Read Surviving High School for Free Online Page B

Las Playas, where Junior Nationals was held each year.
    What Emily’s mom didn’t seem to realize was that deep down Emily and Sara wanted to follow their dad’s strict regimen. If anything, their desire to win was even stronger thanhis. Or at least that’s what Emily told herself. She had to admit, that ice cream had tasted even better than she remembered.
    Later that night, Emily checked her phone and texted Kimi to see if she was up. When no response came, she opened her laptop and decided to check her G-Chat. The cell and the computer, Emily’s two most prized possessions, were hers thanks to her mom.
    Although Emily’s dad had initially resisted them as “unnecessary gadgets” that would only serve as temptations to talk to strange boys, Emily’s parents had eventually struck a bargain: As long as Emily kept her GPA above 3.5 and stuck to her training regimen, she was allowed to have the phone and the laptop—as well as a monthly sleepover with Kimi.
    As Emily signed on to her IM account, she thought back over the events of the day. After the locker-room encounter with Dominique and Samantha and that stupid race, she’d almost forgotten her earlier run-in with Nick Brown.
    She flashed back to the astonished look on his face and the way he’d called her Sara. She winced as if in physical pain every time the incident played in her head.
    As she waited for her log-in to complete, Emily tried to think of something pleasant, and Ben immediately came to mind. She remembered Dominique’s story about the party, about the way he’d totally ditched her and headed back to his room to sleep. Other guys were powerless against Dominique’ssupposed charms, but not him. She wondered what he’d thought of as he went to bed that night. For a moment, Emily let herself fantasize that it was her.
    She absently checked her in-box (nothing but junk mail) and her Facebook feed (no new invites, posts of interest, hookups, or breakups). According to the site, she had thirty friends. In real life, all she had was Kimi, who she hoped was still online.
    EmilyK14: Kimi? You there?
    ChEnigma22: Hey! Sorry I missed u at lunch! Was totally hiding out from Amir Singh!
    EmilyK14: Who?
    ChEnigma22: Ugh. You remember him from when he tried to recruit us for his hypernerdy role-playing game, right? TOTAL stalker. Wants to be my homecoming date. NOT gonna happen. I’ve got a list of like ten other guys who I want to ask me tho. I’m doing pro/con spreadsheets for all of them.
    EmilyK14: ?
    ChEnigma22: I’ll e-mail the one for Phil Ramirez. He’s my top choice.
    ChEnigma22: Sending… NOW!
     
    Candidate: Phil Ramirez
  Pros 
  Cons 
 HOT (10/10!). 
 Possible Axe Bodyspray user. 
 Plays guitar (electric!). 
 2.32 GPA (might lower future $ potential). 
 Owns/drives Mustang convertible. 
 Crazy exes (at least three!). 
 DJ skills. Plays at lots of parties. 
 Soul patch (could be shaved). 
 Six-pack abs. Sexy. 
 Uses the term “bro.” 
 Senior = prom potential. 
 Senior = gone next year. 
    The list went on for several more rows. Some of the cells were highlighted in different colors, which seemed to indicate Kimi had developed a scoring system for weighting each quality, but it was way too complicated for Emily to understand.
    EmilyK14: Sounds like a winner.
    ChEnigma22: Yeah… Except I heard a rumor that he’s already dating Paula de Veer. And he’s never even said hi to me.
    EmilyK14: Aw. YOU just gotta say hi.
    ChEnigma22: When? He’s always with his posse of dudes at school. I need to catch him when he’s DJing. Like at aparty. Too bad we NEVER GET INVITED.
    ChEnigma22: Not that you care, I guess…
    Emily thought of Ben Kale at one of his parties, bored, looking for someone to talk to.
    EmilyK14: Actually I sort of wish we could go to a party, too. Not that my dad would let me.
    ChEnigma22: !!!
    ChEnigma22: There’s hope for you yet! We’re GONNA make this happen!
    ChEnigma22: Er.