The Heartbreakers by Pamela Wells Page B

house, but Alexia hardly saw her parents. She’d gotten used to entertaining herself when they were gone and her friends were out with their boyfriends. She’d seen every season of America’s Next Top Model (Kahlen was still her favorite, why did that girl not win? ) . Veronica Mars seemed like her best friend, and she was a Best Week Ever aficionado.
    She’d never been the type of person to need social interaction in order to have fun. She was often quite happy being alone in the house. When she was alone, she could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.
    If she wanted to watch Zoolander for the fiftieth time while eating popcorn covered in pepper, then she could. But now she could hardly wait for some company as she set out lit candles and bowls of chips and salsa. Eventually, hanging out by yourself gets old, and everyone needs some company every now and then to stay sane. What better company than your best friends?
    Last night, they’d all decided the ritual for laying The Ex to rest had to be performed right away. The sooner the better, Raven said. As always, she was ready to move on from the ex-boyfriend, but in her old style, she would have moved on to another boy. Now it was The Code. Alexia wasn’t so sure Raven could do it. She was the boy-crazy one out of the four of them.
    For some reason, Raven thought being alone was a sign of lameness. Alexia suspected her neediness had something to do with her parents divorcing a few years ago. With her dad gone all the time, Ray kept looking to boys to fill that void. Hopefully, with The Code as her aid, she’d realize she didn’t need a guy to be happy.
    The doorbell rang and Alexia grinned. She opened the front door and the night air slipped in, chilling her skin. Goose bumps popped on her forearms.
    â€œHey, guys!” she said, seeing Raven and Kelly on the porch.
    Kelly, as usual, hid in her fur-trimmed hood. Even standing on the enclosed porch out of the chilled wind, she wasmoving constantly as if trying to get her blood pumping faster.
    If you looked at Raven standing next to Kelly, you’d never guess both girls were from the same climate. Raven’s jacket was only a black hooded sweatshirt, a pink skull printed on the front. Her hands were bare, two plastic bags hanging from her wrists.
    â€œWarmth!” Kelly shouted, barreling past Alexia.
    Alexia looked over Raven’s shoulder and to the driveway. She saw only Raven’s red Nissan Sentra. “Sydney come with you guys?”
    â€œSydney,” Raven said, “is a no-show.” She walked in, and Alexia shut the door. They headed to the kitchen. Raven set her bags down on the kitchen island, shoving aside the bowl of fruit. “I called Syd and she said she wasn’t coming.”
    â€œShe hasn’t talked to Drew yet,” Kelly explained, pulling out one of the bar stools at the island. “And he’s been at my house half the night.” She slid out of her coat and set it on a stool next to her. “I think Syd’s hoping he’ll call and they’ll make up and everything will be okay.”
    Alexia sighed. “Well, hopefully they will make up, but they’ve never broken up before. This seems serious.”
    â€œI tried telling her that,” Raven said. “But she didn’t want to hear it.”
    â€œYou guys still want to do the ritual, then?” Alexia couldn’t keep the hint of disappointment out of her voice.
    â€œOf course.” Kelly pushed her ponytail off her shoulder. “I want to lay Will to rest as soon as I can.”
    â€œAnd I made us all Ex tombstones out of paper,” Raven said. “I figured we could burn them.” She pulled three tombstones out of an envelope and laid them on the table. One saidDrew, one Caleb, one Will. They were made out of heavy black cardstock and the names were done in gothic lettering with silver glitter.
    â€œThese are so cute!” Kelly