Free Social Order by Melissa de La Cruz

up.”
    â€œYou won’t—don’t worry,” Lili reassured her. “And even if one of us makes a tiny mistake, who cares? Just smile and they won’t notice. This is all about fun!”
    A. A. stared over at Lili as though she was out of her mind. Lili knew what she was thinking—last night she’d talked A. A.’s ear off about how stressed she was about the three of them messing up. Lili shrugged. Sometimes lies were necessary if you wanted to get a good performance out of someone. Seven years of violin recitals had taught her that.
    â€œRight,” Lauren said, doing a quick twirl and landing perfectly. “Okay, let’s nail this thing!”
    â€œYeah, let’s get out there,” A. A. said quickly. “Coach is waving at us—he has the music ready.”
    The two Ashleys and Lauren walked slowly to the middle of the field. The thundering bass line of Katy Perry’s “Roar” blared from the overhead speakers.
    â€œEverybody step, step,” Lili called, and they all jumped to the left in perfect unison. The routine was going exactly as planned. A. A. was kicking so high she looked like a Rockette, and Lauren, to Lili’s left, was keeping up without any problem. She even seemed to be enjoying herself. Lili hadn’t been lying completely earlier—Lauren was gorgeous, and she looked hot in the slinky blue and gold minidress. She was the only girl at Miss Gamble’s who could approach the poise and style of the Ashleys.
    The best part of all was that Lili could sense they had the crowd’s full attention. By the time they were thirty seconds into their routine, the boys in the stands were on their feet, hooting and clapping. Trent was glowing like a proud parent on the sidelines.
    And with one final leaping kick, it was over.
    Lili beamed up at the applauding crowd and the cameras, then sneaked a quick look down the sidelines. Where were the Reed Prep players? More to the point, where had Max gone? A few of them were huddled around, talking to their coach. If Max hadn’t been watching, this whole performance was for nothing.
    â€œYay, Ashleys!” some of the sixth-grade girls in the stand were shrieking. “Yay, Lauren!”
    Lauren waved up at them, looking as if she’d been used to adoring crowds all her life. Lili knew why the girls were all into Lauren now—no one had been admitted into the Ashleys’ inner circle in a long time, and Lauren proved that maybe any of them could be an Ashley if they were lucky enough. If only the other girls knew they were only using Lauren to get on television.
    â€œCome on,” A. A. urged them, grabbing Lili’s hand and motioning back toward the stands. “Game’s about to start again.”
    It was true: The players were lining up, helmets already in place, most of them swinging their lacrosse nets. As the girls jogged back to where they’d left their things, one of the Gregory Hall players waved at them with his giant glove.
    â€œHey, Lauren!” Billy Reddy yelled through the grille in his helmet, looking like a fierce blue and gold tiger. “Thanks a lot!”
    Next to her, Lili saw Lauren blush prettily.
    But where was her guy? Had Max gone home?
    â€œHey, over there, someone’s trying to get your attention,” A. A. murmured in Lili’s ear.
    She looked over to where A. A. was pointing. Most of the Reed Prep team were congregated to the side, but Lili didn’t see Max anywhere . . . oh, wait. A. A. was right. There he was. Giving her a big thumbs-up sign.
    â€œGreat show!” he called.
    â€œGood game, Max!” she yelled back, returning his smile. She checked to see if the camera had captured Max waving at her. Yes, it had. She beamed. All her planning had worked out just fine. She couldn’t wait for French conversation class on Monday.
    â€œUh-oh.” Lauren had picked up her bag and was staring up into the