“God, could you be any nosier about the boys?” Bridget snaps. “Just because Aubrey is a slut doesn’t mean that you all have to be one, too.”
I laugh when I see the looks on the other girls’ faces. Being called a slut no longer fazes me in the least, but it’s obviously a huge insult to the other girls.
“And maybe you’re just jealous that Aubrey here seems to be getting more action than you do,” the other girl spits back, almost making me choke. “So much for what you said before. Sterling isn’t your boyfriend any more than Brad Pitt is mine.”
She looks down at her food for a second and then lets out a spiteful laugh. “And here you were, telling me I’d be the only one of us without a date to the gala.”
It takes every ounce of my self-control not to let my jaw drop open.
Bridget slams her fork down so loudly that several other tables glance in our direction. Her face has gone nearly as red as her hair.
“Say that again, Tammy,” she hisses. “I dare you.”
No one does, but it doesn’t stop the rest of her friends from sharing a brief, telling glance.
A strange silence falls over the table as eyes fall down to the food on the trays in front of us, but fortunately for me that means no one sees the small smile tugging at the corner of my lips.
I’m finally getting under Bridget’s skin. She feels threatened by the fact that I’m getting closer to the boys now, enough that they’re actually talking to me of their own volition. That means that it’s working—all of it.
Chapter Eight
And thank god, too.
I was starting to wonder how much more of this I could handle before I start to go insane. But I’m finally getting what I was hoping for.
More than I was hoping for.
The next day, I go back to sit with my real friends. Alaska and Clark are happy to see me, but both of them seem a little worried.
“What’s up?” I ask when I see the wrinkled brow on Alaska’s face. She isn’t a super smiley girl exactly—even on a good day—but she doesn’t usually have such a blatant frown on her face. Not when she’s talking to me, anyway.
“We were just talking, and we’re concerned that maybe you might be taking things a little too far,” she says.
“Like which things?” I ask. They don’t even know all of the things that I’ve been up to.
“Like the whole thing about acting the part you’ve been given,” Clark interjects. “We both know that you never used to dress like this before, and I know you say that the snide comments from people here don’t bother you … but some of the stuff that was said about you is pretty harsh. Doesn’t that bother you at least a little bit?”
“I think what Clark is trying to say,” Alaska interrupts, “is that you just don’t seem to be acting like yourself. You seem to be lashing out, and instead of trying to squelch the rumors, you’re like adding fuel to the fire.”
And I thought Warren was blunt.
I gawk at the two of them, my lips parting but no words coming out. I really don’t know what to say.
“Yeah, and what is up with you trying to worm your way into the popular crowd?” Clark continues, filling the void that my spluttering couldn’t. “I mean, it doesn’t bother us who you’re friends with, but they were the same people that treated you like shit all this time. Why in the world would you want to be friends with them now?”
“We’re just worried about you, Aubrey,” Alaska says. “We know you’ve been through a lot with all of this, and you just might be taking things a little bit too far now.”
I can see that they’re genuinely just trying to help and be good friends, but when I pull an envelope out of my pocket and show it to them, I’m pretty sure they’re going to change their minds.
“What’s this?” Clark asks as he takes the envelope from my hand and opens it. “Holy shit.”
Alaska peeks over his hand to see what it is.
“Oh my god, is that an invitation to the review board?” she asks with wide eyes.
“Yep,” I say, feeling pleased with myself.
“How did you get invited?” Clark asks.
“One of Bridget’s friends gave me the invite. She was allowed to recommend one other person to invite and she chose me.”
It’s my greatest achievement yet. I have Bridget’s little comment to thank for that, I’m sure. That’s the one advantage of getting close to such a petty group of friends.
Once in a while, that pettiness works out in your favor.
Alaska, however, just keeps shaking her head in disbelief.
“No offense,” Alaska says. “But why would she choose you? You barely know those girls.”
I shrug my shoulders as I take the envelope back from Clark.
“I don’t know, maybe I made a good first impression once they really started getting to know me. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I got in.”
I stare down at the invitation and feel my heart skip the slightest beat. “I still can’t believe it.”
Bridget was the first person to mention the possibility of getting out of here early. Back then, I thought she was just delusional.
But now I’m not so sure. I know it’s still a long shot that anyone will even consider re-reviewing my case, but this … it’s a start.
“That is actually really cool,” Clark says. “I’m happy for you.”
I’ve been doing my homework on the event ever since the girls let it slip during that awful lingerie party.
The review board gala happens at the end of the semester and is, without a doubt, the most important event of my entire time at this place. It’s an excellent opportunity for me to give a good, polished impression that says, “please let me back into that ivy league school that I tried so
