by my outburst. "Who told you they hooked up? Did he tell you that? " I asked. "No! I-" "Then who told you?" I demanded.
"No one. Someone," Jason babbled. "I don't know! Everyone's talking about it." Everyone's talking about it. Everyone but the people
around me. If there was something going on, the Billings Girls knew about it. What were they trying to do, protect me?
"I have to go to the bathroom," I said, feeling more nauseated than ever. I had to get out of there. I had to think. "Wait! Reed, are
you okay?" "I'm fine," I mumbled. "I'll be back." Then I turned and fled. Ivy and Josh, Ivy and Josh, Ivy and Josh. Suddenly the im-
ages my mind had conjured the night before took on a new and realistic clarity. His hands in her thick black hair, her short- but-toned
legs wrapped around him. I had to cover my mouth to keep from throwing up as I raced down the staircase toward the bathrooms on
the first floor. Please don't let me boot in the middle of the library. That's the last thing I need.
At the bottom of the staircase I was about to turn toward the bathrooms when I saw him. Josh himself. He had just walked in
through the front door and now stood, his curls glistening with rain, directly across from me. The length of the lobby separated us, the
low glass cases displaying Easton artifacts acting as a barrier. But we might as well have been face-to-face. For a long second neither
of us moved. Time stopped. How could you? How could you hook up with someone just days after we broke up? Did I mean nothing
to you? You hooked up with Dash before we broke up, Josh's voice replied in my mind. And don't even try the "I thought you dumped
me " line. Even if I had, what you did was still horrible. Silent conversation over, Josh turned and walked toward the circulation desk,
which was hidden from my view by the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. I forced myself to make a left and walk to the bathroom alcove,
but before I went inside, I glanced down an aisle between the stacks. Glanced at the tall oak desk. Josh stood there with Ivy, her head
tipped sideways against his arm in a comfortable way, as if they had been dating for years.
That was it. That was all I needed to see. From here on in, Josh Hollis was nothing to me. I would date every drop-dead-gorgeous
guy at this school if that was what it took to get over him, and he would just have to watch it happen. From now on, Reed Brennan
was on a mission. Forget the bathroom. I turned on my heel and walked determinedly back upstairs to Jason. Back to my date. Back to
my new life.
PRESIDENTIAL
"You do realize we're not going to New York until next weekend," I said to Sabine on Friday night. Her bed was covered with
clothing, sorted by skirts, tops, pants, sweaters, and miscellaneous accessories, and she was systematically removing everything from
her closet to add to the piles. "I know. I just want to make sure there's nothing else I need," Sabine replied, studying a long-sleeved
azure dress. "If Maman is to send something from home, I have to tell her tomorrow or it won't get here in time." Sabine wanted to
look stylish for our trip to the city. Which I understood. It was the cool capital of the world. But I had enough trouble looking of-the-
moment at Easton. Trying to do the same in New York would probably make my head explode.
She took the last few things out of her closet and closed the door with a bang, which forced the door of my closet to pull back an
inch. My heart caught in my throat. I hadn't been in my closet since yesterday morning, which meant that today I had worn the same