Free Laguna Cove by Alyson Noël Page B

ruefully.
    “Are you okay?” Anne asked carefully, wondering if she was supposed to say anything or just pretend like a face full of smeared makeup was all the rage in the OC.
    “Actually no, I’m not. I’m dying, I’m devastated, and I’ve been dumped,” she said, shaking her head and digging through her purse. “And now I can’t even find a tissue.” Her eyes welled up with tears again.
    “Hang on. Here,” Anne said, handing her a crumpled one she’d found at the bottom of her bag. “It’s clean, too, I swear.” She watched Lola blow her nose over and over and over again, wondering how one little tissue could actually withstand all that.
    “Thanks,” she said, wadding it up and tossing it into the trash. Then she curled her legs up under her. “Sorry about all this. My parents insisted I come to this stupid thing, and because of it I got dumped. And believe me, it’s not the first time they’ve interfered.” She shook her head. “It’s just so hard when they expect so much from me. I mean, they never would have approved of him, and that’s why it all had to be a big secret. But I think he got tired of sneaking around.” She stopped and looked at Anne. “And you want to know the worst part?”
    Anne just nodded, not entirely sure that she did. She wasn’t used to people just spilling their guts like this. But then she remembered how her dad had once told her that in movie speak this was called a California Conversation. Apparently this kind of soul dumping was routine for those who lived here.
    “I was actually considering doing something really major with him, you know? God, I’m such an idiot,” she said, covering her face with her hands and starting to cry again.
    “Don’t say that. You should be glad that you didn’t, because now you don’t have anything big to regret, right?” Anne said softly.
    Lola looked up, nodding slowly.
    “Just be glad you found out now.” Anne smiled.
    “God, I can’t believe I just told you all that when my best friends don’t even know.” Lola looked suddenly panicked. “Oh God, please don’t mention this to Ellie and Jade. They’ll freak.”
    “Don’t worry,” Anne assured her. “Jade’s in my art class, but we don’t sit by each other. And Ellie, well, I don’t think she likes me enough to ever have a conversation with me.”
    Lola looked at Anne and shrugged. “Ellie’s cool. Really. She’s just a little leery of newcomers, that’s all.”
    Anne didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure she believed that.
    “Did you have a boyfriend in—where’d you move from?”
    “Connecticut, and yeah, I did. His name was Justin and he just dumped me for his old girlfriend. Didn’t take him long to move on, did it?” Anne said, relieved that she could finally say it out loud without choking up. Even though it did feel kind of weird to talk about him in the past tense.
    “Hey.” Lola looked at her and smiled in a way that lit up her whole face despite the mascara trails running down her cheeks. “This movie blows. What do you say we bail? I heard there’s this party tonight at Aliso Beach. It’s just gonna be a bunch of people from school, but it’s gotta be better than this.”
    “But what am I gonna tell my dad?” Anne asked, feeling torn between wanting to hang with Lola and leaving her dad, who she’d barely spent any time with. But , was that her fault, or his?
    “Tell him you don’t feel well and I’m taking you home. And I’ll tell my parents the same thing. Come on; it’ll be fun,” she said, opening her compact and surveying the damage.
    “Okay. It’s not like he’ll miss me, anyway. He’s too busy staring at the screen and inhaling popcorn. He probably won’t even notice I’m gone,” Anne said, hoping that wasn’t exactly true.
    “My mom’s not even watching the movie. She’s too busy sitting next to Renee Richards, hoping someone will take a picture of the two of them.” She rolled her eyes.
    “Did you see