Read Social Order for Free Online Page B

fast, you’re hyper. That’s better. You just bumped into Billy Reddy? Okay, so?”
    Billy Reddy was a gorgeous high school sophomore, star of the Gregory Hall lacrosse team, and a memberof the wealthiest and most talked-about family in San Francisco. Half the girls at Miss Gamble’s were in love with Billy, and the Ashleys used to stalk him walking back from school every day. But though Lauren had brought him to the dance, it was pretty obvious that she wasn’t his girlfriend. Lili was a Billy groupie too, although sneaking another covert glance at Max, as she vainly tried to cover up the ink on her skin, she wasn’t sure how long that was going to last. Besides, Billy was in high school—way too old.
    Apparently Lauren had promised Billy earlier that she would bring a huge cheering section from Miss Gamble’s to the lax semifinals, which somehow had become a promise to provide cheerleaders for the game as well, since Gregory Hall was all-boys.
    â€œHelp!” Lauren said. “I think he thinks I’m going to have some kind of halftime show or something!”
    â€œA halftime show at the lacrosse game?” Lili asked, hoping she didn’t have some kind of ink Hitler mustache on her face.
    â€œYou’re talking about the big lacrosse matchups next weekend?” Max asked. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear. We’re playing Greg Hall then, in the junior high division. Are you going?” He gave her a breathtaking smile.
    Lili thought fast. “Don’t worry about a thing,” she told Lauren. “We’ll do something special. The Ashleys made nationals in dance team last year, you know.” Before Lauren could reply, Lili had hung up the phone. She turned to Max. “I wouldn’t dream of missing it.”
    â€œExcellent!” said Max, his face lighting up.
    So what if she had no time at all in her schedule to practice a dance routine? She would make time. Especially if it meant that Max would get a chance to see her in a cute little outfit and see how truly coordinated she was.
    By the time Madame came back to the room, an idea was forming in her mind. She had to meet with the producers to see if they’d buy it, but she was sure she could talk them into it. She smiled. If the plan worked, it would shove Ashley out of the limelight—once and for all.

6
FRIENDLY FOURSOME OR VIPER’S NEST? THAT’S JUST REALITY (TELEVISION)
    THE LOBBY OF THE CLIFT hotel in downtown San Francisco was a stunning room that featured soaring double-height ceilings, etched Venetian mirrors, billowing white velvet curtains, and cheeky interpretations of classic furniture—a Louis Quinze chair in plastic, say, or a chandelier made out of twigs instead of crystal.
    Ashley had been here many times before, usually to eat with her parents or grandparents in the clubby, elegant Redwood Room. Once her family had stayed here for three days when work was being done to the exterior of their house and her parents decided they had to get away from the noise and chaos.
    They would have taken Ashley out of school and gone down to a chic B and B on the coast near Big Sur, or to the Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley, but she had exams that week and needed to be somewhere close to Miss Gamble’s. Living in a hotel was fine—A. A. certainly liked it, but then she’d never known anything else. But Ashley had been glad to get home to their airy, spacious mansion overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Hotels were so . . . public . Anyone could wander in and out, or just sit in the lobby wearing white sweat socks and reading USA Today , and nobody could do anything about it. Not even the fashionable staff at the Clift.
    The producers of Preteen Queen were waiting for them in the hotel’s living room, and Ashley made sure to stick close by Trudy Page, Lauren’s mother, so that she’d get introduced first. Well, after Lauren, but that was