one of these girls had acknowledged me outside the cafeteria. “No.
Taylor’s face dropped. Clearly this comment hit a little too close I’m fine,” I said.
to home.
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P R I V A T E
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“Noelle,” Ariana said in a scolding way.
“She may look and act like a dumb blonde, but she’s almost freak-Noelle’s eyes widened and she sat up again. “What? She knows
ishly smart.”
I’m kidding,” she said. “Taylor, you do
know I’m kidding?”
Taylor turned pink, but said nothing. She smiled at me encour-
Taylor managed to nod, but I could tell she was totally thrown.
agingly, hugging her books to her chest.
“Don’t you have a ton of your own work to do?” I asked her.
“Okay,” I said finally. “If you really don’t mind.”
Before Taylor could answer, Noelle scoffed. “Please. She’s
“Cool! When do you want to meet?”
already done all her coursework for the semester. Plus mine,” she She seemed inordinately psyched about helping me study, but it
added under her breath.
made me feel ten times better. And even better, the Billings Girls Kiran snickered and I wondered if this was actually true. For
were extending a hand of friendship, and that hand could very well some reason, it wouldn’t have surprised me. Maybe this really was help me get my grades up and keep me here at Easton. This day was why Noelle kept Taylor around. It would explain why a girl of such turning right around.
amorphous attitude tolerated someone so steadfastly sweet.
“Really. It’s no problem,” Taylor told me.
“You’re so lazy, Lange,” Kiran said to Noelle, yawning. She
turned over onto her stomach, readjusting her shirt for maximum back exposure. There was a black tattoo on the small of her back; it looked like an Egyptian sphinx. I wanted to ask her about it, but Noelle cut me off.
“Look who’s talking. I think your ass has grown exponentially
since we got here,” Noelle said.
“I’m impressed you know the word ‘exponentially,’ ” Kiran shot