Famous (2 page)

“That does sound like your parents,” I said. “Have to admit, though; you don't have the, erm,
best
track record with grades.”

Brielle raised her tea mug. “I take total responsibility for that and accept it. I wasn't a model student at Yates. I did the bare minimum to get by and used you and Ana a lot for help. I fessed up to my parents that I hadn't been doing my best.” Bri took a sip of tea. “I told them I wanted a fresh start at a school that I already knew had a stellar reputation—Canterwood.”

“Were they blindsided by the idea of boarding school? I am. It's something we
never
talked about. I mean, did
Ana know? Why Canterwood, really? Why even boarding school?” I had so many questions for Brielle. We might be in the common room all day.

“I want to let you know, first, that I didn't choose Canterwood to come and step on your toes. I know you've got a new life here. New friends, new riding circle—new everything.”

I shook my head. “Please. I wasn't worried about that, and I don't care about stuff like that. You know it.”

Brielle smiled. “I know. But it's just something I wanted to say. Boarding school has been in the back of my mind since you got accepted to Canterwood. I never brought it up to anyone because it seemed like such an out-there idea for me. My grades weren't that great at my current school, so why would I transfer to a
harder
school?”

I nodded, listening.

“Well, it's because of you, actually. You inspired me, Lauren. You were a model student at Yates and obviously a much better candidate for Canterwood than me, but you pushed me to want to try. I felt like I wouldn't get a fair shot at Yates because my teachers know me as ‘Bri the kind of ditzy girl' and the boys know me as ‘Bri the girl who is guy crazy.' Everyone has an opinion of me that I felt would be hard to change.”

“I know all about that,” I said. “Reputations aren't easy to change. I hate hearing you say that teachers think you're ‘ditzy,' though. You're not, Brielle. I don't think any of our teachers ever thought that.”

Brielle raised her eyes to mine. “If not that, then they definitely thought I wasn't working up to my potential. It was a repeat note I got on all of my report cards.”

“I'll give you that as long as you acknowledge that you know you're capable of doing the work
and
getting great grades.”

“That's why I'm here,” Brielle said. “No one has any preconceived notions of me. The teachers will view me like a new student, and I'm going to work my butt off to impress them. I want a good reputation in the classroom. It just kind of . . . clicked for me over the summer that I was wasting a lot of time focusing on boys. They're just
so
not worth it right now!”

“Whoa!” I said, putting up a hand in a stop motion. “Who are you and what did you do with Brielle Monaco?”

Bri laughed. “I'm serious! Guys are great, okay, fine, but I was
sooo
obsessed with flirting and getting a guy that if I'd put half of that work into school and riding, I would have been getting awesome grades and would have been a stronger rider.”

“Oh! I have to interrupt! It's killing me,” I said. “Are you riding a stable horse? Which horse is it?”

Brielle's face morphed into a giant grin. “Nope. I'm not riding a stable horse. Laur, my parents bought Zane from Kim! He's coming today! I have my very own horse!”

“Omigod!” I squealed. “BRI!”

The albino gelding had been a school horse at Briar Creek for years. Brielle had been the one to ride him the most, and she loved him.

“I know! Mom and Dad said if I got bad grades at
any
point, though, the first thing to stop is my riding. There's no way I'm letting anyone take that from me, so you know I'm going to work hard.”

“When did you apply?” I asked. I stretched my legs out on the couch so my left foot rested on top of Brielle's knee.

“I wrote a letter to the headmistress and asked if I could submit myself for consideration in August,” Bri said. “It was so late in the year that I was sure she'd say no. I got an e-mail back, though, with the go-ahead to submit my transcripts and stuff.”

“Did you tell anyone then?” I asked. “I wouldn't have been able to keep that to myself.”

“I told Ana,” Brielle said. “She told Taylor, but they were the only people who knew.”

Students passed by the common room, laughing. Thankfully, the door didn't open and no one came inside. I wanted every second of one-on-one time with Bri that I could get.

“How did Taylor respond to your news?”

Brielle stared into her tea mug, then back at me. “He was totally fine with it from what Ana said. We still weren't speaking after the voice-mail fiasco. Ana said Taylor told her that he didn't care that we'd both applied.”

“What about Ana? I feel bad for her! She's the only one of us left.”

“I feel the same way. She was supersupportive of my applying and thought it would be really good for me. I could tell, though, that she was sad and hiding it. I'm just glad she has Jeremy. It's not the same as having a best friend, but they're close.”

Almost two hours
later, Brielle finished her story. I'd interjected every so often with questions. In front of us were two empty tea mugs—we'd drained two cups each—and napkins with crumbs from the kitchen's brownies.

This was a new side to Brielle. An academic-minded Bri who wanted to be a better student and rider.

“After you see all of the cute boys on campus,” I teased, “I give you three days before you're gaga for them.”

We giggled.

“Nooo!” Brielle said, her tone a half whine. “Don't do that to me. I'm still . . .
weak
. You can't tell me about cuties this early in my detox.”

I laughed so hard I felt my face turn red. “Okay, okay,” I managed to get out between laughs. “No boy talk.”

“Except about
your
boy,” Bri said. She raised an eyebrow. “I never said I couldn't talk about my bestie's boyfriend.”

The warm blush didn't fade from my face. I hadn't had much time during Family Day to talk to Brielle about Drew. Now I could talk to her all day about Drew! Maybe not
all
day, but . . .

“Look,” I said. I woke up my BlackBerry, went to my “Drew” album, and set it on slide show. I held my phone between us, and Bri oohed and aahed at the pics. A lot were candids that I'd snapped of Drew swimming or riding. Some were of us that we'd gotten friends to snap of us together.

“Asking about Drew is dangerous,” I added. “You'll have to slip me Sleepytime tea to make me be quiet after I tell you the fiftieth story about us.”

“Um, I'm still the same Brielle,” she said, a wicked grin on her face. “I want to hear boy stories!”

“You asked for it.” With that, I snuggled back into the couch pillow and told my best friend all about my boyfriend.

BRIELLE AND I STRETCHED ON
the couch, then stood. My phone had been buzzing with texts and BBMs—probably Khloe, Lex, or Clare—wondering where I was.

“I'm so glad we got to talk,” I said. “I'm really, really happy you're here, Bri.”

She nodded, sending her newly blond hair flying. “Me too! It still feels like a dream.”

I took our cups to the sink, rinsed them, and stuck them in the dishwasher. “That's a feeling that won't go away for a
very
long time.”

“I hope Clare likes me,” Brielle said. “I did take away her extra room now that I'm her roommate.”

“Oh, don't worry at all,” I assured her. “Clare will love
you. She's a sweet girl, and she's probably glad to have a roomie again. You guys are a good match.”

We left the common room and stopped in the hallway.

“I love you like crazy, LT,” Bri said. She leaned forward, hugging me hard.

“Love you, too, B,” I said, hugging her back. “We're going to have an awesome time together.” We pulled back, still holding hands. “Do you want me to walk you to your room?”

Brielle shook her head. “Thanks, but I've got it. You go find your friends. I've got to unpack. Hopefully, Clare will be there, and we can get to know each other better.”

With a wave, we split up. I checked my phone to read the BBMs.

Khloe:

Where r u? Everything OK?

Khloe:

L? I just heard from Clare that BRIELLE is her new roommate! Is that true?! Are u w Bri?

Lexa:

L!! Omigod, is it true abt Brielle?

Clare:

Whoa! I can't believe I've got your other BFF from home as my roomie! Did u know she was coming?! U didn't say anything so I'm guessing not. Like, SURPRISE, huh?

I locked my phone and opened the door to my room. Khloe, on her stomach reading
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
, righted herself onto her knees in a flash.

“Lauren! Omigod! Where were you?” Khloe's blond hair swirled around her shoulders.

I kicked off my shoes. “I'm sorry I didn't answer your BBMs. I was with Brielle in the common room.” I flopped onto my back on my bed. “Talk about shocker. She enrolled at Canterwood. Two of my Union friends go here now.”

Khloe hopped over to my bed, sitting beside me and peering at my face. “I think you're in, like, shock. Do you need me to use what I learned when I played a nurse in one of the school plays? I think I'm supposed to apply a cold washcloth to your forehead.” She frowned. “Or is it a warm washcloth? Argh.”

I laughed. “No washcloth necessary, Khlo. Thank you. I'm just taking it all in. That's what I was doing with Brielle. I needed to know everything about how she got here, from the moment she decided, to why she didn't tell me, and how she was feeling about being here now.”

Khloe rubbed a clear tube of Urban Decay gloss over her lips. “I want to hear everything, but why didn't she tell you? Are all of your old friends from Union going to sneak-apply to Canterwood and surprise you?”

I grinned. “ ‘Sneak-apply.' I like it. No, I think Ana's staying exactly where she is. As far as I know at this moment, anyway. You never know, obviously! Maybe my whole ex-class will end up here next year.”

I sat up, folding my legs under my body. “There's so much to tell that I want to share with Lexa and Clare, too. But I'll retell the story to them. I was the most curious, too, about why Brielle didn't tell me. I mean, is there something about ‘sneak-applying' that's popular? First Taylor. Then Bri.”

“Exactly.” Khloe bobbed her head.

“Brielle said she didn't tell me because she wanted it to be a giant surprise. She said there were days when she almost slipped and spilled it by accident and times when she almost picked up the phone and called. She said, though, that the idea of seeing my face when she told me that she wasn't going back to Union after Family Day was too good to blow.”

“You were so caught off guard by her coming with Becca and your parents,” Khloe said. “It was enough to keep your attention off even the tiniest suspicion that Brielle was staying. You were also running around like crazy showing things to your parents and sister, so you probably wouldn't have noticed if Brielle had dropped off a suitcase in Clare's room.”

“Speaking of,” I said. “Do you know how Clare is with the new roommate thing? I know she liked having the room to herself.”

“I talked to her when we found out about Brielle,” Khloe said. “Clare said she was just starting to get lonely in the room by herself. She's past it being Riley's space and was hoping she'd get a roomie, but she didn't expect it to happen until the new semester started. She's so excited that the person she got is a friend of yours.”

I let out a breath. “Whew. I'm so glad. I think Clare and Brielle will be good for each other. Bri's a lot like you in the personality department, and I think she'll be a very . . .
entertaining
roomie for Clare.”

We laughed.

“ ‘Entertaining'? Hmmm?” Khloe gave me an
ooh this is news to me
face. “Is that how you describe me?”

“Along with superstar rider, Oscar-winner-in-training, and the best roommate a girl could hope for.” I gave Khloe a giant smile.

She returned mine with one of her own.

“I'm going to totally quote you and put that in the signature of my e-mails,” Khloe said.

I told her more about my talk with Bri. Khloe, always
a good listener, nodded and
hmmm
ed along with every sentence.

“So, I've got to tell Lex and Clare. I want to do it without Bri being around. It would be too weird. You want to trail ride tomorrow?” I wiggled my eyebrows.