Read Notable (Smith High) for Free Online

If he were anybody else, I might have enjoyed the way our relative height discrepancy made me feel delicate and feminine. Instead, I was too distracted by his stupid disdainful glances to feel anything more than annoyance. That’s when I decided I might as well embrace the role of pain-in-the-ass teacher’s kid and show Houston just how well I could play the part.
    Our three-hour layover at Heathrow Airport gave me the perfect opportunity to stage a little demonstration. I lied easily about picking up some new hand lotion and strolled right into the duty-free where it took only a few minutes of flirting with the guy handing out liquor samples to down three of them like a champ.
    If I was going to be labeled the party girl, I wanted to deserve the reputation.
    “I’m not even twenty-one, which means there is no way in hell you’re old enough to drink,” Houston growled as he dragged me away from the store and herded me toward the Starbucks where everyone else had gathered. I smirked up at him.
    “The drinking age is eighteen here.”
    “Yeah? Well, you’re not that either.”
    “What are you going to do, Texas? Rat me out to my dad?”
    Before he could respond, I shoved his hand off my arm and headed straight for the bathroom so that he couldn’t follow me. The last thing I needed was yet another lecture about my behavior. Unfortunately, from my hiding place in the handicapped stall, I couldn’t help overhearing Amy and Liz as they began talking freely about me.
    “Chelsea seems . . . decent,” Amy said in what could only be described as a halfhearted endorsement. “I bet she just needs some time to warm up to people.”
    “She certainly didn’t waste any time warming up to Ben.”
    “Well, Ben’s a friendly guy. Maybe—”
    Liz cut her off. “Did you see her drinking in the duty-free? I thought Houston would have a coronary when he dragged her out of there. I mean, does she want to be plastered this entire trip?”
    That idea actually held a certain amount of appeal for me. At least that way I would be able to temporarily forget that this trip was already turning out even worse than I’d imagined.
    “Maybe she’s a nervous flier?”
    “Yeah, she sure looked nervous when she boarded the plane in Portland,” Liz scoffed. “Oh, wait. No, she didn’t.”
    “Well, maybe she’s just sad. Houston mentioned something about her parents splitting. Just because she’s acting like a spoiled party girl doesn’t mean she can’t be hurt.”
    My body stiffened as I soaked in that bit of new information. Apparently, the geek wasn’t content just narcing me out to my dad and making snap judgments about my life; oh no, he had probably told everyone that I was nothing more than an airhead party girl with terrible grades and an even worse personality.
    Well, I had already heard enough.
    The Chelsea Halloway who ruled Smith High School would never stoop to cowering in bathroom stalls. It was time for me to end this bullshit once and for all by going on the offensive.
    I swung open the door and sauntered to the sink, ignoring the way Amy’s eyes bugged out and her dark bob swayed as she glanced over at a speechless Liz for support.
    “You know, everyone says high school is completely different from college, but I just don’t buy it.”
    The two older girls continued staring at me in silence.
    “The classes might be harder and the parties might be better, but honestly, it sounds like high school two point oh.”
    “Uh—” Amy began, but I cut her off.
    “Now if we were all back in high school and I overheard someone spouting off shit about me in the bathroom, I would threaten to make their lives a living hell. But since you’re both in college , I guess I’ll have to take a slightly different approach.”
    I glanced at the reflections of both girls in the mirror, as if I couldn’t be bothered to turn around to face them directly.
    “You mess with me and I will take you down. And nobody will notice two