Superior

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Delaney

"I'd be careful, if I were you."

I jumped and whirled around, surprised to find myself face to face with the shorter dancer girl. She looked at me seriously.

"Did you hear what I said?" The girl peered at me through dark brown eyes that matched her wavy hair. She wiped beads of sweat off the chocolate-colored skin of her forehead.

I just gaped at her in a very fish-like manner.

"Look," the girl said, sighing, "I used to go out with Caleb in eighth grade. I'm pretty sure I was his last girlfriend before Carlie. The day after those two got together, Carlie came up to me and threatened to trash my rep if I ever talked to him again.

"She's a jealous person, Delaney—that's your name, right? If she finds out that you were talking to her boyfriend for more than a split second, she won't hesitate to destroy you."

"But you're not going to tell her," I said sharply. "Right?"

The girl shrugged and held up her hands. "Hey, I'm on your side," she said. "I'm just warning you. People see things, and people talk. If she gets word of this, she'll crush you into the ground and make sure people never want to speak your name again."

"I'm a two. Do you really think I care?"

The girl tilted her head. "Just a word of warning," she said. "Think of it as an expert's advice." And then, without a word of goodbye, she turned around and walked away.

○●○●○●○

"Did Caleb give you your drink?" Lizzy asked as we got into her brother's car. It was just past midnight and I had finally convinced her to go home, though the party was still going strong.

"Oh, um, yeah," I murmured absently.

"That's good," she said. Her brother Josh, who had agreed to pick us up, gunned the engine and turned on the radio. "So, I bet that was more fun than you expected, huh?" Liz giggled for way longer than normal, and I wondered, not for the first time, exactly how many of those drinks she'd had. After drinking only half of one, I'd been about to fall over.

"Yeah, pretty fun," I replied.

"You didn't really have fun, did you, Delaney?" Josh asked. He looked like an older, male version of his sister. Although he was in college, he had been fairly Popular during high school.

"No, no, I did," I assured. It wasn't a total lie. I had expected torture, but the experience had been bearable, maybe even somewhat enjoyable. For the most part, though, I was a wallflower, observing the habits of the Populars and not saying much at all. Other than talking to Caleb and the dancer girl, my night was uneventful.

So although I didn't really have fun, per se, I wasn't completely miserable.

As we drove up in front of my house, I pulled out Lizzy's contacts and shoved them into her hands. "Never make me wear those again," I warned, putting my glasses back on. She just giggled some more and waved goodbye.

When I got inside, the house was dark. My parents had gone to bed. I went straight up to the bathroom, trying to be as quiet as possible, and wiped all the makeup off my face. Then I took a shower, washing out all the crap Lizzy had put in my hair.