“Oh please, like our friendship could ever fade?” Ste scoffed, rolling her eyes. “And guess what? Queenie’s transferring to our ss this semester–she says she wants to tough it out with us through the college entrance exams.<b>” </b>
“She’s all right now?”
“The heart transnt was a huge sess! Queenie’s healthier than ever, aren’t you, Lessie?” Ste tipped her chin up, looking far too proud.
“Of course!” Alessia grinned.
“But as soon as she got better, she started pulling all–nighters working on designs again. The moment I heard she was back in the hospital, my own heart nearly gave
out.”
Ste pressed a hand to her chest, remembering how her dad had been in the hospital with his chronic stomach issues at the same time. She’d been running herself ragged, so Alessia had gone to visit Queenie alone–and delivered Ste’s share of scolding on her behalf.
It had taken a miracle to snatch Queenie back from the brink, and now she was pushing her luck all over again.
“Oh, my darling Ste, I was wrong, okay?”
No <i>one </i>saw where Queenie came from; suddenly she popped up behind Ste, throwing her arms around her shoulders. Ste nearly whipped around and tossed her off on pure reflex, but Alessia was faster, catching Ste’s hand before she could move.
“Jeez, you almost scared me to death!” Ste’s heart was still pounding.
That sneak attack startled all three girls–except for Pierce, who just watched the whole scene with obvious amusement.
“Hey, long time no see,” Pierce called out to Queenie.
Queenie nodded politely. “It really has been a while.”
She was wearing the school uniform, her long ck hair glossy and straight–exactly the image of the perfect, untouchable campus beauty.
“Trinity Chain only has this one style, and honestly, it wouldn’t suit your mother much. But there’s a newunching up soon, and one of the limited editions would be just perfect for her. If you want, I can reserve one.”
12-41
Clearly, Queenie had overheard their conversation.
“I’d be forever grateful if you could. My mom’s birthday ising up, and I could use something special to make her smile.”
Even if that “something special” started at five hundred grand.
“Well, I’ll get out of your hair now. Didn’t mean to interrupt you lovelydies.” With Queenie’s promise secured, Pierce left, lookingpletely satisfied.
“Stayed upte against night?” As soon as Alessia saw Queenie, she reached out to check her pulse–by now, it was practically a habit.
“The new collectionunch is keeping me busy, but I swear, I’ll be in bed by ten tonight.” Queenie knew there was no hiding anything from Alessia, so she confessed immediately, hoping for leniency.
“If you keep this up, you’ll burn through every heart you’ve got,” Ste scolded, jabbing Queenie’s forehead–though she couldn’t bring herself to do it with any real force.
“I’m sorry!” Queenie clung to Ste’s arm, turning on the charm with puppy–dog
eyes.
Even tough–as–nails Ste was powerless against that kind of attack from her childhood friend.
“So, you heading to the office to check in?”
Queenie nodded just as the bell rang for ss.
“You two go on ahead. I’ll join you after I talk to the teacher.”
Alessia and Ste didn’t argue, heading back to ss together.
At the same time, across the street at Crestview High, the school bell rang as well.
But unlike the cheerful chatter at their school, Crestview was tense and silent on the first day back. Banners about college entrance exams hung from the hallways, and the countdown to the big test was scrawled across every ckboard.
Every student sat alone at their desk, heads down, as if their posture had been measured with a protractor. The only sounds were pens scratching answers onto practice papers.
About half an hour passed before Zachary finally stretched, rolling his neck as he got ready to turn the page. That’s when he noticed Ignatius Stone slumped over the desk in front of him–apparently asleep. Zachary blinked, surprised.