Part 33 (2/2)

The person I didn't invite was Claudia. It felt horribly wrong to leave her out, but I knew from the moment Trista had come up with the plan that I'd have to. I couldn't risk having Claudia in the same place as Marsh and Ree-Ree. She knew the two of them were together now-I'd told her they'd ”started” dating about a month after Eddie's party. But Claudia still wasn't over Marsh, so I worried about what she might say to them-and I worried more about what they might say to her in return.

Better to keep her in the dark. I hadn't told her anything about the party-not the idea of it, not the lunches with my dad leading up to it, nothing. It was hard censoring myself that way, but I'd done a good job. She had no idea, and she never would.

My biggest hurdle was still Karl, but I had come up with what I thought was a brilliant excuse. I said Sat.u.r.day was Trista's birthday; she was having a full-weekend slumber party at her house to celebrate, and she'd be devastated if I weren't there. Karl liked Trista enough to be sympathetic, but he was adamant: any other weekend but not when I was meeting Dean Jaffe at the end of it. No amount of begging or cajoling changed his mind, so eventually I had to bring out the big guns: Trista herself came over for dinner.

As always, she was brilliant. She kissed up to Karl like crazy and a.s.sured him over and over that she would personally guarantee I got enough sleep and made it home bright and early Sunday to get ready for the lunch. She even used the NFL to help make her case. Most teams rarely practiced hard the day before a big game, she said. They busted their b.u.t.ts all week but pared it back the day before, to make sure all the players were healthy and rested when they needed it most. If I stayed home and stressed both nights before my interview, I might psych myself out and freeze up in front of Dean Jaffe. But if I spent those days relaxing at Trista's, I'd be fresh, calm, and ready for anything. This was my Super Bowl, and if Karl let me prep for it with a weekend at Trista's, I'd not only win it, I'd even beat the spread.

Bringing in both football and gambling was pure genius. Karl couldn't resist. He gave his permission, but I considered it tenuous at best. It was vital that I give him no reason whatsoever to reconsider, so I didn't complain even as my semigrounding started to make me crazy.

My cell rang and I checked the caller ID: Claudia. It was a week before my party, and I was trying to slog my way through a novel. Once upon a time, huddling in my room with a book would have been a near-perfect Sat.u.r.day night, but now I couldn't even concentrate-I was too tortured imagining Trista and the gang out dancing without me. Talking to Claudia would be the perfect distraction.

”Know what the problem is with finally getting a life?” I asked as I answered the phone. ”You totally miss it when it's gone.”

Silence. Then, ”You're having a party?”

My brain whirled. How did she know?

I raced to my computer, surfed to Facebook, and scanned my wall. Trista must have had everyone post before they went out tonight. It started with Trista's ”Miz Hostess-Countdown 1 week 2 MEGA-CHIW par-tay! Super LA need not apply!”Then Kristie weighed in: ”Hey C-LMK if U need help setting up. So X-ited!” Ree-Ree and Gemma came next, and all their postings inspired others to write about their own excitement, most likely to prove to the Facebook-sphere how cool they were to merit an invitation.

This was not supposed to happen. The party had its own event page. That's where everyone had been commenting, not on my wall where Claudia could see it!

”Cara?”

She sounded so small and uncertain. It was completely unlike her. I felt horrible.

”Yeah ... I'm having a party.”

”And you weren't going to invite me?”

”I wanted to invite you. It's just ... Marsh and Ree-Ree...”

”You told me about Marsh and Ree-Ree. I know they're together now. You know I know that.”

I felt my rib cage squeezing in on my heart and lungs. I had no idea how to explain this without telling Claudia what I'd revealed about her and how I'd lied about Marsh and Ree-Ree getting together after Eddie's party. I felt sick to my stomach imagining how she'd react, and even though I knew I deserved her anger, it didn't make me any more eager for it.

Then suddenly I realized I had a way out. I could tell Claudia a half truth, one that wouldn't hurt her feelings as much ... and maybe wouldn't make me quite so despicable.

”It's not you, Claude. It's Ree-Ree. She's crazy jealous. If she saw you and Marsh and got even the vaguest idea that you were ever together, she'd go nuclear. Party-destroying nuclear. And the party is supposed to take me from Penultimate to Supreme Populazzi, so if the party's destroyed-”

”Wait-you're saying you were keeping the party from me for the sake of the Ladder?”

”Yes.”

My ribs were closing in tighter. Would she believe me?

”Well, that's madness,” she said. ”After all the work we've done, do you seriously think I'd ever get in the way of the Ladder? Don't you know me better than that?”

”I do! But I also know you'd love to come to the party, so I figured if you didn't know about it, you wouldn't have to feel bad about not going.”

”Why wouldn't I go?” Claudia asked.

Um-wasn't that what we were just talking about?

”Because...” I floundered, ”you just said you wouldn't want to get in the way of the Ladder ... and Ree-Ree seeing you would get in the way ... or it could...”

”Only if Ree-Ree suspected Marsh and I had a thing,” Claudia said, ”which she won't.”

”She won't?”

”No. Not if I pretend Marsh and I have never met.”

”But...” My brain spun with a million contradictions before I truly took in what she meant. ”You really ... you would do that?”

”Of course! If I act like I don't know him, Ree-Ree can't get jealous. She never saw me at the other party, she has no idea who I am ... she'd never even suspect. I don't have to say a word to Marsh. Or her. I won't even look at either one of them. No interaction, no jealousy, no danger to the Ladder.”

And no chance Marsh or Ree-Ree would say something to Claudia that I didn't want her to hear. I was still running her solution around my brain at hyperspeed to look for holes, but I found only one. ”You're sure you'll be able to stay away from him?” I asked.

”Cara ... a little credit. It's not like I was in love with Marsh-we hung out one night, and that was months ago. I'm pretty sure I can find other things to do than moon over him and bother his jealous girlfriend. I don't know if you're aware, but I have a history of great success at Populazzi parties.”

My rib cage finally unclenched as I laughed out loud. ”Yeah, you do.”

”So how did you get Karl to let you have the party at the house? Aren't you practically grounded?”

”Um ... the party's not here. It's at my dad's house.”

”What? The Sperm Donor? And the Bar Wench? How have you not been telling me about this! I'm shutting up now. You're spilling. I want to know everything!”

Claudia and I talked for hours, and I filled her in on the whole story of the party, beginning to end. I even sent her the Facebook event page link so she could check out the invitation and guest list. Though Claudia still thought it was crazy that I hadn't told her everything immediately, she understood my motivation. She agreed that the party was the perfect way for Trista and me to publicly switch places, but it had to go off without a hitch. If all went well, I'd be seen as Supreme Populazzi by the time it was over, with Trista simply my highest-ranking Penultimate.

I felt great about the plan. To be honest, it was already working. The party was all anyone was talking about at school. And whenever someone would ask Trista about it, she'd say something like ”I really don't know. You'd have to talk to Cara-this one's all her. It's going to be epic, though. I wouldn't miss it for anything.” Ree-Ree, Kristie, and Gemma, who was back from her latest tournament, said similar things.

It's not that they knew about the master plan-they didn't-but they did know I was planning a party that would put every other event of the year to shame. Everyone knew it, and people looked at me with newfound respect and admiration. My guest list determined who was someone. Everyone wanted to be my friend. Even senior cla.s.s Populazzi went out of their way to talk to me.

And for the first time in my life, I wasn't worried about what to say. The party was on my mind 24/7. I was constantly talking to Trista to compile lists of everything I needed: all the right music, food, and decorations. I spent every day between the end of school and dinnertime racing around to buy supplies. I paid for it all with my credit card-I'd find an explanation for Karl later. I stayed up late every night burning CDs and making iPod playlists. In my head I staged every square inch of Dad's house and ch.o.r.eographed every second of the party the way I wanted it to unfold. I could make scintillating conversation about this party to anyone, and people always lit up at the sight of me, like they always had for Trista.

The party hadn't even happened yet, and already I felt like that girl: that beautiful, confident, charming girl I'd always admired but never dreamed I could be.

I was so close. I just needed to seal the deal.

Chapter Thirty-Three.

Friday, the day before the party, I was so excited I could barely breathe. Not that there was time to be nervous: I had a zillion things to do and just over twenty-four hours to get it all done.

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