I know someday I'm gonna meet her, it's a fever dream/The kind of radiance you only have at 17
Nothing New, Taylor Swift ft. Phoebe Bridgers
Monday means I need to grit my teeth, get dressed and ready, eat a single piece of toast and be shoved into an SUV with Xander, Rebecca, and Thea an hour before school starts. Granted, it's not shoved because of all the space, but Thea gobbles up all the oxygen, making me feel suffocated by her presence.
Why am I with this ragtag bunch of detectives? To plan a party. I thought we were investigating more Toby stuff - why I let Xan drag me away before I applied lip gloss - but in fact, we have to plan a stupid charity gala. Don't get me wrong, I love dressing up and being a good person as much as the next girl, but I've planned one too many balls so far this year, and I'm not crazy about disagreeing on the colour of tablecloths.
Luckily, I carry at least two lip glosses in my purse at all times, especially in my school purses. Heights Country Day may be an elite private school, but they are not immune to school air.
Thea has gone full-on vicious, tapping her Apple pencil on her iPad, and barking out orders and questions. I sigh. I still don't really know why she cares so much. It's not a secret Thea didn't love Rebecca for stealing her popularity.
The day passes in a blur until I'm sitting next to Thea at lunch. Oh shit, Avery is walking this way.
"Xander?"
He turns toward her and blinks, almost in slow motion. "Avery! What a pleasant and not
objectively unexpected surprise!" His right hand so discreetly snaps closed the notebook on the table loudly.
She glances suspiciously at him. "Can I ask you something?"
"That depends," Xander replies. "Are you planning to share those baked
goods?"
She glances down at her lunch tray and slides Xander the cookie on the left. "What do you know about your uncle Toby?"
"Why do you want to know?" Xander takes a bite of the cookie and frowns. "Does this have craisins in it? What kind of monster mixes butterscotch chips and craisins?"
"I was just curious," She says with slight exasperation.
"You know what they say about curiosity," Xander warns her happily, taking another enormous bite of the cookie. "Curiosity killed the—Bex!"
"Oh no." I whisper.
Thea stabs at her salad. "What?" She asks, sounding bored.
"Over there."
Her red acrylic nails wrap around the fork. "What is Bex doing with them?"
"Do I look like I know?"
"Well, Xan won't be able to handle this on his own." In one fluid movement, she dabs at her mouth, slams down her fork and glides to a standing position.
The only person who makes me feel insecure is Thea. She always looks slimmer, healthier, more radiant. It doesn't help that our wardrobes are practically identical. Neither does this uniform. Mine has been tailored to fit better, but Thea's graces her curves perfectly, and my trained eyes can't see any signs of alterations.
While I'm having my internal crisis, a freshman comes up to me. Her hair is the faintest of strawberry blond, and the highlighter on her cheeks make her look fresh as a daisy, alive and bright. She looks like new money, a new transfer.
"Hey," Her cheeks become flushed, nervous. "You're Trinity Hawthorne, right?"
"Yeah." I give her my sweetest, most disarming smile.
YOU ARE READING
The Glass Ballerina Who Danced On Knives
Fanfiction"Which one is she?" I ask as Trinity leaps gracefully through the air, ornamental knives strapped to her feet. "The Glass Ballerina or the Knife?" Nash cracks a smile. "Both of 'em and neither. Shes the glass ballerina, the knife, the player, and t...
