The Ashley Project (14 page)

“Girls don't sweat, they glow,” Lili said, quoting from their gym teacher as she sprayed herself with mist.

Physical education at Miss Gamble's was a bit of a joke. The other day they had learned how to play croquet and other “lawn sports.”

Lauren accepted the Evian mineral spray from Lili and pressed the button, releasing a sharp burst of water. She coughed and blinked, to the other girls' amusement. Ashley smirked. You can take the geek out of the comic book convention, but you can't take the comic book convention out of the geek.

“Where to next, Lauren?” asked A. A.

“Yeah, where are we going now?” Lili echoed.

But before Lauren could answer, Ashley decided that it was time to end Lauren's tour of Los Angeles. “I think I saw Daphne go that way,” she said, motioning to the store across the street. “I'm going over there,” she added, fully expecting everyone to follow.

“That store does have the best shoe selection,” Lauren agreed, taking off her sunglasses and squinting in the direction Ashley was pointing. “But I thought we should check out this sale down the street. They have good stuff if you're still looking for a dress to wear to the dance.”

“I vote for shoes,” A. A. decided.

“Well, I am still looking for a dress for the dance,” Lili admitted, looking warily at Ashley and A. A. before sidling up to Lauren.

Ashley's eyes bugged out of her skull. Was Lili seriously going to ditch them to hang with Lauren? “Fine,” she said, as if she wasn't bothered in the least. “It's not like you need my permission,” she sniffed, rubbing it in because Lili looked like her permission was the very thing she wanted.

Lili colored. “We'll meet you for lunch in half an hour?”

Ashley shrugged and said something noncommittal as she began walking away, A. A. following right behind her.

“What's the deal with Lili lately?” Ashley asked as she pushed the glass door open so it tinkled as they entered the all-white boutique. “She's acting like she's
not even our friend anymore. She's, like,
obsessed
with Lauren.”

A. A. grunted but didn't respond. That was the problem with A. A.—you could never get her to trash-talk about their other best friend. Much.

They looked at the shelves of shoes. Lauren was right, the store had a dazzling array of the latest designer footwear. Ashley surveyed the goods: exquisite jeweled sandals by Giuseppe Zanotti, gorgeous peep-toe Carmen Ho pumps, yummy Tory Burch Reva flats with the gold disk on the toe.

“Love these,” said A. A., snatching up a red patent-leather Jimmy Choo short boot from a nearby shelf and turning it over to check the price tag.

“Me too!” Ashley enthused, grabbing the other shoe.

“I know, aren't they great?” a sultry voice asked from behind.

Ashley turned around to see Daphne Shepard parading in the very same shoes. She looked even skinnier and prettier up close, with brilliant hazel eyes and a dazzling smile. Her tan was a delicious shade of buttery caramel, and her knees were as tiny as her elbows. She moved like a bird—all flutter and light. She smiled at the girls and turned to the clerk. “I'll take them.”

Ashley pinched A. A. hard on the underside of her arm, and A. A. did the same to the underside of Ashley's arm, but neither of them said anything until Daphne left the store.

“That was so cool!” A. A. exhaled, releasing her grip. “Let's call Lili and tell her what she missed.” She whipped out her cell.

“Let's not and say we did,” said Ashley, grinning. Served her right for running off with Lauren.

“Don't be mean,” A. A. admonished, dialing. “Huh. She's not picking up.”

“Maybe she and Lauren ran off together.”

A. A. put her phone away and waved at the salesgirl. “Can we get two of these?” she asked. “Sizes five and five and a half?”

The salesgirl returned with two lavender boxes, and Ashley kicked off her flats to try them on. Next to her, A. A. was doing the same. Ashley stood up and admired how the high heel elongated her calf. She would have to hide them from her mother, though—she was only allowed to wear two-and-a-half-inch heels until her thirteenth birthday.

“These shoes rock,” she declared.

“We're totally getting them,” A. A. agreed.

“Yes we are.” Ashley nodded. Matching shoes was a trademark of the Ashleys. Then her face froze. She couldn't afford the shoes any more than she could afford that black dress from earlier, but if she just put it on hold, A. A. would ask why she had to do that, and she didn't want A. A. to know her allowance was restricted. If there was one thing Ashley couldn't stand, it was pity.

“How are we doing over here?” the salesgirl asked, coming over with an obsequious smile.

Ashley was about to offer an excuse, but before she could, A. A. handed her credit card to the clerk. “We'll take them. They're my treat.”

“Are you sure?” Ashley asked, suddenly wishing she hadn't been so mean about laxjock. Even if he totally was a fat, homeschooled loser. Didn't A. A. ever watch any
Dateline
? Hello.

“C'mon, it's a birthday present,” said A. A.

“My birthday's not for a couple of months,” Ashley pointed out.

“And I should probably get Lili a pair too,” A. A. added thoughtfully. “Her birthday was last week.”

“Thanks, A.” Ashley sighed. She sat back down on the couch, ruminating on her friend's unexpected generosity.
Maybe if she told her mom they were a gift, she would be allowed to wear them.

Everyone always thought Ashley Spencer's life was beyond perfect, but sometimes even someone as perfect as Ashley Spencer couldn't get by without a little help from her friends.

LAUREN WATCHED LILI WATCH HER
friends walk away. Lili had chosen to hang out with her rather than the other two Ashleys! This was a good thing, right? Lili was also the one who had given her that unsolicited advice on how to get “in” with Ashley Spencer. Lili was the key. She was the weak link in the clique. If she could somehow get Lili to stop being Ashley's friend, that would create a tear in the very fabric of the Ashleys' existence. And the Ashleys didn't do tears.

But Lili looked like she was dearly regretting her decision to strike out on her own. She looked like she had just lost her best friend—which she had, sorta.
Lauren had to act fast. “I think they have your dress at the store we're going to.”

“What dress?” Lili asked. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

Fine, be that way. This would take a little finessing. They walked inside the store, which had several wooden tables piled high with every kind of designer T-shirt imaginable, at prices that would have bought dozens of Hanes three-packs.

“Ashley, what do you think of this?” Lauren asked, lifting up a rib-knit Henley.

“Why do you keep calling me Ashley?” Lili was looking at Lauren as if Lauren were a bug underneath a microscope.

“Uh, because it's your name?”

“I don't know if you've noticed, but I go by Lili now. You can call me Lili, you know. Everyone does,” Lili huffed.

Lauren blushed. She had been too scared to call Ashley Li and Ashley Alioto by their cute nicknames. Only the cool girls in class—the SOAs—did so. She told Lili this.

“I never noticed,” said Lili, shrugging. Lauren watched as she picked up a T-shirt that cost the same as
Lauren's old digital camera. Her parents had saved for months to be able to afford it in the year before YourTV launched. It still amazed Lauren how casually some girls could spend a fortune on the most innocuous items. Who knew the right T-shirt cost so much? Even if her dad could afford to buy the whole store, Lauren was still nervous about spending money like water.

They shopped in silence, riffling through the stack of super-soft T-shirts, until Ashley Li—
Lili
—let out an exasperated sigh.

“Like, it's always about
her
, you know? What about me?” she said angrily. “I mean, I did find the dress first.”

Lauren intuited that it was best not to respond. This was a great example of a rhetorical question. Lili didn't want an answer. She just wanted to get something off her chest.

“Everything always has to be the way she wants it. Like the damn cupcakes.”

“Cupcakes?” Lauren asked, thoroughly lost.

“They're for the dance. For dessert. Cute, right? It was my idea. But Ashley insists we have to get them made from this recipe her chef provided.” Lili dug into her bag and fished out a crumpled piece of paper. “But I can't find a baker who'll do it. They won't use a home recipe. You can either order their cupcakes or make your
own. Some kind of insurance thing. And I'm not about to bake a hundred cupcakes.”

“Why can't Ashley's chef do it, then?”

“Because apparently that's not her job.” Lili shook her head. “At least according to Ashley. I've called twenty bakeries already. They all said no.”

Lauren took the recipe from her and studied it. “It looks like it's just a recipe for vanilla cupcakes.”

“Yeah. So?”

“So, why not just order the regular cupcakes? Ashley will never know, right? And what she doesn't know won't hurt her.” That seemed an easy enough solution.

Lili's eyes shone. “You're right. Why didn't I think of that?”

She pulled out her cell phone. “Hi? We spoke earlier? Yeah. Can I just have a hundred of your regular vanilla cupcakes? Hold on, I got another call. Oh wait, don't worry, it's just a friend of mine. I'll let it go to voice mail. Yeah. Buttercream frosting. For next Friday. Yes. Delivery. You have the address already.”

“Thanks, Lauren,” Lili said, putting away her phone.

“No problem.”

“Are you getting any T-shirts?” asked Lili, holding up her selection of sherbet-colored shirts.

Lauren was about to shake her head. Then she stopped. Lili was looking at her as if she were insane to pass up the chance to buy the shirts. And right now, she needed Lili to like her. Lauren decided to buy
one
shirt.

They did a little more shopping, until Lili noticed it had been a full half hour that she'd been separated from her two friends. But you'd think it was years the way Lili kept dialing and texting them every second. Independence was a costly experience, it seemed. Finally Lili decided to see if the twosome were still in the shoe store, and she dragged Lauren back to where they had left them. Lauren wished they'd been able to hang out, just the two of them, a little longer. Lili wasn't half as snotty as she was when the other Ashleys were around.

“There you guys are!” Lili said, dashing inside the shoe store, relief evident in her voice. Lauren saw Ashley and A. A.—she reminded herself she was one of them now and allowed to use the nicknames—seated on a velvet couch, several open shoe boxes scattered in front of them. “Oooh, cute shoes,” said Lili, pouncing on the red patent-leather booties they were each holding.

“Here,” A. A. said. “For you.” She handed Lili one of the boxes. “Happy belated birthday. I bought Ashley a pair too, for her birthday. And one for me.”

“What are they?” Lili asked, opening the box. She squealed when she saw what was inside and took a seat next to Ashley on the couch. She couldn't kick off her shoes fast enough and removed an identical pair of red boots from the lavender tissue. Lauren took a seat on the very edge of the couch. “Could you guys move?” she asked, but no one did.

“A. A.! You're a superstar!” Lili gushed, zipping up her new boots.

“Daphne just got them,” Ashley said casually.

“She was here?” Lili gasped.

Ashley nodded. “She hung out with us. We're total BFFs now,” she said smugly.

“Aw,” Lili groaned. “What did she look like? What else did she buy?”

They don't even realize I'm here,
Lauren thought, inching nearer to Lili in an attempt to take up more space since she was perched precariously on the edge, crouched in a half-sitting, half-squatting position. “Maybe I'll get a pair too,” she mumbled to herself.

“Could I get this in a size five and a half?” Lauren
asked a salesgirl, motioning to the shoes. Then she turned to the Ashleys, who were now all wearing their new boots. “Do you guys know what you're wearing to the dance yet?”

“God, no,” A. A. replied, crossing her arms. “I don't plan that far in advance.” She shrugged.

Lauren noted that the dance was that Friday. But someone like A. A., who'd always been beautiful, probably never had to worry about what she would look like. Unlike Lauren, who still did a double take whenever she saw her reflection in the mirror, since she couldn't quite believe it was her.

“Something from my mom's closet, most likely,” A. A. said, fluffing her bangs. “Designers still send her great stuff all the time.”

“I don't know yet either,” Ashley put in.

Lili was silent, Lauren noticed.

The salesgirl returned.

“I'm sorry, those were the last size five and a half,” she said, pointing to the box Ashley was holding.

“Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to order them from another store,” Lauren said nonchalantly, trying not to show her distress about having been left out again. “Lili and I bought the same T-shirt,” she said, in an effort to
bring up the camaraderie they'd shared just a little while ago. It was just one T-shirt. And her dad could afford it.

“It's just a basic,” said Lili quickly. “I mean, anyone can buy a white T-shirt, right?”

Lauren tried not to feel dissed as she looked down at her wedge boots. They pinched her feet, and she could feel a blister forming on her big toe. The Ashleys always carried off wearing high heels with an effortless grace. Did any of them ever suffer to be beautiful? The three of them were standing in front of the full-length mirror. Then they started doing high kicks together, linking arms and singing “New York, New York.”