The Chic Shall Inherit the Earth Read Free Page A

her, either. It was neither sleek nor chic. Hm. “Guess that’s the reason for the emergency shopping trip,” I mused out loud as we passed the eclectic little shops on Fillmore Street. “Maybe someone commented on her recent wardrobe choices, and she had to take corrective action.”
    “What, like you?” Gillian said. “Stop obsessing, already.”
    I clamped my mouth shut on what would only sound defensive. I did not obsess about Vanessa. Why would I? She had her posse—or what was left of them. Dani Lavigne was doing an exchange term in Paris (and spending way more time clubbing with her famous cousin on her European tour than studying, if the tabs were to be believed). Emily Overton hovered on the fringes of our group. None of us were sure if she really wanted to be friends with us, or if, as Shani suspected, she was a deep-cover spy for the enemy. DeLayne Geary, who had been one of Vanessa’s second-tier friends, was about the only one left who had the right to walk down the corridors with her, or to sit at the prize table in the window in the dining room.
    I had no desire to sit there anymore. My friends were the real kind—like gold tried by fire. We’ve been through a lot together since junior year. A symbol like that table in the dining room was not only unnecessary, it was sort of silly.
    At Starbucks, I ordered the aforementioned grande-with-whip mocha and when we all had our drinks, we settled into the corner group of chairs around a low table. “So, Jeremy, when are you going up to UC Davis for orientation?” Carly asked him.
    “I can’t believe you’ve made up your mind,” Gillian moaned into her cup. “How can it be that easy?”
    “I’ve always known what I wanted to be,” Jeremy said simply. “And the best veterinary program is at Davis. All I had to do was get in.”
    “Augh.” Gillian gulped her caramel macchiato. “I have a spreadsheet of pros and cons. A cost/benefit analysis. Even a photo slideshow from every school’s “Student Life” page. And still I can’t make up my mind.”
    “It’s not about student life, though, is it?” Carly asked. “It’s about your life, and what God wants you to do with it.”
    “That’s the point I always arrive at,” Gillian admitted. “I want to wait on God, but I can’t wait too long or I miss the registration deadline. I mean, He gave me this brain for a reason. I just have to figure out the best place to use it.”
    “That’s gotta be hard,” Shani said. “I mean, granted, I’m new at being a Christian. But it never occurred to me to ask God what He wants me to do. I just went ahead and applied to Harvard Business School, got in, got my scholarship, and I’m good to go.”
    “You make that sound as easy as Jeremy did,” I said. “But I know you’ve been working like a demented person for months and months to get in. And don’t even talk to me about your application essay. That was grueling for all of us.”
    “And I appreciate every bit of help you guys gave me.” She flashed a rare Shani smile, the kind that lit her up and softened the cut planes of her face—the ones that had photographed so well in our
People
spread last fall—into real beauty. “But, Gillian, you’re, like, solid. Don’t you think you’re going to make the right decision just because you belong to God?”
    “Not necessarily.” Gillian’s gaze fell to Jeremy’s foot, crossed over his knee, his sneaker beginning to bounce up and down as the caffeine kicked in. “I wouldn’t want to make a big decision like this without knowing it was in His will for me. It’s fine to make up my mind on the little things, like what classes to take and stuff. But a big thing like college? Nuh-uh.”
    “Even the classes are messing you up,” I pointed out. “Like taking art last year when you never did it seriously before. It showed you there was a fork in the road. That’s where all this angst started.”
    Gillian nodded and dimpled at me. “That Kaz.