Read Online What If... All Your Friends Turned On You by Liz Ruckdeschel - Free Book Online Page A

name on the list. “He’s loaded, and he likes to give to educational causes.”
    â€œTeresa Chandler,” Haley said, picking out another name on the list. “She runs Princeton’s financial aid office. Plus she just got divorced, and Mort Jarvis is a widower, isn’t he?”
    â€œPerfect,” Alex said, jotting down notes. “We’ll put them at table five, with the head of the Rutgers philosophy department and Alice Shaw, who gives a lot of money to the ballet.”
    â€œThe Rutgers philosophy department—you mean Brian Hooper?” Haley asked. Alex nodded. “Those two can’t be together. They used to date!”
    â€œWhoops.” Alex crossed out Alice Shaw. “What about Catherine Yardley? She’s Mrs. Eton’s press secretary.”
    â€œI guess that’s okay,” Haley said. “As long as shedoesn’t bring up Mrs. Eton’s cuts to the education budget.”
    â€œDon’t worry, she won’t,” Alex said. “Everybody knows that’s a touchy subject.”
    They worked their way through the guest list until all the tables were filled and all potential snubbings and feuds avoided. Haley insisted that Alex sample all the hors d’oeuvres the caterer was serving before the ball and that every vendor, from the decorator to the musicians, was triple-confirmed a week in advance to avoid unpleasant surprises.
    â€œYou’re really amazing at this, Haley.” Alex leaned back, tired and ready to relax. “I had no idea you knew so much about local politics.”
    â€œHa,” Haley said. “You know what? Neither did I!”
    â€œWell, I’m impressed,” Alex said. “I couldn’t have pulled this off without you.”
    â€œThanks,” Haley said. “It was fun.”
    They retired to the kitchen. “I’m starving.” Alex opened the freezer and pulled out a gallon of vanilla ice cream. “Join me in a hot fudge sundae?”
    â€œJust what I’m in the mood for,” Haley said. She scooped ice cream into bowls while Alex heated up the sauce.
    â€œYou do deserve a reward for helping me out,” Alex said.
    â€œAgreed,” Haley said flirtatiously.
    â€œThe thing is, I had something a little more meaningful in mind,” Alex said. “Haley, would you like to be my date to the inauguration? Before you say no, you pinko commie bleeding heart liberal, you should know you’d be doing me a huge favor, from heading off any unforeseen seating chart disasters, to helping me remember all those people on my flash cards.”
    â€œIs that the only reason you want me to go, my right wing neocon friend?” Haley asked, smirking.
    â€œN-no,” Alex stammered. “It’s just, this whole event would be a lot more fun if you were by my side. There. I said it. So what do you say, Haley? Be my date?”

    Wow, the inauguration! A high-profile, black-tie affair and probably the biggest social event of the year. That’s some fancy date for our little Haley. But, as Alex said, she deserves to go after all the hard work she’s done on the preparations. If you think Haley would love to go to the ball with Prince Alex, turn to, INAUGURATION .
    But is the inauguration really a romantic date, or is Alex just using Haley’s sociopolitical smarts to make himself look good? Maybe you think Alex is not foremost in Haley’s mind at the moment, and that other boys—namely one Reese Highland—have been secretly dominating her thoughts in recent days. Alex’s offer is tempting, but if Haley lets too much time pass before dealing with the Reese issue, he could slip through her fingers for good. If you think Haley needs to speak her mind to Reese and get a few things off her chest before she can move on, turn to, MAN DOWN .
    Finally, Haley must be wiped after all this volunteer work. To have her take a breather, send her home for a rest, ON