really dark eye makeup. It made her light eyes look spooky and mysterious, which was cool. Her parents couldn’t get any madder at her than they already were, so tonight she intended to cut some choppy layers in her hair around her face and maybe put red streaks in if she could find a red marker. It felt good getting rid of her old baggy clothes.
A seventh grader bumped into her, and her bean burrito nearly slid off the tray. She couldn’t keep standing here. Chelsea was at their old table, throwing her dirty looks. She was sitting with Vicki Lenson, who Gigi knew for a fact had done oral sex so she’d be popular with the boys. Just the thought of oral sex totally grossed out Gigi. She’d never
Kelli Willman and all the girls Gigi used to hang out with were sitting near the front. There was an empty seat, but Gigi didn’t feel powerful enough to take it. The thought of eating lunch by herself made her armpits sweaty. Only total losers sat by themselves.
Somebody laughed at Gwen Lu’s table. All the geeks were there. Gwen and Jenny Berry. Sachi Patel and Gillian Granger. Which would be worse? Sitting by herself or sitting with the geeks? Somebody really powerful would admit that Gwen Lu and Gillian Granger were the most interesting girls in eighth grade and nice, too. But if she sat with them today, she couldn’t turn her back on them tomorrow. That would make her as bad as Kelli.
Panic hit her. She didn’t want everybody thinking she was a geek, but she couldn’t keep standing here. Her feet began to move. She didn’t know exactly where she was going until she found herself standing next to Gwen’s table. Her tongue stuck in her mouth. “Can I sit with you?”
“Okay.” Gwen moved her tray a little to give her room, but she didn’t make a big deal out of it. Gigi sat down and unwrapped her burrito. Gwen and Sachi were talking about their science fair projects. Finally, Gwen asked Gigi what she was going to do.
“Something about cows and why everybody should be a vegetarian.” Gigi opened her bag of chips.
“Gillian’s thinking about being a vegetarian,” Gwen said, talking a little too loud. “But I like meat too much. I couldn’t ever do it.”
“I think it’d be cool,” Jenny said. “I love animals. But I talked to my mom about it, and she freaked. She said I need protein.”
Which led to a big and very interesting discussion about how parents didn’t ever want you to do anything unique. Then Gigi said she thought they all needed to make sacrifices for the planet, and she knew Gwen was starting to think about it because she didn’t finish her hot dog.
Gigi was surprised what a good time she had at lunch-nobody even asked her about being suspended-and she was sorry when the warning bell rang. After they took their trays up and got rid of their trash, Gwen and Gillian left for gym class. Gigi had English, and she headed for her locker to get her notebook. She’d just closed it back up when she saw Kelli and Heather Burke coming toward her. She started to put her head down and pretend she didn’t see them like she’d been doing all year, but she changed her mind and walked up to them instead.
Kelli looked so surprised that she stopped chewing her gum, and Heather’s cheeks got sort of red, like she was afraid something embarrassing might happen. Gigi pulled her books tighter to her chest and spoke fast before she chickened out. “Kelli, I want you to know you really hurt my feelings when you said all that stuff about me behind my back, about me being a rich bitch. I think if people are really friends and they have problems with each other, they should just be honest, so I guess we weren’t as good friends as I thought. And if I was acting stuck-up, I’m really sorry. I don’t feel stuck-up anymore.”
Kelli sort of hunched her shoulders, like she only knew what to say about people behind their back and not to their face. Gigi felt kind of sorry for her because Kelli didn’t know about claiming her power.
“It’s not my fault,” Kelli finally said, sounding really immature. “Nobody liked you.”
Gigi felt herself starting to get mad all over again, but she knew she’d be giving up her power if she lost her temper. “I was being immature,” she said, which totally surprised Kelli because she wasn’t used to total honesty.
Heather spoke up for the first time. “I think maybe we were being immature, too.”
Kelli didn’t say anything, she just looked down at the floor, and Gigi walked away. She didn’t know if she and Kelli could ever be friends again, or if she even wanted them to be, but when she got to English class, she answered every question.
Sugar Beth couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “A job? You’re offering me a job?”
“I’m desperate, and at least you read.” Jewel set a stack of books on the counter near the register. “Meredith quit without giving me notice. One phone call from an old lover, and she was on her way to Jackson.”
It had been evident at Colin’s dinner party that Meredith was more than an employee, and Jewel’s offhandedness didn’t fool her. “I’m sorry. Not about the job; I couldn’t be happier. But a broken heart isn’t any fun.”
Jewel shrugged her small, graceful shoulders. “I’ll get over it. We weren’t right for each other. We both knew it. But we were lonely, and, let’s face it, the pickin’s are slim in Parrish for girls who like girls.”
Sugar Beth had to say it. “You understand, don’t you, that hiring me could hurt your business?”
Jewel smiled for the first time since Sugar Beth had walked into the store. “Are you kidding? After what I saw on Saturday night, customers are going to line up just to get inside and torture you.”
Unfortunately, she was probably right. Still, Sugar Beth accepted the job.
On her way back to Mockingbird Lane, she told herself this would make everything so much simpler. It wasn’t good for her to be around Colin so much. She flipped on the radio and hummed along with Lucinda Williams as she sung a needy-woman song, but that didn’t help shut down her thoughts. She had to stop overdramatizing and put things in perspective. Yesterday had been nothing more than a hot fudge sundae. She’d gone without one too long, so the craving had built up until she hadn’t been able to think about anything else. But now that she’d given in and eaten her fill, she wouldn’t need another for a long time.
She turned the volume louder. She should be thinking about how she could get into the attic instead of about hot fudge sundaes. Jewel wanted her to start the day after tomorrow, which meant she had to accomplish her goal right away. Her stomach grew queasy at the thought.
When she returned, she found the door to Colin’s office shut, but she couldn’t hear his keyboard clicking. She was beginning to realize that the writing life would be a lot more glamorous if writers didn’t actually have to write. Ryan’s coffee mug sat in the sink. Sugar Beth didn’t like the pain she’d seen on his face, and fair or not, she blamed Winnie for it. What kind of spineless woman ran out on her husband just because an old girlfriend showed up?
A movement outside distracted her. She gazed through the sunroom windows and saw a workman digging at the far end of the backyard. As far as she knew, no one was scheduled to-
Her eyes widened. She shot to the door, bolted across the yard, and came to a dead stop next to him. He propped a wrist on the handle of his shovel and regarded her with his customary hauteur. She held up her hand. “For the love of God, don’t say anything until my heart starts pumping again.”
“Perhaps you should put your head between your knees.”
“I was only teasing when I told everyone you had a drug problem. If I’d thought for one minute…”
“You will let me know when you’re done caterwauling, won’t you?”
He wore the raunchiest pair of Levi’s she’d ever seen-threadbare in the right knee, a hole in the butt-an equally ratty gray T-shirt, worn work gloves, and scuffed, dirt-encrusted brown work boots, one of which had a knot holding the shoelace together. An honest-to-God smudge ran up alongside that gorgeous honker of a nose. And he’d never looked more irresistible. She scowled. “Even your hair’s a mess.”
“I’m sure a quick trip to my stylist will set it right again.” He pushed the shovel back into the ground.
“I’m not kidding, Colin. If the Armani people see you like this, you’re going to get blacklisted.”
“Horrors.”
She wanted to drag him into the pecans, wrap her arms around his neck, and make love with him until they were both senseless. So much for one hot fudge sundae being enough to satisfy her.
Dark patches of sweat stained his T-shirt, and the muscles bunched in his arms as he drove the shovel in again. He tossed a square of turf into the wheelbarrow at his side. He was digging some kind of trench. Or maybe a shallow grave…
He knew she was curious, but he kept digging for a while before he condescended to explain. “I’ve decided to build a stone wall. Something low that defines the property. It’s warmed up enough to get started.”
“Does this have anything to do with how quiet your computer’s been lately?”
“I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while,” he said with a trace of defensiveness. He pointed toward the
