“Did you apply anywhere else? Or just here?”
“No, also Lawrenceville, Taft, and Kent. But this was my first choice.”
I nodded. “So you’ve met Charlie and Nick?”
Another head shake. “Not yet. You know them well?”
“You could say that.” I grinned. “We took baths together back in the day.”
“What’re they like?”
“Oh, well, Charlie’s the best!” I said, but then the PAC’s lights dimmed, and the giant projection screen lowered in front of the stage’s blue velvet curtain. I smiled and got comfortable in my seat.Thiswas the reason for the stampede inside; it was tradition for the student council to emcee school meetings, and they always made anentrancefor the very first one.
“Get ready,” I whispered to Luke. “You’re going tolovethis.”
Thiswas a ten-minute video of Bexley meetsThe Office, and I wanted to nominate it for an Emmy. The skit was a mock student council meeting, with each member playing up their title. President Jennie was banging the oval-shaped Harkness table in frustration over how Bexley was a good school, but this year, it was their job to make it agreatone!
“I appreciate Jennie’s passion,” VP Samir Khan said in a confessional, “but in order to make this a great school, she needs to support my ideas for a stronger peer tutoring system, instead of just focusing on the athletic and theater departments…”
Then the camera panned to a shot of Jennie in the library, with the redheaded Carmichael twins waiting on her hand and foot. “You’re really tense, Madam President,” Nick, in his hockey jersey, told Jennie as he massaged her shoulders.
“Oh, Nick, Iknow. Feel free to dig inharder…” She sighed happily as Charlie held up a chocolate from the enormous box onhis lap. He was decked out in his Prince Charming costume and totally grinning. (“That boy could set off fireworks with his smile,” my mom always said.)
“And this one, dearest Jen, has a raspberrycreamfilling.” He took a slow, seductive bite of the candy and licked his lips before popping the rest into Jennie’s mouth.
“That’s them,” I whispered to Luke.
Luke nodded, but didn’t say anything. He just watched, and then listened as Jennie came onstage and welcomed everyone to the new school year before introducing the rest of her cabinet. “And last but not least, this is your Arts Representative, Charlie Carmichael,” she told us. “His favorite color is blue, he loves Cool Ranch Doritos, and before you ask,no, he is not a paid model for Vineyard Vines!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke lean forward in his seat.
“Come have dinner with me,” I said after the lights went up. “I want you to meet my friends.” Charlie especially, but he, Nick, and Jennie wouldn’t be around. Student council always ate with Headmaster Griswold and the deans across the street in town the first night.
On Bexley’s dime, he’d texted me.I’m getting a steak.
“Okay, sure,” Luke agreed, following me out of our row. “That’d be great.”
“So, there are two different dining halls,” I explained once we made it outside. “Leighton is the bigger one, and it’s for all theunderclassmen. And Addison is the smaller one. That’s where we’re going now. It’s seniors only.”
“Right.” Luke nodded. “That’s the building next to my dorm. Where do you live?”
“Down that way,” I said, gesturing behind us. “Simmons. The senior girls’ dorm.”
Luke whistled. “Seems like a hike.”
“It is, but I have a bike.” My sweet mountain bike, recently demoted from hilly woodland trails to Bexley’s cobblestone streets.Stinger, Nick had named it two summers ago, an homage to the bike’s screaming black-and-yellow paint job.
Eva Alpert was holding the door open for us when we got to Addison. “Hi, Sage!”
“Hey, Eva.” I smiled, and introduced Luke. “This is Luke. He’s a PG.”
And we basically watched Eva melt right there in the doorway. “Oh, gr—uh, awesome to meet you,” she said, twirling a curl around her finger. “You’re gonna love it here.” I caught her eyes travel from Luke’s head to his toes.
Stop it,I wanted to say, already feeling territorial. I took Luke’s arm and led him inside.
“I feel slightly violated,” he whispered once we stood in the long line for food. It snaked across the black-and-white tile floor. I spotted Reese’s sleek dark braids several heads in front of us. She could command a room.
“That’s Eva Alpert for you,” I whispered back. “She’s nice but is always like that with guys.” I laughed. “And you’retotallyher type.” I thought of Jeremy Tanaka, Nick’s freshman-year roommate. Evadated him for a while last year, and he wasn’t nearly as good-looking as Luke, but they weren’t dissimilar, both having the artsy-intellectual cute vibe going for them.
