Read Online Envy - 2 by Robin Wasserman - Free Book Online

up a piece of paper and tossed it at his big, fat head. “Leaving Adam ready and waiting for some sympathetic TLC from his beautiful next door neighbor?” she suggested sarcastical y. “Unlikely.”
    “Hey, you never know—it could happen.”
    It’s not like Miranda had no one to eat lunch with. No, she reassured herself, she had plenty of friends. Just because Harper had randomly decided to skip out on lunch didn’t mean Miranda was adrift on some sea of loserdom. There were plenty of people she could sit with, plenty who would covet her presence at their table if only because the reflected beams of Harper’s glory made Miranda glow with the light of borrowed popularity. But the prospect of pushing “food” around on her tray while listening to the stupid simpering of these so-cal ed friends—without Harper across the table to exchange timely eye rol s with—was just too much for her to handle this afternoon. So instead, Miranda opted for a snack machine lunch (granola bar and mini canister of Pringles) at the newspaper office, which had a door that locked and a couch that creaked noisily but had yet to col apse.
    But first, a pit stop at the girls’ bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror, touching up her makeup—and making a mental note that a makeup makeover would definitely have to be the next stop on her road to self-improvement. The peach frosted lip gloss and smoky gray eye shadow she’d picked out in tenth grade just wouldn’t do. Her mother, though usual y having more than enough to say on the subject of Miranda’s appearance—and how to improve it—knew nothing about makeup herself. She’d been able to contribute very little to Miranda’s education on the subject beyond such helpful pointers as “That blush makes you look like a whore.” The bathroom was surprisingly uncrowded for this time of day. A couple stoners lurked in the back corner, from the sound of it competing over who had more Phish bootlegs. A cluster of super-skinny bottle blondes—Miranda didn’t recognize them, so figured they must be freshmen—hogged most of the mirror area, reapplying their hairspray and shimmery lipstick. From the short skirts to the perfect manicures to the cocky tilt of their heads Miranda could tel they were jockeying for a place in the line of succession, ready to fil the power vacuum once Harper had graduated. Cosmo clones, Miranda thought disdainful y. They could look the part al they wanted, but they’d never have that spark, that something special Harper had that made people want to fol ow her to the ends of the earth (or at least to the end of good judgment). Harper was a leader. These girls—it was obvious—were sheep.
    And yet …
    And yet, she thought, looking from one perfectly sculpted and outfitted body to the next, wasn’t this exactly the look she was craving?
    Long, silky smooth hair that could bounce and blow in the wind—Miranda’s hair was brittle, thin, and impossibly flat. Flawless complexions—Miranda had zits and freckles.
    Long, slim, tanned legs—Miranda’s thunder thighs were albino pale.
    The girls bustled out of the bathroom, chattering about who had hooked up that weekend and who was feeling fat. Big surprise—unanimous responses to both.
    Miranda sighed and considered trying to score some pot off the stoners in the corner, anything to calm the rising tide of anxiety she suddenly felt at the daunting prospect of finding a way to turn herself into that . Not that she wanted to be vapid, of course. But beautiful? Stylish? Skinny? The kind of girl who screams “high maintenance” but which, it seemed, was al any worthwhile guy wanted?
    Yes, please.
    Haven High was a smal school. Claustrophobical y smal , it sometimes seemed to Adam. But he’d done a decent job so far of avoiding Kaia. He hadn’t spoken to her, in fact, since their last encounter. He stil shuddered at the thought of it—the intense, mind-blowing sex in an abandoned motel, fol owed almost