Free Birthday Vicious by Melissa de La Cruz Page B

schizo. At school she was either nowhere to be found or else clinging to them like a vine. Even so, Ashley had specifically invited her to the birthday dinner, and she’d made a point of calling Lauren every five minutes, begging her to meet them for shopping. Lauren didn’t need to try this hard.
    Ashley marched back in front of them with her hands on her hips, wearing a different dress.
    â€œRed velvet,” she mused, pursing her lips. “Like a red velvet rope. Super exclusive! What do you think?”
    Lauren studied Ashley’s reflection in the mirror carefully. A. A. thought the dress made Ashley look like a stop sign. Of course, Lauren dutifully obliged with a compliment. “I love it!”
    â€œAsh, we can bring dates, right?” Lili asked, peeking out from behind the curtain. “I already told Max about it.”
    â€œOf course!”
    â€œWho are you going to bring?” A. A. asked Lauren.
    â€œOh God!” Lauren cried. “I hadn’t even thought of that!”
    A. A. looked bemused. “I don’t know how you do it—dating two guys at once.”
    Lauren looked down at her hands. “It’s awful, actually,” she said. “I don’t even know which one I like better. Have you ever had that problem?”
    It took A. A. a moment to answer. She’d been thinking of Hunter, and how she did like him, and her mind had disturbingly wandered over to Tri. “No, I like Hunter,” she announced, even though it wasn’t an answer to Lauren’s question.
    Thankfully, Lauren dropped that line of questioningand turned to Ashley. “Have you thought about having a VIP area at your party?” she suggested, heading over to the racks to pick out some dresses.
    â€œI was totally going to suggest that!” Lili wrenched back her dressing-room curtain, still zipping up her dress. It was rust-colored velvet, very similar in color and style to the one Ashley was wearing. A. A. tried to suppress a smile.
    â€œTsk!” Ashley sniffed. “Of course I’ve thought of that. Not only will there be a VIP area, there’ll be a VIP dance floor. Only the Ashleys will be allowed to dance on that .”
    â€œWith boys, right?” Lauren asked anxiously. The thought of boys made A. A. groan. She didn’t even know if she wanted Hunter to come to this party, let alone dance with her in some VIP area while everybody else stood around staring. And then she felt guilty. Why didn’t she want to dance with Hunter? It wasn’t as though he was a lame loser like Tri.
    â€œA. A.—hi!” A. A. couldn’t believe it. Speak of the devil—or at least, the devil’s girlfriend. Cecily, Tri’s new squeeze, was waving at her from the other side of the store.
    â€œHey,” said A. A., fluttering her fingers and wrigglingdown even farther into the sofa while Cecily deposited her umbrella in the stand by the door. She would rather watch Lili and Ashley have a tug-of-war with a velvet hair band right now than get into some “Tri is so great” conversation with his love-struck sweetheart.
    Too late. Cecily was scurrying over, sitting down on the sofa next to A. A. and shaking drops of water out of her auburn pixie. Cecily looked fresh and pretty in a plain T-shirt and dark-rinse jeans. A. A.’s phone vibrated.
    â€œIt’s my brother,” she told Cecily, checking the screen. “He just got the new version of Dark Void. That’s a—”
    â€œHe’s got it already? I thought it wouldn’t be released until Tuesday.” Cecily looked excited. “I can’t wait to check it out. Hey, I was meaning to ask you—have you played that new soccer game yet? The FIFA 15? My dad just got it for me, and I love it. You play?”
    A. A. nodded, saying nothing, vaguely aware that Ashley and Lili were now arguing in loud voices about who got to wear velvet at Ashley’s party. She