Over the Moon Read Free Page B

to be the designated "it" girl of Hurricane High. I knew instantly that she had to be
a cheerleader, class officer, or prom queen. Maybe she was all three.
How was that even close to fair?
    "Why would you move here from Chicago?" she sneered, looking at me as if I must be indubitably insane. Uh oh. She was onto
me. It's difficult to hide insanity from beauty queens. They have this
innate ability to freeze out the crazies but not before they make us
feel stupid and unwelcome. Again, I felt some serious homesickness
coming on.
    "I have no idea," I replied more negatively than I had meant to.
It must have been a reaction to the antagonism I heard in the tone of her voice. Maybe I was being hypersensitive. I didn't think so.
She obviously knew I didn't belong here. She must hate me already.
She looked at me with distain, as if I were a wad of gum stuck to
the bottom of her shoe. I instinctively knew we weren't going to be
friends.

    "You really should go back to where you came from. Get out
while you still can," the beauty queen threatened as she narrowed her
baby blue eyes. Most of the others didn't hear her warning. It was
meant for me alone. I got her malicious message. What had I done
to make her want me gone? I was no threat to her. I got that she was
the ruling royalty of this kingdom and I was just a poor peon. I held
no aspirations of glory. I had no intention of climbing the social ladder to achieve notoriety and success in her empire. I wished I could
click my heals together and be immediately transported back home
to the suburbs of Chicago.
    "Don't you like it here?" a nice-looking Native American boy
with a straight, black ponytail inquired. There was a mirrored column near our table, and he kept checking his reflection to make sure
every hair was in place. He had on a pair of jeans and a Westernstyle shirt that looked expensive. His silver-gray cowboy boots were
genuine snakeskin. What a poser! Had he taken a wrong turn on his
way to Hollywood Hills?
    "I haven't adjusted to the heat yet." I shrugged. It was best not
to invoke the wrath of the locals if I could avoid it. There would be
plenty of time for them to find reasons to hate me without me ticking them all off today.
    "When it cools down some, we'll have to take you to see the
petroglyphs," he offered, smiling warmly at me. Okay, now I felt a
little guilty for judging him harshly.
    "That sounds interesting," I admitted, trying to sound more positive. I had always found Indian culture fascinating, but he seemed
kind of vain, and I didn't like the way he appeared to be intently
checking me out. Maybe that pimple had turned into a third eye
after all.

    "Then it's a date!" He actually winked at me. He acted like I'd
just agreed to go to the prom or something. Oh no. This wasn't
good. Alarm bells were sounding in my head. I needed the cavalry
to rescue me from this much-too-friendly Indian.
    "We'll all go, Skylar!" Jordan quickly countered, and the bells
stopped ringing.
    "Relax, Jordan, I'm just practicing my flirting so I won't lose
my edge. I didn't mean anything by it. I'm already in a committed
relationship. Kyra Kovac is going to the dance with me. Eat your
heart out!"
    "You're joking! Why would she go out with you? What happened to Bret?"
    While they were still bickering, I saw Andrew Martin make his
way to an empty table. A girl followed him. She had long, shiny,
chestnut brown hair; deep-set, dark eyes with exceptionally long
eyelashes; and creamy olive skin. She looked like a South American
supermodel. Just seeing her made all my insecurities instantly pop
back into my consciousness. I should just look away and pretend I
hadn't seen them at all. My rebellious eyes wouldn't budge.
    "Who is she?" I asked Tiffany.
    "That's Andrew's twin sister, Hannah," she said.
    "She doesn't look anything like him." I never would have
guessed they were related, let alone siblings and twins. How was
that possible? Were they