Kristen. Part 9

"And she's being all she's being all un un toward the DSL Daters." Ripple kicked a cigarette b.u.t.t with her clear jellies. "She's dismantling the group. Says she only wants to hang with dancers now." toward the DSL Daters." Ripple kicked a cigarette b.u.t.t with her clear jellies. "She's dismantling the group. Says she only wants to hang with dancers now."

"And?"

"Annnnnnnddddd I want you to be my tutor again so I can get Ma.s.sie-fied. I'm offering you your old job back. You'll get to see I want you to be my tutor again so I can get Ma.s.sie-fied. I'm offering you your old job back. You'll get to see Duuuu-uuuuune Duuuu-uuuuune."

The heat on the roof suddenly seemed unbearable.

"Forget the job." Kristen lifted her hair and fanned he back of her neck. "I'll tell you what you need to know for free."

Ripple speed-nodded and air-clapped. "I'm ready." Her mouth hung open, ready to gobble up whatever Kristen had to offer.

"Ma.s.sie thinks wannabes are LBRs minus ten."

Ripple crinkled her brows in confusion.

"If she thinks you're trying to be like her, she won't like you. She only likes people who like themselves. And she only respects people who like themselves more than they like her. You have to accept who you are and own it. So if you're living your life to impress other people, which is what you're you're doing-" doing-"

"And what you're you're doing," Ripple snapped. doing," Ripple snapped.

Ouch!

Her accusation hit Kristen like a much-needed bucket of ice water. For a dumb nine-year-old, Ripple was kind of smart.

"Correction-it's what I was was doing." Kristen jammed her toe under her soccer ball, flipped it up, and caught it. "Those days are over. Cla.s.s dismissed." doing." Kristen jammed her toe under her soccer ball, flipped it up, and caught it. "Those days are over. Cla.s.s dismissed."

THE PINEWOOD.

KRISTEN'S ROOM Thursday, July 23 11:33 A.M.

"THE COMMITTEE IS a.s.sEMBLED," announced the computer-generated voice.

Kristen sat at her white IKEA desk and lowered her eyes, unable to face what she had done, or the people she had done it to.

EINSTEIN (Layne Abeley) BILL GATES (Danh Bondok) Disguise: tweed coat, bushy mustache, wiry gray wig Disguise: gla.s.ses, light blue b.u.t.ton-down, dark blue blazer Expertise: physics Expertise: technology OPRAH (Rachel Walker) SHAKESPEARE (Aimee Snyder) Disguise: wavy black wig, gold hoop earrings, pumpkin orange blouse Disguise: gray bald-in-the-front, curly-in-the-back wig, mustache, white collar sticking out of a black cloak Expertise: anthropology (the study of humankind, not the cute and affordable shabby-chic store) Expertise: affairs of the heart and the Romance languages

"What do we stand for?" she asked under the cover of her Cleopatra wig.

"BOB," they answered.

"And what does BOB stand for?"

"Brains over beauty!"

Kristen sighed and then decided to just say it. "I am officially resigning as the leader of the Witty Committee," she told the gra.s.s-stained hem of her white silk G.o.ddess dress.

"What? Why?" Bill Gates screeched. His unconstrained pa.s.sion forced Kristen to lift her eyes. "We thought you called the meeting to thank us." Bill Gates screeched. His unconstrained pa.s.sion forced Kristen to lift her eyes. "We thought you called the meeting to thank us."

"Well, that too." Kristen felt like she had one of David Beckham's fur b.a.l.l.s in the back of her throat. "What you did for me last night was-"

"Not last night, girl." Oprah shook her head. "Today." "Today."

"What are you talking about?"

"Skye got her acceptance letter to Alphas this morning, didn't you hear?" Shakespeare smirked. "And I am pleased to say I wrote her entire essay with a quill."

Einstein, Oprah, and Bill applauded.

Kristen grinned but wasn't exactly sure why. "What did you do?"

"I got rid of her for good." Shakespeare smiled. "Heaven knows I was no help when it came to last night's tech circus. So I contributed in my own way and wrote a brilliant essay in iambic pentameter."

"Seriously?" Kristen grabbed the sides of the screen and kissed it like it was Aimee's face. "I thought you guys were mad at me."

"We were," Layne said, using her best German Einstein accent. "But after the Witty Committee rescued me from the country club cops, we thought about all the stupid things we did when we were in crush mode. And we decided to forgive you."

"Like what?" Kristen giggled in antic.i.p.ation.

"You know the hole I drilled in the pipes at Briarwood?" Layne smiled sheepishly. "The one that caused the wave pool to leak and destroy the whole facility?"

Kristen speed-nodded. She had no idea where this was going, but she certainly remembered getting the news before summer break that the boys' school had collapsed and was submerged underwater.

"Well, I did it because I wanted my crush, Dempsey, to go to OCD." Her cheeks turned bright red. Surrounded by the silver wig, she looked like a Christmas tree ornament draped in tinsel.

"No way way!" Kristen covered her mouth in shock. "How did you know it would work?"

"The OCD manifest states that in the case of emergency, one school will take in the other." Layne shrugged. "It was a no-brainer. He gets back from Bali mid-September. I can't wait to tell him the news. I've already reserved a locker for him next to mine."

Kristen's hand was still on her mouth as she shook her head in utter disbelief.

"And I intercepted Skye's first essay so she'd stay in Westchester." Bill Gates dabbed his forehead with a screen-cleaning cloth.

"Since when do you like Skye Skye?" Kristen squealed, feeling one percent jealous. Even though she didn't like Danh in that that way, she liked that he liked her. And she loved that he liked her more than Skye. way, she liked that he liked her. And she loved that he liked her more than Skye.

"I don't." Bill's neck was starting to break out in red blotches.

"Tell her," Oprah gently nudged. her," Oprah gently nudged.

"I like you you," he blurted. "I was hoping she'd stay here, Dune would stay with her, and you'd be free."

"Awwww, Bill." Kristen touched her heart. "I'm so, so-" Bill." Kristen touched her heart. "I'm so, so-"

"It's okay." Bill smiled like he meant it. "I'm moving on."

"You see," Shakespeare spoke up, "I agreed to wear this stupid costume and write with a feather because I like Bill." She looked up, so it appeared she was making love-eyes at Bill on Kristen's screen. Bill glanced down at her quadrant and smiled.

The two giggled as if they had already made it official with a lip kiss or two.

"Don't you just love all this honesty?" Oprah gushed.

"So you forgive me?" Kristen asked everyone, but mostly Layne.

"If you promise one thing." Layne tucked a wiry gray wig strand behind her ear. "Help me get Dempsey next year before someone else s.n.a.t.c.hes him up."

"I swear." Kristen lifted her pinky, knowing Dempsey was a total LBR. The blond, green-eyed chubby gamer who worked the lighting board for the Young Actors' Program at the community playhouse would be lucky times ten to land a girl like Layne.

"Then you're forgiven." She lifted her pinky and touched it to the camera on her computer. For a second, her quadrant was filled with an oversize pink finger.

"What are you you going to do?" Shakespeare asked. going to do?" Shakespeare asked.

Kristen's happy bubble popped as her thoughts were forced back to Dune. She had no idea what she was going to do. No idea how to live with this sadness for the rest of the summer. No idea how to convince him to give her a second chance.

"Knock, knock," a boy's voice said from her bedroom doorway. "Can I come in?"

She was about to find out.

THE PINEWOOD.

KRISTEN'S ROOM Thursday, July 23 11:55 A.M.

"What are you doing here?" Kristen quickly closed her MacBook, pulled the Cleopatra wig off her head, and jammed it under her green and blue duvet. Her sweat-drenched hair had dried into what probably looked like Donald Trump in a windstorm. And she was wearing the same Greek G.o.ddess dress he'd seen her in last night. But she would never compromise the Witty Committee for love again, not even when her looks were at stake. So she grabbed her mint green satin VS robe off the floor and casually slipped it on to avoid questions.

"I came to say goodbye." Dune hooked his thumbs under the straps of his red Gravis backpack.

Kristen's stomach pitched. Hope was gone.

"I thought you already said goodbye at the country club," she said coolly. Inside her mind, a soccer stadiumsize crowd jumped out of their seats and cheered for her quick retort and iron resolve.

Dune lowered his black fedora, then stuffed his hands in the pockets of his khaki cargo shorts. A tattered white beater showed off his defined, tanned shoulders, which happened to be slumped forward in shame. "Yeah, about that . . ."

"Whatevs." Kristen twirled her finger around her locket, channeling Ma.s.sie and her strength. "So, where are you going?"

Despite the somber moment, he couldn't help smiling. "Tavarua. It's an island in Fiji. Totally exclusive, with one of the best breaks in the world."

"Is this because of last night last night?"

Dune chuckled. He dropped his bag on the floor and hurried over. Unsure of what to do when a CLAM got that close to her and her bed, Kristen slid onto her blue s.h.a.g area rug, her back resting against a green and white sham. He immediately sat down beside her, smelling like coconuts and sunshine.

"Nah. Earlier this summer I booked a commercial for Billabong." He beamed. "We shoot on the island for a week, and then Dad, Ripple, and I are going to camp on the beach and surf until my tour starts."

"Good luck." Kristen stood.

"Wait." He pulled her back down.

The warmth of his hand melted the ice behind her eyes. Tears were imminent and only a matter of time. Kristen glanced toward her window as if something life altering was about to happen beyond the pane.

"I thought maybe you could tell me how you did the whole Jell-O thing. It'll go over huge with the guys on tour."

She pulled her hand away. "That's why you came?" why you came?"

Dune blinked several times, as if his lashes were slapping his face for saying something so stupid.

And then he shook his head no.

"Then why are you here?" Kristen's voice shook. She wasn't sure if she was offended, heartbroken, or angry. All she knew was that Dune looked like he was gearing up to say something worth e-mailing to her friends, and she could hardly wait a second longer. "Tell me!"

He looked up, his eyes a darker shade of brown than she remembered. "I came to tell you I'm sorry I left you last night. And that I'm sorry I'm leaving you this summer. And that I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to get to know you better."

David Beckham jumped onto Dune's lap and purred for both of them.

Kristen ran a hand through her matted hair and smiled in a way that told him all was forgiven. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know who you are are." He shifted to face her.

Kristen giggled at his question. It sounded like a stolen line from one of those corny Lifetime movies her mother watched. But his expression remained fixed and she knew he meant it.

And that was one of the many things she ah-dored about him.

"I'm a lot of things, I guess." She tied the green satin tie on her robe in mini knots while she contemplated.

With the Pretty Committee she was: A) Popular times ten.B) Stylish.C) Sn.o.bby.D) Smarter then the rest of them, but not as smart as she really was.E) A soccer star.F) Waxed.G) Fake-rich.H) A beta.I) Insecure.F) Loyal.H) All of the above.[image]

With the Witty Committee she was: A) An alpha.B) Intellectually gifted.C) An LBR lover.D) CC (Closet Cleopatra).E) Loyal.F) Proud.G) Confident.H) All of the above.[image]

With her mother she was: A) Studious.B) Obedient.C) Modest.D) Frumpy.E) Middle cla.s.s.F) Proud.G) Independent.H) A future president.I) Hairy-legged.J) All of the above.[image]

The truth was, Kristen Gregory was so many things, she had no idea how to answer his question.

"I dunno," was all she could manage.

Dune lifted his arms and reached behind his head. "Why don't you think about it while I'm gone." He unhooked his leather-tied shark tooth necklace, leaned forward, and fastened it around her neck.

"What are you doing?" she asked, praying her question wouldn't change his mind. "Isn't this important to you?"

"It is." He grinned. "That's why you better be here when I get back in October."

"October?" Kristen gasped. Kristen gasped.

"Everything okay in here?" Marsha poked her head inside the open doorway. Kristen quickly shimmied away from Dune.

"Yeah, why?" Her cheeks burned.

"I thought I heard you calling for me," Marsha said convincingly, even though they all knew she was lying.