**Officially published as Clique Bait with HarperTeen!**
Payment is usually a part of a basic transaction. You give and then you take. But, at Arlington Preparatory, people take at their leisure. They take their entertainment in the form of humiliat...
My mother wouldn't have said anything truthful. When does she ever?
Remember Halloween, when you wore the mask and disappeared for the WHOLE party? It was our first one, and we were split up. I had this stupid idea that I could get Piers Lockhart to kiss me, and then... well, I never told you at the time. But I got drunk and ended up in a room with Francis, who convinced me to play strip poker.
He saw the lingerie.
I know Lola knew.
I love you,
Mon
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William held the door for me as I stepped into the snug little coffee shop. The inside was as dainty as the outside, decorated with little flowers and ribboned decorations. It was the opposite of where I'd have pinned level one to hang out. For them, I expected sophistication and glamour.
I immediately regretted not changing from my school uniform when I spotted the girls at the table in the corner. Lola and Sophie sat on the light pink leather couch that lined the wall, Li adjacent to them with a cup of tea held in her fingers. Opposite them was Maddy Danton. Unlike me, all of them had made a wardrobe change between here and school.
Li Yao's eyes were the first to flit up to mine. They were wide and ever so creased in the corners, as if she knew a brilliant secret that you'd never catch on to. Her eyes traveled between me and William, and then she lazily turned her head to Lola beside her.
"Do you drink tea or coffee?" William asked.
"Coffee," I said immediately. I released my gaze from the group, not wanting to draw the wrong type of suspicion.
"With a hit?" he asked.
I looked at him in confusion.
"Of alcohol," he clarified.
The appeal of the isolated little coffee shop suddenly became apparent. "They serve their coffee with alcohol?"
William nodded. "And they don't have any incentive to check for ID. Not when you tip enough, anyway."
My eyes returned to the group who were surveying us subtly over the rims of their cups. It didn't surprise me that they were here for the alcohol hit, especially when it went unnoticed to their high status parents.
I felt the gentle push of Will's hand against my waist and immediately stiffened. I'd forgotten we were supposed to look like a newly developing couple. "Come on, go sit down and I'll order us a drink."
There was an empty table for two by the window, and I moved to take a seat so I could still see the level one girls from my position. I picked up the menu and used it to shield myself from the skeptical murmurs that were already developing.
