Sarah skipped lightly down the stairs. Who could be visiting at this hour? Her mother strolled through the foyer. Her heels click-clanked as she walked. “We expect you at dinner soon,” she said. “We aren’t home that often. I’m sure you can make plans some other time with your friends.” Mrs. Smith tossed her perfectly curled hair and disappeared around the corner to the cozy kitchen. Sarah took a deep breath and opened the door. “Oh–hi. Did you need something?” She leaned her shoulder against the doorframe. She tried to keep her expression neutral but was very surprised. Elly stood Barbie-style on her front porch. She played on Sarah’s field hockey team. Even though Elly wasn’t very athletic, her parents forced Coach Mars to keep her on the team so she could list a varsity sport on her college application. Her teammate wore a high school letter jacket over a long black skirt. “I won’t be long,” Elly said, placing a hand on her small hip. “You have my black sandals in your bag. I came to get them back.” Elly pushed past Sarah and entered the foyer. “Yum. Smells like filet mignon,” she said.Sarah crossed her arms, irritated.Elly twirled around, letting her converse sneakers squeak across the marble floor. “How do I have your sandals?” Sarah asked as she started up the stairs to her bedroom.Elly let out a dramatic sigh. She ran her hand over the stair banister and followed Sarah up. Sarah had purposely not invited Elly up to her room, but was too polite to say otherwise.Elly sighed again. She had one of those Los Angeles style pinched nose voices that made everything she said sound as if she were constantly complaining. And she sighed. All. The. Time.”Because…I put my shoes in your bag,” Elly said. “Your bag was right next to mine on the bench in the locker room. I didn’t realize my mistake until after you’d left.”Sarah opened her door and went to her sports bag. She began to search through its contents.Elly sat down at Sarah’s vanity table. She made kissy faces at her reflection in the mirror.”Oh, here they are.” Sarah pulled the strappy black sandals from her bag. The shoes looked as if they belonged to Catwoman. She walked over to Elly to hand her the shoes. Elly was holding a picture in her hands. As Sarah glanced over her shoulder, she saw it was a photo of herself with Charles at his high school graduation. “How’s Charlie Pants doing? Does he just loooove Yale?” She traced her red painted fingernail across Charles’ face. Sarah cleared her throat. The strappy sandals felt vile in her hands. The shoes were so sexy, just touching them made her feel impure, like she was handling someone’s used underwear.”Charles is great,” Sarah said. She dangled the shoes nearer Elly’s face in the hopes the girl would take them and leave. “That’s nice,” Elly said, still tracing her finger over the picture. “He is soooo cute.” Sarah smiled a tight lipped smile. “Yes. Charles is quite the charmer.”Elly dropped the image onto the vanity table. She didn’t bother to put it back where it had been taped on the mirror. Elly grabbed Sarah’s Ralph Lauren perfume bottle. “You don’t mind, do you? This brand is amazing.” She quickly spritzed herself without waiting for Sarah to answer.Sarah bit her tongue. She knew Elly wasn’t exactly rude. She just hadn’t been raised with the proper etiquette.Elly took the shoes from Sarah’s hands. She slipped off her converse and daintily stepped into the sandals. She looked like a rock star.”Whenever you do hear from Charles again, give him my regards. While your brother is adorable, I have to admit, Bent Prince is waaaaay hotter.”Sarah tried to conceal her annoyance. Charles had dated Elly briefly before he’d left for college. While Elly was still sore about him leaving, she didn’t really miss him. It was more that Elly wanted to leave a relationship when it was in her favor. Technically, Charles moving away wasn’t something she could control. And Elly was all about controlling people around her.”” Elly continued, “Bent is probably soooo annoyed with me. I’m purposely stalling up here, just to make him wait.” She applied fresh lip gloss to her mouth. “He’s to die for, don’t you think?”Her words made Sarah’s heart freeze over. “Wait…is…is Bent waiting for you… outside?”Elly studied her reflection in the floor length mirror. “Yep. He is.”Sarah cautiously peeked through the curtains of her bedroom window. Bent’s tell-tale sleek, black car idled in the driveway. The headlights beamed across the garage doors.Sarah gulped and stepped back from the window.There’s that one girl in every grade who thinks she’s SO COOL. What cool girl name did you want?