turned to Sabine. "Just don't get your hopes up. I wouldn't want you to be crushed when the Crom says no," she said in an overly
sweet tone. Then she shot me a smile before turning and striding out. "Do you really think he'll say no?" Sabine asked me, her voice
hushed. She had a light blue T-shirt clutched in her hands like it was a lifeline.
"No. I'll take care of it," I said, my voice solid even though my body was quaking from the effort of standing up to Noelle. I could
talk a big game, but it wasn't easy. Noelle was still the girl who had intimidated me all last fall and kept me guessing as to where I
stood every single day. I had a feeling contradicting her would never be easy. My iPhone sang out and my heart leapt. It always leapt
at the sound of the phone these days, as if it was expecting Josh. Each ring was a chance that he was calling to make up. But when I
grabbed the phone, it wasn't Josh's photo smiling out at me, it was Hunter Braden's. How had that even gotten in there? I could only
imagine that Vienna or Portia or someone had swiped my phone and captured the pic when I wasn't looking. I took a deep breath and
picked up. "Hello?" "Reed Brennan." The way he said my name made my already weakened knees useless. I sat down on my desk
chair. How did he have this kind of power over girls? Was that kind of talent learned or bred? I wasn't even sure if I liked the guy in a
casual sense, but that voice. Incredible. "Hi, Hunter." "You. Me. Dinner tomorrow night. I'll come by Billings at seven." There was
something about his bold self-confidence that left a sour taste in my mouth, but I figured he couldn't keep that up all the time. Some-
where under all that product and naturally won tan there had to be a real person. Plus, Vienna and the others were right: Hunter was
the perfect candidate for the Billings president's boyfriend. A smooth, sophisticated, popular, rich, Dash McCafferty type. Only better.
Because he wasn't currently dating one of my best friends. "
In the end, I'd had a great time with Jason--after we'd gotten over the awkward-kiss thing and decided to just be friends. Why not
give Hunter a shot as well? He was the perfect guy to help me show the world exactly how over Josh I was. I could move on, too. I
could move on with the best of them. "I'm in," I told him. "Of course you are," he replied. "See you then." I turned the phone off but
called up his picture again and considered it. A date with Hunter Braden. I was feeling more presidential by the second.
* * *
When I told Vienna that I had agreed to a date with Hunter Braden, she let out an ear-piercing shriek that definitely broke a few
pairs of glasses all over campus. She spread the news quickly, and suddenly it was as if a housewide holiday had been declared. Plans
were dropped. Club meetings skipped. Facials eschewed. By one o'clock on Saturday afternoon, every Billings Girl had descended up-
on my room, offering up color palette suggestions, wardrobe items, and some seriously dubious etiquette pointers.
"If you happen to get something caught in your throat, do not choke at the table," Shelby told me as she laid out her collection of
cocktail dresses on Sabine's bed. "There is nothing less attractive than bug eyes and bread crumbs flying everywhere with your spit-
tle." I stopped blowing on my freshly manicured nails, which Constance and Kiki had just clipped, buffed, and polished. She had to be
kidding. "She's right. Choking will totally turn a Hunter Braden off," Portia added, organizing several eye shadow palettes on my desk
for Noelle to inspect. "It is TV." I glanced at Rose for clarification. She was always translating for Portia. "Totally verboten," Rose