Belle of the Brawl by Lisi Harrison Read Free Book Online Page A

angles. Hot ad,” Allie murmured, studying the picture with the eye of a former model. Allie had to admit, Mel was more crushable than cardboard. If her heart hadn’t already been bulldozed by one of the Brazille Boys, she might have jumped on the bandwagon.
    “It’s Mel!” Charlie exclaimed, as though the fact weren’t obvious.
    “I
know
it’s Mel,” said Allie, struggling to keep irritation out of her voice. “But what does this have to do with me?”
    “I know you’re not over Darwin,” Charlie said patiently. “But Mel is a mega-hawttie, and he’s single, and I think youtwo might have a lot in common. If nothing else, he’d be a distraction. One that’s healthier than”—she waved her hand dismissively around the room—“than pretending to be so unhealthy!”
    “No thanks,” she said, shaking her head so her blond waves smacked her pillow. “I can’t just shut my feelings for Darwin off and turn on a crush on Mel. I’m not a fuse box!” She squinted her lash-fringed eyes at Charlie, wishing her aPod could read a person’s motives and not just their bio. How could Allie be sure Charlie’s intentions were pure? What if Charlie wanted to get back together with Darwin? They used to be soul mates—wasn’t it possible that Charlie decided she wanted him back? “You’re not… just doing this to get back together with Darwin, are you? If you like him, just be honest and tell me.”
    Charlie recoiled in her chair, sitting back so fast it looked like she’d been punched by an invisible hand. Her cheeks reddened and she studied the tiles of the infirmary floor as if searching for what to say.
    “I-I-I know you’re not a fuse box,” Charlie finally stammered, looking up from the floor and grabbing Allie’s hand. “And I don’t want Darwin back. I just want you to be happy. Will you go out with Mel once, just to see? If nothing else, you can practice your acting and get some of your self-confidence back. And it
might
make Darwin jealous enough to realize what he’s giving up.”
    Allie breathed out a gushing sigh. If going out with Mel could get Darwin to like her again, maybe Charlie’s idea was worth considering. And the possibility of gaining some notoriety at the Academy for something other than impersonating Allie J was hard to resist. There was no point in trying to erase her feelings for Darwin by dating his brother, but maybe Charlie was right. Maybe hanging with a guy who actually liked her would be a good feeling? Allie had her doubts, but she shrugged them off like an ill-fitting trench.
    “How do we make this happen?”
    Allie nodded and listened as Charlie sketched the outlines of a plan for meeting up with Mel, acting excited as she went on. And on. Because, Allie told herself, that’s what actors do. They act.

9
    MOUNT OLYMPUS
CHAIRLIFT
    SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2ND
12:26 P.M.
    “Are we there yet?” Skye asked miserably. Her stomach lurched as the A-shaped air-chair she shared with Charlie and Allie swayed in high-altitude wind, hoisting the three Jackie O’s up Mount Olympus, the tallest landmass on Alpha Island. Fifty feet below the chairlift she could see the tops of pine trees shivering, mirroring her own trembling nerves. If today’s assault on Syd’s senses didn’t work, she might have to join Allie in the infirmary for fear of a nervous collapse.
    “Smell that mountain freshness,” Allie shouted into the wind, taking a big gulp of pine-scented, snow-cooled air. “Reminds me of the ski slopes in Tahoe!”
    “Reminds me of an out-of-control roller coaster run by drunk carnies,” mumbled Skye, unzipping her gunmetal gray parka halfway. The breeze-battered chairlift was just like her life right now—out of her control. But looking across the air-chair at her fellow O’s, the same could be saidabout them, too. Charlie had been nervous, jumpy, and clumsy all morning, and Allie was weirdly chipper for no discernable reason—almost manically so. In her gold belted