Free Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten Page B

place!”
    The best Olivia could manage was a “Wow, hey.”
    “Olivia is like a sister to me, Mrs. Chen.”
    “I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Chen.”
    “Ha.” The old woman grimaced. Olivia took an instant dislike to her.
    It seemed to be mutual.

    “I’m living with Olivia uptown, near the school. It’s wonderful. I’m very happy now. Very.”
    Kate seemed to be looking for applause that she clearly was not going to get from this dried-up twig. Olivia was tired. The whirl of the night had caught up to her. The bags were heavy and her arms ached. It was time to go.
    “We need to buy some mangoes, Mrs. Chen, for Olivia’s housekeeper.”
    “Ha.” The woman barked something, and in the midst of that throng, a box of Alphonso mangoes appeared out of nowhere and was thrust into Kate’s already-too-full arms. “Present.” Then she narrowed her eyes at Olivia.
    Not dislike, Olivia hated this woman.
    “Kate”—Mrs. Chen leaned into her—“that girl…”
    The din from the crowd was so loud that Olivia didn’t hear the rest, but she did hear Kate’s sunny reply: “She’s a very, very good friend to me, Mrs. Chen.”
    Mrs. Chen grunted. “You still got number?”
    Kate frowned and then nodded. The old woman turned and left without so much as a good-bye.
    Kate flashed Olivia a “what are ya gonna do?” smile. “Don’t mind her,” she said. “For months I thought she hated my guts. It’s just her way.”
    Olivia thought she was smiling, but she couldn’t be sure. She got sloppy when she was tired. She’d sometimes think she had her “outside” expression on and then she’d catch a glimpse of herself, stunned to see a lovely blond girl looking like she was dead inside. She put down her parcels and rummaged through her purse.
    “Okay, partner,” said Kate. “Time to move up and out. I’ll get us to the main drag and we’ll hail a cab. I’m wiped.”
    “Me too!” agreed Olivia.

    Kate started heading for the street, and Olivia turned back in time to catch Mrs. Chen watching her.
    “Brilliant night, roomie?” Kate called back to her.
    Olivia nodded. “Beyond brilliant!” And then she dry-swallowed an Ativan.

Claudette had all the personality of a bag of hair, but she knew how to stage a party, I’ll give her that. It was like an anti-Halloween party. Pretty much everyone was dressed to the nines. She’d also built a nice two-to-one ratio of private to public boys. This pissed off the Rigby and St. Joseph guys hugely, but it made them work harder. Genius, really.
    We Wonders arrived together in Olivia’s car service. Everyone squealed as soon as we opened the door, mainly because no one had seen Olivia at a party in almost a year, but also because the sharp-eyed but dull-witted Claudette immediately screamed, “Superb knockoffs!” We posed hard, working our polyester like Lagerfeld was in the house.
    What can I say? We made an entrance.
    Before we scattered to conquer various parts of the scene, Olivia grabbed my arm. “Two things. First, note that Claudette is wearing brand-new Louboutins. It’s her downfall. She tries waaay too hard. Second, don’t leave me hanging, okay? I’m rusty.”

    I squeezed her hand in a promise before I started wandering and hugging and exclaiming over everyone’s party couture.
    As soon as Olivia departed, Claudette glommed on to me. “You look adorable, Kate.”
    “Thanks, you too,” I gushed. “Fabulous shoes, Claudette. Really.” She was sucking back a green apple martini that was not her first, by the looks of her. The festivities were being held in her father’s limestone on Ninety-Fifth in Carnegie Hill. Completely unbidden, Claudette launched into a review of the party prep. Suffice to say that everything had been meticulously seen to, including the two bartenders, her sister’s best dope connection, her dad’s caterer, a hot DJ, and a security man stationed in her dad’s bedroom and waiting to pounce if things went south.
    “Smart.