Read Online Game On by Monica Seles - Free Book Online

royal.
    Cleo looked like she was caught in a bear trap and was fully capable of gnawing her foot off.
    â€œWhat’s the spending limit?” Maya asked jokingly. As soon as she said it, she feared that Renee would think she was serious and ban her from the kingdom.
    Renee laughed. “The limit is your belt. The minute it pops, you’re done. Just because I can’t eat doesn’t mean you can’t.”
    â€œDo you have a disease?” Cleo asked. It was less a question and more of a stab. Maya caught it; Renee didn’t.
    â€œYeah, it’s called fat,” Renee said, searching the menu.
    â€œ ‘Fat’?” Maya asked. She and Cleo shared a look. Renee was a size four on her worst day, and that was while wearing a parka.
    â€œFat for me,” Renee said. “You can’t be the daughter of an ambassador and look like Ursula the sea witch. That’s what my mother says, anyway.”
    â€œYeah,” Cleo said. “But if you just want to roll out of bed and grab a doughnut somewhere, you can do it, right?”
    â€œRoll out of bed, like, leave the villa without doing my hair or makeup?” Renee raised her eyebrows.
    â€œAre you serious?” Cleo asked. The conversation seemed to be luring Cleo into actually paying attention.
    â€œYou’re lucky,” Renee said. “You don’t look like it, but you’re both pretty.”
    â€œWow,” Cleo said sarcastically. “Thanks.”
    â€œNo, I mean you don’t have to do all this extra work.” Renee motioned to herself. “I do. People expect it. Guys expect it. Do you think they hang around me because they want to know all my hopes and dreams? They hang around me because I look this way. They think I’m special. And the thrill they get when they hook up with me, well … that gives me a thrill, too. But I’m still all made up like a drag queen.”
    The more Maya listened to Renee, the clearer it became that her self-esteem was completely out of whack.
    â€œIt does catch up to you,” Renee said finally. “At the Academy, it’s just … the pressure to measure up is so intense, in every way. One slipup and you’re toast. Gossip flies faster than any ball here, and the second people can hang you, they will. It’s just … it’s just hard.”
    Maya could tell Cleo was now having the same moment she’d had earlier. Cleo was starting to sort of like Renee. And it was pissing her off.
    â€œI have a crush,” Maya said. She was inspired by Renee’s sharing and wanted to do a little of her own. “On a guy named Travis.”
    â€œTravis Reed?” Renee asked. “I’m friends with him.”
    Maya’s face turned red. Of course they were friends. Nicole was friends with him, and Renee was Nicole’s roommate. How could Maya do something so thoughtless?
    Renee read her mind. “Don’t worry about it. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”
    Maya believed her. “He’s just so … God, and his face …” Maya lost all ability to string words together where that guy was concerned.
    Cleo mock-wiped drool from Maya’s chin.
    â€œTell me he’s nice,” Maya begged Renee. “That he rescues kittens from trees and volunteers to read to the blind while on breaks at the soup kitchen.”
    Renee chuckled. “He’s cool,” she said. “He’s smart, and pretty grounded for someone who walks on water.”
    â€œWould he date a scholarship kid?” Maya asked, feeling like her life depended on the answer.
    â€œI’ve never seen him with one,” Renee said. Maya’s face fell. “But he’s not a huge dater. He’s pretty focused on his future. He’s being groomed for something big.”
    Maya brightened. She could work with that.
    â€œJake, on the other hand.” Renee shook her head. “If you were looking to hook up with a Reed