All I've Never Wanted(39)

I stared down at my shoes. They were just plain black flats.

“Um…Nine West?”

“Nine West!” she screeched, letting out a fake laugh. “How… quaint. That’s what I really like about you, Maya, you’re so, um, down-to-earth. How about we go shoe shopping this weekend? Sigerson Morrison just opened up a—“

“Oh, shove it, Agnes,” another girl said crankily, pushing Agnes out of the way. She’d obviously gotten tired of waiting. She turned to me with a big smile. “Hey, Maya! I’m Ricki. I’m in your English class. Listen, a bunch of us are planning to make a quick getaway to the Caribbean and of course, we’d love it if you came—“

“Maya! I’m having a party this weekend! You’ll be there right?”

“Ohmygosh, I love your hair! Who does it?”

“You’re so pretty, did anyone ever tell you that?”

“You know, I think that, like, you and Parker make the cutest couple. You guys are just so adorbs—“

Please, God, make it stop! I pressed my fingers to my temples, a small headache setting in as their high, screechy voices pierced through my eardrums like a spike heel through tissue paper. Didn’t they come with a “mute” button? If they didn’t shut up soon, I was seriously going to throw myself out one of the windows.

“Hey, Maya, we should go to lunch. All the good food’s going to be gone!” Venice, bless her soul, tried to save me by tugging on my arm, but the lemmings were having none of it.

“Um, excuse me, but we were talking to her,” Ricki said snottily, keeping a firm grip on my other arm. “That’s a bit rude of you, isn’t it…” She looked Venice up and down with a sneer. “I’m sorry, who are you again?”

“She’s my best friend,” I snapped. “Don’t talk to her like that! And let go of my arm!”

“You heard her. Get your last-season Pradas out of the way,” Agnes snapped, shoving Ricki aside. She gripped my wrist, her blue eyes wide. “So? What do you say to shoe-shopping Saturday?”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m busy.” I shot Venice a desperate glance.

“Let’s go!” she said loudly, pulling me down the hall.

Unfortunately, for someone who looked as if a strong gust of wind could blow her over, Agnes was quite strong and stood her ground. “What about Sunday? Are you free then? Or we can even go Friday afternoon!”

Sadly, I was unable to answer, due to the pain of having my arms tugged in completely opposite directions.

“You know, if you pull her arm off, she won’t be able to go shopping with you this weekend,” a very familiar voice said.

Venice and Agnes immediately stopped tugging as they stared at the newcomer in shock.

Carlo had managed to sneak up on us without anyone noticing, which will tell you how hysterical all the girls were in their efforts to become my friend since I’m now “Valesca royalty.” As a Scion, he usually couldn’t go anywhere without causing a few hoarse throats and swoons along the way.


“Well? Are you going to let go of her arm, or do I need to surgically detach you two?” Carlo asked, addressing Agnes. He sounded amused.

Agnes turned red. “Oh, of course,” she squeaked, dropping my arm.

I sighed in relief.

Carlo raised his eyebrows, and just like that, the entire horde of twigs scampered away.

“Dear Lord. Thank you,” I breathed, shaking out my hand. Tingles raced up and down my arm as sensation slowly returned.

“No problem.” Carlo gave me a small smile.

Venice cleared her throat.

“Oh, sorry!” I exclaimed. “Um, Venice, this is Carlo. Carlo, Venice.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Carlo said politely.

“Uhmfghsdyastwo,” Venice breathed, utter gibberish coming out of her mouth as she stared at him with googly eyes.

I rolled my own eyes. “Hey, Venice, didn’t you want to go to the DC before they ran out of good food?” I asked pointedly.

“Fine, fine, I can take a hint,” she grumbled, still staring rather dreamily at Carlo. “It was nice meeting you,” she breathed.

“It was nice meeting you too,” Carlo replied politely.

“I’ll see you there in a bit, right?” Venice asked me.

I nodded, and she turned and hurried towards the DC to grab the last of the roasted chicken.

Carlo and I just stood in a surprisingly comfortable silence for a while after Venice left. Well, I suppose it wasn’t all that surprising. For some reason, I feel more at ease around Carlo than I did around any other member of the Scions.

“Thanks for saving me from those girls back there,” I finally said, rubbing my arm. “I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he answered. A glint of amusement lit up his dark eyes. “They’re pretty scary, aren’t they?”

I shuddered. “Scary, and faker than Pamela Anderson’s breasts. I think I preferred it when they were throwing stuff at me.”

Carlo laughed, a rich, deep laugh that filled the hallway and enveloped me like a warm hug. “You know, you’re one-of-a-kind, Maya Lindberg.”

I smirked. “Really?” I fake gushed. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me!”