Free B00B9FX0MA EBOK by Anna Davies Page B

can find out whether Mr. Klish is cool with it, right?” Jess asked, barely able to conceal the glee in her voice.
    Adam took the phone from Jessica’s hands. “That’s you,” he said in a flat voice. “It’s what you were wearing yesterday.”
    “I know, but you don’t understand. It’s …” I shook my head. Jess had gotten something even better than a Photoshopped image. She’d caught me, red-handed. And it wasn’t like I could deny it, because everyone had seen me. And even though a lot of high school kids spent weekends partying, I was held to a different standard. Mr. Klish had pretty much spelled it out for me in our meeting in the guidance office the other day. And I’d blown it.
    “What do you want?” I asked, panic edging into my voice.
    “Step down from the editor-in-chief position and allow me to take over. I won’t tell anyone about the Facebook page. I mean, if I were you, I’d take down the pictures immediately. But if you don’t give me the editor position, then I’ll have no choice but to demand your resignation. After all, I don’t feel comfortable being led by an editor who clearly has such dubious judgment.”
    “Hey, Jess, do you want a chai?” Robbie called loudly from the counter. He looked almost as miserable as I felt.
    “Yeah. Soy milk. And make sure it’s not watered down,” she commanded. Robbie turned on his heel and practically ran to the counter.
    “Up to you.” She shrugged as she slid her phone into her pocket.
    I desperately glanced over at Adam. He and I were a team.He’d come up with something . But instead, he was packing his papers into his backpack.
    “Adam?” I croaked, hating the way I sounded so desperate. So scared. He may not have been my best friend, but he was the only person I had. And I needed him on my side.
    “Hayley, for all I know, you’re starting all this drama. And I don’t want to be a part of it. I need to study,” he said coldly. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
    Jess smirked as Adam walked out. I closed my eyes, hoping this was some terrible stress dream. I opened them. Nope. Jess was still standing in front of me, her smirk growing wider with every second that I stayed silent. I knew she knew I was trying not to cry.
    Robbie walked gingerly toward us, holding out his chai toward Jess like an offering. Sorry , he mouthed to me. I turned away. I didn’t want his hippie pity.
    “Thanks, honey!” Jess cooed as she grabbed the drink. She perched next to me on the love seat. “Anyway, Hayley, how you live is your choice. I’m not judging you for partying. I mean, if I were under all the stress of senior year and the Ainsworth …” She sighed. “Well, I think stepping down from Yearbook makes sense on so many levels, don’t you agree?” she asked brightly.
    I stood up so quickly I jostled the love seat and caused Jess’s drink to splash onto her jeans. As she hurried to dab the spot with a napkin, I ran out of the coffee shop. And it was only when I got to my car that I allowed myself to cry.
    I put the key in the ignition and turned on the radio. A cheesy Madonna song from the eighties filled the car, its techno-pop beat at odds with my mood.
    I’m a failure. The thought came, unbidden, to my mind. I’d worked so hard, for so long. I’d missed out on field hockey, on friendships, on parties, on everything. And now, because of holding a drink, not even sipping it — the one time in my life that I’d acted like a normal high schooler — everything was falling apart. I wasn’t like my mom, who people just liked . People didn’t like me. They respected me. But they wouldn’t, not anymore.
    I cried harder, resting my head against the steering wheel. Then, the song “Forever Young” came on. I recognized it from the soundtrack to the movie Listen to Me . It’s one of those movies hardly anyone knows, about a group of college debaters whose hyperambition serves as the basis for their friendships. Of course, it’s full of