done.
Jesse’s eyes widened. Maybe this was difficult for him, too.
Good.
I sputtered out a weak little cough and tore down the hallway, stumbling slightly as I speed-walked off.
Awesome, Cass, I thought, hiccupping as I ran. You are so cool.
I pushed the voice in my head out as best I could. I was late enough for first period as it was.
Or so I told myself.
I made it to first period just as the late bell rang, sliding into my seat as I attempted to shrug off the asthmatic hiccups that had seized me as I— let’s be honest now, Cass— fled the sight of my ex-boyfriend. Also, my ankle hurt from when I had tripped. I rubbed it absently, feeling big-time sorry for myself.
“What’s up?” Kelly whispered urgently. I tried to shrug it off, but by this point, she knew me better than that. “What?” she insisted, this time reaching over her desktopto poke me with her mechanical pencil. I noticed that her hair was done up in two elaborate braids down her back, Pippi Longstocking style. On anyone else, this hairstyle might have looked seriously insane, but Kelly, as usual, managed to walk that fine line between cute and mildly threatening.
“Ow.” I rubbed my elbow where she had poked it and glared at her. “I didn’t need that. Jesse encounter,” I offered by way of short-handing the situation. Though the sharp pain in my elbow had, in fact, distracted me from the dull throbbing of my ankle.
“Oooh.” She sucked her breath in appreciatively. “Rough. In that case, I apologize for my violent outburst.”
“Apology accepted,” I said primly, sitting back in my seat.
Albon came in a few minutes later, and class progressed without much fanfare. I took the opportunity to sink into a little mind-movie of my own. Suddenly I was that chick from that eighties movie, the one who borrows her mother’s white leather outfit for the rockin’house party but spills some crazy drink on it. Obviously she can’t afford to have it cleaned or replace it, so shelets the dorkiest guy in school pay her to pretend like he’s her boyfriend. Shockingly, he turns out to be pretty cool, and after much mayhem, they end up together.
In my version, I was the popular cheerleader chick. I mean, for real, the popular cheerleader chick. Not just some random stray that Alana had adopted and launched to wild high school celebrity. That left Jesse to be the social outcast. A stretch, sure, but hey—it was my mid-morning fantasy.
And since it was my fantasy, Jesse’s social fate was all mine to manipulate to my heart’s content. Who cared if I ruined my mom’s best outfit that I totally stole without permission? Who cared if I couldn’t afford to have it fixed? Not I, that was for sure. Mom and I (‘cause in this little alternate reality, my mom was still around, and she was the cool type of mom who has absolutely no qualms about sharing her slammin’wardrobe with her favorite—and only—daughter) had closets full of amazing outfits. She wouldn’t even notice that this one was gone. So I had no need for Jesse’s money, or Jesse’s desperate grab at A-list status. Ours was not exactly a cutesy little love story.
Rather, it was a vision of revenge: pure, sweet, and unfettered.
I reveled in it. At least until Albon roused me with a brisk slap of his palm to his desk.
“For your next project,” he announced, “you will be required to work in groups.”
Who in the what now? We’d had a huge test on “the birth of the Hollywood blockbuster” just before winter break. To be dropping another major assignment on us now? During the bleakest, boringest months of winter? So what if we didn’t have snow in Vegas; that was just cruel and unusual.
Albon smirked as the usual rash of hushed protests broke out among my fellow classmates. “As we’ve discussed, the production team and crew is one of the most integral aspects of making a successful movie. It may seem obvious, but trouble on the set can sink even the most promising
Jesse’s eyes widened. Maybe this was difficult for him, too.
Good.
I sputtered out a weak little cough and tore down the hallway, stumbling slightly as I speed-walked off.
Awesome, Cass, I thought, hiccupping as I ran. You are so cool.
I pushed the voice in my head out as best I could. I was late enough for first period as it was.
Or so I told myself.
I made it to first period just as the late bell rang, sliding into my seat as I attempted to shrug off the asthmatic hiccups that had seized me as I— let’s be honest now, Cass— fled the sight of my ex-boyfriend. Also, my ankle hurt from when I had tripped. I rubbed it absently, feeling big-time sorry for myself.
“What’s up?” Kelly whispered urgently. I tried to shrug it off, but by this point, she knew me better than that. “What?” she insisted, this time reaching over her desktopto poke me with her mechanical pencil. I noticed that her hair was done up in two elaborate braids down her back, Pippi Longstocking style. On anyone else, this hairstyle might have looked seriously insane, but Kelly, as usual, managed to walk that fine line between cute and mildly threatening.
“Ow.” I rubbed my elbow where she had poked it and glared at her. “I didn’t need that. Jesse encounter,” I offered by way of short-handing the situation. Though the sharp pain in my elbow had, in fact, distracted me from the dull throbbing of my ankle.
“Oooh.” She sucked her breath in appreciatively. “Rough. In that case, I apologize for my violent outburst.”
“Apology accepted,” I said primly, sitting back in my seat.
Albon came in a few minutes later, and class progressed without much fanfare. I took the opportunity to sink into a little mind-movie of my own. Suddenly I was that chick from that eighties movie, the one who borrows her mother’s white leather outfit for the rockin’house party but spills some crazy drink on it. Obviously she can’t afford to have it cleaned or replace it, so shelets the dorkiest guy in school pay her to pretend like he’s her boyfriend. Shockingly, he turns out to be pretty cool, and after much mayhem, they end up together.
In my version, I was the popular cheerleader chick. I mean, for real, the popular cheerleader chick. Not just some random stray that Alana had adopted and launched to wild high school celebrity. That left Jesse to be the social outcast. A stretch, sure, but hey—it was my mid-morning fantasy.
And since it was my fantasy, Jesse’s social fate was all mine to manipulate to my heart’s content. Who cared if I ruined my mom’s best outfit that I totally stole without permission? Who cared if I couldn’t afford to have it fixed? Not I, that was for sure. Mom and I (‘cause in this little alternate reality, my mom was still around, and she was the cool type of mom who has absolutely no qualms about sharing her slammin’wardrobe with her favorite—and only—daughter) had closets full of amazing outfits. She wouldn’t even notice that this one was gone. So I had no need for Jesse’s money, or Jesse’s desperate grab at A-list status. Ours was not exactly a cutesy little love story.
Rather, it was a vision of revenge: pure, sweet, and unfettered.
I reveled in it. At least until Albon roused me with a brisk slap of his palm to his desk.
“For your next project,” he announced, “you will be required to work in groups.”
Who in the what now? We’d had a huge test on “the birth of the Hollywood blockbuster” just before winter break. To be dropping another major assignment on us now? During the bleakest, boringest months of winter? So what if we didn’t have snow in Vegas; that was just cruel and unusual.
Albon smirked as the usual rash of hushed protests broke out among my fellow classmates. “As we’ve discussed, the production team and crew is one of the most integral aspects of making a successful movie. It may seem obvious, but trouble on the set can sink even the most promising
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