Piranhas in Pink
Piranhas in Pink Book One
Nova Knightley
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used factiously.
Copyright © 2020 by Tiffany Nicole Smith, writing as Nova Knightley. All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be copied or reproduced in any matter whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Printed in the United States of America.
Cover design by: The German Creative
Contents
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1
Lennox McRae
2
The PIPs
3
The PIP Commandments
4
Piper
5
Obeezy
6
All Pink Everything
7
Piper
8
Piper’s Angel
9
Our Enemies Are Your Enemies
10
Play the Fool
11
Play the Fool
12
Play God
13
Have You Seen Mei?
14
I’m Not Who You Think I Am
15
How I Got This Way
16
Vengeance Is Mine
17
Mission Accomplished
18
The Five Wise Girls
19
He’s Just Not That into Me
20
Girls like Bree
21
My PIPS
22
To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected
23
Justice Jenkins Has No Respect for the PIPs
24
My Greatest Accomplishment
25
The Truth about Brody
26
Can You Keep a Secret?
27
Piranha Teeth
28
Claire Reed Is in Time-Out for Her Sins
29
See Something, Say Something
30
Just like Me
31
Revenge Seekers Anonymous
32
One of Us
33
Once You’re in, You’re in
34
Divide and Conquer
Piranha Fact Number 1
Some piranhas are cannibals. They eat each other when no other food is available.
1
Lennox McRae
Butterflies went wild in my stomach, but they weren’t the delicate, fragile type. They had wings made of razor blades. I clutched my aching belly.
Groaning, I sank into the leather seat of Mom’s convertible, gripping the straps of my backpack. The black fabric was splattered with neon-yellow smiley-face emojis—super lame. What was I thinking when I picked it out? Maybe I was happy that day, but the tiny grinning faces mocked me, telling me how stupid I looked.
“My stomach is killing me,” I whined in the most pitiful voice I could manage. “Let’s try this again tomorrow. We never learn anything on the first day anyway. It’s just a bunch of rules and blah, blah, blah.”
It was one of those days when Mom couldn’t stand to look at me. The dark circles under her eyes made me feel sorry for her. She hadn’t been sleeping again. Her copper hair was pulled up into a messy bun because I’d rushed her out of the house. It was almost as if she had forgotten school started that day. Her hairstyle left a lot to be desired, but at least she was wearing her cute silk pajamas.
Mom squeezed the steering wheel like a stress ball. She couldn’t wait to speed off and be free of me for seven hours. Finally, she let go and nodded toward the school building. “Look, there’s Bree waiting for you just like she promised.”
I followed her gaze and spotted the tiny brunette waiting by the staircase that led up to the front doors of the school. We’d never met, but she’d texted me Sunday evening.
Hi, Lennox. It’s Bree Vanderpool. Your mom told you about me, right? I can’t wait to meet you tomorrow. I’ll be on the front steps of the school. I know you’ll love Bainbridge as much as I do!
I’d replied with the thumbs-up emoji. That was all the effort I was willing to put forth.
Bree bounced from foot to foot impatiently. I couldn’t blame her. Surely she would rather be catching up with her friends, gabbing about their amazing summers, than showing some random girl around.
Our moms had met at the hair salon and quickly discovered that their daughters would be attending the same school. Mrs. Vanderpool promised my mother that Bree would show me around and help me make friends.
I dug my nails into the skin around my navel. “I think my appendix is flaring up again.”
Mom huffed. “You don’t have an appendix.”
Right. It had been removed when I was five, but sometimes Mom would forget things like that. Though I didn’t remember the surgery, I’d watched plenty of appendectomies on YouTube while eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch and thought that when your body went through something like that, you should know exactly what it entailed. The videos showed everything from the incisions to the removal.
I took another glance at Bree. “I was wrong. It’s my kidney, actually. The left one.”
Mom grabbed the steering wheel again, gripping it tighter than before. She took several deep breaths and began naming the states in alphabetical order—a technique she’d learned from Dr. Leonard to control her anxiety. “Lennox, please don’t do this today. I just can’t.”
After staring at Mom’s white knuckles for a moment, I opened the door and slid out. It wasn’t because Mom was losing her patience with me but to put Bree out of her misery. She could point me to my first class then ditch me. I would figure out the rest—probably. Either way, I would rather wander the halls like an idiot than be someone’s annoying chore.
I hadn’t bothered to say goodbye to Mom before slamming the door. After taking five steps toward the building, I felt guilty and turned to give her a wave, but by that time, she had already backed out of the parking space and was peeling out of the lot. People stared, probably wondering why a maniac was speeding through a school parking lot like she’d just robbed a bank. I was thankful that summer was over and the two of us no longer had to tiptoe around the house, avoiding each other.
Moving forward, I took in my new school, the Bainbridge Academy for High Achievers. I wondered if it would live up to its hype. It prided itself on being project based and not “teaching to the test” as most schools did, yet they still managed to be one of the top-performing schools in the state of Maine. The average test scores were higher than the nearby private school, where parents paid an arm and a leg for tuition. I didn’t care much about the other stuff, but a Games of Strategy class was on my schedule, which sounded awesome.
Bainbridge was only six years old, so the plum-colored building was fairly new and modern. The front of the school was mostly glass. Students milled around inside. The middle of the building was circular. Fancy columns ran along the front. A large golden plaque with the school’s name was perched at the top of the staircase.
As I approached Bree, I took in her waist-length crimped hair and medium build. She looked a lot like me, except h
er eyes were wide and ocean blue, while mine were like walnuts. She was serving school-girl chic in a pink-and-black-plaid pleated skirt, a white lace tank top, black knee-high socks, and pink high-top sneakers. I would have totally rocked something like that, but I’d decided to lie low for my first day. Dark denim jeans with rips at the knees, a fitted tee with a picture of Princess Leia, and glittery sandals I’d had for years had been my outfit of choice—not too cute, not too shabby. Nothing special, but I didn’t want to look like a bum either. Blending in was part of my plan.
By the time I made it to her, she was rolling her eyes at her phone. “Bree?”
Her face broke into a bright smile. So phony. “Hey! You must be Lennox.”
I nodded.
“I’m Bree Vanderpool,” she said even though I’d just called her by her name. “It’s nice to meet you.” She stuck her hand out. “Do you have your schedule?”
I pulled my phone from my back pocket and scrolled through my pictures to find the screen shot I had taken of my schedule. “Yeah, it’s here somewhere. Listen, I’m sorry you have to do this. I know showing the new kid around is probably the last thing you want to be doing.”
She smiled even bigger, giving me a great view of her pink gums. “Nah. It’s no problem. I can only imagine how hard it would be going to a new school where I didn’t know anyone, so I don’t mind.”
I handed her my phone, and she looked over my list of classes. “Cool. Follow me.”
The entrance led to a huge lobby filled with coffee tables and purple-and-lime-green sofas. Kids lounged on them, bent over their phones or chatting with their friends. They wasted no time checking me out, stealing glances over their shoulders as I passed. Keeping my head down, I avoided all eye contact. Stop paying attention to me.
As we left the lobby and entered the first hallway, I inhaled the scent of fresh floor wax and wondered which shiny silver locker would be mine. Bree pointed to her left. “That’s one of the girls’ bathrooms.”
I made a mental note of that since I had to go, but I’d already made Bree wait long enough.
A curly-haired boy wearing a charcoal-gray vest and a red bow tie passed us. He winked at me. “Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?”
“What?” I asked, watching him over my shoulder. That turned out to be a huge mistake because I ended up ramming into a wall, bouncing off it, and landing ass first on the cold tile. I prayed I was having some bizarre back-to-school nightmare and that I hadn’t just made a complete loser move five minutes into my first day. Smooth, Lennox.
The busy chatter of the hallway lowered a few decibels. Surely people were staring at me, but I blocked them out. I would simply gather myself and pretend my embarrassing fall hadn’t happened.
I looked up to discover that I hadn’t hit a wall at all. The heavens had opened and dropped perfection down in the form of four girls, each looking down on me like I was some strange insect. They were all so different yet beautiful, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off the girl who stood second from the left, the one wearing a hot-pink blazer with a black-and-white-striped shirt underneath and skinny jeans. She had the shiniest, blackest hair I had ever seen and enchanting green eyes. Everything about her sparkled. Everything about her told me this was the girl to keep an eye on.
“Whoa,” I muttered, wishing I could take it back as soon as I’d said it. I must have looked like some clueless fan who had mistakenly stumbled onto the red carpet at the Grammys.
The girl to the left of Pink Blazer, the one with flawless tawny skin and a to-die-for lion’s mane of black curls, scoffed. “Aw. I think she’s mesmerized. How cute.”
The others, except for the girl in the pink blazer, laughed. My cheeks warmed as she extended her perfectly manicured hand to me. Each of her nails was painted pale pink with a white tip. I took her hand, and she pulled me to my feet. “Now, ladies, is that any way to welcome a new student to Bainbridge?” She sounded so grown up as she smoothed out her perfect black bob. The laughter cut off immediately. She was obviously the leader.
The Asian girl with platinum-blond hair smirked. “Bree, who’s your friend?”
Still gawking at the girl in the pink blazer, I’d completely forgotten Bree was there.
She cleared her throat. “Oh, she’s not—”
Bree had been about to say, She’s not my friend, but she stopped herself. My feelings wouldn’t have been hurt. After all, it was the truth. We’d only met a few minutes before. That made us only slightly better than strangers. But Bree was too nice to finish the sentence. I shook my head. Being too nice would get you nowhere.
The final girl of the quartet had long chocolate waves and could have easily passed for a South American super model. “Just watch where you’re going, Newbie.” She gestured to herself and the other girls. “This is precious cargo. You could have hurt someone.”
Really? I was the one who’d just gotten picked up off the floor. My butt was still stinging. She had a point, though. I hadn’t been paying attention to where I was going thanks to that curly-haired weirdo shouting random nonsense at me.
Pink Blazer gave Super Model a chastising look. “Let’s go.” Then she looked at me and smiled—a real smile. I could always tell the real ones from the fake. It was all in the eyes. “Good luck. You’re going to love Bainbridge. It’s the best.”
They turned in perfect unison, like it was something they’d practiced, and sauntered away. Scents of vanilla, peaches, and musk tickled my nose as they departed. They even smelled perfect. Slowly, everything around me fell back into motion.
Bree patted my shoulder once the girls disappeared into the crowd. “That was about the worst thing that could happen to a girl on her first day.”
Maybe she wasn’t so phony after all. I appreciated her honesty.
She pointed me toward the end of the hallway, where my first class was located. “Those are the PIPs.”
“The what?”
“The PIPs. It stands for Perfection in Pink. They’re an exclusive clique, and they have an opening because one of their former members unexpectedly moved away over the summer.”
I nodded, trying not to seem as interested as I was. “Perfection,” I said. “The name fits.” They were gorgeous and dressed impeccably.
Bree moved closer to me and lowered her voice. “Only they call themselves that, though. To the rest of us, the first P stands for piranhas because, well… obvious reasons.”
“Why is it obvious?”
Bree shrugged, giving me a nervous half smile. “Let’s just say they’re not the nicest people if you get on their bad sides.” Her eyes darted from left to right like she was sharing some government secret. “But don’t tell anyone I said that.”
I moved my thumb and index fingers across my lips, miming zipping them. “I won’t say a word.”
She looked relieved. “Thanks. Just stay on their good sides, and no worries.”
Bree dropped me off at my first-period class, and I thanked her, certain it would be the last time we talked. She was a nice girl, and it would serve her well to stay away from the likes of me.
My homeroom was in the same room as Algebra II, which was my first class of the day. Mr. Michaels, my teacher, seemed fun or at least as fun as an algebra teacher could be, but I spent the whole time thinking about the girl in the pink blazer and the other PIPs. The little info Bree had shared intrigued me. Why do people call them piranhas, and do they really live up to that name? What lurks underneath those perfect surfaces? The PIPs, with their flawless looks and air of superiority, were exactly what I needed.
***
I’d been wrong about never seeing Bree again. She caught up with me after every class to show me the way to my next one, even though I had the layout of the school figured out. I was grateful to see her after fourth period, however. Lunch followed fourth period, and I had been dreading eating by myself. I didn’t want to be the center of attention, but I didn’t want to be a loner either.
Bree looped
her arm around mine as she guided me through the herd and toward the cafeteria. “Each grade level has their own lunch time, so only juniors are eating now. You can sit with me and my bestie, Maisie. We’ll give you a quick rundown of Bainbridge.”
I nodded. Although Bree wasn’t the kind of girl I would normally hang out with, I could use all the information about my new school I could get—not the stuff you could read on the website or the brochure but the stuff I really needed to know like who was who and how the social infrastructure worked.
The cafeteria was a huge circular room with long windows that let in plenty of sunshine. Along the walls were several food carts that provided options other than the cafeteria food. One was a cart for organic smoothies, and another sold Thai salads. When pitching the school to my mother, Principal Chambers told her the carts only served healthy foods. If I wanted junk, I would have to purchase it from the school district–mandated menu. He had gone on and on about how he had no choice but to offer us those meals by law, but he tried to balance things out by giving us alternative choices. Most of the carts had no more than two people waiting in line, if any.
I hopped into the lunch line behind Bree and placed a burger, some tater tots, and a bottled water on my tray. The stomachache I’d had earlier was gone, and I was famished. After paying for my food, I followed Bree to a table toward the back. A girl with bright-red shoulder-length hair, a multitude of freckles, and huge blue glasses was already there.
I took the seat beside Maisie so I could face the cafeteria. Bree sat across from us.
Maisie had several Tupperware containers of food arranged on a white cloth she’d spread across the table. Most of her food looked like raw veggies and mush—nothing particularly appetizing. She groaned as we set our trays on the table. “Really, Bree. If you’re going to be showing the new girl around, you could have at least warned her about the food.”
I had already taken a bite of my burger. “It’s actually not too bad.” The burger was definitely better than the ones at Archer High.
Piranhas in Pink: Piranhas in Pink Book One Page 1