Read Online Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Elisa Ludwig
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the driveway, from the porte cochere down to the front call box at the street entrance and across thebridge that spanned the small valley between them.
“This is where she lives? Are you kidding me?” I said, my jaw dropping as I surveyed the majesty of chez Kellie.
“I know, right?” Cherise said as she parked her Jetta, smoothed her eyebrows, and straightened her emerald-green tank top. “It’s sick. Her dad has his own fund.”
I gave her the eye. “Do you know what everyone ’s dad does?”
She shrugged. “It’s just common knowledge.”
I was teasing but I was also preparing for the moment when the subject of my own dad—or lack thereof—came up. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk about it, but it was a complicated situation to explain. Both of Cherise’s parents were heart surgeons, I’d recently learned. Married forever. She had a brother who was a freshman at Cornell. They all got along. She had a totally normal setup, in a privileged, Paradise Valley kind of way.
We walked out into the mellowed heat of the evening, Cherise leading us to the arched front door. I was still trying to pick my mandible off the ground. Inside the cool tiled foyer with mosaic flooring and marble columns we were greeted by a five-tiered iron chandelier that hung from the thirty-foot vaulted ceiling, so massive it made me feel like I was in a church. That is, until I saw the empty red plastic cups strewn on the antique front table, and heard the blast of a Killers cover ringing through the house.
The peals of electric guitar were like a siren song. We went in search of the music, which was coming from a five-piece band set up in the living room. Cherise turned back to smile at me as we were sucked into the pulsing crowd that was jumping up and down in place and screaming along with the lead singer.
“Are all these kids from Prep?” I asked Cherise, astonished. I didn’t recognize most of them.
“Nah. Some are from other schools, mainly from the league—Perkins Day, Willard Academy. I think she also invited a few guys from UA. Kellie pretty much knows everyone. She’s, like, infamous.”
“You mean famous,” I said.
“No. I mean infamous. You’ll see.”
I looked over to see if Cherise was being sarcastic, but her face was totally serious. I was immediately intrigued. Kellie was gorgeous and lived in a freaking castle and she was a local legend? Her star quality was glowing brighter by the second.
We went through the kitchen, which made our fancy new place on Morning Glory look like a child’s play set. My head bounced around on my neck like a bobblehead doll’s. A gigantic marble island commanded the room, surrounded by restaurant-sized appliances and a media center with a giant flat screen showing football. A few guys were huddled around watching. On the pure white countertops were bowls of every snack I could think of, plus a bunch of stuff I wouldn’t have expected to see at ahigh-school party, like a cheese platter and raw oysters. A floor-to-ceiling refrigerator was stocked with wine bottles. On the other side of the room was a giant hearth fireplace, the old-fashioned kind people used to cook on. It was big enough to roast a human.
For all I knew, human-roasting was on the agenda. If anybody could make it into a trendy drinking game, Kellie could.
Cherise led me through the French doors onto the back patio. From there, a covered walkway led to a lit-up pool with waterfalls, a built-in bar, a little island with palm trees, and a connecting hot tub. Beyond that were tennis courts, a fenced-off area with grazing horses and stables, and a glowing glassed-in building that looked like an art gallery but was filled with cars. A laser light show projected onto the sky and flared in bright colors.
“People. Actually. Live. Here?” I asked.
“And she’s an only child,” Cherise said. “There’s like twelve bedrooms for three people.”
“Can we go in the hot tub?” I bounced on my tiptoes
“This is where she lives? Are you kidding me?” I said, my jaw dropping as I surveyed the majesty of chez Kellie.
“I know, right?” Cherise said as she parked her Jetta, smoothed her eyebrows, and straightened her emerald-green tank top. “It’s sick. Her dad has his own fund.”
I gave her the eye. “Do you know what everyone ’s dad does?”
She shrugged. “It’s just common knowledge.”
I was teasing but I was also preparing for the moment when the subject of my own dad—or lack thereof—came up. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk about it, but it was a complicated situation to explain. Both of Cherise’s parents were heart surgeons, I’d recently learned. Married forever. She had a brother who was a freshman at Cornell. They all got along. She had a totally normal setup, in a privileged, Paradise Valley kind of way.
We walked out into the mellowed heat of the evening, Cherise leading us to the arched front door. I was still trying to pick my mandible off the ground. Inside the cool tiled foyer with mosaic flooring and marble columns we were greeted by a five-tiered iron chandelier that hung from the thirty-foot vaulted ceiling, so massive it made me feel like I was in a church. That is, until I saw the empty red plastic cups strewn on the antique front table, and heard the blast of a Killers cover ringing through the house.
The peals of electric guitar were like a siren song. We went in search of the music, which was coming from a five-piece band set up in the living room. Cherise turned back to smile at me as we were sucked into the pulsing crowd that was jumping up and down in place and screaming along with the lead singer.
“Are all these kids from Prep?” I asked Cherise, astonished. I didn’t recognize most of them.
“Nah. Some are from other schools, mainly from the league—Perkins Day, Willard Academy. I think she also invited a few guys from UA. Kellie pretty much knows everyone. She’s, like, infamous.”
“You mean famous,” I said.
“No. I mean infamous. You’ll see.”
I looked over to see if Cherise was being sarcastic, but her face was totally serious. I was immediately intrigued. Kellie was gorgeous and lived in a freaking castle and she was a local legend? Her star quality was glowing brighter by the second.
We went through the kitchen, which made our fancy new place on Morning Glory look like a child’s play set. My head bounced around on my neck like a bobblehead doll’s. A gigantic marble island commanded the room, surrounded by restaurant-sized appliances and a media center with a giant flat screen showing football. A few guys were huddled around watching. On the pure white countertops were bowls of every snack I could think of, plus a bunch of stuff I wouldn’t have expected to see at ahigh-school party, like a cheese platter and raw oysters. A floor-to-ceiling refrigerator was stocked with wine bottles. On the other side of the room was a giant hearth fireplace, the old-fashioned kind people used to cook on. It was big enough to roast a human.
For all I knew, human-roasting was on the agenda. If anybody could make it into a trendy drinking game, Kellie could.
Cherise led me through the French doors onto the back patio. From there, a covered walkway led to a lit-up pool with waterfalls, a built-in bar, a little island with palm trees, and a connecting hot tub. Beyond that were tennis courts, a fenced-off area with grazing horses and stables, and a glowing glassed-in building that looked like an art gallery but was filled with cars. A laser light show projected onto the sky and flared in bright colors.
“People. Actually. Live. Here?” I asked.
“And she’s an only child,” Cherise said. “There’s like twelve bedrooms for three people.”
“Can we go in the hot tub?” I bounced on my tiptoes
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