Raw Deal (Beauty for Ashes 1)

Chapter 4

It was kind of sad, but I got up early on Monday morning to give myself time to do myself up a little—well, earlyish. I set my alarm to ring twenty minutes earlier than usual. That would give me time to straighten my hair.

When I walked into the cafeteria at lunchtime to meet Monica, she raised an eyebrow. “Cute hair, cute shirt, cute shoes.”

I dropped into the seat beside her and grinned at Sandy and Michelle. What were they sitting at our table for? “What about the jeans?”

“Cute too, but Levi’s fit better and look cuter,” Monica replied.

“How do you know these aren’t Levi’s?”

Michelle snorted. “They’re not.”

Sandy smiled patronizingly. “They’re D&G”

I turned my back to Monica. “Check, is my label hanging out?”

“No.”

Sandy laughed. “I can tell because of the way they fit. They’re nice, but you need to invest in a couple pairs of good Levi’s.”

I had like five pairs of Levi’s, but these jeans went better with this shirt. I looked at Michelle. She was looking at me. I smiled. She stood up. “C’mon Sandy.”

“Did they leave because I came?” I asked Monica when they walked off.

“No, they were asking if I wanted to go to the mall with them.”

“Don’t you want to go?”

“No.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. “Why not?”

“Because I was waiting for you.”

“Thanks.” I scanned the cafeteria for Jace. He hadn’t been in economics first period. There were a few guys from the basketball team sitting a couple tables away, but Jace wasn’t there. “Why didn’t Michelle come to the movies on Friday?”

“Because she knew Matt wasn’t going to be there.”

“Who’s Matt?”

“Some blond dude.” Monica raked her fingers through her long black hair a couple times, with a frown on her face. “She’s boring these days. Always wants to stay home and be alone.”

“Michelle?”

“Yeah, she’s failing you know? I think it’s getting to her because she might not get into college. And her mom is not impressed.”

I dug a candy bar out of my purse and tore the wrapper off. If Michelle stopped analyzing what jeans everyone wore and focused on her work that might make some difference. “Save it, Monica,” I said as she opened her mouth. I knew she just wanted to tell me how many calories were in my candy bar. I didn’t care.

“Fine, get obese and die of diabetes and heart failure at thirty-six. It’s your own darn choice.”

“Sure, it is. Have you seen Jace today?”

“No.”

“His car got smashed up. I had to give him a ride home on Friday.”

“I heard about his car. That is so stupid. Whoever did it needs to go jump off a cliff somewhere.”

“Jace was really upset. It was really bad.”

“Did you see it?”

“Yeah.”

“And you gave him a ride home?”

“Yeah.”

Monica chuckled. “I was gonna tell you. He called me last night about chemistry homework, and then he said, ‘by the way, Lexi is pretty cool.’ I tried to get more out of him, but he wouldn’t say anything.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Just said he thinks you’re nice. He’s way better than Lewis.”

“Lewis is nice too.” Someone tugged my hair from behind. I turned in my seat and looked up. “Hey, Lewis.” I hoped he hadn’t heard us.

He was with Hayden, they both sat down. “What are you saying about me?”

“Nothing,” Monica denied.

“I heard my name.”

“You thought you heard your name.” Monica gave the guys a look of frustration. “Excuse me, ya’ll are interrupting some very serious girl talk.”

“Cool,” Hayden said. “What are you talking about?”

Monica pursed her lips in a suggestive pout. “Guys.”

She was at it again. Flirt, flirt, flirt.

Hayden’s brows shot up. “Which guys?”

“Definitely not you guys.” She nudged me. “We’re talking about hot guys aren’t we, Lexi?”

“Um, yeah,” I agreed.

“We’re talking about guys who are worth talking about.”

Monica and the guys went back and forth tossing one-liners at each other. I studied the wrapper on my candy bar. How many calories did it have?

I didn’t see Jace all day. Nevertheless, on Tuesday morning, I dressed up again. I only saw him once all day, and I wasn’t even sure it was him because he had his back to me and was walking pretty fast toward the front exits. On Wednesday, I saw him driving a silver sports car out of the parking lot just as I was walking toward my own car after school. On Thursday, I decided to stop stalking him. It was pathetic.

I let Monica drag me to Beverley Hills after school to start shopping for the Christmas dance. She bought some jewelry and some hair magazines. I bought nothing. By Friday, I was fed up of school. I wasn’t looking forward to the dance. I didn’t have a date, and at this rate, I probably wasn’t going to get one. Not unless I summoned up the courage to ask somebody. I considered it for all of two seconds, and then regained my senses. That definitely wasn’t going to happen!