Free Getting REVENGE on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook Page B

look anything like Audrey Hepburn.”
    “That’s because you’re always hunched over. You have lousy posture. You never saw Audrey all hunched up. That reminds me of something else. We need to stop at Best Buy.”
    “I already asked my dad to rent the movies you recommended. I don’t need to buy them.”
    “First of all, watching Hepburn movies is not a chore, so stop making it sound like I’m making you do chemistry problems.”
    “I like chemistry,” Brenda said.
    “You’ll like Hepburn. She exudes charisma—that’s nature’s chemistry,” I said, extending my arms for drama.
    “I know what charisma is.”
    “Stop sounding so grumpy. What I want is for you to buy a yoga DVD. It will be good for your posture.”
    “Yoga?” Brenda rolled her eyes.
    “Trust me. Yoga leads to great posture. Now get the shirt.”
    Brenda took the shirt and marched over to the cash register. If she decided against a career in the sciences she could consider the military with that gait. However, the hair alone was starting to make a difference. Her shoulders were back just a bit, and she looked into the clerk’s face instead of at the floor. Progress.
    Brenda came back swinging her bag slightly, which for her was practically giddy girly behavior.
    I linked arms with her and we headed out into the mall as if we were starring in The Wizard of Oz and the yellow brick road led to Best Buy. We were laughing when I saw the flying monkeys.
    “Shit,” I said, stopping short and ducking into Claire’s behind an earring rack. Brenda took a few more steps forward before she realized I wasn’t next to her. She stood in the middle of the hallway looking around to see where I went. A few stepsaway at the Baskin Robbins stood Kyla, Bailey, and Lauren.
    “What are you looking at?” Kyla asked.
    Brenda pointed to her own chest with a finger.
    “Yeah, you,” Kyla said, pinning her in place with her words.
    “Nothing. I was, uh …” Brenda looked around again.
    “Great. All I need is people staring at me. Call the circus, my life is a freak show,” Lauren cried. A few people in the mall turned around to see the drama.
    “Here, have a smoothie,” Bailey said, passing over a giant pink concoction.
    “I might as well. What does it matter if I gain a thousand pounds? Then I can be fat and alone instead of just alone.”
    “You guys will work it out,” Bailey said, stroking Lauren’s arm as if she were a prized Siamese kitten.
    “He’s a dumb fuck if he doesn’t realize what an ass he’s being,” Kyla offered.
    “Is everything okay?” Brenda asked.
    “Nothing that concerns you,” Kyla said with a hand on her hip.
    “She might as well know, because it’s going to be all over school on Monday. Justin and I broke up. It’s over!”
    I nearly sucked in a pair of silver hoops. They broke up! Yes! The plan had worked. I would have done a celebration dance except for the fact I was hiding.
    “Justin Ryan the football player?” Brenda asked.
    “Duh,” Kyla said.
    “Three years. You know there are Hollywood marriages that haven’t lasted as long as our relationship.” Lauren gave a giant suck on her straw, making an unpleasant slurping sound. “Do you know how many other people I could have been going out with in that time? Plenty. Guys ask me out all the time and even guys who haven’t asked—I can tell they totally would if they thought they stood a chance.”
    “Totally,” Bailey assured her.
    “I’m sorry he broke up with you,” Brenda offered.
    Lauren spun around and Brenda took a step back.
    “Let’s be really clear about something, Justin did NOT break up with me. I broke up with Justin. I caught him lying to me and the one thing I will not tolerate is lies.” Lauren punctuated each word with a point of her finger. I noticed even from across the hall that her manicure was chipped and one nail was broken off completely.
    I gave a snort; apparently she was fine with tolerating her own lies. Karma’s a