Chapters (39)
- Cover
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“Oh, so I’m a bitch now too? Why don’t you write that on a note.” Danielle digs through her champagne-sequined purse and pulls out a pen, throwing it at Ava. “Let’s see . . . I’m a bitch, a slut, what next? Come on, Ava. There’s no way to win, is there? You’re a slut if you do, a tease if you almost do, a prude if you don’t, and a bitch if you stand up for yourself. I’m sick of the name-calling. We should have each other’s backs.”
Ava clicks her tongue against her teeth and laughs. “Seriously? You’ve been calling me a slut for years.”
Danielle crosses her arms. “I don’t use that word.”
Ava raises her voice in an impression of Danielle. “Oh, Ava, what do you know about being a virgin? Oh, Ava, are you gonna fuck Ryder again? Stop humping everything that moves, Ava. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“You’re embarrassing yourself now.”
“I don’t care anymore.” Ava’s voice is strained, like she’s fighting to speak and breathe at the same time. “I just couldn’t get through to you. You don’t see me as your equal. I’m not just your stupid sidekick. Sometimes it’s my story. Not yours.”
“Oh please,” Danielle says. “Don’t martyr yourself. If you felt like a stupid sidekick, you could have done something about it.”
“I did!” Ava shrieks. “I wrote those freaking notes!”
“And how did you think that would change things? What, you thought calling me a slut would miraculously make things better for you? You’re just making guys like Ryder think they’re right. You don’t get power by knocking other girls down.”
Ava shrieks, a high animal sound, like someone has just stepped on her tail. “You’re such a hypocrite! That’s totally how you get your power. You’ve always gotten off on knocking me down. You’re like a social vampire.” She wipes at her cheeks. Her hair has come down from its chignon, and there are bobby pins sticking out at weird angles around the base of her neck. She starts yanking them out and throwing them onto the ground. “I like Chase. I’ve liked him for years. You knew that. But then suddenly you decided you had to have him, and that was more important. You slept with him at that stupid party, and you didn’t even like him! You dropped him right after you finally got what you wanted. How do you think that made me feel?”