Free Bling Addiction by Kylie Adams

around here that’s still normal.” A forlorn expression skated across his face.
    Lately it had just been the two of them during lunch, sprawled out in the third-floor hallway, their backs propped against the blue lockers as they sampled the exotic new menu.
    Vanity had been out of their lives since the summer, Dante never seemed to leave MACPA’s new recording studio, and Pippa was always busy with rehearsals for her lead performance in the school’s winter production of Sweet Charity.
    Christina could hardly bring herself to think about Vanity without getting emotional. Even two months after the accident. It still seemed like yesterday. Yet it seemed like a lifetime ago, too. She sought solace in the creation of her own manga , Harmony Girl, whose title character was based on Vanity. At once, the creative outlet helped Christina celebrate and reconcile her feelings.
    It was strange, though. Everything in the real world drove home the point that any dream she harbored for a romance with Vanity would never happen. Yet working on the fantasy comic itself made her fall in love with the girl as if for the very first time.
    “Are you up for poker tonight?” Max asked.
    “What’s the buy-in?”
    He grinned. “Only two grand.”
    “Is that all?” Dante asked, swooping down with a double-size Rockstar Energy Cola. “Sounds like a bingo game, bitch.”
    “Dude!” Max exclaimed, obviously surprised to see him. “Does that mean you’re in?”
    “What’s the status of my Biaggi house account?” Dante asked.
    “Nonexistent,” Max cracked.
    “Then I’m out,” Dante said.
    Max turned to Christina. “What about you, Jap?”
    “Two thousand dollars? What am I supposed to do—raid my mother’s campaign coffers?”
    Max laughed. “That’s not a bad idea. You’d certainly be putting the money to better use. Even if you lost it all in the first hand.”
    Christina smiled. “Well, you’re probably right, but count me out anyway. Why so high?”
    “Some frats from the University of Miami want to play like they’ve got big dicks and fat wallets.” Max shrugged. “But I’ll castrate the losers and make them learn the hard way that they don’t have point money. Just another Monday night on Star Island.”
    “What’s point money?” Christina asked.
    “As in fifty-one-point-two.” One beat. “Mil.” Another beat. “That’s the amount in my trust fund.”
    “Notice he’s not talking about the size of his dick,” Dante teased.
    Christina rolled her eyes. “Only because that was yesterday’s lunch topic.”
    Dante laughed.
    “I’ll be happy to recap since you’re present and accounted for today,” Max said, smirking. “I know what a size queen you are.”
    “And how would you know that exactly?” Pippa wondered out loud as she approached her locker.
    Dante stood up. “He thinks I’m gay because I like Coldplay.”
    Pippa giggled, then bent down to snatch one of Christina’s edamame.
    “It’s a sign, dude,” Max said. “That’s all I’m saying. Okay, last chance. Does anybody want in on this game tonight?”
    “What game?” Pippa asked.
    Max proudly rattled off the details. “Poker. The Biaggi basement. Two-thousand-dollar minimum.”
    “Do you know boys who actually bet that much, or is this just an excuse for you to sit around and play with your skin flutes?” Pippa flashed a smile, then disappeared as she rushed down the hall.
    “I think I’ve been insulted,” Max murmured.
    “Can’t keep anything from you,” Dante cracked, giving Max a patronizing pat on the shoulder as he walked away.
    Max rose up on his haunches and slung his beaten-but-still-beautiful Tod’s backpack over his shoulder. “Okay, Jap, I hate to leave you sitting here all alone like the loser you used to be, but I really must go.” He worked his brow up and down in a lewd manner. “Judith wants to talk to me about college.”
    “Judith as in Judith Dalton, the school counselor?”
    Max stood to his full