Read Society Girls: Matisse for Free Online

she’s hacked the school’s system and added me to the approved
pick-up list, so I walk inside with a confident gait. The looks I
get from the school office staff make me feel less confident
inside, but I don’t let it show. Darcy’s only been training us for
a few months, but I’m proud of the fact I can hide my urge to gouge
their eyes out. So what if I have a Monroe piercing and some
tattoos? That doesn’t make me a bad person.
    “Matisse?”
    I turn and smile at Ethan. He’s the perfect
combination of Tegan and Caleb wrapped up in a teenage boy. “Hi, E.
Your mom’s having the baby.”
    “No way! We have to go!”
    I laugh as he pulls me outside and to my
car. He asks me all kinds of questions I have no answers for,
before finally giving up and checking his phone. When he lifts his
phone to take a pic of me driving, I glare at him. “What the hell
are you doing?”
    “One of the guys saw you in the office, but
no one believed you were there for me. I needed proof.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yeah. You’re hot, Matisse.”
    “I’ll be sure to tell your mom you used me
to up your ‘cool factor’.”
    “Um, you don’t have to do that. She’s having
a baby. She should only be thinking happy thoughts.”
    “And you should be remembering how to treat
women. From what I’ve been told, you were raised better.”
    “I’m sorry. I was raised
right, but something’s different now. I feel different.”
    “It’s called hormones, and they pretty much
suck—both for girls and for guys. You’re going to act stupid, but
just try to remember that girls may pretend to like the ‘bad’ guy,
but the only guys worth their time are the ones who treat them
right.”
    “I will, I promise. You won’t tell my mom I
was a jerk, right?”
    “I think we can keep this time between us,
but don’t let me see it happen again.”
    “You know, most of my guy friends are
jealous that I get to spend so much time around all you women, but
they have no idea. It’s like having a bunch of aunts who call you
on all your shit.”
    “It probably is, but you can handle it.”
    “Yeah, I can.”
    As soon as we’re inside, Ethan runs for the
elevators, waiting impatiently for me to catch up so I can use my
eye scan to take us to the hospital wing downstairs. I don’t follow
him as he runs for his mom’s room, and I’m not sure if I should go
home or wait. I said I’d wait, but that was before Kendrick yelled
at me.
    “Matisse, Kendrick asked me to order dinner
for you. Do you know what you want?” the nurse manning their
station asks me. I think her name is Liz.
    “He did?”
    “Yes. He said you’d be waiting for him in
his office, and he wanted to make sure you were comfortable.”
    “We’re studying,” I blurt out, trying to
protect him, even though I’m still a little hurt by what happened
earlier.
    “That’s not what he said.”
    “It isn’t?”
    “Nope. He said you were waiting for him
because he’s dating you.”
    I try not to smile too wide, but I know I
fail. “Oh yeah. We are. Dating, I mean. I wasn’t sure if he’d told
anyone.”
    “He told us all, and frankly, we’re really
happy about it. He needs someone fun, and it’s obvious to us all
that you care about him.”
    “I do.”
    “Good, now let’s call up for your food.”
    Once the order’s placed, I retreat to his
office, and pull my tablet out of my purse. I have plenty of
studying to keep me busy while I wait. Most pressing right now,
besides science, is Librarian 101. Okay, it’s not really called
that, but Isa’s class is all about old-school research and critical
thinking. Looking down at my tablet in defeat, I realize it’s not
going to help me with this, but then I realize something that
will.
    I stand up and get to the door just in time
for my meal to be delivered by another one of the nurses. “Oh,
thanks. Do you think I could eat it in the medical library?”
    “Sure. We eat in there sometimes when
Kendrick has us studying up