Dead Ringer Read Free Page B

earlier, and luckily there was no follow-up
question. Laura didn’t want to talk about the confusing looks, and she
certainly didn’t want to remember what she overheard as she left lunch.
     Charlie and his friends were already at the table when
she walked into the room, giving her the chance to observe them from afar. To Charlie’s
left sat a petite blonde wearing a blue-and-white-striped sweater dress. She
had blunt-cut bangs and tiny little panda bears painted on her fingernails, and
she moved like a flitting hummingbird, totally focused on everyone but herself.
To her left was a shorter, stockier version of Charlie. He wore a Varsity
jacket, an attempt at dressy sweat pants, and the only five o’clock shadow
Laura had ever seen at noon. On his lunch tray were two meatball sandwiches and
a giant side of fries, most of which appeared to be from the blond girl’s tray.And then there was the other girl, the really beautiful one. Her lanky
frame, bone-white skin, and deep-auburn hair made her look like she’d just
stepped out of a magazine fashion spread, and her perfect posture made it clear
that she knew it. She clearly owned the table, if not the whole school.
    Just as Laura was about to approach, the beautiful one hit
Charlie with a look like he’d just said something totally shocking.
    “Sorry to interrupt,” Laura said as she slipped a tendril of
hair behind her ear. Everyone in the group startled at her
arrival—especially Charlie.
    “There she is now!” he said, expertly smoothing over the
awkward moment. “We were just talking about how much it must have sucked to
never have winter on the West Coast.”
    Laura smiled. “Seventy-five degrees year-round is a
total bummer.” The group forced a laugh. Whatever they had been talking about
was being pushed aside for now.
    “Laura, the group—group, Laura.”
    The little blond one stuck her hand out first. “Welcome to
Englewood. I’m Katherine Jacobs, but everyone calls me Kit. Your dress is super
cute, but you’re probably going to tell me it’s from some cool shop in L.A.”
Kit seemed sweet and genuine, like she knew just how to make a person feel
comfortable.
    “Thank you,” Laura said, “It’s actually from my friend’s
fashion line. Your nails are really fun. Do you get them done in town?”
    “Of course you have a friend with a fashion line,
and, yes, at Satin Hands. They can do any nail art you could possibly think of.
We’ll have to go sometime.”
    “That would be really nice,” Laura said.
    “Don’t let Kit morph you into her taller twin,” Varsity Jacket
said. “She makes up for her height with her bossiness.” She fake-shoved him. He
put his arm around her and gave her a rough kiss. Okay, so these two are a
couple , Laura thought. Then she said a silent prayer that Charlie and the
perfect one weren’t also a pair. “Sean Miller,” the wrestler said. “But
everyone calls me Miller.”
    “Miller,” Laura repeated. “Got it.”
    “I’m Amanda.”
    She’d said it casually, like she was obligated—not
like she had any real interest in meeting this new person at their table. By
the time Laura had the chance to turn in her direction, Amanda appeared
to have shifted her seat closer to Charlie.
    “Hi, Amanda,” Laura said, “Thanks for letting me join you
guys.”
    “It was Charlie’s idea,” Amanda said, shooting a pageant-queen
smile in his direction. Unlike Kit, Amanda knew just how to make a girl feel un comfortable.
    Laura got a full rundown of life in Englewood over the
course of lunch: Yes, the school is cliquey, but people are happy keeping to
their own groups, and don’t worry, we get along with everyone. The
football team sucks; the soccer teams reign supreme (and with them Captain Charlie
Sanders). People mostly hang out at house parties over the weekend, and at The
Golden Bell Diner over on Route 9 most weeknights.
    She also answered the full barrage of new-girl questions,
most of which she’d prepped