Free Moby Clique by Cara Lockwood Page B

lounging in the hall with two of her clones, blocking the way to my door.
    “Miranda, there you are,” Parker says, her lips curling up into an unfriendly smile. “Broke curfew already. Did Ms. P give you more toilet duty?”
    I try to climb over her clones, but instead of letting me pass, the clones spread out even farther, completely blocking the route to my room.
    “None of your business,” I say.
    “ Tsk, tsk, tsk. Someone’s not in a good mood at all,” Parker says, pursing her lips. “Is it because of the little friendship that’s developed between me and your sister?”
    I feel my anger start to simmer and I clench my hands into fists.
    “Parker, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but if you hurt my sister…” I trail off, not quite knowing what I’m threatening to do exactly.
    Parker’s evil smile only gets bigger. She’s clearly not at all intimidated by me. “You’ll what?”
    “I’ll make you regret it,” I finish. It sounds lame, but I can’t think of anything better. Her clones giggle and whisper to each other.
    Parker pulls herself up from the wall, slowly and deliberately, taking a step closer to me so that we’re nearly nose to nose. My heart is pounding. I’ve never actually been in a girl fight before. The closest I’ve come to fighting is taking a kickboxing class. And I doubt there’s room in this hallway to do a good roundhouse.
    “I don’t think you’ve got the balls to fight me,” Parker says.
    “Well, you’d be right there,” I say. “I am a girl. Girls don’t have balls, but then you might not know that. Didn’t you flunk biology last year?”
    “I got a C minus,” Parker breathes, furious. She’s starting to turn red. Academics are not her strong suit, which is probably another reason she keeps Lindsay around.
    “Really? That is a surprise.” I shared biology with her last semester and her idea of dissecting a frog was to let her lab partner do it while she gave herself a French manicure.
    “If I were you, I’d be a little more concerned about your little sister’s baby crushes.”
    “What are you talking about?” I snap.
    “In case you haven’t noticed, she’s completely and pathetically in love with Ryan Kent,” Parker practically purrs. She’s enjoying this a little too much. I want to punch her. “Ryan thinks it’s so sweet, of course, but he’s sworn off dating virgins . I hear he had a bad time of it with you.”
    I feel the blush creep up my neck. My face feels like it’s on fire. I can’t believe Ryan Kent’s been blabbing about my virginal status. And to Parker Rodham, of all people. This is some twist. Last semester, everyone thought I was the campus whore, and now here Parker is smirking at me because I’ve not managed to give it up yet. I want to kill them both: Ryan Kent and Parker Rodham. Not necessarily in that order.
    “Are you finished?” I ask her, managing to stay calm. It takes every ounce of willpower, but I do it.
    “All I’m saying is poor, poor Lindsay. He says he’s going to let her down easy,” Parker says. I suppose this is why Parker doesn’t care that Lindsay has a crush on him. As long as he doesn’t reciprocate, I guess it’s fine.
    I actually feel relieved. Relieved that Ryan is going to tell my sister to take a hike. And, yes, this does make me a bad sister. But still, part of me feels like Lindsay is getting what she deserves. You go after your sister’s ex, bad things should happen to you.
    But why am I so happy? It can’t just be that Lindsay is getting what was coming to her. I’m happy that Ryan is still single. What does this mean? Just an hour ago, I was kissing Heathcliff, and now I’m happy that Ryan isn’t going to make the moves on my sister. I am far beyond confused.
    “Good for him,” I say, trying to keep my voice neutral, but Parker senses the relief in it. She frowns at me. Part of me wonders—too late—if this whole conversation was designed to test whether I still