Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 108623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“That’s not possible. Obviously, she was hiding behind those frumpy clothes.”
“But why if she looks like that?”
“Didn’t that Victoria girl say she was fat and odd-shaped?”
“Obviously, that was a lie.”
“I wonder what else was.” That was all from the twins’ crew.
Tasha, one of the two African Americans in the group, stepped forward and walked around Gia while the others watched. “Girl, you are a whole mood, and I am here for it.” Someone else in the crowd commented on the backpack, which set off a maelstrom of activity.
“Is that the Louis Vuitton Christopher PM?”
“It’s got to be a fake, has to be.”
“I doubt it; the Russo twins have the same one.” People started looking up the bag online, and some were already calling home to demand their parents buy them the overpriced cowhide and crocodile contraption. Exactly as I expected.
My focus never strayed from her, and the more they spoke, the closer she drew to me, which made the decision I’d made in the steam room even more certain. “Oh shit, here comes her sister. Looking the same as always.” Someone else, another of the twins’ crew, called out to Victoria, “Hey, I thought you said she was fat; you have about ten pounds on her; what gives?”
Good damn, the twins trained them too well. I don’t do low blows, but I forgot women pull no punches when they go at each other. Victoria didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to; steam came from every orifice of her putrid body.
And we’d only just begun. I knew when I told my sisters to show no mercy that things could get a little sticky; maybe I should’ve gone over everything Draco Russo’s offspring had planned before letting them loose in these people’s schoolyard.
The twins’ posse went to town, bringing up all the things Victoria and her friends had ever said about Gianna, calling them out on their bullshit and more, in front of all the kids that were gathered there. There were some serious low blows being thrown around in between bouts of praise for Gianna’s new look.
As planned, the twins kept Gianna mostly out of things, so though she was the topic of conversation, she hardly said a word; they and their friends did all the talking. I knew Victoria wouldn’t even think about messing with my sisters, but that wasn’t the plan anyway; this was just the windup. Setting a path in stone for her to follow so she could trip and break her damn neck.
Two new people I didn’t know joined the crowd that had started to gather and walked over to the twins. “Anna, Rosa, I’m Emily, this is Rachel, um, what’s going on?” These two were older than the twins, but they acted like they were almost afraid to speak. It’s weird what having more money and prestige can do among others with the same.
In the media, our school prides itself on being down to earth and humble. In reality, it produces most of the snobs in the country and around the world. They don’t teach it, at least they wouldn’t call it that, but there should be a course on elitism because they do it so well here. Add the fact that Pop has a reputation in this town, and Ma is like the matron of all things she surveys, and well, you get the picture.
So it wasn’t that surprising that these two daughters of monied families approached the Russo twins with reverence. They should stop because my sisters eat that shit up for fun and would have no qualms about using it to their advantage. But today, their every move was for Gianna, so they played nice.
“Oh, did you two get your e-invites? The physical ones will be in the mail soon. We’ve had a hard time choosing the ones we like. Will you be there?”
“How do you even know us?”
“Oh, that was Gia; she said you two are the only ones who never gave her shit, so of course we wanted you there,” Anna spoke loud enough for Victoria and her friends to hear.
“Really? But we didn’t do anything; we just didn’t join in when others were mean to her.”
“That’s cool; it’s still better than the rest. So, are you coming or not?”
“Of course, my mom already signed the NDA; she was so hyped.” I finally got that these were the two girls in Gianna’s class that the twins had told me about.
“Awesome!”
“Is it true there’s a trip to Turk's and Caicos for those who are invited?”
“Oh, yeah, the week after our birthday is fall break, so Pop's letting us take the jet. Our parents will call your parents to get their approval if you’re interested in going, of course.”
“Are you kidding?” The two girls looked at each other and then over at Gianna, who was standing between Lance and me, looking like a spectator at a contact sport.