Khloe lowered her laptop lid shut, and I looked at her.
Uh-oh.
This wasn’t about Hollywood gossip. Khloe’s usually tan face was a pasty white, and she looked as if she might be sick.
“Khloe.” I got off my computer chair, taking the laptop off her lap, and settled beside her on Khloe’s bed. “I’m so sorry I said that. It’s obviously much more serious. What’s wrong?”
Khloe swallowed. She shook her head, seeming as if she was trying to clear her mind.
“Lauren, I’m so sorry to have to tell you this.”
Now it was my turn to pale. I held my breath.
“He’s okay now, but Mr. Conner broke his leg.”
“What? How? Oh my God!”
My riding instructor seemed untouchable. Someone who could be kicked and walk away without a bruise. Someone who could handle any horse, no matter what the circumstances.
“He had taken the older advanced team—Sasha’s group—on a cross-country ride this morning. Mr. Conner was riding Lexington, probably because he wanted to get him used to being in groups and unfamiliar territory.”
“I can’t believe it was a riding accident,” I said in a whisper.
“I know. Mr. Conner, Sasha, and the other riders on her team had crossed the street to practice in a new field. I don’t know all of the details—it’s just an e-mail from this girl Alison Robb, who sent it out to everyone—but Lexington spooked and reared. He flipped onto his back.”
I covered my mouth with my hand.
“Mr. Conner sustained a broken leg, but things could have been so much worse. Clearly.”
“Do you know where he is now?”
“It sounded from Alison’s email like she was writing from her BlackBerry in the hospital. Mr. Conner was okay enough to tell her to inform any riders—aka us—who have afternoon lessons that we’re not to miss them. Mr. Conner won’t be teaching, but Mike will be.”
“Wow. Oh, mon Dieu.”
I sat still, almost unable to believe what I’d heard. I’d looked at Mr. Conner as someone who was invincible.
The rest of the morning was quiet as Khloe and I got ready and headed off to classes. I participated in English class, but my brain was thinking about the get-well card that I wanted to get Mr. Conner.
In the hall, my mouth may have been forming words talking to Taylor about his placement on the swim team and congratulating him, but my mind was on Mr. Conner. If a rider like that could take such a spill, when was it going to happen to one of us next?
At lunch Khloe and I slid into a table with Lexa and Clare. We picked at our food. Instead of forcing myself to eat, I pulled out a notebook, and with my Pilot pen I wrote down names of people to ask to sign Mr. Conner’s get-well-soon card. It was a tiny gesture, but it was the gift we all agreed upon to give Mr. C.
After lunch Khloe and I went to study hall. Ms. Snow was supervising that day. We explained our situation and asked if we could be excused to go to the campus store, get a get-well card, and start collecting signatures. Ms. Snow couldn’t have been any cooler about it. She expressed her sympathies for Mr. Conner and gave Khloe and me permission to do whatever we needed during the period. Ms. Snow even said that she wanted to sign the card.
At the day’s end Khloe and I had a card full of signatures, and there wasn’t a centimeter of white space left. We delivered it to the campus secretary, who promised to send it to Mr. Conner immediately.
Khloe and I left the administration building and started back to Hawthorne to change into our riding clothes.
“It’s going to be so weird with Mike teaching,” I said. “I know he’s totally capable, but he’s not Mr. Conner.”
“It is going to be strange,” Khloe agreed. “But think of Mr. Conner. He’d want us to pretend that he was teaching and have a great lesson.”
I nodded. “You’re definitely right about that.”
“Guys, wait up!”
Khloe and I turned, and Clare hurried up the sidewalk behind us. We’d seen her earlier when we’d gotten her signature, and she’d been as shaken as all of us about what had happened.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said.
“Yeah, you look all flushed in an excited way,” Khloe said. “What’s going on?”
“I am excited. I feel bad, though, feeling like that when Mr. Conner’s in the hospital,” Clare said.
“I’m sure he’s on plenty of pain medication,” I said. “Tell us what’s going on!”
“Okay.” Clare nodded. “You’re probably right about the medication.”
“Spill before my hair starts to go gray!” Khloe said, only half joking.
I grinned at the two friends when they stuck out their tongues at each other.
“I got this in my in-box this morning. Look.” Clare thrust a piece of paper in front of us. It was dated as of yesterday and had been sent just after ten at night.
Subject: Your new roommate
Dear Ms. Bryant:
We, your housing coordinators at Canterwood Crest Academy, are writing to inform you that a new student will be moving into your room on the Saturday of Parents’ Weekend. This student is a female transfer, and because it is late in the season for new students, we do not have time to set up an e-mail correspondence between the two of you.
We expect that you will welcome our new enrollee to Canterwood Crest and assist her with any help she may need.
If you have any questions, please feel free to stop by our office or reply to this e-mail.
Sincerely,
The Housing Coordinators of Canterwood
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Khloe said. “That’s going to be a huge change for you, Clare-bear. You’ve only ever lived with, erm, Riley and then on your own.”
“I’m actually really excited,” Clare said. “It’s been kind of lonely in my room since Riley ditched us. It’ll be a new, good experience for me to live with someone else. She’ll be getting here at a busy time, though, so I’ll be out of my room a lot. But that might be good for her to get a feel of things on her own for a few hours instead of having me right there in her face.”
“I’m happy for you,” I said. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
NOT EVERYONE IS “FAMILY”
FRIDAY AFTERNOON THE CANTERWOOD PARKING lot was packed with students waiting for their parents to arrive.
“It’s kind of funny,” I said to Khloe. “Most of us are like, ‘I’m so glad my parents aren’t here hanging over me!’ and then the second everyone gets a chance to see them, we all end up in the parking lot, like, an hour before they’re scheduled to start arriving.”
Khloe laughed. “I didn’t think about that, but you’re right. Look at all of us!”
We glanced around, giggling. Lexa and Clare sat together on the wooden fence a few feet away. Taylor and Matt, his roommate, stood with Zack and were animatedly talking about something.
Drew stood with Cole and some guys from the swim team. Plus, the seventh graders weren’t the only ones who’d come to greet their parents. Plenty of older students had come out too.
Cars, SUVs, and vans started rolling up Canterwood’s winding driveway. The activity excited the horses in the pastures on either side of the drive. One chestnut with a giant star on his head let out an ear-piercing whinny and started trotting along the fence, keeping pace with a black Escalade.
Car doors opened, students hurried to the open doors, and the driveway seemed like a safe zone. A what-happens-in-the-parking-lot-stays-in-the-parking-lot situation. A couple of girls in my math class whose parents arrived ran to their parents’ cars and barely waited for their parents to get out before hugging them.
“Mom and Dad are here!” Khloe squealed. She pointed to a silver minivan. “There they are!” She waved and bounced up and down.
“Go, go!” I said, lightly pushing her.
With a huge grin Khloe jogged over to the minivan and stood by the passenger door. A blond woman, who looked insa
nely like Khloe, got out and threw her arms around her daughter. Khloe’s dad, a sweet-looking guy in jeans and a polo shirt under a leather jacket, got out and hurried to his wife and daughter. The family three-way hugged, and I got a little teary watching them.
Then I heard a familiar engine. A très familiar black SUV rolled up to the parking lot. I saw Mom and Dad through the windshield and waved like crazy. I didn’t care who saw me.
Mom and Dad waved back and pulled into one of the few open spots in the lot.
I ran across the grass and darted across the pavement covered in gravel.
“Mom! Dad!”
The SUV’s engine went off, and my parents got out. They both hurried toward me and grabbed me in a giant hug and swung me around. The three of us laughed, and like I’d been starved for home, I smelled every scent that reminded me of our house. The hazelnut coffee Dad drank every morning before he started writing, the leather from Mom’s briefcase, her Chanel No. 5 perfume, and just . . . home.
“LaurBell, you look amazing,” Dad said. He cupped my face in his hands to get a better look.
“My little girl is actually being seen with her ancient parents out in public,” Mom teased, hugging me tighter. “I can’t remember the last time that happened.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I teased. “I’ll ditch you guys later to make things normal again.”
A car door opened and closed from our backseat, and Becca ran over to me.
“Omigod! I couldn’t wait another second! I was trying to give you time with Mom and Dad, but that was all I could take!” My sister, my beautiful older sister that I loved more than anyone else in the world, wrapped her arms around me. Blond Becs looked nothing like me. She was only two years older, so we never went through the I hate you phase like many of my friends did with their sisters. We’d always been best friends.
My oldest sister, Charlotte, was the only one missing. She and I weren’t exactly close, but we were working on it. Charlotte was away at college—Sarah Lawrence—and she hadn’t been able to leave school to come to Canterwood. She promised she’d call me this weekend, though, and I believed her.
“I brought you a present,” Becca said, grinning. “It’s not anything big, so don’t get excited.”
“Becs! You didn’t have to do that!” I said. “Thank you!”
“Help me get it out of the backseat?”
“Of course!”
I followed Becca around to the other side of the SUV and, through the slightly tinted window, saw something . . . lumpy covered with a green-and-gold Canterwood blanket.
“What—”
“SURPRISE!”
I jumped back, screaming.
“OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!”
Sitting in the backseat, a newly blond Brielle grinned at me.
“Lauren!”
Brielle scrambled out of the backseat and landed on her feet. Her once-black-now-blond hair really complemented her complexion. She looked like the always chic Brielle in a navy long-sleeve sweater with an oatmeal-colored Fair Isle jacket belted around her waist. We threw our arms around each other and rocked as we hugged.
“How did you . . . And your parents . . . And my parents . . .” I couldn’t finish a sentence.
We let go of each other, and I couldn’t stop grinning. Neither could Brielle.
“I couldn’t stay away from my LaurBell. So I promised my parents that I’d get As all semester if they let me come visit you. You know how much grades mean to them.”
I nodded.
“Your parents were supercool and had no problem bringing me along. I’m not ‘family’ but I still got in.”
I still couldn’t believe I was staring at my best friend. “This is one of the biggest surprises ever.” I turned to Mom and Dad. “Thank you. Thank you so much!”
They nodded, smiling.
“You deserve it, sweetie,” Dad said.
“Now we have to make sure none of the administration finds out who you are,” I said to Bri. “If anyone asks, you’re my cousin.”
“I’m so not worried about it,” Brielle said.
“Ah! I have so much to show you guys! Want to see Whisper?”
“Today’s your day,” Mom said. “You show us everything you want. You’re in charge.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Everyone laughed.
With that, I began a tour of Canterwood that showed my family and Brielle everything that I loved about my school.
During the hours I spent showing them my English classroom and getting them to the auditorium on time for my glee club performance, I didn’t see any of my Canterwood friends, Taylor, or Drew. Everyone was absorbed in their own families. It felt like that was exactly the way it should be.
FACE-OFF
“I CAN’T WAIT TO BE HOME FOR THANKSGIVING break,” I said to my parents and Becca. It was already Saturday afternoon, and time for all the parents to leave. Mine had spent the night at a nearby hotel, and Bri and Becca had shared an adjoining room.
The three of us were walking back to the parking lot. It was time for my family and Bri to leave. Bri had forgotten her phone in my room and had run back to get it before she left with Mom, Dad, and Becca. The sun was nearly set. I couldn’t believe how fast the day had gone by.
“We can’t wait to have you home, honey,” Mom said. “Thanksgiving break is so short. Dad and I were already talking about how much we’re looking forward to your Christmas vacation.”
The thought made me smile. “A longer break doesn’t exactly make me sad,” I said. “Finals will be over, and I get to come home to holiday tea, and fires, and presents.”
“Jeez, what about coming home to your dear old dad?” Dad asked, winking at me.
I rolled my eyes to the sky and pretended to think. “Hmmm. I guess seeing you, Mom, Becs, and Char won’t be awful or anything.”
Laughing, Dad slung an arm across my shoulders. “That’s my LaurBell.”
I started to reply, but two people in the distance caught my eye. Next to the parking lot, Taylor and Brielle stood in front of one another. Brielle gestured with her arms, and her cheeks were pink. Taylor’s arms were crossed, and he shook his head. As we got closer, I saw his clenched jaw and his tense body language.
“. . . you can’t . . . anything,” Brielle snapped at him.
I nudged Becca’s arm with my elbow to get her attention, but she was already watching what I wanted her to see.
“. . . don’t . . . unfair,” Taylor said. His voice was too low for me to make out more than two words.
I broke away from my family and headed toward my friends. Before I could reach them, Taylor glared at Brielle and walked off in the opposite direction.
Brielle shook her head, seeming to try to shake off whatever had happened. She looked up, probably at the sound of my shoes crunching on the gravel.
“Hey,” Bri said as she walked toward me.
“What was that?” I asked, stopping in front of her. I didn’t care that cars were edging around us as we stood in the middle of the busy parking lot.
Brielle rolled her eyes and sighed. “Boys. Taylor ran into me when I was leaving your dorm, and he wanted to talk about something. I told him I had to meet you and we could talk about it later.”
A white Suburban backed up next to us, and a blond woman motioned for us to step out of the way.
Brielle and I moved a few paces back, but I didn’t take my eyes off her face. She looked shaken, and Bri never got scared.
“Did Taylor follow you down here?” I asked. “Or was he coming to say good-bye to his parents?”
“The Frosty Freezes?” Brielle referenced them by the nickname Ana had given Mr. and Mrs. Frost when we’d first met them. She shook her head. “No. They left, like, an hour ago, Taylor said. But I thought the same thing at first—that Taylor was coming to the parking lot to see them. But he told me he was following me to your parents’ SUV.”
This was not the Taylor I knew.
�
�I can’t believe it. I mean, there’s been a little something off with Taylor since he got here. But nothing that would make him act like that. What did he want to talk about? What was such a big deal?”
Bri looked down at her caramel-colored boots. “I did something dumb a couple of months ago. It happened and Taylor froze me out until he left Yates for Canterwood. I said I was sorry on the phone, but apparently that wasn’t enough.”
“Brielle. What? Tell me.” I couldn’t decide if I wanted to shake the answer out of her or hug her.
“Lauren, I feel so bad.” Brielle sniffled, and she wrapped her arms across her chest. “A couple of days after you left for Canterwood, Taylor, Ana, and I were supposed to go to the movies.”
“Okay . . .”
Brielle took a ragged breath. “Taylor was supposed to be at his dad’s office that day, but he told Mr. Frost that he was sick so he could go out with Ana and me. Mrs. Frost was off having a spa day, so my mom and I were supposed to pick him up, and Mom was going to drop us at the mall to meet Ana.”
The volume of voices in the parking lot and the sounds of engines started to fade as more and more parents left Canterwood. I looked across the lot, and Mom, Dad, and Becca waited patiently by our SUV. I held up a finger in the give me one minute gesture. Dad nodded and he, Mom, and Becca climbed inside to wait for Brielle.
“About an hour before it was time to pick up Taylor, I got sick for real,” Bri said. “I threw up and got the chills.” She snapped her fingers. “It happened just like that. I couldn’t go, but I still wanted him to see the movie with Ana. Plus, I had to let him know I wasn’t coming. I tried his cell, and it kept going to voice mail. I left him a bunch of messages before I started getting worried that he’d miss the movie because he wouldn’t know that my mom couldn’t pick him up because she had to take care of me.”
“Wait. Wait. You’re not going to tell me that Taylor was that upset because he missed a movie, are you?”
Brielle shook her head. A cold breeze blew leaves across the parking lot. I shivered, zipping up my jacket.
Jealousy Page 11