How To Salsa in a Sari (14 page)

The Notebook!
She and Gigi had a long-standing movie date every Sunday night and she had totally forgotten in her Rake Robinson quest.

“Oh, we had a quiz in English. Did Ishaan tell you? I had to, uh, get the book read,” she lied quickly. Gigi would be furious if she knew Issa had ditched her for the Belles.

Gigi's face cleared up. “Oh, yeah, he did say that. He was so cute this morning, so worried about the quiz! How do you think you did?”

“Pretty good,” Issa continued to lie. From the first page of the quiz, she knew she was going to fail. After a moment of panic she realized that she needed to worry more about how to meet Rake. A bad grade in English was totally worth it if her plan went as scheduled.

“So, I wanted to talk to you about Ishaan, actually. Did you talk to him like you said you would? He's still acting normal around me, so I guess he doesn't know I like him?”

“Uh.” Issa had totally forgotten it. “Yeah, I did talk to him.”

“And?”

Issa had no idea how to break the news to Gigi. Gigi was not known for taking bad news calmly. This could be a disaster unless Issa had a cleanup plan. A few scoops of ice cream with hot fudge would probably do the trick.

“Look, Gigi. I tried. I told him he was nice and you were nice and you guys should date. But apparently, he likes someone else, so—”

“Who!”

“I don't know!”

“You didn't ask?”

“I did! But he said, she was ‘unavailable,' so I didn't know what to say after that.”

Gigi went silent and Issa turned around to see what she was staring at. Ishaan was striding down the hallway looking purposeful.

“Hey, Iz, listen, I'm sorry about yelling at you. I'll help you. Right now I gotta change for practice.” Ishaan didn't even look in Gigi's direction. “How did you do on the quiz? Was that the first time you didn't read the book for class?”

Gigi's eyes gazed at Issa with a hurt expression.

Oops.

“Uh, yeah, I'll, uh—” Issa hoped Ishaan would be able to take the hint and leave. “I'll meet you out by the soccer field, okay?”

She waited till Ishaan had disappeared around the corner before daring to face Gigi again.

“He likes
someone,
huh? You sure you don't know who it is?” Gigi asked quietly.

“How do I know!” Issa said, exasperated. “He didn't want to talk about it.”

“God, it's so obvious! It was
so obvious!
” Gigi stomped her foot.

“What are you talking about now?” Issa rolled her eyes. She was dying to go out and see Rake and wasn't particularly interested in Gigi's theatrics so late in the day. And she
certainly
didn't want Gigi to reaffirm her suspicions that Ishaan had a thing for Cat.

“He's so obviously in love with you!”

Issa hadn't expected that.
“What!”

“Come on, Iz. Don't act surprised. He's beautiful and smart and wonderful. Why would he like me? He thinks I'm a total ditz. Of course he likes you. He rescues you every chance he gets. You guys have known each other forever. Freakin' A, I'm so stupid!”

Ishaan having a thing for her? Right. After the way he'd spent the afternoon insulting her. After the way he'd kept her out of his life and told her none of his secrets. Right. Totally.

“Okay, now you're just acting insane. Ishaan doesn't
like
me. He's Amir's friend. He treats me like a kid sister.”

“Whatever, okay. You lied to me and told me you were studying for your English test. I bet you were with him. And you weren't studying!”

“Gigi!”

“Look, I don't have time to stand here and listen to you make up more lies. Thanks a lot. Thanks for making me look like an idiot!”

With that Gigi stomped off down the hall.

“Wha—”

Issa closed her mouth. She knew she should go after Gigi, but Ishaan was waiting. And so was Rake. She would have to talk to Gigi later.

Issa made it out to the soccer fields in record time and looked around for Cat, who had apparently become a permanent fixture at soccer practice according to Ishaan. If she caught Cat at a single extracurricular, she would have no problems ratting her out. Diego's orders, of course. But Cat was nowhere to be seen.

The team was already practicing for the spring season and Issa could see Ishaan, his mop of wavy hair standing out in the crowd of green-jersey-wearing boys as they kicked the ball around. He was agile as he maneuvered through the throng of defensemen and scored a goal.

Ishaan? Liking her? Ridiculous.

Issa put the thought out of her head and surveyed the team for Rake. He was supposed to look like Adam Levine of Maroon 5. Her eyes passed over a guy sitting on the bench by himself. He was lanky, but not thin, and had a smoldering look to him. He looked like someone who would be named Rake.

Very cute. Much cuter than Adam. Issa smiled thinking of the look on both Adam's and Cat's face as Issa and Rake made their entrance at the Snow Ball. Cat would burn with envy and Adam would realize what a mistake he had made.

A Prada gown. Issa decided. Something similar to what Halle Berry had worn to that year's Oscars. She in a Prada and Rake in a tux. Pulling up in a limo.

The coach blew his whistle, jarring Issa out of her daydream. She noticed the team was milling around the watercooler.

Here was her chance. Exit Issa. Enter Isabelle. Issa closed her eyes and visualized herself winning Rake over and making him fall madly in love with her.

What am I doing?
The only guy who had ever liked her was nerdy Adam and he dumped her for Cat. He even said she was ugly! The thought almost sat her down again.

I can do this. For Mom. For Dad. For us.

Issa made sure her gaucho pants fell just so over her boots and her black faux-fur coat highlighted her face and hair. She smiled as she approached Ishaan where he was talking to another player.

“Hello, boys,” she said in her best husky Lindsay Lohan voice.

“Hey—hey, Isabelle,” the other player managed to gasp out. Hmm, he knew her name and she had absolutely no idea who he was. So this was what it was like to be famous.

“Issa, this is Joe. He's the only sophomore who made varsity this year. Joe, my friend Issa.” Ishaan sounded bored.

“Hi, Joey. You were really good out there.” Issa did her trademark half smile and the words flowed out silkily.

“Would you excuse us?” Ishaan grabbed Issa's arm and steered her away from the starstruck sophomore. “Do you have to flirt with every guy? I thought it was Rake you wanted to meet!”

Issa did her mirror-perfected pout.

“Don't give me that stupid expression. You look like a fish.”

Issa frowned. What was Gigi talking about? Ishaan didn't like her. Everything about her seemed to annoy him nowadays. Probably only his pledge to Amir kept him even speaking to her.

“Introduce me to Rake.” She sighed.

His hand still on her arm, he dragged her over to where Rake had just strapped on his iPod.

Ishaan tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey. This is Issa. She's a huge fan of your work.”

Issa ignored his sarcasm and rewarded Rake with her biggest smile.

“Hey.” Rake removed his headphones and held out his hand. Issa slipped her fingers through his and gave a suggestive squeeze. She could hardly breathe. This was the first time she'd touched another guy since Adam. His fingers held hers tightly.

“How long have you been playing?” Uninvited, she took a seat on the bench and tilted her head back. She could barely believe she was doing this. She'd practiced in front of her mirror for hours and these rehearsed lines sounded almost natural to her now.

“I need to get back,” Ishaan muttered.

Issa watched him leave and when it became clear he wasn't planning to glance back at her even once, she turned her attention to Rake “Cat's Obsession” Robinson.

Rake was amazing up close. He looked much more like a young Tom Cruise before he got all weird than the Maroon 5 guy. His coconut-shell-colored hair hung over matching almond-shaped eyes, and the white jersey he wore set off a natural-looking tan. He had a tiny zigzag scar on his left cheek that was more Colin Farrell than Harry Potter.

“I've played since I was a kid. You come to lots of games?”

Issa threw her head back and laughed. “To see you? Always.” She hoped her voice sounded throaty and sexy, instead of like she had a cold. “Yeah?”

She shrugged out of her fur coat. “It's warm in here, don't you think?”

“Coach put in space heaters.” Rake's attention was now completely off his iPod and he was watching her every movement.

“How smart.” She raised her arms and twisted her hair to the top of her head and let it fall to her shoulders. “Listen, I was wondering. Do you want to do something sometime?”

Rake looked surprised by her boldness and Issa wondered if she'd pushed it too far. Didn't someone say guys didn't like forward girls? She could hear Serena's voice in her head chiding her on her stupidity.

“I mean, like studying. What classes are you in? I'm having a lot of trouble with English,” Issa said hurriedly.

“Uh, yeah. Studying sounds really good. Why don't you put your number in my cell phone? I'll give you a call.” He held out his RAZR.

Score!

“There you go.” She handed his phone back to him, letting her fingers linger on his. “Have a great game.”

She gave him one last smile before turning her back and walking away with her perfected strut.

Everybody Pities the Weak; Jealousy You Have to Earn

Leave it up to us.

Issa
reread the one-line e-mail from Serena and knew what her new “friend” was talking about. The sample ballot for Snow Queen had come out that day and there were three names on it: the Belles had nominated Issa. Cat had self-nominated herself. And Jenni Wilson, the school superjock, had been nominated by the girls' lacrosse team. Serena had assured her it was no contest. Jenni didn't look all that great in a ball gown and Cat wasn't exactly the most popular girl in school at the moment.

Issa couldn't help but worry. She
needed
that crown. It was the only way Cat would be driven over the edge. Cat would still win it, though. Not everyone in school knew who Issa “Isabelle” Mazumder was after only a few weeks of notoriety. Everybody knew about Cat Morena and her powerful friends.

She sighed and looked around the deserted school computer lab. But that wasn't the time to think about the crown. She had other things to worry about that evening.

Like school. As she'd expected, Issa had gotten a less than stellar grade on
The Crucible
quiz. Her first C ever.

Professor Kidlinger had been so surprised that she'd asked Issa to turn in an extra-credit report on the real events of the Salem witch trials to compensate. Issa was given a week to complete the assignment and here she was, the night before it was due, with exactly one line written:

Issa Googled “Salem witch trials” and started sorting through the links to see what looked valid and what looked like some punk kid's useless Web site.

There should've be a law against future Snow Queens doing homework on Thursday night.

Or any other night.

She'd spent every evening the past week either at the mall or at soccer games with the other Belles. She sat at their table at lunch and fawned over their outfits. Today her outfit of an off-the-shoulder dolman-sleeve minidress had drawn raves from the other Belles.

At first it was fun to talk about nothing more serious than clothes, makeup and who was sleeping with who on
Laguna Beach,
but after a while Issa started to wonder if she really had anything in common with the other girls. None of them had career plans except for fashion design and modeling contracts. Issa didn't dare mention her journalism dreams.

“Hello there, gorgeous.”

Issa was so deep in thought that she hadn't even noticed Rake entering the computer lab.

“Oh, hi!” Instantly she morphed into “Isabelle.” Fun, flirtatious Isabelle who Rake had called on the phone three times that week. The Belles had made sure to spread the word about the new couple in town, even though they had never actually gone out on a real date.

“You ready?” Rake scrubbed his fingers through damp hair, shoving strands off his forehead. So far Issa had managed to not miss even one of his practices, but tonight's paper-writing session had taken her away from him. He smelled like an Amazonian rain forest right out of the shower.

“Am I ready?”

“Yeah, we're grabbing coffee, remember?”

“Right. Tonight. Starbucks. You have to try that coconut latte.” Issa shut off the computer. She would pull an all-nighter and write the paper. She couldn't keep Rake waiting.

She slipped her hand through his as they made their way through the hallways and into the parking lot. She did her patented giggle as he talked about the goals he'd scored that day.

“I'm
so
upset I missed it. You must have been amazing!”

“You're giving me too much credit.”

“Oh, whatever. If the rest of the team was as good as you, we'd be state champions by now.”

Rake raised an eyebrow but didn't disagree. Issa usually hated arrogant guys, but on Rake, it was confidence, not arrogance.

She giggled again and leaned into him, enjoying how his broad shoulders just seemed to give off a raw, sensual heat.

As they approached the Lotus, Issa noticed a familiar car pull into the garage.

Alisha's Corolla. Issa frowned. What was her mother doing back at school so late? She hadn't told Alisha about Rake and she didn't feel like a scene at the moment.

But it wasn't Alisha that got out of the car.

Adam jumped from the passenger side. He immediately came around to the driver's side and opened the door for an emerging Cat.

Issa felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. He had
never
opened the car door for her. Now here he was, gently leading Cat out of the seat, his eyes big and love-struck as he watched her. What
did
Adam see in Cat?

Idiot.

Issa pretended not to see them, but watched carefully from behind her curtain of thick hair. What was Cat doing out of house arrest anyway? Issa knew Cat wouldn't cause a scene. All Issa had to do was tell Diego about her little outing and she was toast.

Cat ignored Issa, but didn't take her eyes off Rake for even an instant. Adam was, as usual, oblivious. Time to give them something to really gawk at.

Issa reached up and wrapped her arms around Rake's neck and pulled him into her. She leaned back into the Lotus and pressed her lips against Rake's, kissing him deeply.

She made sure to pull away first and gaze into his eyes. That should've done the trick. For both Rake and Cat.

Rake had a mischievous grin on his face and he reached for her again. She gently pushed him away. “Let's wait till tomorrow,” she murmured with a wink.

As she slinked around to the driver's side, she flashed Rake another smile and peeked behind her. Cat and Adam still hadn't moved. Cat's eyes were wide and Adam was staring at her, a look of horror on his face.

“Cat. Come on, let's go.”

Gotcha.

Issa couldn't help but gloat silently as she peeled out of the garage. She officially had it all. Cat's man, Cat's car. The only thing left was Cat's Snow Queen crown and she was home free. The Morenas would be out of her life so fast, there would be skid marks.

A few hours later, the first snowfall of the season was in progress when Issa shivered her way into the Morena mansion after the coffee date. Maybe a minidress and Chanel pirate boots were a bad idea on a day when the average temperature had been thirty degrees, but Rake's appreciating glances had been worth it.

The hallway clock dinged seven-thirty.

She knew she was late for dinner, but the date had been totally worth it. She touched her glossed lips, remembering the kiss he'd given her before she dropped him off at his place. His lips made her tingle all the way down into her toes. She could hardly wait to be alone with him on Saturday night at the movies. She had a feeling they wouldn't see much of
Tristan and Isolde
like they planned to do.

“Issa, is that you?” she heard Alisha calling from the dining room. “You're missing dinner. We waited as long as we could.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Issa made her grand entrance and wrapped her scarf around the back of the chair before taking her place across from Alisha. “Lost track of time. I was studying.”

Cat and Diego both looked up. Diego with a smile, Cat with a frown.

Cat had managed to get out of the house, take Alisha's car and miraculously get back in under an hour. The girl was a genius at getting away with anything. Those games were about to stop.

Diego passed the mashed potatoes smothered in butter and gravy. “You look very happy.”

Issa could feel herself glowing. “I am. What about you, Cat, how do you feel?”

Cat's head jerked up from her meat loaf. “Fine,” she said shortly.

“You didn't look too happy at school this evening,” Issa commented innocently, hiding her smile. “Saw you in the parking lot.”

Diego carefully set down the spoon he was using. “Catalina, you left the house? Did you ask Alisha before you left? You certainly didn't take permission from me.”

Cat bit her lip. “
Papi,
I—”

“She did ask me. And I said it was fine. I even asked her to take my car and fill it with gas,” Alisha said smoothly as she reached for the coconut green beans.

Issa's head swiveled. Her mother was lying. She knew the tone Alisha used when she was covering for someone. And right now she was covering for Cat.

“How's school going, Iz?” Alisha changed the subject. “Cat's really bringing up her grades.”

With no friends and Adam as a boyfriend, that was entirely possible. A few more nonfailing grades and Diego might let her off the hook. Then Cat would immediately go on a rampage to bring down Issa. Her plan would be over.

Damage control time. Issa was ashamed of the thought that popped into her head. What right did she have to come between a father and his daughter?

But then, what right did Diego have to come between Roy and his family?

She had to move on with her plan.

“How did you do on that Crucible quiz, Cat?” Issa asked as she casually took a bite of her meat loaf. The quiz had been hard and she knew Cat couldn't have done all that well.

“I got a B,” Cat said, a tiny smile on her face. Her face was scrubbed clean of all makeup and she looked like a little girl, with huge green eyes set in her pale face like a doll.

“That's much better than what you've been getting so far this year, right, honey?” Alisha asked Cat.

Honey?

Jealously burned Issa's throat.

Cat nodded in Alisha's direction. “Yeah. You helped me a lot. Um, thanks for that.”

Issa clenched her teeth. Alisha was helping Cat study? Alisha, who hated school and had never once helped Issa? Did her mother actually believe Cat was family? Two could play that game.

“I got an A. I missed the 4th question, or else it would've been the perfect score.” Issa felt herself nearly choking on the lie. She had never felt the need to lie about her grades before, and after all she never had a reason to.

Cat slumped lower in her chair and set down her fork.

“I am so impressed by these high grades of yours, Issa.” Diego beamed at her. “A real scholar we have in this family,
verdad,
Catalina? You can really learn something from Issa.”

Issa ignored Alisha's disapproving look and turned again to Diego. “Would it be okay if I bought a dress for the Snow Ball, Diego? I got nominated for Snow Queen this year!”

Alisha stopped eating. “You? Snow Queen?”

“Yes, Mother. Me.” Issa didn't look at Alisha.

“But isn't that the kind of thing—”

Cat usually does?

Why, yes, Mother. But now a new princess is in town.

“It's not usually my thing, but the Belles thought I would be a shoo-in.”

“I'm sure you'll be lovely,” Diego said. “Brains and beauty are a very rare combination.”

Alisha looked suspicious.
What are you up to?
her eyes practically said as she glared at Issa.

“You know, Diego, Cat's nominated too. I think I'll lose just because she's in the race!” Issa giggled.

Cat's face started to go white. Issa could bet ten thousand dollars, Cat had planned to sneak out to the dance without telling Diego and walk out with the crown.

“Cat?
No es possible.
Cat is grounded. She will not be attending the dance.”

“
Papi!
This is not fair! I have been improving my grades. I have done everything you have said. Why can't I go to the dance? Why are you being like this?” Cat burst out.

Issa counted to ten while Diego glared at Cat. When it looked like Alisha was going to intervene, Issa spoke up.

“Actually, Diego. Cat's right,” she said. Alisha and Cat both stared at her with surprise. “I mean, Cat's really trying. I think you should let her go to the dance. After all, she's going with Adam, who you liked, right?”

Cat stared at Issa with pure contempt in her eyes.

Issa stared right back.

Diego hesitated, looking between the two teenage girls.

Come on, Diego.

Issa needed Cat to be there. Cat had to be there when she and Rake were crowned Snow Queen and King and had their first dance together.

“I'll think about it,” Diego said. “If Catalina's grades continue to go up, we will discuss it. Catalina, say thank you to Issa.”

“Thanks,” Cat muttered.

Issa hid her smile behind a sip of water. “What are sisters for?”