Read Online Golden Girl by Mari Mancusi - Free Book Online

replied, surprised she hadn’t heard about my little performance on the slopes that afternoon. Surely Olivia hadn’t missed an opportunity to relate to her entire crew the wild and crazy Lexi disaster tale. Maybe Becca was just being nice. “Besides, you’re amazing. You know, even if I hadn’t fallen, I bet you would have won that race anyway. You were on fire that—”
    Becca dropped her sundae. It hit the floor, whipped cream and hot chocolate splattering everywhere, soaking my pants. “S-sorry,” she stammered, dropping to her knees to wipe up the mess. I could see tears welling up in her brown eyes as she grabbed scoopfuls of ice cream off the floor with her bare hands, haphazardly dropping them back into her bowl.
    I stared at her in shock, realization hitting me with the force of a ten-ton truck. Was that it? Was that why things were so weird between us? Did she feel guilty that her career had taken off because mine had crashed and burned?
    â€œHey!” I cried, grabbing a handful of napkins and scrambling down to the floor beside her. I handed half the stack to her and kept half for myself. “It wasn’t your fault,” I reminded her, wiping down the cement. “It’s just how the cross is sometimes. People fall.” I wondered, not for the first time, if I should tell her the truth. That if anyone should feel guilty, it should be Olivia, not her.
    But no. I couldn’t do that to her. She might opt to do something all noble—like give up her spot on the team, deciding she didn’t deserve it. It was much better to stay quiet and allow her to enjoy her new opportunity. After all, she certainly worked hard enough for it. And who knew? Like I’d said, maybe she would have won anyway, even if Olivia hadn’t gone and sabotaged me. I had to go with that, for her sake.
    I realized it was time for a subject change. “You know, it seems a waste to throw out all this good ice cream,” I remarked casually. “You don’t suppose the five-second rule applies in this case?” I grabbed a spoon off the table and dug into the now grime-caked sundae. Holding it up to my mouth, I grinned. “Come on,” I teased. “Dare me.”
    Becca stared at me for a moment, as if in disbelief. Then she started to laugh. “Ew, Lexi!” she cried. “Gross! Don’t you even think—”
    â€œOh, I’m sorry! Did you want it all for yourself?” I swooped the spoon toward her face. “Here comes the airplane, baby Becca . . . in for a landing!”
    She squealed, swatting the spoon away. The ice cream went flying—
    â€”landing on a pair of expensive-looking patent-leather boots.
    Uh-oh. My eyes traveled up, from boots to black tights to plaid skirt to white fur coat. . . .
    â€œBecca Montgomery!” Olivia cried, a disgusted look on her face as she stared down at me and my friend. She’d evidently hit the bathroom and reapplied her smeared makeup. Only a slight redness to her eyes hinted at what had gone down between her and her dad.
    I watched as Olivia snapped her fingers, and one of the Boarder Barbies, a sixth grader by my guess, dropped to her knees, wiping the offending ice cream from Olivia’s boots. I was half-amazed Olivia didn’t make her lick it off instead. “What on earth are you doing on the floor?” she added, returning her attention to Becca.
    â€œOh,” Becca cried. Her smile faded as she scrambled to her feet. “I dropped my sundae, and Lexi was helping me wipe up the mess.” Ugh. She sounded so apologetic. As if she’d done something wrong. What happened to my kick-butt, girl-power bestie?
    Olivia snorted. “Well, that’s good for Lexi ,” she replied. “Practicing for her future venture in custodial arts, now that her little snowboarding career has come screeching to a halt.” She grabbed Becca by the sleeve.