something even snarkier, but then both of them blanched. Had I just sprung horns or something?
“I have to go,” Blonder said.
It wasn't until they had both gotten up and scurried off that I felt a presence behind me. Somehow I wasn't surprised when I turned around and saw Noelle just coming to a stop.
“Oh. Did I scare off your little friends?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Apparently,” I said. “Thanks for that.”
“Anytime,” she told me. “Girls have to learn their place.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my heart still pounding.
“I mean they don't get to mess with you, Glass-?licker,” she said, slinging her arm over my shoulder. “That's my job.”
I actually managed a laugh.
“So. How are you holding up?” Noelle asked. 'You must be so sick of all this Pearson crap already."
My heart turned over, as it did at every mention of Thomas. “Aren't you worried about him at all?” I asked.
Noelle slipped away from me and looked me in the eye. As always, she was nearly impossible to read. “Reed, Thomas
Pearson has a way of always landing on his feet.”
“If you say so,” I replied.
“You cannot listen to what all the little idiots with no lives around here are saying,” she said adamantly. "Look at Dash and Gage. They've known Pearson their entire lives and they're not worried. Why? Because they know him. And they
50
know that he's out there somewhere having a big fat laugh at our expense."
I smirked sadly at the thought. 'You think?"
“I know,” Noelle replied, hooking her arm through mine. “Stop worrying about him. Because sooner or later he's going to show up here like it's one big joke and then you are going to be so pissed you wasted your time.”
I took a deep breath and let her words sink in. Thomas was fine. All his friends--the people who knew him best--believed he was fine. They even believed he was going to show up at that Legacy thing all ready to party. Who was I to doubt their certainty?
“So. Ready for a little kick-?ass soccer practice?” Noelle asked. “I promise I won't lay you out today. Wait. Actually, I don't.”
I laughed as we headed off toward Billings to change. A little kick-?ass soccer practice was exactly what I needed.
“What were you crazy kids talking about anyway?” Noelle asked. “Looked serious.”
For a split second I considered asking her about the Legacy. But I wasn't yet desperate enough to remind Noelle that I knew so little about the inner workings of this place. I'd just have to keep trying to find out on my own.
“Oh, you know, the latest in Vera Wang,” I said blithely as we turned up the path to Billings.
Noelle laughed for a long time. “That's what I like about you, Reed,” she said between gasps for air. “Sometimes you really slay me.”
51
DEAR REED
“Ugh! I just cannot take this sweater one more second,” London Simmons said, pulling a creamy white cashmere sweater over her head and tossing it at her silver garbage can. Her dark brown hair grazed her bare back, falling into perfect waves.
“London! You cannot just throw away cashmere,” her roommate, Vienna Clark, replied.