Part 25 (2/2)

He draped an arm around my shoulders. ”You know me, though. I like 'em dangerous.”

Everyone laughed as the bell rang. I'd spent the whole period entertaining the Populazzi ... and it had been easy!

”So my house after school, right?” Trista asked as we left the cafeteria. The whole group murmured in the affirmative.

”Cara?” Trista asked.

Me? She was asking me to go to her house after school?

”Yeah! I'd love it!” I said. Then I remembered my reality and winced.

”Oooh, shoot. I'm sorry, I can't.”

”Why not?” Trista asked.

I so didn't want tell her. I was sure it would sound lame. Still, I couldn't think of anything better, so...

”I'm kind of grounded.”

”For what?” Trista asked.

Gee, um, because my parents found out I was sneaking around dressing emo, which I only did to get Nate, which I only did to get higher on the Popularity Tower, which is why I'm so totally jazzed to be friends with all of you now!

Ah, no.

”Because my parents caught me...” I'd started the sentence without knowing how I'd finish, but the answer was suddenly obvious...”stoned. They smelled the pot on me; that's how they knew.”

”Did you ask Mommy and Daddy how they knew the smell?” Gemma asked. ”That would have been my first question.”

”You smoked pot with Nate?” Kristie sounded disappointed.

”We'll figure something out,” Trista said. ”We'll call your cell tonight.”

I shook my head. ”No calls.”

”What are your parents, psycho? You're on your computer, right? We'll get your e-mail from Eddie,” Trista said.

That settled, we all took off for cla.s.s, and I rode through the rest of the day in a haze of my own Populazzi-ness. The second school let out I raced to my car and called Claudia to tell her everything.

Well, almost everything. I kind of left out the most important part. I meant to start with it, I really did ... I just couldn't.

”Did Marsh mention me at all?” she finally asked.

Claudia tried to sound casual, but I could hear the hope in her voice, which sucked. I needed her to know Marsh was not a good guy, but the truth would really hurt her. What kind of friend would I be if I did that?

”He didn't,” I said, ”but I have to tell you, Claude, I hung out with him a lot today, and the guy's kind of a jerk.”

”Maybe he doesn't want you to know he's interested, because he knows you'll tell me and he doesn't want me to know. Maybe he wants to be a challenge.”

”Maybe...”

This would be the time to tell her Marsh had a girlfriend. She'd be furious, but we'd rake him over the coals until she couldn't even imagine feeling anything but venom toward him. It would be the best thing in the world for her.

But even if she was good and angry when we were talking together, what if she got sad once we hung up? And what if she called Marsh to talk to him about it? He hadn't given her his number, but how hard was it to call 411? And if she spoke to him, how long would it be before he said something about being her very first kiss? She'd know I'd spilled it, and ... then what?

I didn't want to know what happened then. No way.

Besides, this would sort itself out. Marsh was never going to call Claudia. And as long as she thought she had a chance with him, Claude would never call Marsh. Eventually, she'd lose interest. It would be fine.

In the meantime, I needed to change the subject, so I told her about lunch at the Populazzi table. I didn't go into my Nate stories. They suddenly felt a little ... wrong. I just said it had gone really well-so well that Trista had invited me to her house.

”And so spread wide the Golden Doors of the Populazzi Palace for one Cara Leonard!” Claudia announced.

”I couldn't have done it without you.”

”Oh, your mission is nowhere near complete, my friend,” Claudia corrected me. ”Right now you're a Penultimate. By the end of the year, you will be the Supreme Populazzi.”

I wanted to tell Claudia that only a b.l.o.o.d.y coup would tear that t.i.tle away from Trista Camello, but I knew she wouldn't believe me. She had faith in the Ladder, and everything that had happened to me so far seemed to prove her right.

Chapter Twenty-Six.

The truth was that I had no desire to depose Trista. I didn't want to be her. I was happy just being part of her circle. Hanging with the Populazzi made me memorable, even to people who didn't know me. I wasn't invisible anymore, and that felt amazing. Even more amazing was having a solid group of friends. I missed that a lot, especially since Archer and I hadn't been hanging out. If I really cemented my place among the Populazzi, I'd never be lonely at Chrysella again.

By the time I got home that afternoon, Kristie had already e-mailed me. She was stunned that I didn't seem to be on Facebook. She a.s.sumed it was some kind of glitch, like I'd used a weird nickname on my account. She told me to sign on and friend her and the rest of the group right away.

I actually didn't have a Facebook account. Mom and Karl had been against it until I was sixteen. By that time, I didn't see the point. Who was I going to find on it, Claudia? We already e-mailed all the time. It seemed redundant. Neither of us had bothered.

Now I couldn't join fast enough. I signed up and sent friend requests to all the Populazzi. I wondered if they'd think it was lame that I didn't have any other friends on my account. Then I remembered they already thought my parents were crazy, so maybe it wouldn't seem weird if I said Mom and Karl hated Facebook and I'd had to beg them to let me sign up.

Trista accepted my friend offer immediately. The whole group was at her house, and they'd sat down at the computer to find me and chat.

”Grounding sux!” she wrote. ”Got 2 get you out of it-big plans for us this year!”

This year. She was already a.s.suming I'd be with them through the year. She could only have been getting that from Eddie. It was so strange to think he was that into me. Really, we'd only spoken for a couple hours, that was it.

Not that I was complaining. It was just strange.

Once Trista logged off, I called Claudia with the latest. I used my cell, but spoke softly since technically it was still for emergency use only. Claudia signed up for Facebook, too, disguised as ”Rosalind Arden,” an apparent homage to As You Like It. She didn't post a picture or profile; she only wanted to be a fly on my wall and see the Populazzi's posts.

”If anyone asks, tell them I'm your cousin from Kansas. No, Missouri.”

”Why would anyone ask?”

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