Georgetown Academy 1 and 2

by Jessica Etting

  One of them turned on the sink. “Do you know if she has a date for Follow the Stars?” Liesel asked.

  “I’m not sure, but that’s a great topic to lead with.”

  “She should go with Hunter McKnight. They would make such a cute couple.”

  Hunter. He was supposed to be Ellie’s date to Follow the Stars. The sink turned off and Ellie wished the bathroom had those hand dryers that could drown out the rest of this conversation.

  “I’m sure he’s free now,” Nora said, conspiratorially. “It’s not like he’s going to want to take Ellie StreetWalker.”

  Ellie inaudibly choked on her breath at the nickname. Of course he wouldn’t want to take her.

  “I’m surprised her mother hasn’t disowned her at this point. She’s totally tarnished Marilyn’s image. I heard from Portia that her approval ratings are way down. My dad would never forgive me if I did something like that to him,” Liesel responded seriously.

  “I guess if you’re messed up enough to cheat on Hunter McKnight, you have no problem screwing over your mother.”

  Ellie had had all these thoughts herself, but hearing them from the mouths of other people somehow made them crystallize in her brain even more. Every whisper, every stare in the hallway, she had tried to convince herself that it couldn’t be as bad as she thought, but now she knew. It was much, much worse. Would Hunter, her mother, anyone ever forgive her? Tears streamed down her face, the deluge startling her, salty prickles grazing the edges of her mouth.

  “Let’s reconvene after your art history class,” Liesel announced. The smacking of their dirty little hands in a high-five echoed through the bathroom walls as they exited.

  Ellie practically fell off the toilet, grabbing on to the door to steady herself. She quickly debated whether she should just go home, but it’s not like she was particularly welcome there, either. She wiped away the tears on her now pale face. She was going to have to suck it up and go to biology.

  Just as the bell rang, she entered the classroom. The second her boots clacked on to the floor, the carnivorous eyes of her classmates were on her, darting between her and Hunter, just as they had done since Monday. Ellie scanned the classroom for an empty seat. Hunter had taken a seat next to one of his basketball buddies, which had been his move all week, and there was only one left.

  And it was next to Evan Harnett.

  Evan suddenly looked up at Ellie and they both realized the inevitability at the same time. They were going to have to sit next to each other through this entire bio class, which was going to be incredibly awkward considering they hadn’t exchanged a word in two years. The sadness and guilt over the deterioration of their friendship was the last thing Ellie needed to deal with.

  However, Ellie had no choice but to sit in the empty seat. As she got closer, Evan pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, which she always did when she was nervous.

  Ellie looked up from her table and her eyes caught hold of Hunter’s. He gave her a look that Ellie had not seen from him all week. Pity. Pure unadulterated pity. He wasn’t even angry anymore. She was so pathetic he just felt sorry for her.

  She couldn’t take it for one more second. She shot her hand up, turning to face Dr. Afronti, who was still prepping the microscopes in the back of the room, his wild hair springing out in every direction. “Dr. Afronti, I’m feeling a little light-headed. Can I go to the nurse?”

  Dr. Afronti, like every other teacher at school, knew exactly what was going on in her personal life, but unlike Ellie’s classmates, he was sympathetic. “Sure, Ellie. But if you’re feeling light-headed, you shouldn’t go alone. Evan can you go with her, please?”

  Evan stiffened. Ellie had dragged yet another person into her drama.

  “Uh, yeah, sure, okay,” Evan stammered.

  Ellie grabbed her coat and backpack as Evan did the same and trailed behind her out of the room.

  “I’m sorry he pulled you out of class. You don’t have to come with me,” Ellie said once they were out in the hall.

  “Are you really going to the nurse?”

  “I don’t know. I think I just need some air.”

  Ellie pushed open the back door of the science building and Evan followed her out to the covered walkway. The crisp air danced around Ellie and she instantly felt the blood circulate back to her head. She sat down on the nearest bench named for whatever donor had spent a ton of money to have a concrete slab inscribed with his name on it. Evan hovered over her for a beat, then to Ellie’s surprise, sat down next to her. Even though they hadn’t spoken in two years, Ellie didn’t feel like she was sitting next to a complete stranger. It hit her all at once how much she missed her.

  “I’m so sorry, Evan.” Ellie’s eyes welled up with tears all over again.

  “It’s really no big deal. I already understand Punnett squares so it’s not—”

  “No, not for making you miss bio,” Ellie started, “for everything else.”

  Evan bit her lip, taken aback. “Oh.”

  Ellie didn’t know what to say next. She wanted to say that she wished she had fought harder for their friendship, but before she could articulate the right way to say it, Evan interrupted her thoughts.

  “It was my fault. I should have never made you choose between them and me.”

  Two years ago, right after Gabe left town, Ellie had catapulted up the social ladder after a photo spread in Vanity Fair magazine suddenly put her on the radar of the guys at G.A., including Hunter McKnight. She had tried to include Evan on her meteoric rise, purposely bringing her along on shopping trips with Brinley or inviting her to meet up at the parties she was now invited to, but Evan was recalcitrant about it, going out of her way to act like she was above it all. The breaking point came when Ellie accidentally flaked on a coffee date with Evan and Evan, hurt by the slight, had insisted she choose between her or Brinley and her new friends. Ellie had told her she was being immature and Evan had stormed out. That was the last time they had anything close to a conversation.

  “You know I didn’t choose them over you, right?” Ellie now said. “It was just…I was upset that you put me in that position. And I had only been dating Hunter for a few weeks…I was just being selfish, but I thought you would come around. And then you never did.”

  Evan swallowed. “I thought the same thing. That you would come talk to me and the whole fight would be over in a week. But then a week turned into a month and a month turned into six months…”

  They sat silently, but for the first time in a while, it wasn’t uncomfortable.

  “Are you okay?” Evan finally asked and Ellie could almost physically feel their friendship starting to click back into place.

  “Not really,” Ellie answered honestly. “Every time I think it can’t get worse, it does. And there’s no hope of any of this dying down, thanks to Mike Lim.”

  “That speech was so transparent. I’m sure he’s angling for something.”

  “The chairman position on the Judiciary Committee,” Ellie spat out.

  Evan’s eyes widened. “The one your mom has wanted forever? God, I knew that guy had an ulterior motive.”

  “Yet another reason for my mom to hate me. They said on The View that I was the poster child for family values gone wrong.”

  “When you start listening to Elizabeth Hasselbeck, you know you have a problem. Listen, Ellie, you should do what you want to do and not care what other people think,” Evan said assuredly.

  It was the complete opposite advice Brinley would have given her. If she could even bring herself to ever tell Brinley the whole story about Gabe, that is. Even though she and Evan had been out of each other’s lives for so long, it was like Evan still knew Ellie better in some ways. Ellie and Brinley only had two years of friendship under their belt. She and Evan had over ten.

  “Have you talked to Gabe?” Evan asked as if reading her mind, something they claimed they used to be able to do.

  “Um, just a little,” Ellie answered carefully. She didn�
�t want to put Evan in an awkward position. Ellie had noticed her and Gabe hanging out at school, clearly picking up their friendship from where it left off two years ago. Evan was actually the one who introduced Ellie to Gabe back then, having met him through their parents (his father was on the board of the non-profit her mother ran).

  “But the truth is, I really miss Hunter,” Ellie said, trying to hold herself back from crying again. “And he has zero interest in even talking to me, much less getting back together.” Evan looked down for a split second. Ellie felt like a bad friend all over again. Here she was rambling on and on about herself the second she and Evan started talking again. “Anyway, it’s a pointless topic. What about you? How are you?”

  Evan gave her a small smile. “Boring.”

  “I saw you and Luke Jensen kissing at the rookie party last week,” Ellie replied, giving Evan a little nudge.

  Evan got a pained look on her face. “It’s not really what it looks like. He has some, um, issues he has to figure out.” Evan must really like him. Her entire body had tensed the second Ellie mentioned Luke’s name.

  They both audibly sighed. “Remember when our biggest problem was whose Barbie got to be president and whose had to be speaker of the house?” Ellie asked, suddenly grinning at the memory.

  “And Skipper was always veep,” Evan responded, cracking a smile.

  “She really couldn’t handle any more responsibility than that.”

  “We had some seriously motivated Barbies.”

  “Well, if we went according to the packages, their biggest accomplishment would be reversing their skirt from day to night,” Ellie replied. They both laughed.

  “Hey ladies,” a voice interrupted. It was Narc, wearing his sweet, self-deprecating smile as usual.

  “Ditching class?” Ellie asked.

  “Nah, Mrs. Riggs couldn’t find her bifocals so she asked me to check the teacher’s lounge. But while I’ve got you, did you hear I’m having a few people over tonight? My parents are in New York for Bloomberg’s seventieth birthday party.”

  “I don’t think I can make it,” Ellie answered automatically.

  “If you’re worried about the whole break-up tango, Hunter can’t come,” Narc said.

  He had read her mind. That was exactly why she didn’t want to go. But Narc was one of the few people actually standing by her side and Ellie was in no position to reject any form of acceptance. “Okay. I’ll be there then.”

  “Cool. You’re welcome to come, Evan.” Evan smiled appreciatively. She and Narc weren’t friends, but Narc wasn’t the type to exclude anyone. “And tell Brin that Graham won’t be there, either, so she’s in the clear, too. Man, you girls are getting complicated. This must be what the Ambassador to Switzerland feels like at a U.N. conference,” he said with a wink, before ducking through the door back into the building.

  Ellie looked over at Evan. “How about it? You want to come with me?”

  Evan paused for a beat, then smiled. “Sure.”

  Never in a million years was this how Ellie saw her morning going, but at least one thing in her life was turning around for the better.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Wednesday 5:21pm.

  “And now let’s move into our sun salutations,” the long-haired, rail-thin brunette yoga teacher named Chandini instructed both Taryn and her mother, Isobel.

  Taryn checked herself in the mirror of the bedroom her mom had turned into an in-home yoga studio as she raised her arms over her head.

  Her mother did the same, then stretched them over her long, limber legs, the result of years of yoga, Pilates and classical dancing. Isobel had the same thick dark waves as Taryn, however her features were more angular, the result of age and a brow lift. Chandini had been a referral from Isobel’s yoga guru back in Los Angeles. Taryn wasn’t quite sure about her yet.

  “Empty all the worries from your day little by little as you lower your head to the floor,” Chandini said. Usually, Taryn loved nothing more than letting her mind go blank as she glided her way through a series of yoga poses, stretching her muscles and focusing only on her breath. But today, it was impossible. No matter how hard she tried, her thoughts kept going back to Brinley Madison and the golden nugget of information that had been dropped in her lap at yesterday afternoon’s study session.

  Taryn had returned to the house to retrieve her phone, but stopped in the hall when she heard the arguing. From the snippets she had overheard, Taryn had been able to piece together that Brinley was addicted to the prescription drug, Adderall. At first, she had felt bad eavesdropping on what was clearly a private conversation between Brinley and her brother, but considering Brinley was the one who started the rumor about Taryn, it was hard to get choked up over it.

  “Slow down, Taryn. Don’t forget to breathe,” Chandini helpfully called out. “Let everything go.”

  But as she moved her body into plank position, Taryn couldn’t let it go. Brinley Madison was a total hypocrite. Telling the entire school Taryn was on drugs, when in reality it was Brinley herself who was. Though wasn’t that the way most politicians were? It seemed like the ones who went the furthest to prove something were usually hiding that very thing themselves.

  “Okay, as we head into this downward dog, I want your thoughts to center around forgiveness. What it means to you.”

  Something Ellie, Brinley, and Gabe are never going to get from me. Taryn rolled her eyes, then quickly ducked her head down further before Chandini or her mother could see.

  “Inhale…and as you exhale, let go of any of the residual anger or resentment you find yourself holding onto.”

  Taryn’s mother exhaled, seriously. But it was hard for Taryn to keep a straight face. Maybe the old version of Taryn would have forgiven Brinley and kept her secret to the grave. But the almost-two-weeks-of-D.C.-under-her-belt Taryn instinctively knew that she wouldn’t survive in this city if she continued being so weak and naïve. She had a valuable piece of information about Brinley Madison. Now, it was time for payback. She just needed to figure out the best way to do it. “And now, as you step forward, slowly raising your head and inhaling again, breathe in the lightness of forgiveness, reminding yourself that everyone deserves a second chance.”

  Taryn almost let out a guffaw. Clearly, Chandini was never a student at Georgetown Academy.

  A few hours later, Taryn was making up for all the calories she burned in yoga by filling a cup with a snickerdoodle and cappuccino swirl at YoYoFro, her new favorite FroYo place. It wasn’t Yogurtland in L.A., but it was definitely close. As she liberally sprinkled crushed Oreos over her yogurt, someone bumped into her.

  “Excuse me,” a rich, baritone voice said.

  “That’s okay—” the words were already out of Taryn’s mouth when she turned and saw who it was. Brooks Madison, holding a pint of tart berry frozen yogurt in his hand and an apologetic expression on his face.

  “Taryn,” he said smoothly, “I didn’t even realize it was you. What are the odds?”

  “Lucky me,” Taryn said sarcastically and then felt bad. She had given Brooks attitude at his house yesterday just because he was Brinley’s brother. But from the pieces of conversation Taryn had heard, it seemed like Brooks was trying to be a caring big brother.

  “I didn’t peg you as a FroYo type of guy, Brooks,” she added, attempting to be slightly more cordial. But only slightly. He was still a blood relative of Brinley’s after all.

  “Love it. Can’t get enough,” he replied, as he gingerly spooned a few morsels of Cap’n Crunch on his yogurt, his Cartier watch peeking out from under his crisp button-down shirt. Taryn didn’t usually go for the preppy look, but she could admit that at least he rocked it well. “I’m here all the time,” he added.

  “Me, too,” Taryn said, when something popped in her head. This was the YoYoFro in Great Falls. Brooks lived all the way in Spring Valley. There were probably a dozen other frozen yogurt shops he could go to that were much closer to him. Why would he choose this one? />
  “You want to sit together?” he asked, slightly overeager.

  It was suddenly clear. Taryn had told Brooks and Brinley that she came to YoYoFro almost every night. Brooks had been looking for her. And Taryn had a sinking feeling she knew what he wanted.

  Still, she was going to make him admit it.

  “Sure,” Taryn responded, settling into a café chair, wondering what his next move would be.

  “So, Taryn…how’s your project with Brinley going?”

  “Lovely,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. As if you care.

  “I’m sorry if I disrupted things yesterday…when I walked in.”

  “Not at all,” Taryn replied, giving him a sphinx-like smile.

  “It’s just…I was a little frustrated with my sister,” he said, conspiratorially.

  “Uh-huh…” Taryn nodded, with a faux-sympathetic look, giving him nothing.

  “I don’t know if you heard everything I was saying or not when you walked back in the house…” He let the sentence hang, waiting for a response from Taryn.

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “If you have something to ask me, Brooks, just say it.”

  He put his spoon down mid-bite, surprised. “You had me fooled with that perky little smile. You’re not as dumb as you look.”

  “Thank you.”

  Brooks sighed. “What did you hear?”

  She met Brooks’s eyes gamely. “Everything.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” he asked, not breaking eye contact.

  “I’m calling the Washington Post,” she replied, the idea coming to her as the words came out of her mouth. But now that she had said it, she liked it. It was exactly what she should do. Expose Brinley on the national stage.

  He finally cast his eyes down, looking vulnerable for the first time.

  “Can I do anything to change your mind?” he asked her quietly. “I know Brinley would do just about anything to make it right.”

  Annoyance flared through Taryn at the mention of her name. Of course Brinley would think this was something she could charm her way out of, the rules applying to everyone but her.