Rival Revenge by Jessica Burkhart Page B

single complaint.”
    â€œThat’s because I’ve been working so hard,” I said. “Paige was right—I don’t have a boyfriend and I lost oneof my best friends. That left me with a lot of free time. So, I’ve been studying more and riding.”
    Livvie folded her hands on top of her desk. “But you realize that you can do other things with the free time besides work, right? You and Paige used to be the queens of DVDs and TV shows. I hope you’re still making time for that.”
    â€œOh, we are,” I said. “For sure. And I’m fine—really. I’d come to you if I needed to talk.”
    I knew that’s what Livvie needed to hear to let me out of her office. “Good,” she said, smiling. “My door’s always open. You can talk to me anytime.”
    I got up and flashed her a smile. “Thanks. I will.”
    Once I was outside of her office, I changed plans. I didn’t feel like going back to my room just yet. Paige would be there with questions—ones I wouldn’t answer. I decided to risk the common room even though running into Jasmine was likely.
    Inside the cozy room, I grabbed a root beer from the fridge and a mini-pack of pretzels. I put my bag on the carpet and plopped beside it. I pulled out a notebook and wrote things 2 do w/Charm at the top. There were so many exercises we needed to practice before Mr. Conner taped a lesson for Mr. Nicholson.
    I munched on a pretzel and wrote serpentines, shoulder-ins, transitions on the piece of paper. The list kept growing down the page. Each item I added made me panicky. These were all things Charm and I had to do before next week.
    So. Many. Things. I squinted, trying not to take in the whole list as I added the final entries. But the familiar feeling of nausea gripped me. It had held me captive the entire time I’d been lying about Jacob to Callie and Eric. And now it was back because I was nervous about not being able to get all of this done.
    You’ll start first thing tomorrow morning, I told myself. I’d be fine. Completely fine.
    I glanced up when the common room door opened. Jasmine, groaning, walked inside. She came over and sat on the couch across from me. From my position on the floor, I knew she could see my list. I flipped to a clean sheet of paper.
    â€œIn a sad way, I’m kind of impressed by you, Sasha,” Jas said.
    I didn’t even want to guess where this was going. “What are you even talking about, Jas? I’m busy.”
    Jas rolled her eyes. “Sure you are. No boyfriend. No best friend. Yeah, I’m sure your calendar is full.” She put a hand over her heart, pausing for a second. “I just didn’tknow that you had it in you to do something like that. And to your best friend. It’s kind of ironic, isn’t it?”
    I just stared at her. I’d learned it was better not to answer her rhetorical questions.
    â€œI mean,” Jasmine continued, “you, Callie, and Paige always looked at me as the bad girl. The horrible one who did mean, awful things. Look in the mirror now.”
    I forced myself not to react. Jasmine knew nothing. Not why I’d done anything that I had. She was so wrong.
    Jas watched me for a few seconds, waiting for a reaction, then shrugged. “Whatever. I’ve got friends to go hang out with.”
    â€œHave fun,” I said in an ubercheery voice.
    Jasmine got up, walked over to the door, and opened it. But she stopped in the doorway and turned back to look at me. Her eyes focused on me and her dark hair swirled around her shoulders. “FYI, if being the new bad girl is what you want—don’t even bother. I’ve done something way worse than anything you’ve done or could ever think up. So don’t even try.”
    The door slammed behind her and I went back to my homework. I had an essay to write for history, so I started outlining it on paper. No way I was