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Sixteen and it’s going to be epic. Like, so lavish.”
    “Lavish,” Jyl ian says, “is the opposite of rusty. Just FYI.”
    “How do I t in?” I ask.
    “You don’t,” London says. “Yet. Do you see that guy?” She points into the courtyard where Henry and his friends are throwing a tennis bal against one of the brick wal s.
    “Yeah.”
    “His name is Henry Arlington,” Jessica says. “He’s by far the sexiest guy at East Shore—”
    “On al of Long Island,” Jyl ian interjects. “And Long Island is, like … long. It looks like a sh.”
    “Thanks for that bril iant insight,” London says. “Anyway, Henry is total y edible but a major prick. He thinks he’s bet er than everyone. Even us.
    ” I’m about to ask if any of them have dated him, but I hold back. “Why are you tel ing me this?”
    “If you can get Henry to publicly acknowledge you as his girlfriend and take you, as his date, to Destiny Monroe’s Sweet Sixteen,” London say,
    “you can o cial y join the J Squad.”
    “And if I don’t?”
    “You can’t hang out with us anymore, and we’l make your life at East Shore a living hel . And Garret ? We can do that.” She is so serious it makes me want to laugh. (I don’t, though.) Do they know about Henry and me? Not that anything has ever happened between us. He won’t even look at me.
    “Once you’re at the party,” London says, “you have to dump him on camera in front of everyone. It’l prove to us that you’re above dating high school boys and it wil be the ultimate payback.”
    “Payback for what?” I ask.

    “Payback for what?” I ask.
    Jyl ian and Jessica exchange glances. London ignores them and continues: “Henry is a heartbreaker. He’s hurt more girls than you can imagine.
    He deserves to know what that feels like for once.”
    “No o ense,” I say, “but that’s assuming I could even get him to date me, let alone like me enough so he would actual y be upset when I dump him.”
    London appears unfazed. “Right.”
    I gulp. What London is proposing is actual y, wel , cruel. And while Henry did blow me o for co ee, he didn’t ruin my life. I don’t know what he’s done to deserve such malice.
    “I’m not sure I can do that,” I say. “Henry seems … nice. Nice enough, at least. No o ense.” Jessica fakes gagging. “He’s about as nice as get ing a huge pimple on your forehead right before you’re competing in a Teen Miss Long Island Sound pageant and losing out to a girl from Great Neck with tacky extensions and inappropriate tan lines.” She lets out a tiny burp. “Or whatever.”
    “I guess it’s true, then,” Jyl ian says, turning to London.
    “I guess,” London agrees.
    “What’s true?” I ask.
    “We heard that you and Henry hooked up at a party before school started.” London grabs her purse, as if she’s about to leave. “What you don’t know is that he never hooks up with the same girl twice. So if you think you’re gonna be, like, an item or something … I’d seriously reconsider.” I’m stunned. “You heard what?”
    “You mean you didn’t hook up with him?” Jyl ian asks.
    “Absolutely not,” I tel them, omit ing the fact that I probably would have if he hadn’t left the party so quickly. “Who did you hear that from?” London rests her purse on the table. “Everyone’s talking about it. But I heard it from Duke. And there’s only one person he could have heard it from.”
    I don’t want to believe that Henry lied to his friends about us get ing together. “Why would he lie about that?” Jessica puts her arm around me. “Maybe he wants people to think you’re a slut.” I cringe. This happened to me once before, when I was a freshman at my old school. This senior named Mark and I were talking at a house party, and we hit it o . The next day, however, everyone at Mercer thought we’d had sex. Turns out he was a total asshole and spread rumors about me. It took months until people stopped thinking I was