Belle of the Brawl Read online

  AJ’s comforter had moved! Did AJ have mice? Had she adopted a wild ferret and left it to fester in her bed while she went on the Muse Cruise? Allie didn’t want to find out, but she couldn’t just let vermin hang out two beds away from her. She gingerly pinched the edge of the covers between two fingers and quickly peeled it back from AJ’s mascara and foundation–smeared sheets.

  “Oh! Sorry!” Allie put her hand to her mouth and dropped the covers—underneath them was no ferret. It was AJ herself, curled up in a tight ball, and looking even paler than usual. “I thought you were vermin.”

  “Ugghh,” AJ groaned, pulling the comforter down around her neck. Her face was damp with sweat and whiter than Casper the Friendly Ghost. “I have brutal cramps. I can’t move.” AJ’s forest-green eyes focused on Allie’s and filled with tears, sending an unwelcome twinge of sympathy through her stomach.

  Allie flashed AJ a pity-frown and furrowed her forehead as if she was deeply concerned for the songstress’ welfare. “That sucks, AJ. What about the cruise?” She gave herself an internal round of applause for playing the role of concerned roomie to perfection.

  “I can’t go,” AJ moaned, rolling her eyes back in her head from pain or annoyance or both. “I can’t even move! It’s like knives are stabbing my stomach. I even recorded three new songs so that everyone could download them onto their aPods! I’ve been prepping for weeks!”

  Did AJ really think Allie would be sympathetic to the fact that she couldn’t spread her slander at the cruise? “Tragic,” she said finally, shaking her head.

  A moment later, as AJ went back to moaning and clutching her belly, a brilliant idea washed up on the shore of her mind. AJ wasn’t going to sing at the cruise, but maybe someone else could….

  Allie ran to the bathroom and grabbed some Motrin, along with a handful of the homeopathic melatonin pills Skye swore cured insomnia instantly. She filled a beaker with filtered water and brought all of it to AJ’s bedside, channeling Nurse Nightingale.

  “Here, sweetie, take this. It’s Motrin and homeopathic menstrual management pills. Should help with your cramps.” And put you to sleep.

  AJ sat up in bed, weakly reaching for the water and downing all the pills without even looking at Allie. “Thanks,” she murmured, collapsing back onto her pillows. She was used to being waited on, Allie reminded herself. After all, the girl had been a huge star for the past three years. At that point, you took everyone’s kindness for granted. At least, that’s what Allie hoped for.

  “I’ll tell the muses you aren’t feeling well. If you want, I could bring your music and we could play it on the boat. That way, it’ll be kind of like you’re there, even though you’re here.” Allie smiled brightly at AJ and tried to look like she didn’t care if AJ said yes.

  AJ rubbed her eyes, then clutched her midsection with both tiny, scraggly hands. “Good idea,” she grunted. “Tell people all the songs are available to download. Give me your aPod—I’ll synch it with mine.” Allie handed her phone to the green meanie, her stomach cartwheeling at how easy AJ was making this.

  AJ hunched over the phone for a minute, then put it into Allie’s waiting palm. “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” Allie said. “I’ll make sure they play it.” Just like I’m playing you.

  “You’re the best,” AJ said. “Sorry about all those songs I wrote about you. It’s all, you know, just part of my creative journey. I had to hate you so I could write the songs.” AJ’s black hair fanned over her white pillowcase. Smiling up at Allie, she looked like a gothic princess suffering from tuberculosis.

  Allie almost pitied her.

  But not quite.

  In fact, not at all. Definitely not enough to rethink her plan.

  “Oh, totally. I get it,” Allie replied breezily, turning away from AJ and rolling her eyes. She needed to get dressed quick and get out of here if she was going to intercept Mel and make it onto the boat. “You just rest now. Try to sleep.”

  “Thanks,” AJ turned over and moaned into her pillow before pulling her comforter back up over her head, high enough to cover her tangled mass of black hair. Not having time to wait for AJ to fall into a homeopathically enhanced sleep, Allie raced silently around the Jackie O bedroom, throwing on a stretchy silver minidress and an easily-ditched pair of mary janes. She quickly glossed her lips and lined her eyes in silver, and at the last second decided to dab on a few drops of AJ’s lavender essential oil. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, wishing she had time to primp a bit more. But her natural radiance would have to be enough for tonight—she didn’t have time for an elaborate home makeover. Allie pulled her blond hair into a high pony and threw in a pair of blue chandelier earrings to bring out her eyes.

  Back in the bedroom, Allie shot a quick glance at AJ’s bed and silently cheered when she heard snoring coming from under the pile of blankets. Out cold! Next, she tiptoed to AJ’s closet and slid the door open with one finger. Her smile widened as she spotted what she was looking for: AJ’s acoustic guitar, a crocheted green tam and one of her white cotton thrift-store sack dresses. Giddy with excitement and anticipation, Allie grabbed the goodies and took off down the spiral staircase, not daring to look back. She bolted out the door of Jackie O and didn’t stop until she was halfway to the dock.

  Panting, her hands shaking, she sent Mel a text.

  Allie: Change of plans—I made a miraculous recovery. Meet me at the dock—time to cruise!

  Allie’s mind raced even faster than her legs pumping toward the Muse Cruise. If tonight was anything like she hoped, Allie might achieve two impossible feats—she’d lock lips with Mel, beating out all the other Alphas in the contest to win the eldest Brazille brother, and she’d finally get AJ back for her musical hate-fest. After tonight, everything wrong in Allie’s life might suddenly be right.

  Allie had one final, breathless thought before she reached the dock, running with AJ’s guitar clattering against her back and her huge tote bag swinging from her arm. She was finally becoming a true Alpha—ruthless, talented, and willing to do whatever it took to claw her way up the social ladder.

  21

  CIRCE’S SONG HYDRO-YACHT

  MUSE CRUISE

  FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8TH

  7:25 P.M.

  “Attention, Alphas,” a breezy female voice smoother than the sea they floated on wafted out from the cruise ship’s speakers. “The first annual Muse Cruise will set sail in five minutes.”

  Charlie’s mocha-brown eyes scanned the crowd as she clutched her Heartbreak Helper helmet close to her chest. She shivered in her shiny brown bandeau top she’d paired with capris, wishing she’d brought a sweater. All along the railing of the A-shaped ship, muses from each dorm stood dispensing words of inspiration and wisdom. Each muse wore a couture gown inspired by women of the ages. There were 1920s Dior flapper muses, nineteenth-century muses with towering hairstyles and corseted gowns, 1980s punk princess muses, and even some muses in ultra-futuristic gowns from this year’s runway shows. Thalia wore an Alexander McQueen gown that looked like the love child of the Eiffel Tower and a mirrored disco ball. Her golden tresses had been teased and lacquered into a romantic faux-hawk studded with silver-and-black rosebuds, and her eyes shone from the center of a thick stripe of silvery paint.

  Charlie’s arms ached with the weight of her Heartbreak Helper, and she wondered if it had been a bad idea to bring it on the cruise. Lugging it around was annoying, but word of her invention had spread faster than a Malibu brushfire and everyone seemed desperate to try it for themselves. Apparently, there were a lot more broken hearts on Alpha Island than just Charlie’s.

  “And that’s why we need to press on, even when adversity strikes,” Thalia was saying as Charlie approached the circle surrounding the muse. She wiped a grain of sushi rice from her neon-pink lips. “Because we only go around once.”

  “That we know of,” Hannah Hesse interrupted. “One of us might discover proof of reincarnation. You never know.”

 
Thalia nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe so,” she said, her golden eyes crinkling as she pondered the idea. “What do you think, Charlie? As an inventor and scientist, do you think our souls inhabit other bodies after we die?”

  Charlie blushed and shrugged. She was too focused on bouncing back from her fight with Darwin to focus on the afterlife. “I hope so. I could use a second chance.”

  “Second chances come when we least expect them,” Thalia said lightly. “Excuse me, girls, I need to meet with the other muses to put the finishing touches on tonight’s entertainment.”

  When Thalia had glided away, a train of silver triangles trailing behind her, Hannah turned to face Charlie. The tiny stud in her nose caught the last rays of the setting sun, and Charlie noticed that Hannah’s eyes were shiny with tears. “Can I give the Heartbreak Helper a try?” she asked, her voice cracking.

  “Sure,” said Charlie, pulling a deck chair over to Hannah and motioning for her to sit down. “Who broke your heart?”

  Hannah sighed and swatted at the corners of her eyes. “Dingo keeps running away every time I get close. I think I scared him when I slipped a love letter into his cereal at breakfast.”

  Charlie instructed Hannah to close her eyes and carefully put the helmet over her spiky red-black hair. In seconds, a group of heartbroken girls gathered around them, each clamoring for a turn.

  Celia De La Cruz waved her hand in Charlie’s face. “Me next, okay? I can’t sleep, I’m so heartbroken. Taz gave all six Oprahs the same line about us being special and unique. He played us all!” Celia wailed. “I hate boys!”

  “Okay, you’re next,” Charlie said. Sounds like Taz to me, she thought. This was all Shira’s fault. What kind of person brings one hundred beautiful girls to an island with only five boys?

  “My turn next!” a few girls shouted and began shoving to get close to the Heartbreak Helper. “No, me!”

  Gabriella Santz, an A-list producer’s daughter and would-be architect whose eyes were swollen with fresh heartache, pushed her way to the front of the crowd. “Mel ditched me after I mentioned I didn’t like The Proposal. I tried to tell him it was because I was on set during the filming so I couldn’t get into it, but he said he didn’t want to listen to a rom-com hater!”

  Charlie sigh-nodded. It was going to be a long night. Almost every Alpha had a sob story and a broken heart to go with it. She wasn’t sure tangerine mist and a smile was going to cut it—what they needed was distraction. And more boys! But unless Shira became a different person, more boys weren’t likely to materialize.

  “I think it helped,” Hannah said, handing the helmet back to Charlie and wiping tangerine essence off her upper lip. “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” Charlie muttered. “Next!”

  Even if Charlie could heal the heartbreak of all these girls, she couldn’t fix her own. Her helmet helped, but only a little. Tears still stung her eyes every time she thought about Darwin. Even though she hadn’t seen him since their fight in the PAP, she felt him hovering by her side like a phantom limb. Her memories of him were everywhere, and yet he was nowhere to be found.

  As Celia grunted inside the helmet, Charlie scanned the ship’s deck again, hoping to stumble into the path of Darwin’s hazel gaze. But instead of locking eyes with Darwin, she spotted Allie, smiling and giggling next to the railing of the ship about twenty feet away, leaning her head on… no way.

  Allie’s head rested on Mel’s bulky, blazered shoulder.

  Charlie laughed out loud, clapping her hands together like it was Christmas morning and she’d just opened the ultimate present. This time, she didn’t need the help of her heartbreak helmet to force her lips into a smile. “You have another minute, then show the next girl how to use the helmet,” she instructed Celia before pushing her way through the lovelorn line toward Allie and Mel, who were cuddling closer than conjoined twins.

  Had Charlie’s crazy plan actually worked? Skidding to a stop on the deck in front of Allie, Charlie was desperate for dirt. “Hi,” she sang out. Allie wiggled her fingers and grinned back. Her cheeks were flushed and her navy blue eyes looked brighter than Charlie had ever seen them. “Can I talk to you for a sec? Over there?” Charlie chin-thrust in the direction of the ship’s railing, made up of interlocking golden A’s.

  “Hi, Charlie.” Mel smiled.

  “Hi,” Charlie said, grabbing Allie’s hand and pulling insistently. “Be right back, okay?”

  Mel nodded. “Bye, babe!”

  “What happened?” Charlie whisper-smiled when they reached the rail. “Are you guys… together?”

  “I think so,” Allie sigh-smiled. “We ran into each other on the track last night. We have a real connection. I’ve been wanting to tell you about it all day! You were right, Charlie. From now on I’ll totally listen to you about everything.”

  “I’m so happy for you guys,” she gushed. And so happy for me! Charlie’s heart flip-soared like a Cirque du Soleil acrobat. But then her acrobat faltered for a second. She couldn’t just assume Darwin would take her back….

  “What about you?” Allie’s forehead wrinkled and she put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

  Charlie looked down and studied the varnished wooden boards of the ship’s deck, trying to ignore the roar of her heartbeat thrumming in her ears. “What about me?” she managed.

  “You were right about me and Mel, which means you knew things with Darwin…” Allie’s voice rose with pinched emotion.

  Charlie held her breath and looked into her friend’s eyes. Had Allie figured out her plan to get back together with Darwin?

  “It was never gonna happen between me and Darwin,” Allie continued. “And we both know why.”

  “We do?” Charlie squeaked.

  Allie flashed Charlie a rueful smile. “I never stood a chance, because Darwin loves you. Maybe you should give things with him another shot.” Allie widened her eyes and pointed at the plank connecting the ship to the dock. “Here he comes.”

  Charlie’s thoughts ping-ponged from hope to fear and back again. She took a deep breath and stuck her hand into the air, waving wildly at Darwin as he boarded the ship. He wore a white linen blazer over a deep green T-shirt, a straw fedora balanced jauntily on his light brown waves. White for a truce, green for new beginnings. Charlie blinked hard, her breath caught in her throat. Looking at Darwin’s tan skin glowing in the twilight, her attraction to him was suddenly as sharp as a knife in her throat. Now that her Allie agony was a thing of the past, Darwin wasn’t off-limits anymore, which meant the feelings she’d been working so hard to suppress revved inside her like a motorcycle’s engine.

  Her stomach clenched as Darwin spotted her hand and followed it down to her face. His mouth squeezed into a determined frown, he began to weave his way through the crowd and walk in their direction. She pushed her way through the ship’s crowded deck and walked toward him, conflicting waves of terror and excitement washing over her with each step.

  Now that she could finally open up to him and start over, would he stonewall her and send her heart farther into the abyss, or would he consider taking her back? To be this close to potential happiness was almost too much to bear.

  Pushing past throngs of dressed-up Alphas, Charlie’s eyes remained locked with Darwin’s as if connected by an invisible rope.

  The rope’s pull was so strong that Charlie nearly crashed into Yvette, who stepped in front of Charlie and extended her sinewy arms to give her fellow IM a hug. “Congrats,” Yvette squeaked, motioning over her shoulder at the cluster of girls still surrounding Charlie’s Heartbreak Helper. “Your helmet is a hit. I wish I’d thought of it.”

  “Thanks,” Charlie said, dying to get away from Yvette. “You can have it. I don’t need it anymore.”

  “Are you serious?” Yvette squealed.

  “It’s all yours.” Charlie pushed her way gently around Yvette and a few lingering girls until she got to where Darwin stood, arms folded, waiting for her.

  “Something to say?”
he said coolly. Inhaling his cinnamon-and-saltwater smell, Charlie practically swooned.

  “Let’s go inside,” Charlie breathed, her heart beating in her throat. Her feelings for him were more powerful than ever—she was more nervous around him now than she’d been the first time they’d kissed. She grabbed Darwin’s sweatshirt-clad arm and pulled him along the deck until she found a door marked MAINTENANCE. It would have to do.

  Charlie jiggled the doorknob for a moment, then hurled her shoulder against the door until it swung open. Spying a string hanging from a bare bulb on the ceiling, she reached up and yanked it, then shut the door behind them.

  “Planning to interrogate me?”

  The closet’s bare bulb swung ominously above them. The ship’s horn honked once and its engine groaned to life. The cruise had begun. Charlie remembered learning that once a boat sailed three hundred feet into the ocean it was in international waters, where different laws applied. She stared into Darwin’s adorable face and hoped that maybe different emotional laws might also apply at sea. Maybe in the water, they might have a real chance again.

  She took a deep breath, grabbing a mop handle for moral support and to keep from falling into Darwin as the ship set sail. “I’m sorry, D. For letting your mom dictate our relationship. And for letting my friendship with Allie get in the way. And I don’t blame you for hating me enough to drop me off in the jungle, alone.” She paused, her coffee-brown eyes searching his hazel ones.

  He took off his straw fedora and nodded slowly, a light brown curl falling across his forehead. Charlie wanted to brush it aside, but she didn’t dare. No trace of a smile played on his kissable lips, no twitch of his dimpled cheek gave him away. What is he thinking? For once, Charlie couldn’t read Darwin’s mind. It was as if he’d slid a heavy velvet curtain over his emotions. She wondered if she would ever be allowed to peek behind the curtain again.

  Charlie cleared her throat and continued. “My whole life, I’ve been part of your family’s entourage. I think I needed this time apart to know I could stand on my own, be my own person. But once I saw I could do that, I realized that a huge part of who I was—was your soul mate.” Am I still your soul mate? Charlie’s eyes filled with tears. Why wasn’t Darwin saying anything? He stood there, blinking, watching her impassively, the way Simon Cowell watched wannabes audition for Idol.