Diamonds in the Rough

by Michelle Madow

  And then her parents told her about Britney.

  www.campusbuzz.com

  High Schools > Nevada > Las Vegas > The Goodman School

  Savannah’s friend?

  Posted on Friday 12/12 at 3:29 PM

  Who was that girl shadowing Savannah Diamond around school today? All the senior guys were talking about how hot she was and how they were going to try to get with her this weekend. I saw her once or twice, and I guess she was unique looking, but she didn’t seem all that special.

  1: Posted on Friday 12/12 at 3:36 PM

  That was Savannah’s friend Evie! She was at the first volleyball game earlier this season, but she didn’t talk to many people. They were best friends in their school in California, and Evie’s in town for Savannah’s birthday party tomorrow night. She was nice, and she seemed fun, but I also don’t know why all the guys were so into her…

  2: Posted on Friday 12/12 at 3:43 PM

  how could you not notice that ass and those tits?!

  3: Posted on Friday 12/12 at 3:51 PM

  hell yeah! thinking about getting my hands on those got me hard in class

  4: Posted on Friday 12/12 at 4:06 PM

  haha were you the tool jacking off in the bathroom?

  5: Posted on Friday 12/12 at 4:09 PM

  You guys are such pervs.

  6: Posted on Friday 12/12 at 4:25 PM

  Don’t get your hopes up, cause she was eyeing up Damien Sanders all through lunch…

  7: Posted on Friday 12/12 4:41 PM

  I guess Savannah and Damien are over?

  8: Posted on Friday 12/12 4:59 PM

  Over? They apparently hooked up a few weeks ago, and now they spend a bunch of lunch blocks every week in the recording studio while Savannah records her YouTube videos. Sounds more like Evie’s secretly crushing on her best friend’s kind of boyfriend!!!!

  Chapter 29: Savannah

  “Peek over the magazine, gossip for a few lines and make sure to ignore the camera. Pretend we’re not here. Take two!”

  Carson and the rest of the crew from My Fabulous Sweet Sixteen always gave Savannah those same instructions—­pretend we’re not here!—but it was hard when the camera men, lighting men and director were surrounding her to get the perfect shot. Luckily Evie’s advice had been helpful, and once Savannah pretended she was playing a part instead of being herself, she’d improved enough that they had sufficient footage to work with. Since her improvement, the cameras had been everywhere this week. And even though Savannah had chosen her dress last month, they went back to the store with her, Rebecca and her sisters so they could reenact the “finding the perfect dress” scene that she’d messed up when it had actually been happening.

  Now the stylists in the Diamond Salon pretended to do final touches on Savannah and Evie’s pedicures, while they tried to make this “gossip session” look realistic.

  Evie tilted her head in what she probably thought was her best angle for the camera, and said, “This is going to be the best party ever.”

  “It’s going to be the perfect night.” Savannah widened her eyes, since she tended to squint when the light shone in her face. “I can’t believe it’s happening tomorrow.”

  “You’re going to look absolutely amazing.” Evie scooted forward and raised her eyebrows in a way that was kind of cartoonish. “Are you sure there’s no one special you have your eye on?”

  “Well, there might be someone….” She placed the magazine down on her lap and leaned across the gap between their chairs, cupping her hand around Evie’s ear as if they were sharing a secret. The microphone wouldn’t pick up this part, so she whispered, “Some guy got so hot staring at your boobs today that he jacked off in the school bathroom,” which sent Evie bursting into giggles. Savannah started laughing, too, since Evie’s laughter was contagious.

  “Are you serious?” she said once she got a hold of herself, her cheeks bright red. Savannah nodded, which started them laughing some more.

  “And…cut!” Carson said. “Perfect. That’s a wrap for the day.”

  “Great.” Savannah dropped the magazine on the end table. They’d been bombarded with the cameras after school, and she was dying to talk with Evie in private about her day at Goodman before they went to dinner with Evie’s mom.

  When they got back to Savannah’s room, Evie collapsed onto the king-size bed. “Are your days always so exhausting?” she asked, sighing dramatically.

  “It’s the cameras,” Savannah explained. “Without them here, everything’s normal, but this week has been crazy.”

  “Normal?” Evie sat up and looked at Savannah like she’d gone mad. “You live in a penthouse in one of the most glamorous hotels in the world, and your YouTube videos are making you an internet celebrity. How can your life ever be normal?”

  “It wasn’t at first.” Savannah plopped down next to Evie and leaned against the mountain of pillows. “Over the summer, it felt like a fairy-tale dream. But then school started, and it’s been the same routine of waking up early, sitting through classes, going to volleyball practice, getting home, doing homework and then doing social media stuff on Twitter and Facebook. And you know how at Fairfield caring about school is considered not cool?” she asked, and Evie nodded. “Well, at Goodman, people think you’re a loser if you don’t care about doing well. So I’ve had to try harder. I’m not getting straight As or anything, but I’m getting pretty steady Bs and B-pluses.”

  “I was pretty lost sitting in your classes today,” Evie said. “You’re doing way more advanced stuff than I am this year, and everyone in your school seems so smart. They really get into class discussions.”

  “That’s what happens when a huge chunk of your final grade is based on participation,” Savannah said. “We have to do our readings and come prepared to talk. Or else the teacher will call on you randomly, and if that happens and you don’t know the material, it’s so embarrassing. I learned that the hard way the second week of school.”

  “What happened?”

  “Just a mix-up in Spanish class about the word for foreign country.” She shrugged. “I’ll never forget what país extranjero means again.”

  “Enough about your classes,” Evie declared. “We need to talk about the guys, and how there are so many hot ones at your school!”

  “Yeah, there are,” Savannah said. “Although I’ve been so busy recently that my guy life has been nonexistent.”

  “Really?” Evie sounded surprised. “Because it sounded like you and Damien have been spending a lot of time together, with the way he’s been helping you record videos for YouTube.”

  “We’re just friends,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. If Damien saw her as more than that, he would have done something about it by now. But he hadn’t, and Savannah was doing her best to accept it. Being friends was better than nothing, right? And he’d been a great friend to her. She might have deleted her YouTube channel if it wasn’t for him. He was the reason that she was where she was now.

  “So what you said during the video shoot about having your eye on someone was made up?”

  “Yep,” Savannah lied. “That was for the cameras. I’m so busy filming for the show and with my YouTube stuff that I don’t have time to be interested in anyone. Seriously. There hasn’t been anything more than friendship between me and Damien in months.”

  Maybe if she kept saying it, she would believe it. And she didn’t want typical Evie advice on how she should flirt with Damien and make him interested. She couldn’t force him to return her feelings. If he didn’t see her that way, then he didn’t see her that way. End of story.

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Evie said. “Because during lunch today I felt a connection with him, but I didn’t want you to be upset if you still had feelings for him.”

  “Oh.�
� Savannah’s breath whooshed out of her, as if she’d been punched. She hadn’t forgotten about that moment Evie and Damien had had at Jackie’s party. “Okay.”

  “What?” Evie’s eyebrows shot up.

  “It’s just…” Savannah searched for a reason to explain her less-than-enthusiastic response. “He lives so far from you. Even if you felt a ‘connection’ with him, you don’t think anything will happen, right? Because, no offense, but Damien’s not the long-distance-relationship type of guy, especially with someone he’s only known for a few days. He’s actually kind of a player.”

  “I’m not looking for a relationship.” Evie tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I just want to have fun with him while I’m here.”

  “And by ‘fun’ you mean…”

  “I want to have sex with him.”

  “No way.” Savannah’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you lost your virginity and haven’t told me!”

  “That’s because I haven’t lost it yet.” She smiled mischievously. “But I want to this weekend.” Savannah opened her mouth to protest, but Evie cut her off. “You have no idea what it’s been like at home. Everyone’s had sex already, and I’m the only one who hasn’t, so it’s best to get it over with while I’m here. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?”

  “Don’t you want your first time to be meaningful?” It sounded lame, but Savannah didn’t care—the image of Evie and Damien together made her want to punch something. “With someone you trust and who cares about you? I’m not saying you should be soul mates or think you’re going to marry the guy someday, but you barely know Damien.”

  “Which makes it so much easier,” Evie said. “Once we get started I’m guessing he’ll realize I was a virgin, and maybe it’ll be embarrassing, but at least I can get back to Fairfield and no one will know any differently. I finally won’t have to pretend I’m not a virgin anymore.”

  “Hold up.” This was getting more twisted by the second. “You’re not going to tell Damien you’re a virgin before you try to have sex with him? And you told everyone at school that you’re not a virgin?”

  Evie bit her lip and focused on the bedspread. “Maybe…”

  “Who did you say you lost it to?”

  “A guy from Vegas the last time I visited you,” she said quickly. “No big deal. But now there’s this guy I like from one of my classes, but he thinks I’m not a virgin, and if I have sex with him he’ll realize I was lying and then everyone will know I’ve been lying.” Her eyes teared, and she looked so desperate. “The only way for me to fix this is to get it over with while I’m here. When I get back home I won’t be a virgin anymore, and no one will know that it happened now and not a few weeks ago.”

  Savannah shook her head. This situation was so typically Evie. “You really want to just ‘get it over with’? You don’t care at all who it’s with?”

  “I don’t buy into that whole ‘first time being special’ crap,” Evie said. “From what the girls on the volleyball team told me, the first time hurts and really sucks. So, yes, I want to get it over with, here in Vegas, with Damien. At least you’re friends with him and trust him. It’s better than losing it to some random guy.”

  “Yes, I’m friends with him and I trust him,” she said. “But you can’t tell him you’ve had sex before, and then, once it’s in, be like, ‘Surprise! Just kidding! You’re actually my first!’”

  “Why not?” Evie asked. “I’m not going to tell him I’ve had sex before. I just won’t tell him that I haven’t.”

  “But it’s still lying!” Savannah dropped her fists onto the bed. After her family not telling her and her sisters about Britney, she knew that not telling someone something was as bad as lying. “And what if Damien doesn’t want to take your virginity? Don’t you think he should know if he’s your first?”

  “I’d be having sex with him.” Evie laughed. “I can hardly imagine a guy complaining about that. But if it bothers you that much, I won’t do it.”

  “Really?” Savannah relaxed for the first time since this conversation started. “Just like that?”

  “Well, I won’t do it with Damien,” she said. “Since I can tell it bothers you. Half of my saying all that was to see if you’re really okay with just being friends with him, and I can tell you have feelings for him.”

  “I’m not sure what’s going on with me and Damien, but it would definitely sting to see you with him,” she said, surprised by Evie’s sudden insightfulness, but grateful at the same time. “Thank you for backing off.”

  “Of course,” she said. “But I’m serious about wanting to lose my virginity while I’m here. So if Damien’s not an option, do you have any suggestions?”

  Savannah still thought what Evie was considering doing was a mistake, but she knew her best friend—once she set her mind to something, she didn’t give up. And Savannah had given her opinion. What happened next was up to Evie.

  “For the record, I think this plan is super messed up,” she said. “But do you remember that guy who stopped by our lunch table today to introduce himself? Oliver Prescott…?”

  Chapter 30: Courtney

  The past week had been nonstop busy with the camera crew following Savannah around for My Fabulous Sweet Sixteen, and they wanted Courtney and Peyton in a lot of the scenes, too. It was exhausting. Courtney was glad to finally be by herself in her room, and she would be happy if she never saw a camera again.

  She walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed out at the lit-up Strip below. With how busy it had been during the past week, she hadn’t had much time to herself, but that didn’t stop her from thinking about Britney. Courtney hated that she would never know what Britney would be like if she were here now, so she’d created a version of Britney in her mind. She imagined that, like her, Britney would be smart, ambitious and would do well in school, but that she would also be outgoing, free-spirited and daring. She would bring out those qualities in Courtney, and Courtney would be the calming force in her wilder twin’s life. They would balance each other perfectly.

  She looked out at the stars, knowing it was pure luck that she was the one here now. What if in another universe it had been Courtney who was killed, and Britney was alive, looking out her window, wondering about the twin she’d never known?

  Gazing at the stars reminded her—the Geminids meteor shower was peaking tonight. The best place to view it would be out in the desert, away from light pollution. But Savannah was busy with Evie, Peyton was grounded and Courtney didn’t want to venture out there by herself. The next best plan was to go to the rooftop pool and hope to catch a few. The rooftop pool should be empty now, since they stopped serving drinks and food after ten, so the late-night partiers moved to the main pool. Plus, it was nighttime in December, and it was cold.

  Courtney opened the door to the rooftop and walked into the cool desert air. People chatting and cars honking echoed from the Strip below, although her view of the pool was dark and still. The walls around the edges of the building rose so high that the sounds of busy nightlife seemed like a different world.

  She thought she was the only one up there, but then she saw movement from a lounge chair in the back.

  “Courtney?” asked a voice she recognized as Brett’s. Her heart leaped. She hadn’t spoken more than a few words to him at school, not wanting to talk about Britney with so many people around. Then, after school was busy with the camera crew for the show, and she had homework…. Truthfully, she’d been avoiding him. Because she was scared to truly talk to him. Scared that they were reaching a turning point in whatever was going on between them, and she wouldn’t be able to hide her feelings from him anymore. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that—especially with everything that had been on her mind about Britney.

  She was also ashamed that it had been Rebecca who had told him about Britney, and not her. He’d e
ncouraged her to dig deeper to find out the secret, and she hadn’t had the strength to tell him about her discovery herself. He’d deserved to hear it from her, and she’d shut him out.

  But by some twist of fate he was here, and she would never forgive herself if she walked away from him now.

  “Hey.” She moved toward him, trying to act normal, and sat on the chair next to his. “What are you doing up here?”

  He smiled and leaned back in his chair. “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “There’s a meteor shower tonight,” she said. “The Geminids. I was going to try to watch, but there might be too much light pollution from the Strip. I was hoping that being high up would give me a chance to see a few.”

  “That’s why I’m here, too,” he said. “The Spacedex Facebook page said it was the best night to check them out.”

  Courtney tilted her head. “You follow Spacedex?”

  “I do,” he said. “I’m guessing that you do, too?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded. “I always wanted to catch a meteor shower when I was living in California, but I was so busy that I didn’t have time. Then I missed the Perseids in August, so I figured I would try to see the Geminids. They’re not supposed to be as good as the Perseids—which are the best of the year—but they’re close.”

  “Wow,” he said. “You know a lot about meteor showers.”

  “Just the basics.” She shrugged. “I find the night sky fascinating. Each of the hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy is a sun, possibly with a solar system around it, with planets that could have life. And then there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe…. It’s mind-blowing. I don’t see how a person could look at the stars and not be in awe of how small they are compared to the universe, and the endless possibilities of what could be out there.”

  “It is truly mind-blowing,” he agreed. “Those numbers are beyond what anyone can fully comprehend. So I’m going to assume you believe in aliens, too?”

  “How could I not?” she said, eyes wide. “With numbers like those, it’s improbable to assume we’re the only ones out there. But they could have existed a long time ago, or way in the future. I doubt I’ll live long enough to see it if—or when—we make contact.”