Maxine hopped up from the grass alongside the red track lane, where she’d been impatiently stretching her hamstrings. “Peas, Ang, really?”
“I barely have time for an exfoliating mask, let alone sifting through questions for the best ones.” Angeline shoved her phone in the band around her upper arm and pushed off on the balls of her feet. “Which that BFF one is. Do you need me to remind you of the whole ‘Maxana’ thing?”
Maxine sighed and fell in step beside Angeline. “I should have followed Lana to San Fran when her family moved. I miss her. I miss dating. I miss surfing. I miss doing anything other than working on your voting app.”
“Yeah, nice try, but I know for a fact you’re looking for a way to market it.”
The blue tips at the end of Maxine’s ponytail grazed her neck as the two of them picked up speed. “I’m expecting connections from that boot camp. Do you really think your mom would stop you from going?”
Angeline shrugged. Probably not.
She struck the ground, digging in deeper.
But that was no longer her motivation for winning.
She rounded the curve.
Beating Leo was.
Leo and Tad and donuts and . . . he didn’t even like sweets!
She focused on her breathing and her heart hammering in her chest, and she drove her calves down and her knees up, picking up speed. She’d completed a full lap before she realized Maxine was no longer at her side.
“Sorry,” Angeline said, when she met back up with her.
“So long as you got it out of your system.” Maxine adjusted the wave pendant on her necklace as they started running again at a more sustainable pace. “Speaking of systems, your peer jury is polling well. Emmie thought it might be harder for the school to adopt than her original idea, not that you shouldn’t keep pushing for it.”
“Since when are you and Emmie Hayes friends?”
“We aren’t really. Unlike her and your sister. I trust you’ve seen?” Maxine said, and Angeline nodded. “Anyway, Emmie came to me before the primary. Wanted to collaborate on a digital way for students to share their concerns with student council.”
“Seriously?” Angeline jutted her chin toward the football field adjacent to the track, and she and Maxine crossed the manicured lawn to reach it. “Did you come up with something for her?”
“Um, hello, loyalty?”
“But you could. Come up with something.”
Maxine snorted. “Please.”
“Acedia Ask an Angel app, here we come.” Angeline grinned. “I so love a good branding opportunity.”
“For full functionality, time’s tight,” Maxine said. “Even for me.”
“No worries. Appearances speak louder than reality.”
They entered through the open metal gate of the football field and wordlessly headed for the bleachers, pounding the metal treads in unison to reach the top, where Maxine bent over, hands on her knees, to catch her breath. Angeline inhaled the scent of newly cut grass and looked out on the bright white stripes lining the field and the larger-than-life ACEDIA in block letters on both ends. She pulled out her phone, checking to make sure her video had uploaded properly before hitting the rounds of Instagram, Snap, and Twitter, which was where she saw it.
Keep Your Friends Close . . . Unless They’re These Three!
She was tagged in a tweet. She clicked on the link, which took her to a new online issue of The Shrieking Violet.
Good leaders know they’re only as smart as those in their inner circle. While it hasn’t always worked in TSwift’s favor, she was totally right about the power of a squad!
Fortunately for you, my Acedia pretties, Leo Torres shed a hundred-and-something-pound, ombre-haired parasite at the end of the summer, and such a smart move makes our lion the top dog in this cat fight. (Achievement unlocked! Four mammal animals in one sentence!)
And then there’s Angeline Quinn, who has not a circle but a square. First off is Sonya Robins, who spends all her free time impersonating a pretzel. They say inversions are good for the brain, but hard to advise well when you’re lightheaded from one too many downward dogs. Next up, is RILEY DONOVAN. RILEY is super SMILEY in her all-caps Insta, with and but nary a smidge of .
Which brings us to Maxine Chen. As attendees and envies of #LastSummerBlastOnTheCliffs know, BFF Maxie has the bank to roll out Quinn in the style her campaign doesn’t want us to get accustomed to. Hmm . . . curious. Even curiouser? Is it any coinky dink that Chen’s Girl Coders Club finally got programmed at the same time as sources say the administration got a hot tub (psst! parents in tech!)? Which was right before Quinn pushed a more restrictive platform, assuring those with the itch to club have fewer options? Collusion?! Conspiracy?! Overload of mixed metaphors?!!? Is this the cloth from which we sloths are made? Only you can decide, dear reader.
Keep visiting this site and get your SHRIEK on.
P.S. How’s about we show that #LastSummerBlastOnTheCliffs what a real soiree looks like? #LightUpEggshell beach bonfire tonight!
“Oh my God,” Angeline said.
Maxine, who’d been reading over Angeline’s shoulder, pivoted to face her. “That secretary bought our old hot tub. She’s got a bad back!”
“And Riley’s the first to shout that her GPA lands her in the top ten percent.”
“That thing will be eating its words when I’m running Sonya’s IPO for her yoga franchise one day.”
Angeline and Maxine fluttered their wings, their version of a fist bump.
“And parasite?” Angeline said. “Seriously? Which isn’t a mammal, by the way. Besides, if anyone was riding anyone, it was Leo.” Angeline watched as Maxine’s eyes widened. “Oh, you know what I mean.”
“It’s not you.” Maxine grabbed Angeline by the shoulders and spun her around. “It’s that.”
Taped to the bench of the top row of bleachers, as far as Angeline could see, were printouts. They alternated in a pattern of three around the entire oval of the football field.
“Now snap a pic and steal that shrieking thunder,” Maxine said.
TadIsRad
Screen this!!
They’re back!!!! And who knew? Frankengirls like football!
Tad Marcus @TadIsRad • 10m
#Frankengirls in da house! Hit my Snap!
BrosAndBros @brosandbros • 5m
Replying to @TadIsRad