“Wow,” I said. “He's a hero.”
“He is, isn't he?” she asked, scrunching her nose. “Anyway, I think he might actually be interested in me. Walt Whittaker. I can't believe it. He even said we should have dinner sometime. Just me and him. To catch up on old times!”
I took a deep breath and tasted relief. “Constance, that's so great. I'm really glad it went so well.”
“Me too!” she said. Then she grabbed me in both arms and hugged me. Hard. Constance was bonier than she looked.
“Come on. Let's go study!” she said.
As she dragged me through the door and into the library, I couldn't help feeling I'd finally dodged at least one bullet. If Whit
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and Constance started spending time together, he would have to see that she was ten times more appropriate for him than I was. And ten times more eager to be with him. And then I wouldn't have to worry about deflecting his advances or trying to remind him of our agreement to be just friends. One less thing to stress about.
I needed this. I needed it badly.
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* * *
When I arrived at the dinner table that night, a heated debate was taking place. Dash was definitely on one side, Noelle on the other. It was unclear as of yet whom the others had aligned themselves with. I blushed as I walked by Dash and sat down on his side of the table, as far from him as I could get, making it nearly impossible for me to see him. Ever since my illicit discovery in Noelle's room, I'd had a hard time being in the same room as Dash without constantly seeing his nether regions in my mind's eye.
Two seconds later, Josh sat down across from me. “Hey,” he said.
I smiled. “Hey.”
“I don't understand,” Dash was saying. “One phone call and we could have a limo waiting for us anywhere in town. Do you want to be uncomfortable for two hours?”
“Dash, you're not getting it. This party is all about tradition,” Noelle replied, gesturing with her fork. “And part of the tradition is taking the train.”
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They were talking about the Legacy. They had to be. The Billings Girls had never talked about it right in front of me so openly before. Were they finally, finally going to invite me?
“She's right, man,” Gage said, leaning back on two chair legs and balancing. “The train ride is half the fun.”
'Yeah. It was really fun when you booted all over the window last year on the way home and it dripped down the back of my coat,“ Dash said grumpily. ”That was fun."
“Look. The Legacy has been going on for generations,” Noelle said, taking a bite of a baby carrot. “Our forefathers took the train to the Legacy and we will take the train to the Legacy.”
“Since when do you give a crap about our forefathers?” Dash asked.
“Since when are you using wax in your hair?” Noelle asked, eyeing him disdainfully.
“Oh, that's relevant,” Dash replied.
God, this was torture. Didn't they realize that no one had officially told me about this thing yet? Didn't they want me to come? Talk about Cinderella. This was what she must have felt like when her annoying stepsisters kept talking about the damn ball.
Okay. Clearly I was going to have to make this opportunity for myself. Sometimes a girl had to do what a girl had to do.
“Um, I have a question,” I said, leaning forward.
Everyone turned to look at me. Noelle, Kiran, Taylor, Ariana, Gage, Josh, Dash, and Natasha. It was as if they had all forgotten that I existed and my speaking was, therefore, a complete shock.
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“What is the Legacy?”