They Just Don't Know You

Chapter 5

Perrie's POV

Sunday, September 8

"You have four kinds of sparkling water," Kamille reports from the depths of our refrigerator. "Not flavours. Brands. Perrier, San Pellegrino, LaCroix, and Polar. The last one's a bit down-market, so I'm guessing it's a nod to your humble roots. Want one?"

"I want a Coke," I say without much hope. The Pinnock's housekeeper, who does all the grocery shopping, isn't a fan of refined sugar.

It's the Sunday before school starts, and Kamille and I are the only ones here. Mom and John left for a drive after lunch, and Leigh and her friends are out back-to-school shopping. "I'm afraid that's not an option," Kamille says, pulling out two bottles of lemon Polar seltzer and handing one to me. "This refrigerator contains only clear beverages."

"At least it's consistent." I set my bottle down on the kitchen island next to a stack of the college brochures that have started to arrive for Leigh on a daily basis: Brown, Amherst, Georgetown, Cornell. They seem like a stretch for her GPA, but John likes people to aim high.

Kamille unscrews the cap from her bottle and takes a long swig, making a face. "Ew. This tastes like cleaning solution."

"We could go to your house, you know."

Kamille shakes her head so violently that her long, dark hair flies in her face. "No thank you. Tensions are high in the Purcell household, my friend. The Return of Sairah has everyone shook."

"I thought Sairah's coming home was temporary."

"So did we," Kamille says in her narrator voice. "And yet, she remains."

Kamille and I are friends partly because, a long time ago, Jonnie and her sister, Sairah, were. Caitlin Robinson and Sairah Purcell had been best friends since kindergarten, so once Jonnie and Caitlin started dating, I saw almost as much of Sairah as I did of Caitlin. Sairah was my first girl crush; the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen in real life. I could never figure out what Jonnie saw in Caitlin when Sairah was right there. Meanwhile, Kamille was in love with both Caitlin and Jonnie. We were a couple of awkward preteens trailing around after our golden siblings and their friends, lapping up whatever scraps of attention they'd throw our way.

And then it all imploded.

Caitlin died. Jonnie left, suspected and disgraced. Sairah went to Princeton just like she was supposed to, graduated with honours, and got a great job at a consulting firm in Boston. Then, barely a month after she started, she abruptly quit and moved back home with her parents.

Nobody knows why. Not even Kamille.

A key jingles in the lock, and loud giggles erupt in the foyer. Leigh comes sweeping into the kitchen with her best friends Ellie and Jesy, all three of them weighed down by brightly coloured shopping bags.

"Hey," she says. She swings her bags on to the kitchen island, almost knocking over Kamille's bottle. "Do not go to the BelleVale Mall today. It's a zoo. Everybody's buying their homecoming dresses already." She sighs heavily, like she wasn't doing the exact same thing. We all got a "welcome back" email from the principal last night, including a link to a new school app that lets you view your schedule and sign up for stuff online. The homecoming ballot was already posted, where theoretically you can vote anyone from our class on to the court. But in reality, everybody knows 4 of the 6 spots are already taken by Leigh, Andre, Ellie, and Alex.

"Wasn't planning on it," Kamille says drily.

Jesy smirks at her. "Well, they don't have a Hot Topic, so." Leigh and Ellie giggle, although Ellie looks a little guilty while she does it.