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  Why had this shallow, fashion-obsessed woman dragged DJ into her house of horrors? School hadn’t even started yet, and DJ knew what lay ahead. If she thought last spring was bad, this was going to be much, much worse.

  By the time dinner was nearly over—and DJ felt like a large stone had been wedged in the pit of her stomach—it seemed that Grandmother and her designer clones had resolved the clothing storage problem. DJ had been about to suggest an oversized dumpster in the backyard, but she controlled herself. Finally, after the raspberry gelato had been served, she felt it was safe to excuse herself, and—although Grandmother gave her a look that suggested otherwise—she made a hasty exit.

  Instead of going up to her room, DJ headed straight out the front door. She wasn’t sure where she was going, or even if she planned to come back, but she was so outta there! She walked and walked, finally finding herself down by the docks where she sat down on a pier post and stared out blankly at the surprisingly calm ocean. She wished she could hop aboard a boat and just float away. Any place would be better than here.

  She felt hot tears trickling down her cheeks now, and she wasn’t a girl who cried much. In fact, the last time she’d cried was when Mom died. Okay, she’d cried quite a bit then. But then she was done. She honestly didn’t think she’d shed a tear since then, and she felt silly for crying now. At least no one was around to see it. Not that anyone would care. Not really. DJ felt more cut off and isolated than ever. It had been a lonely year, for sure, but she couldn’t remember feeling quite this lost before.

  What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she simply conform to be like Eliza and Taylor and even Kriti and just try to fit in a little? Wouldn’t that be the easiest route? Besides, she knew that her grandmother’s protégés would be the ones to turn heads when school began. They would be perfectly dressed, every hair in place, the kinds of girls that even the popular girls would be whispering about, envious of, and poking fun at. Of course, the Carter House girls would be an anomaly at Crescent Cove High: girls living in a boarding house with an old-fashioned diva who thought she could teach them manners. Talk about a big target. Still it might be safer being part of a big target than being isolated.

  DJ took in a long deep breath and slowly exhaled. No, she thought, she would rather hang onto her integrity and be different. Even if it meant being picked on. She was who she was. Sure it wasn’t much, but maybe that was all she had. Maybe it was better to hold onto it.

  Besides, she reminded herself, Casey was coming. And Rhiannon. Two girls who were more like her. Maybe the three of them could join forces. Maybe they could even win Kriti or Eliza over to the “sensible” side. Taylor seemed a lost cause. Oh, she had been fun and interesting, if only briefly. But when it came right down to it, Taylor was out for one thing and one thing only—and that was Taylor.

  “Hey,” called a male voice from behind her.

  DJ jumped so quickly that she almost fell off the pier post, which would’ve landed her in some pretty grungy-looking water down below the dock. Then she looked over her shoulder and saw that Conner was behind her.

  “Hey, Conner,” she said, hopping off the pier and hoping that her tears had dried. No way was she going to reach up and wipe them.

  “What’s up?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Did I scare you?”

  She shrugged. “I guess you kind of startled me.”

  He grinned. “I thought maybe you were going to jump into the water, and then I’d have to make like the hero and rescue you.”

  “Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes. “Just so you know, I’m a good swimmer.”

  “I figured, but what if you hit your head on the way down?”

  She frowned up at him. “Sounds like you have this all planned out.”

  “Nah, but a guy wants to be ready for anything. It was our Boy Scout motto, you know.”

  “You were a Boy Scout?”

  “Yeah, for a couple of years before my dad took off. I quit after that.”

  “What about your stepdad? He seems cool.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, he actually encouraged me to get back into it, but I was too old by then. It was pretty uncool to be a Scout in middle school.”

  “So what are you up to?” asked DJ.

  “Just hanging out. Man, it was hot today.”

  “Yeah, I pretty much hid out in the house all day.”

  “Wanna get a Coke?”

  DJ was surprised by his invitation. So far she and Conner had only played a little basketball together and joked around. Asking her to get a Coke seemed like taking the relationship to a new level. She wasn’t sure.

  “You’re not thirsty?” he persisted.

  “Actually, I am,” she admitted. “But I left the house so quickly that I didn’t even grab a bag. I’m broke.”

  He laughed. “Hey, I was the one asking you. Why don’t you let me handle the finances on this?”

  She smiled now. “Sure, a Coke sounds good. Thanks.”

  6

  DJ wonDereD IF THIS was a date, as she and Conner walked toward town. No, she thought, it’s just hanging with a friend. A date is something that’s prearranged, and the guy comes to your house and picks you up. Still, it was the closest thing she’d had to a date. She partially blamed this on the fact that her mother had died when she was fifteen and, according to her mom, was still not old enough to date. Then, just as she’d gotten interested in a guy while living with her dad and Jan and the cantankerous twins, it had been time to relocate.

  “So what have you been up to lately?” he asked as they walked down Main Street toward the Hammerhead Café—Conner’s choice and a place DJ hadn’t been to yet.

  She told him about the new arrivals at Carter House. She tried to paint a light picture of the situation, but did let on that it was going to take some getting used to.

  “Anyway,” she said as they sat at one of the outside picnic tables covered in some slightly grimy oilcloth. “It felt a little crowded in there, and I just needed to get away.”

  “So what are they like?”

  “Huh?” She studied his shaggy brown hair, noticing how the sun had bleached the ends some, but it was actually a shade or two darker than her own. Still it was attractive in a beach-boy sort of way.

  “The other girls I mean. What are they like?”

  “Oh, well, I have to admit that they’re really pretty. My grandmother probably wouldn’t let a girl live there if she weren’t pretty. Well, except me, and that’s only because I’m family.”

  “You’re pretty.”

  DJ laughed. “Yeah, right. But, thanks anyway.”

  “No, you really are.” He leaned in as if to study her more closely. “I mean you’re not a frilly kind of girl. Kind of what I’d call low maintenance.”

  “How would you even know what that was?”

  “My sister Amy. She’s in college now, and she might’ve calmed down some. But when she was at home, she was what I’d call really high maintenance. Seriously, she would not step out of the house if she hadn’t washed, blown-dry, and styled her hair within an inch of its life. Then she had to put on these layers of makeup that took like an hour. After that, she’d try on about twenty things out of her closet until she had the perfect outfit. I swear that girl had to get up at four in the morning just to make it to school on time.”

  DJ laughed. “Yeah, I guess that is high maintenance.”

  “Which you obviously are not.”

  She frowned. “It’s that obvious?”

  “It’s not a bad thing, DJ. I think it’s pretty cool that you don’t put a lot of time and fuss into your appearance.”

  “Kinda like one of the guys.” She couldn’t help but frown as she wondered what Conner’s real perception of her might be.

  But he just smiled. And his blue eyes sparkled in a way that she couldn’t be sure was serious or not. “Yeah, except you’re better to look at than a guy.”

  Thankfully, the waitress came to take their order j
ust then.

  “Want some fries too?” asked Conner.

  She grinned. “Actually, that sounds pretty good. It was kind of hard to eat tonight with so much going on at the table. I just wanted to get out of there.”

  So he ordered a large side of fries and two Cokes. As a distraction from talking about looks, DJ asked if he planned to play fall soccer and when practices start. She was pretty sure he’d already told her, but it was a good way to move the conversation.

  “Varsity practice started already,” he told her. “For guys anyway. It started last week. I thought I mentioned it.”

  She nodded. “Maybe you did. Guess I’m kinda spacey with all the craziness going on at my house. Did I tell you that Rhiannon is going to live there?”

  “Really? How’d that happen?”

  “I guess her mom and my grandma worked something out.”

  “Rhiannon should be glad. She was pretty bummed about moving.”

  Then DJ told him about Rhiannon’s roommate, Taylor, and her celebrity mother.

  “I’ve heard that name,” he said. “Cool. Someone almost famous.”

  DJ rolled her eyes.

  “You don’t like this Taylor girl very much, do you?”

  “I thought I liked her. I mean not so much at first because she seemed kind of snotty. But then I hung with her awhile this afternoon—after I caught her smoking.”

  He chuckled. “Does your grandma know about that?”

  “No.”

  “Good blackmail material.”

  “My grandmother probably wouldn’t even believe me. I’m sure she thinks those girls are all perfect, and that I’m the loser of the bunch.”

  He frowned. “Why would she think that?”

  “You haven’t met my grandmother yet, have you?”

  “I know she was somebody big in the fashion world. My mom and sister both told me that much. They were impressed.”

  “Yeah, people who are into fashion and all that nonsense are totally impressed. My grandmother likes to be surrounded by people who are impressed with her, and I’m just not. I mean who cares if she was a supermodel back in the Stone Age. In my opinion, fashion magazines only contribute to eating disorders and body-image problems. Who needs them?”

  He nodded. “Okay, I get it now.”

  “So I’m like…” she tried to think of a metaphor. “Like the odd girl out, I guess.”

  “That must be hard.”

  “Anyway, for a little while, I thought maybe I liked Taylor and maybe she had more going on than just surface stuff. Then it was like she totally turned on me. I can’t even remember why exactly. I think it was mostly related to fashion…like if I can’t speak fashioneeze, or know the stupid names of the stupid designers, I’m not good enough to be her friend.”

  “That’s pretty harsh.”

  “Yeah, but then I did something pretty stupid.”

  “What?”

  So she told him about the tennis match, and he just laughed.

  “Dumb, huh?” she said.

  “Or it could be fun. Are you any good at tennis?”

  “I’m okay.”

  He grinned. “Yeah, you probably are, DJ. I think you’re just a natural at most sports.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe Taylor will forget about it.”

  Now the waitress returned with their order and, once again, DJ thanked Conner. Then she felt embarrassed, like maybe it was overkill, but this whole thing was still new to her. And she didn’t want to seem unappreciative either. Conner seemed like a really nice guy; he seemed to get her. And sitting here, just having a normal conversation with a normal guy, was hugely reassuring. Maybe she wasn’t such a hopeless loser after all.

  “So how about you, DJ? Are you going to play soccer too?”

  “Yeah, but you probably heard they aren’t having fall soccer for girls this year. I guess there aren’t enough schools in the area to play. But I’ll play in the spring. In the meantime, I’ll go out for volleyball. I didn’t play last year, and it’ll be fun to see if I still know how.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be good at it,” he said.

  So as they occupied themselves by talking about sports, eating fries, and sipping on Cokes, DJ realized it was the most fun she’d had in days—maybe weeks or even months. And by the time they finished and were walking back toward their neighborhood, she felt almost hopeful. The sky was getting dusky blue and she could hear a woman’s voice calling her kids to come inside and “get ready for bed.”

  “Thanks, Conner,” she told him as they stopped in front of her grandmother’s house. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I was feeling pretty bummed when I was down at the docks.”

  “I could tell.”

  She looked curiously at him. “You could?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I guess the waterworks kind of gave you away.”

  “Oh.”

  “See ya around then?” His eyes looked hopeful.

  “Sure,” she told him.

  “Good luck…in the big tennis match, I mean.”

  She kind of laughed. “Yeah, thanks.”

  Her step felt a lot springier as she walked toward the house. The lights were on inside, and it almost looked cheerful in there. Still, she paused on the porch, unsure as to whether she was ready to go in or not.

  “Big date tonight?”

  DJ jumped to see the red glow of a cigarette burning in the shadows of the porch. “Taylor?”

  “Who else?”

  “I didn’t see you.”

  “Who is he?”

  “Who?”

  “Your boyfriend.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Yeah, whatever. What’s his name?”

  “Conner.”

  “And he’s not your boyfriend.”

  “He’s just a friend.”

  “He’s cute.”

  DJ barely nodded. “I guess.”

  “And built too.”

  DJ just shrugged, acting as if she hadn’t noticed, but the fact that Taylor had was somewhat irritating.

  “One of your sports-jock friends?”

  “Yeah, he’s into sports.”

  “Like you?”

  DJ put her hands on her hips now, taking a step closer to where Taylor was curled up like a cat in one of the wicker chairs, taking a slow drag on her cigarette, which made the end glow bright red. Obviously, she wasn’t too concerned about whether anyone knew or not. Or maybe she wanted to get caught. DJ just glared at her without saying anything.

  “What’s your problem?” asked Taylor.

  “Look, Taylor, I don’t know why you’ve set your sights on me, but it’s getting old, okay?”

  “I don’t have my sights set on anyone.” Taylor let out a long puff of smoke. “Least of all you, Desiree.”

  “The name is DJ.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Fine.” DJ turned to go into the house. There was no point in trying to connect with this infuriating girl. It seemed perfectly clear that Taylor had a chip the size of a Hummer on her shoulder. Probably because her celebrity mommy had dumped her here. But then what made Taylor’s case any more special than DJ’s? At least Taylor’s parents were both still alive.

  Just as DJ’s hand reached the handle of the front door, Taylor called out, “Don’t forget.”

  DJ looked back at her. “Forget what?”

  “Our little tennis match. You promised to clean my clock, DJ. Or did you forget?”

  “Don’t worry. I didn’t forget.”

  “But maybe you want to chicken out?”

  “I am not a chicken.”

  “So you’re still up for it then?”

  “Of course.”

  “I invited Eliza and Kriti to come with us. They think it’ll be a kick. We thought we’d go around ten. Eliza will drive us.”

  “Grandmother is letting her use the Mercedes?” Now this really burned since her grandmother had barely let DJ use her car.

  “Eliza has her own car.”
/>
  “Where?”

  “Here. It was delivered after dinner, right after you sneaked off.” Taylor nodded toward the side of the house. “It’s parked in back. Nice set of wheels too.”

  For some reason this aggravated DJ even more. Whether it was that Taylor was in the loop and DJ wasn’t—or the fact that Eliza had her own car—but something about this whole thing just irked her. Even so, she forced a smile as she made a cheerful little wave. “See you in the morning, Taylor.”

  7

  “THaT Was OuT!” cried DJ as she shook her racket at Taylor.

  “No way,” said Taylor as she prepared to serve again. “It was totally in, Desiree.”

  “The name’s DJ,” she yelled. “And that serve was out!”

  “Get ready,” said Taylor. “I’m serving again.”

  “You’re cheating!” yelled DJ.

  Taylor paused with her racket still poised and ready to serve. She looked over to the sidelines where Eliza and Kriti were sitting, sipping their Starbucks. “What do you girls say?”

  “Yeah,” called DJ. “It was out, wasn’t it?”

  “Sorry, but Taylor’s right,” called Eliza, as if she thought she’d just been appointed line judge. “It was in.”

  Kriti nodded and held up a thumb. “In!”

  “Out!” demanded DJ. She glared at Eliza and Kriti now. It was clear what was happening here; the fashion girls were aligning themselves against her. She wondered why she’d even agreed to this stupid tennis match in the first place. What was the point if Taylor already had everyone in her pocket?

  DJ had assumed she had this game in the bag when Taylor came down to breakfast looking like Tennis Barbie. She felt certain that anyone who primped to play tennis couldn’t possibly be any good. But now as she was losing, she realized she’d probably been wrong about a lot of things.

  It didn’t help matters when Conner and another guy showed up to witness DJ’s humiliating loss. DJ attempted to ignore them, trying to pretend they weren’t there as they lurked on the opposite side from Eliza and Kriti, but she could hear Conner’s attempt to coach and encourage her from the sidelines. Not that it helped. Nothing could help her game today. And she was fully aware of the fact that she was beating herself as much as Taylor was winning this stupid match. Of course, that only made her madder.