Free Game On by Monica Seles Page B

twelve-G handmade dress on you. I hate you.”
    Maya could’ve registered what was an amazing compliment (though she swiftly would’ve shot it down) if something else hadn’t taken up the entire space in her head.
    â€œThis dress cost twelve thousand dollars?!”
    â€œYeah,” Renee said. “I got it on sale.”
    Maya stood there dumbfounded while Renee continued styling her.
    With music booming in the background, Maya opened the villa door to an impatiently waiting Cleo.
    â€œI’ve been ringing the bell forever,” zombie cheerleader Cleo said. “This is how you treat the dead?” She tried to move around Maya without even acknowledging her.
    â€œWhat?” Maya said, blocking her way. “Not even a comment on the outfit?”
    Cleo took her first real look at her “Maya?!”
    Maya laughed. Cleo burst out laughing, too.
    â€œOh my God, I didn’t even recognize you! What did Renee do to you?” Cleo couldn’t get over it. “That dress is enormous. You look like you belong on top of a cake!”
    â€œHold me!” Maya fell into her arms, mock-sobbing. But the tears in her eyes were real.
    â€œI want to hug you, but I can’t find you,” Cleo said, fighting her way through layer after layer of red tulle.
    â€œFiddle-dee-dee,” Maya said, wiping her tears indignantly. “I’m practicing being melodramatic. I’m Scarlett O’Hara. Apparently I’m an emotional headcase.”
    Cleo finally pushed Maya off her. “Well, Scarlett, I don’t want to get any of my open sores on your pretty dress,” she said.
    â€œYou better not,” Maya said. “It cost twelve thousand dollars.”
    Cleo laughed. When Maya didn’t, Cleo’s eyes grew wide.
    â€œAre you serious?” Cleo asked incredulously.
    â€œShe got it on sale,” Maya said. “Apparently there are markdown bins with twelve-thousand-dollar ball gowns in them somewhere.”
    â€œYou need to steal it and trade it for a car,” Cleo told her. Maya laughed. This time it was Cleo who didn’t. Maya swatted her.
    â€œCome on,” Maya said. “I hear there’s a party going on in there.”
    â€œHow is it?” Cleo asked.
    â€œCouldn’t tell you,” Maya said. “They have a third roommate, Christine. She’s the daughter of a state senator or something, but she’s not around much. I’ve been upstairs in her bedroom waiting for my hair to set. And being made to watch Gone with the Wind .” She reached for Cleo’s hand, then affected the best Southern accent she could muster. “Shall we go inside?”
    Cleo gave her pom-poms an exaggerated shake, and then they headed into the party.
    Cleo was almost as awed as Maya had been upon seeingthe wonderland inside. Except this time, besides being packed with museum pieces, it was also packed to the walls with costumed revelers. Vegas showgirls and Roman emperors, Greek goddesses and Prohibition-era gangsters. From the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes, everyone looked flawless. And, as Renee had pointed out, sexy.
    The party was not only in full swing, it was in full roar. People were screaming, music was blasting. There were fireworks being shot off the balcony.
    â€œHow has this party not been shut down yet?” Maya asked, removing a shot glass from a potted plant.
    â€œDifferent rules for different people,” Cleo said. “Or did you forget?”
    They made their way through the crowd, Maya pretending to be trying to find someone when secretly she was just showing Cleo the rest of the place.
    â€œI heard about the villa,” Cleo said above the music as she tapped the glass of a wall-mounted aquarium, “but I never could’ve imagined this.”
    The tour continued. Renee was nowhere to be found, and without her to claim them, they were on their own. Strangers in a strange land. Thank God