Is Bridgeport big enough for Kae, Robyn, Alex and Jasmine? They're all beautiful, captivating, and a little bit crazy... but there can be only one It Girl.
[ Based on the It Girl series by Cecily Von Ziegesar ]
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Aubrey hesitated outside the door of Chris's room, not quite confident he should be doing this. He hated Chris with a passion—the way he'd swept in like a vulture last year and stolen Robyn away from him, and then the way he'd tossed Robyn aside as soon as cute little Karrueche Tran came along, and the way he was tossing Kae aside right now. He hated everything about him, including the way his jeans were always just so perfectly splattered with paint, so as to remind everyone in the entire world that he was an artist. Everything about him was just so fucking effortless—and it drove Aubrey absolutely insane.
And yet, they'd had sort of a cease-fire moment when Aubrey bumped into him in the woods earlier in the week. Chris had actually asked for his advice—like he wasn't even aware of the fact that Aubrey was waiting for the day when he got expelled so that he could gleefully wave goodbye to him forever. If Chris could be big about it and ask for Aubrey's opinion on something, then, well, Aubrey wasn't going to let him be the only mature one. Resolutely, he knocked on the door.
"Yeah?" a muffled voice called out from the inside, distractedly. Aubrey opened the door and stood in the doorway awkwardly. Chris was lying on his back on his unmade bed, hands cupped under his head, staring at the ceiling. Aubrey reflexively glanced up to see if maybe there was something there—a poster, or maybe some of those glow-in-the-dark star stickers, but there was nothing.
"Hey." Aubrey coughed. "You busy?"
"Bruh, do I look busy?"
Aubrey bristled, but then Chris turned his head slightly and gave him a half-grin. If he was surprised to see him there, his face showed no sign of it. Thankfully, Chris's pothead roommate, Jermaine, was off somewhere, probably making out with his new girlfriend, Zendaya, who was also way too good for him.
"Hey, everyone works in different ways." Aubrey shrugged, trying to look as casual as Chris.
"Definitely not working." Chris rolled onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow. He had on his essential paint-covered jeans and a T-shirt that looked like it had once (a long, long time ago) been white. "What's up?"
"I don't know." Aubrey picked up a notebook off a desk chair and placed it gingerly on the overflowing desk, then sat down. This was totally awkward. He was going to ask Chris for girl advice? "This...girl. She's driving me nuts."
Chris nodded slowly. "The one at the party? Leather jacket? Save the whales?"
Aubrey felt his chest puff up with pride. "Yeah, Jhene. She's awesome, but she's sort of hard to get, you know?" Aubrey played with the cuff of his navy pin-striped dress shirt. "The thing is, she's kind of like you—she's like a, you know, free spirit. Doesn't-want-to-be-tied-down kind of thing."
"So you want my advice?" Chris rubbed his neck, sounding a little surprised.
Aubrey bit the inside of his cheek. "Uh, yeah. I like her. I want to be with her. I don't want to chase her away or anything, though."
