Read Online Game On by Monica Seles - Free Book Online Page B

We’ll be your friends.”
    Maya’s friendship went without saying.
    Renee beamed. “Okay, good. Now you have to come to my party.”
    â€œWhat party?” Maya asked.
    â€œI’m having a big costume party at the villa this weekend,” Renee told them. “Everyone will be there.”
    â€œThe villa, like, Nicole’s villa?” Maya asked.
    â€œWell, me and another girl pay the rent there, too,” Renee said. “Or at least our parents do.”
    Maya looked at Cleo, both of them fully aware that Maya hadn’t told Renee about her bizarrely frequent run-ins with Nicole. Maya didn’t want to stir up any trouble. She couldn’t decide if Nicole’s being at the party was a good thing or a bad thing.
    â€œTravis will be there, too,” Renee added with a grin. She did not play fair .
    â€œYou know,” Cleo said, “I don’t know if I’m comfortable being at a party with a bunch of rich kids. No offense.”
    Renee nodded.
    â€œCome on, Cleo,” Maya said, swooping in before the final verdict was rendered. “One drink couldn’t hurt, could it?”
    Cleo eyed her. “Are you really going to force me to go? For Travis?”
    Maya’s face was unmistakable. Why, yes. Yes, I am.

Chapter 7
    The knock on Maya and Cleo’s door was important for two reasons. One, it was the first time anyone had knocked on it the entire time Maya had been at the Academy (unless you counted the handyman who came to replace the broken window, which Maya didn’t). Two, it meant time was running out on a deadline Maya was dreading.
    â€œCome in!” Cleo called.
    Renee walked in, her face full of excitement and expectation. It was the evening of the costume party, and she’d come to see what Maya and Cleo were wearing. Maya watched as Renee’s face fell.
    Cleo was sitting cross-legged on the floor in a cheerleader’s outfit, smearing black eyeliner on her face, which she’d covered in open wounds.
    â€œWhat kind of a costume is that?” Renee asked.
    â€œIsn’t it obvious?” Cleo asked. “I’m a zombie cheerleader. Redundant, I know.” Cleo started hacking away at her skirt with a razor. She was in hog heaven.
    â€œOh, Cleo,” Renee said, flummoxed. “Costume parties aren’t about face makeup. They’re about transforming yourself into something extraordinary. Something magical. Something sexy, for God’s sake.”
    â€œI think I look plenty sexy,” Cleo said.
    â€œAt least you’re something,” Renee said, turning to Maya. “What’s going on with you?”
    Maya was sitting on her bed in a towel.
    â€œI’m stuck,” Maya said. “I don’t have any ideas. None.”
    The truth was, even if she had an amazing idea, it would never be able to make its way to her brain, because all she could think about was the fact that Travis would be at the party. He would see her in this costume, and he would have an opinion.
    â€œYou’re worried about Travis,” Renee said. “And you want him to like whatever you’re wearing.”
    â€œWhat are you, a mind reader?” Maya asked.
    â€œI’m a girl,” Renee said. “And you’re a girl. It’s biology.”
    â€œWhat biology class did you take?” Cleo asked.
    â€œIt doesn’t matter, anyway,” Maya said. “I don’t have a chance with him.”
    â€œWhy would you say that?” Renee asked, sitting on the bed next to her.
    â€œOh, I don’t know,” Maya said. “Maybe because he’s a kajillionaire and I grew up collecting soda cans for the nickel deposits? Ooh, or maybe it’s because he’s the most sophisticatedguy on the planet and I’m just crawling out of the woods like some kind of Appalachian hillbilly? Or maybe it’s because, no matter how hard I try, no matter how much game I have on the court, I have