Free What If... All Your Friends Turned On You by Liz Ruckdeschel Page B

lady.”
    â€œNow.”
    â€œOkay, Rini, okay.” He whispered to Haley, “Milady’s a bit peeved about my fraternizing with the guests.”
    Haley had noticed that a power shift hadgradually taken place between Irene and Shaun. They’d started out with Irene more or less retreating to the background because Shaun’s flamboyant personality grabbed most of the attention. But as time went on, Shaun had become so attached to Irene that she began to take it for granted. Now she could say just about anything to him and he’d obey still completely crazy about her.
    This dynamic seemed to work for the couple, but Haley would hate to see Devon being bossed around by Darcy that way. It just wouldn’t seem right.
    In the kitchen, Irene heated milk for hot cocoa as Darcy ran her hand along the smooth marble counter-top. “Everything in here just looks so … expensive,” she cooed, her eyes on Shaun, who looked away sheepishly. Haley thought she’d never seen the unembarrassable Shaun look so uncomfortable. You’d never know by the sight of him, but yes, Shaun’s parents were well-off. Very well-off. The trouble was, most of his friends weren’t. Shaun didn’t care; he didn’t have a materialistic bone in his body and dashed headlong through life, always looking for fun, not dollar bills.
    But apparently Darcy did care. She and Devon were neighbors in the Floods, the “wrong side of the tracks” in this basically affluent suburban town. Devon had turned his lack of means into a persona, outfitting himself from the thrift store where heworked and reveling in retro-seventies chic. But from the way Darcy was drooling over Shaun’s luxurious house—and then, suddenly, Shaun himself—she was clearly looking to move into fancier precincts.
    Irene poured the steaming milk into mugs and mixed in the powdered cocoa while Shaun took a bag of marshmallows from a cupboard. “I like my cocoa to be half marshmallow, half coconut,” he said, pouring half a bag of coconut flakes into his cocoa. “Who’s with me?”
    â€œI’ll stick with just the ’mallows. Toss me a couple of those, bro,” Devon said. Shaun shot two marshmallows at him. Devon caught the second one in his mouth.
    â€œI’ll try it your way,” Darcy said suggestively, leaning across the counter so that her boobs were bobbing in Shaun’s direction. She reached out her arm and dipped a finger into Shaun’s coconut-cocoa, lifted it up to her mouth and then gave it a good long lick. “Yummy.”
    â€œRini, I don’t know about you, but I think I’m suddenly in the mood for cider,” Shaun said, dumping the contents of his mug down the drain. “Wanna help me retrieve some from the cellar?”
    Irene whispered harshly to Haley, “You’ve got to do something about her. Now.” And then Irene and Shaun headed downstairs.
    â€œIs all that property out there Shaun’s?” Darcy asked Haley, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the rolling lawn bordered by tall old trees. “How many acres does he have?”
    â€œI wouldn’t know,” Haley answered truthfully.
    â€œDo you think he’d mind if I had a look around for a minute?”
    â€œGo ahead,” Haley said, relieved to see Darcy disappear down the hall. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a private moment alone with Devon. “So, how did you guys like the movie the other night? You left so quickly, we didn’t get a chance to talk about it.”
    â€œWhat do you mean? You were the one who dashed out.”
    â€œUm, no.”
    â€œBut Darcy said you were catching a ride with a neighbor,” Devon replied, looking confused. “I just assumed she meant Reese.”
    That little skank!
Haley thought, outraged that she’d been outmaneuvered by Darcy for the umpteenth time. She wouldn’t let