(Book One) Do you ever feel as if your life has yet to begin? I've been alive for almost seventeen years now and absolutely nothing has ever happened to me. Not until I met a girl who kick-started my life. She introduced me to love, sex, scandal, ex...
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"Katie and I used to live next door to each other when we were kids. I didn't have many friends."
I look at her with disbelief. I have a hard time believing it. She sees my expression.
"Believe it or not, it's true. Other kids never liked me. I was a dork, a total nerd, I always had my head in the pages of a science magazine or textbook. I didn't understand other kids, especially girls. I was socially awkward and funny looking. You've seen my brother I used to rock the same unibrow."
I can't help but let the corners of my lips turn up, at the small jab.
"My parents put me in dance and gymnastics, hoping I'd make friends with some girls my age. But I preferred to hang with my brother and his friends at the skatepark. Basically, I had no friends until I met Katie. She was my childhood BFF. My brother had an insane crush on her. " Ari chuckles at the memory. I mentally take note of this Damien isn't gay.
"We even went to the same school. K through eighth grade. She was pretty and a year older. I was the nerdy girl without friends, but she hung out with me anyway. We stayed friends for years. Then in seventh-grade things changed." Ari pauses and her demeanor saddens.
"My family and I went to Italy for the summer. My mom took me to a beauty stylist. Superficial but she was trying to help me fit in. I got laser hair removal treatments, I was given make-up tips and a new wardrobe. The whole princess diaries shebang. After a summer in Italy, I came back with my new look. Everyone treated me differently. My classmates for the first time wanted to be my friend and invited me to parties. I joined cheerleading, the dance team, and the soccer team. It all sort of got out of hand. My grades started to slip. I didn't care because I thought I was the prettiest girl in school. I was unkind and self-centered."
Ari looks down at her hands in embarrassment again. I can't imagine Ari being "that-girl". Not her being beautiful and popular. What was hard to imagine was her preening around like a peacock.
"I should've been kinder to Katie." She continues. "Our relationship was...complicated. But I was excited to be "popular" when I'd been a social pariah. I canceled on her and didn't include her. Made fun of her behind her back. We were still friends, sort of, but we were growing apart."
I feel guilty. Katie and I were drifting apart too. Was I doing the same thing Ari had done?
"Then Steele happened. He was an eighth grader in Katie's class. As cool as his name. Cute, popular, and on the basketball team. All the girls liked him especially Katie. She'd been crushing on Steele since the fifth grade. She would obsess over him. Then he started paying attention to me."
I already know where this story is headed. It was classic. Girl like boy, boy likes girl's friend.
"I was mean. I wanted to hurt her feelings. Rub it in her face. He liked me and not her. I asked him out and we started dating. He was my first boyfriend and my first kiss. Then a rumor started going around I'd given him a blow job at school."
