page20 (1/1)

Chapter 20

I could see that the Walking Dead were in fine for letThey were all leaning up against the chain-link fence around the construction site across the street (because why have a high school if it isn’t across the street from a former thread factory they’ve imploded to make room for more condos, so you can listen to the BEEP BEEP BEEP of trucks backing up all day?), text- one anotherAll but Whitney Robertson and Jason Klein They wereoutI felt so at theed at deli near the loft andto eat for breakfast It turns out Nikki Howard’s digestive system and Danish? Not so muchI just hadn’t had time to make myself a decent breakfast I’d hardly believed it when the alarone off It seemed like I’d only just closed ain I’d wanted to die when I sahat ti out on a school night Not forat Nikki Howard’s plain white walls – a housekeeper or soone I guess they’d finally wilted and died – with Cosabella licking er for breakfast and a walk, it had occurred tome Nikki Hoas an eo to school if she didn’t want to I could roll over and go right back to sleep – lovely, delicious sleep The li to pick me up for the Elle shoot until three I could stay in bed all day if I wanted toIt was te Especially because I’d been too wired to go right to sleep when I’d gotten hoes – seven of theone to Lulu’s room and checked her laptop while she slept and found that hers too had the sa software on it that Nikki’s hadI’d disconnected the modems to both, and found the keyboards worked perfectly when I plugged theainIt was true I still had only a Stark-brand PCbut once it was functioning without spyware, who needed school? I’d have to set up a whole new online identity for Nikki, since I knew my parents had disconnected my old ones (too much temptation, they’d told oing to be so good to be online again! I could play Journeyquest, and IM Christopher –Oh no, wait I couldn’t Because hoould Nikki Howard know Christopher Maloney? In order for her to get to know hio to school today Which, I will adrabbing blindly for clothes, pulling on the first things ers cah-waisted dress I was supposed to wear over black leggings with these cowboy boots and a lot of long necklaces (Lulu had laid theood on my first day of school)The ensely co that wasn’t a T-shirt and jeansAnd after I’d brushed h ery scar), I noticed in the oodWho knew you could look good and actually FEEL good at the saood in sweats But hardly anyone LOOKS good in the to Frida) Not that I have ever let that stopthem to school, except on the occasions Frida spottedelseBut when she didn’t, the Walking Dead would often stop and stare at me, because I so didn’t match their uniform of pressed khakis and collared shirtnever a drawstring at the waist!Maybe that had soot out of the cab and started heading up the steps for thein front of the school stopped what they were doing and simplystared at meThen I heard the whispered words Nikki Howard and re at, or the fact that I earing a non-standard-issue Walking Dead unifor a celebrity’s bodyOh, yeah That’s rightA second later, I saw one of them detach itself froister that it was my sister, Frida That’s how much she’d been assimilated to rese like she didn’t knoas actually meI stopped ina red and gold TAHS cheerleading unifore into that when you got here?’ I blurted It was the first thing that popped into h from everyone that there was no way anyone could overhear us ‘Because Mom would never have let you out of the house in that Does she even know you ot here,’ Frida said impatiently ‘And no And you’re supposed to act like you don’t knowin the short pleated skirt ‘Butit looksit looks’‘Don’t even say it, E‘cute ’Frida’s jaw sagged ‘Waitdid you just say what I think you said?’‘I think Nikki is catching or so to like all kinds of things I used to hate ’‘Like Brandon Stark?’ Frida wanted to know ‘Because there was a picture of you on TMZ this ht by his spread apart as you fell into the limo, and you could see your—’My blood went cold ‘Mom didn’t see it, did she?’‘Like she checks PerezHilton first thing in theto answer that cellphone she gave you? All I can say is, good thing you earing panties Oh my God,’ Frida said to me under her breath ‘Don’t look now, but, like, everyone is checking you out They’re all staring – I said, DON’T LOOK But they’re all looking They’re – hey Where did you get those necklaces?’‘I don’t know,’ I said ‘They’re Nikki’s I think they’re froet you some, I think—’That’d be aweso back at Whitney and the other dead-eyed wannabes ‘They’re trying to figure out what I’ to you I said, DON’T LOOK ’ Then she added, ‘Ohover here WHITNEY ROBERTSON IS LOOKING OVER HERE – this is a at me ME She’s never looked at me before, ever This is the best day ofby Frida to head into the school, so I could get to the Administration Office ‘Welcome to Nikki Howard’s world, Frida Good to know solanced over my shoulder and saw about thirty people rush up to Frida, all cla to knohat she and I had talked about Frida played it cool, shrugging and playing with her hairBut it was clear she was in heavenToo bad that for her to get that way, I was going to have to go through hellThey assigned me my old lockerI should have known that they would of course It’s not like anyone else had dropped out mid-se list to get into TAHS, which, in spite of its high population of Walking Dead (or perhaps because of?), is considered a very good schoolI was pretty sure, in fact, that Stark Enterprises had paid a hefty ‘endow listSo it wasn’t any wonder that I ended up with h not all – of my old classesThere was apparently some concern that Nikki Hoouldn’t be able to keep up in the AP courses Einally been enrolled inespecially in light of her alleged ‘a back in the Adet Nikki Howard enrolled in AP English, bio and trig (I assured them that if I couldn’t keep up with any of my classes, I’d drop out

of the ood likelihood I actually wouldn’t be able to catch upbut I illing to try, if it meant I could be in so to strike up a friendship with hi like I didn’t know uide, this freshman I’d neverThe fresh out over the fact that she was showing Nikki Howard around her school She was really shy, and I saw her fingers shaking as she showed me how to spin the combination lock After she’d let et used to it – and after I’d pulled the locker open and seen, to h of course I should have expected that) she finally worked up the courage to ask a question‘Do you really go out with Brandon Stark?’ she wanted to know ‘B-because I saw a picture of you with him once’‘Uh,’ I said ‘Yeah Iit casual I had, u a hand up over her ot! You can’t remember I’m so sorry! Really God, I’m so stupid ’‘It’s OK,’ I told her ‘Don’t worry about it ’But she went around looking like she wanted to kill herself anywayShe walked h (sarcas – and, at the door, she said, ‘U at a new school, where you don’t know anyone So if you want to sit with me at lunch, that – that would be cool with ht about the crucial lunch-seating situation Who would I be sitting with anyway? I had just assumed I’d sit with Frida, but I realized now that would be absurd Why would Nikki Howard sit with soirl hom she’d had a casual conversation on the steps in front of the school? The truth was, Nikki Hoould probably go out to lunch anywayOh, as I kidding? Nikki Hoould never have been in a regular high school in the first place Except as some stunt for a reality show‘Thanks,’ I said to Molly ‘If I have lunch in the caff, I’ll try to look for you ’‘Well, have a good class,’ Molly said, blushing with pleasure ‘And if you needANYTHING OK?’‘OK,’ I said, and smiled at herTo my surprise, Molly blushed even harder Then she hurried away, giggling, and looking reallywell, pleased is the only way I can describe itCan I just say it’s totally weird to smile at someone and have them seem so excited about it? After all, it was just a smile No one EVER used to react like that when I smiled at them back in my old body But in Nikki’s body, when I smile, everyone practically seems to have a heart attackExcept Brandon’s dadAnd I knew things were only going to get weirder when I walked into Public Speaking – late, thanks to all the forms I’d had to fill out in the office, and the fact that I didn’t know stuff like Nikki Howard’s Social Security number Every time someone asked e her Sidekick), but that was OK though, because I was supposed to have lost , interrupting an oral presentation McKayla Donofrio was giving on the i to your children She stopped dead when she saw me, and just stared Soon the rest of the class woke up and did the sa It took a second or two for Mr Greer to notice no one was talking, and to open his own eyes and seehe’d been awake the whole tiht?’‘Right,’ I said, holding out reat,’ Mr Greer said, taking both slips and not even looking at them ‘Class, this is Nikki Howard She’s a new student who’ll be joining us for the rest of the serab an empty seatI think there’s one over there’He pointed to my old seat Of courseI went towards it,I couldn’t hear all the whispers as I slid into lance at hi about hied:He’d cut his hairI didn’t uy as supposed to be a stranger to me, but it was pretty hard not to, since I hadn’t – ever – seen Christopher with hair above his neck Gone was the long blonde curtain that had swept past his shoulders for as long as I could reh school He noore his hair in a cut indistinguishable from Whitney Robertson’s boyfriend, Jason Klein In fact, if I’d just glanced in Christopher’s direction, I ht even have mistaken him for Jason Klein, that’s how close the rese at all to tell hi what appeared to be a pale green polo shirt with his jeansWhat had happened? I know itto h to have turned hiet you up to speed,’ Mr Greer said, startlingfive-uments on a topic of the student’s choice I won’t expect you to have anything ready for this week, but if you feel up to it you can try next week ’‘OK,’ I said quickly, tearinginto my seat I auto to take my mind off what had happened to Christopher – and stared blindly straight aheadBut it was really hard to concentrate on what McKayla was saying I couldn’t stop thinking about Christopher and his hair, even though, now that my back was to him, I couldn’t see hi Dead assimilated him, just like they had my little sister? How could this have happened in such a short tione over a month, but still! How could he have cut his hair like that? He’d resisted the Coresistance was suddenly futile? No! No, that was just so wrong!Not that his haircut looked bad Quite the opposite, actually Even Frida would have to ad develop Christopher, now that he had this new look, was actually attracting female attention? I mean, besides mineNo It wasn’t possible The only female attention Christopher had ever attracted before was mine, and he hadn’t even been aware of it (or at least, that I’d been feood now I ood But now everyone had to have noticed how good he looked What if he was going out with so on with him, romantically? A lot can happen in a month – obviously I mean, look at me Talk about makeoversI had a whole new body Not to mention a new face, name, Social Security number As if the fact that I suspected irls (only not really, because he never knew I’d liked hiht I was dead) wasn’t bad enough, I kept getting the feeling that everyone in class was looking atself-consciousBut a quick glance up fro in severyone was staring at me The minute I looked up, every head in the room swivelled quickly away fromdown to pick it up and took a quick look in his direction, Christopher’s headChristopher’s gaze was fastened on to McKaylaHe hadn’t even noticed me! What was up with that? Why was he even awake anyway? He always slept through first period Was Christopher going out with McKayla? No way McKayla was head of TAHS’s business club Business club No way could he like her All she could talk about was how after she graduated fro to revolutionize Wall Street Christopher couldn’t like her He couldn’t possibly I could see I was going to m

ake a lot of progress thinking in that directionFrustrated, I began doodling harder I drew a tiny poodle, this one of Cosabella Lulu had proht to look after her while I was in school all day The poor thing had whined and yelped when she’d seen s, but this didn’t seem like theEVERYWHERE with her? Because Cosy certainly acted like it was a federal offence if she was left behindI was dreading the hly doubted Lulu was the -sitter I was fairly certain there’d be sohtOh well Nikki’s fingers needed li up anyway They were basically useless I couldn’t draw a thing with themnot even a measly poodle What had Nikki Howard done with her hands all day anyway? You can only put on so ht?‘Psst ’I looked overme Only he wasn’t Whitney Robertson s I knew, a folded-up piece of paper sailed in ht itWhen I unfolded it, I realized it was a noteA note from WhitneyI didn’t knohat to do Whitney had never thrownDead ers at , as wellInstinctively, and before I could stopat the Walking Dead?Ducking my head so that Nikki’s hair fell down to hide my face, I looked at the noteHi! it said, in curlicue writing with a flower dotting the i Welcome to TAHS! We’re so excited to have you here I’et this a lot, but seriously – I’est fan I know a lot of people say that, but in my case, it’s really true I’ve been an admirer of your work since you first started back in print adsAnyway, I know ita new school and all So I just wanted to say Hey! And if you have Period B lunch, there’s totally a place for you at our table! We’re by the salad bar XXX000 WhitneyThen she put her cellphone nu tih ht about cruht about writing a response, and saying that I’d heard all about Whitney and how mean she’d always been, and that I wouldn’t sit with her and her friends at lunch if they were the last people on earthBut I didn’t end up doing either of those things Because – and I know this sounds bizarre – but I really didn’t think Nikki Hoould do either of those thingsNot that I was actually trying to BE Nikki Howard of course At least, not at schoolBut since I WAS her, I justI don’t know I just couldn’t see Nikki Howard – what I knew of her anyway – caring about what souess that’s because, when I looked deep doithin myself, I just couldn’t be bothered to care about Whitney any more, or her stupid one-upmanship I had too many other proble himself to make eye contact with e her note at all she’d feel slighted And I didn’t need to make a new enemy my first day Even if she wasn’t exactly a NEW enemySo I flipped my hair back, turned inextraordinary happenedWhitney Robertson blushedSeriously I never thought I’d live to see the day But her cheeks turned bright pink with pleasure, and she smiled back at me and waved, and Lindsey, behind her, waved tooAnd Whitneya phone callI se her, then turned back inwas easier – in soht it would beWhitney was all over me the minute class ended Which wasn’t cool, because I’d just been about to turn to Christopher and make a little comment as a sort of icebreaker, like, Is this class always this boring, or what?Only I couldn’t, because the Prom Queen From Hell was on me like ketchup on a steak‘How ARE you?’ she hurried over to ask ht about youryou know It !’‘I can res For instance, I could rehed at irls’ locker room, because they were Hanes Her Way briefs and not Victoria’s Secret thongs, which is what they all wore‘Oh, that’s good,’ Whitney said ‘Well, like I said, I’m Whitney and this is Lindsey—’‘Hi!’ Lindsey cried ‘I’est fan I loved that spread you did in Vogue in July, with the gold accessories, and the tiger—’‘– and we’re just so excited to have you here at TAHS,’ Whitney went on, speaking right over Lindsey as if she hadn’t said anything ‘It is such an honour that out of all the schools in New York you chose ours—’‘Are you guys going tobehind us, inquired ‘Because solanced at him over her shoulder, then rolled her eyes and moved out of the wayMy heart swooped at that eye roll Because it meant that, haircut or not, Christopher hadn’t been accepted by the Walking Dead He wasn’t one of them! He may have looked like he was, but he wasn’t He was still safe! He was still him!‘Thanks,’ Christopher said as he walked by‘See you later,’ I said to himHe threw me a distracted look over his shoulder – as if he’d heard so into the throng in the hallwayBeside me, Whitney sneered and said, ‘Sorry about that Don’t pay him any mind One of our resident freaks So you know, if you have any questions about TAHS or need anyone to show you around, I’d befor lunch, for instance? You definitely don’t want to go to the caff The food there completely reeks—’‘Is that the new Marc Jacobs hobo tote?’ Lindsey interrupted, pointing to the bag slung overlist for one—’‘I don’t know,’ I said ‘I just found it in et to Spanish So if you’ll excuse me’‘Me too!’ Lindsey squealed ‘I think we must be in the same Spanish class! Room Six Eleven? Oh my Dios! Here, let me show you where it is ’‘God, Lindsey, calm down,’ Whitney said crabbily ‘I’m sure Nikki can find her oay ’‘That’s OK,’ I said, turning to look Whitney square in the eye ‘Lindsey’s being a great help Well, bye, Whitney It was nice to meet you ’And I walked off ar the recipient of a hundred envious stares as we made our way down the hall – Whitney’s the most envious of allBut this ti too much fun to worry about it