting.

“Mother?” Kaia asked tentatively.

“Oh, darling, it’s you. I thought it was your father. Caller ID, you know. What is it, darling? I’m running out.”

Kaia always marveled at the way her mother was able to take a word of apparent affection, like “darling,” and somehow drain it of all warmth.

“It s been a while since we’ve talked,” Kaia began.

“Oh, has it?” her mother asked distractedly.

“Four months, Mother,” she pointed out.

“Oh no, I’m sure it hasn’t been that long. Don’t be melodramatic, darling. Well, it was nice to hear from you, but-”

“It’s Christmas, Mother. Don’t you even want to know how I am?” Kaia asked through gritted teeth.

“You sound lovely, darling. I assume your father’s taking proper care of you.”

“That’s the thing-”

“I can only hope he’s managing to be a better father than he was a husband. That bottom-feeding, scum- sucking… well, it’s all in the past now. You’re an angel for putting up with him.”

“He’s not around very much,” Kaia admitted.

“Oh, then lucky you!” her mother exclaimed. “Now Kaia, I really must go, so-”

“I want to come home for a visit,” Kaia blurted out. “Dad won’t let me-he’s trying to keep me away from you. I-” Could she really get the words out with a straight face? “I miss you.”

“Oh. Well, that won’t do at all,” Kaia’s mother said calmly. “Who does your father think he is? Of course we’ll plan a visit. Sometime soon, darling. Don’t worry.”

“I was thinking next weekend,” Kaia said, hope rising.

Her mother laughed, a brittle, glassy trill that contained no real amusement or joy. “The weekend? Oh no, I’m far too busy. It’s New Year’s, you know.”

She knew.

“And, of course, the rest of winter is just a mess-so many benefits to attend, you know how it is. But don’t worry, we’ll find some time-maybe in the spring. Or definitely in the summer.”

“I’m moving back in the summer,” Kaia pointed out coolly.

“Of course, of course-well, that’s perfect, then. It’s been lovely hearing from you, darling.”

“But-”

“Let’s chat again soon, shall we?”

And the line went dead.

Once upon a time, there was a shy young girl who wanted nothing more than to get out of her small-town life and see the world. She thought she’d be trapped in her tiny, boring house forever-and then one magical day, she opened a book. And the whole world changed.

Beth crumpled up the paper in disgust. It was so melodramatic, so cheesy-so lame. Almost as bad as her first effort:

My name is Beth Manning and I would love to attend (Your School Here). I am bright and energetic, the editor of my school newspaper, and I think I could make an excellent addition to (Your School Here).

Yeah, that was great. She might as well just submit a blank page with the heading “I am so boring, I have literally nothing to say for myself. Please admit me, anyway.”

Out of desperation, she’d checked out How to Write a Winning College Essay from