Page 23 of Faux Real
“What?” Felicity exclaims, her expression aghast. “Youhaveto go, Kenny! Everyone will be there!”
“Yeah, I know,” I murmur, checking the time.Exactly why I won’t be going. “Listen, guys, I gotta go. I need to talk to Mrs. Patella about the budget for Homecoming.”
“Do you know who’s on the committee with you yet?” Max asks, scrolling through TikTok videos. “I can help if you want.”
“Are you actually going to help or just sit around and distract me?” I ask, brushing strands of grass off of my skirt. “Because last time, you barely lifted a finger and I had to blow up one hundred balloons all by myself.”
“It’s not my fault that I have weak lungs!” Max protests. “Blame the vape.”
I roll my eyes. “Stop vaping then, Max. You know it’s bad for you.”
Max shoots me a knowing glare. “I guess we all have our addictions, right Ken?”
Fuck. I can stop anytime.
“Whatever,” I sigh, collecting my school bag. “I’ll see you in the common room after school, okay?”
My friends wave goodbye to me as I walk toward the west side of the school. My course load this year is not as heavy as I expected. I took a couple of online classes this past summer so I could have two spares. I need all the free time I can get to write a killer essay for my Harvard application. I could’ve taken three spares if our college counselor didn’t insist that I take another elective. How the fuck isphotographygoing to help me in the future? Hello? iPhones have portrait mode. What else do I need?
As I approach the entrance to the campus, the smell of cigarettes causes me to wince. Ew. Disgusting. Everyone knows to smoke in the parking lot. What kind of idiot smokes right beside the school? I follow the foul scent of tobacco and round the corner. Oh. Of course. It’s the Bimbo Brigade. Standing in the corner by the stone wall is Corrine Davis and her minions, Larisa Stefanova and Maya Perez. I used to wonder why Corn would want to be part ofthatcircle but she’s always cared more about popularity than people. Larisa’s father is an oil tycoon in Russia and Maya’s father allegedly supplies weapons to the cartel, but she insists that he’s in cybersecurity. Hilton Hears dropped a few hints over the years that he’s most certainlynotin IT but I don’t really care either way. None of my business.
“You guys need to put that out,” I say, pointing to the cigarette. “If you’re going to give yourself cancer, please do it in the parking lot.”
Maya rolls her eyes as she sips her daily green smoothie. As if vitamin C will balance out all the drugs she does on the weekend. “Or else what? A blue slip? Hmm? You gonna write us up?”
Larisa smirks, tousling her long blonde hair, the sun reflecting off of her Rolex. “Yeah, Kenny, what are you going to do?”
I sigh. Why can’t they just follow the rules? Is it that hard? I’m asking nicely for God’s sake. “Just put it out.”
“No,” Corrine says in a clipped tone, narrowing her smug eyes at me as she takes a long drag and blows the smoke in my face. “We don’t listen to liars.”
Classy. I cough, swatting away the smoke. If I get lung cancer when I’m fifty, I’m suing her. “What are you talking about?” I ask, suppressing another cough.
“Didn’t you read the latest HH update?” she says, batting her eyelashes. I’m surprised she’s not flying away. “It was posted just a minute ago.”
Fuck.No...
“And what did it say?” I ask in a calm tone, keeping my breathing level. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter. That app is full of lies anyway.”
Brush it off.
“Well let’s see—” Larisa pulls out her cell phone and snickers. “We hear that: there’s a liar in our midst. According toveryreliable sources, Kenny was lying about having aKnightin shining armor. Looks like golden girl has some explaining to do.”
My jaw clenches. Relax. Don’t react. “Reliable sources?” I ask, crossing my arms. “Wow, how vague.”
“Hilton Hears doesn’t lie,” Corrine sneers. “Which means the only liar here, isyou.”
I blink. They walked right into that one. Idiots.
“Really? It doesn’t lie? So Maya’s daddy reallydoeswork for the cartel? And Larisa reallydidget a nose job? And you, Corrine, you reallydidhook up the Thompson brothers on thesamenight?” I let out an awed exhale. “Wow, you guys. That’s somereallyjuicy information.”
The three of them freeze, their eyes cold with anger. Like I said, idiots. “Shut the fuck up,Kennedy,” Maya growls. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”
“No, I don’tthinkI’m smart,” I smile, tilting my head. “IknowI’m smart.”
“Little Miss High and Mighty,” Corrine spits, stalking toward me, holding out her cigarette. “God, Kenny, now Iknowyou’re lying about dating Oliver.”
“Yeah?” I ask. “And why is that?”
