The International Kissing Club (36 page)

Wait a second. Not only was Germaine being civil, but she was also familiar with Al Gore’s books? And she knew who Al Gore was? And what books were?

Germaine’s eyes held a note of apparent sympathy. What was the world coming to?

But that was it, wasn’t it? There wasn’t a genuine bone in Germaine’s scrawny body. If she was acting nice, she had her own motives. No way was Izzy going to trust her. But she’d read Machiavelli: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Her friends were pretty far away, but Germaine was right here.

“Well, okay, I guess.” Izzy put the lid on her hummus and slid everything back into the bag.

A few steps later, Izzy stopped, halfway between her lonely spot at the geek table and the royalty up on the dais.

Was she really about to do this? Was she really going to throw herself in the path of Germaine the … Oh, she couldn’t think of a pithy rhyming insult. Cassidy was best at those. But Cassidy was off flirting with hot surfers. Damn her.

Germaine glanced back over her shoulder when she realized Izzy wasn’t following. The expression of confusion was understandable. Most of Germaine’s sheep wouldn’t dream of dawdling.

Germaine walked back over to where Izzy stood in the middle of the cafeteria. Izzy glanced away. Though the lunchroom was crowded with hungry students, the seats closest to them were empty and the noise level was high enough that a rhino could have charged through and no one would have noticed.

“Thanks for the invitation”—Izzy had meant to infuse her voice with sarcasm, but somehow that got lost under a hint of genuine gratitude—“but I can’t come sit with you.”

She couldn’t sit with Piper’s sworn enemy.

Germaine didn’t pretend to misunderstand. She nodded, something almost like regret settling onto her face. She turned back to her throne but paused, then came back to Izzy.

“Have you really thought about what you’re doing?” she asked.

The words were precisely the kind of thing Germaine always said, but instead of her normally scornful tone, she sounded sincere.

“This rivalry between Piper and me has gotten out of hand,” Germaine continued. “I never meant for things to go so far.”

“But they did.” Izzy’s hand convulsed on her insulated lunch bag. Cassidy would have punched Germaine out by now. But Izzy couldn’t even muster the indignation she knew she should feel. “You
destroyed
her life.”

“She’s done plenty of things to me, too.”

“Yeah, just stupid shit,” Izzy commented. “Like the beet juice in the tanning lotion.”

“Or the time she filled our Chapstick tubes with glue sticks,” Germaine countered. “That could have killed us.”

“No it couldn’t,” Izzy scoffed. “Glue sticks are nontoxic.” That one had been her idea. And she’d confirmed it before buying the glue.

“Well, it tasted really gross. But then, of course you’re going to side with her. You always do.”

“Yes, I do. She’s my
friend
.”

“You were my friend once, too.” And with that, Germaine swung away, leaving Izzy alone again, staring after her in confusion.

Germaine had sounded genuinely hurt. And had those been tears in her eyes? Tears? She’d always thought the Wicked Witch of the West would melt when she came in contact with water.

“Wait a second—” Izzy trotted after Germaine, catching her at the base of the stage. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Germaine brushed at something near her face. “When Piper and I had our big fight, you and Mei and Cassidy all sided with her.”

“Well, yeah, we—”

“You never even heard my side of the story.” Again there was that glisten of something in Germaine’s eyes. Perhaps she wasn’t a soulless turkey buzzard, after all?

“I never knew you had a side,” Izzy admitted.

She’d been away that whole summer. Piper and Germaine had gone off to art camp for the month of July in Dallas and had some big blow up. Izzy had asked her parents to send her to the same summer camp, but instead they’d shipped her off to a dude ranch in Oklahoma for eleven weeks—to get her out of the way so they could concentrate on Linc and Shane. That one-child-per-parent ratio worked better for her mom and dad.

Izzy had come home the Saturday before school started to find her clique of friends permanently broken. Once seventh grade began, Germaine had clawed her way to the top of the social heap by spreading rumors about Piper and, to some extent, the rest of them, too.

Germaine had been such a believable villain. Was it possible that she was innocent?

Izzy pressed her fingers to her temple, trying to sort through her thoughts. “You’ve said so many horrible things about Piper. That’s
not
okay. Nothing she could have done—”

Germaine cut her off again. “Really? Nothing?” She stepped close, her voice dropping. “She took away my four best friends. Because of her, I went into the seventh grade with no one. I just did what I had to do to survive.” Germaine gave her a slow and appraising look. “I would have thought you, at least, would understand that.”

Germaine spun on her heel and stalked over to her table. She didn’t even look to see if Izzy followed her.

Izzy slunk back to her spot at the geek table. She wasn’t ready to betray her friends. Even if they had misjudged Germaine, Izzy sure as hell wasn’t ready to trust her—there was no way she was innocent in all this. Still, the suggestion that maybe they’d treated Germaine unjustly didn’t sit well with Izzy. She always thought of herself as
being fair and open-minded. Was she wrong? Not only about herself, but about Germaine as well?

That night, when Izzy checked Facebook, there were no new messages from Cassidy, Mei, or Piper. There were, however, another hundred new fans of the page. Which was just freakin’ fantastic. Instead of not being kissed just in front of her friends, thousands of strangers also knew she was a total loser. Perfect.

She closed her Internet browser and opened up the essay she’d been working on for a scholarship application that was due in a few months. When it came to getting out of Paris next year, she was going to hit every resource she could.

After reading over what she’d written so far, she snarled at the screen. Pathetic. She sounded like a whiny loser, even to herself. She could just see those big red rejection stamps already.

She deleted the previous title, “The Benefits of Being Alone,” and typed in “On Being a Whiny, Pathetic Misfit.” But even with the sarcasm, she couldn’t think of any actual benefits to being a misfit. And as she stared at the essay, the conversation she’d had with Germaine kept echoing in her mind.

Why hadn’t she taken Germaine up on her offer? Why had she chosen to exile herself? Out of some misguided sense of loyalty to her friends? Why?

It’s not like they were being loyal to her. They were off in foreign countries. Seeing the sights. Kissing hot guys. Dropping pins all over that tiny map of the world. Lots and lots and lots of guys, if the kiss-o-meter was any indication. Steamy kisses for everyone except her.

It’s not like any of them were sitting around at home, contemplating
her
situation.

Besides, what if there
was
some truth to Germaine’s accusations?

Izzy opened the browser and popped back over to her personal Facebook page.

Messages

Between
Izzy
and
Mei
:

Izzy

What really happened between Piper and Germaine the summer they went off to camp? Are we sure that Piper didn’t steal Germaine’s guy?

A few seconds later Izzy’s mom called her down to dinner. There was a bone-dry hunk of chicken for the rest of the family, and Izzy had to content herself with a side of mushy vegetables. When she returned to her computer, Mei had already answered.

Mei

Are you insane? Yes, we’re sure. Piper would go ape shit if she found out you were even asking. What’s up???

Izzy

Nothing. Just …

She paused, fingers resting on the keyboard. Then she deleted the “just.”

Izzy

Nothing. How’s China?

Mei

Great. I miss y’all. I miss even saying ‘y’all.’ Gotta go to class. Talk later?

By the time Izzy had typed in her response, Mei had logged out. She checked her own wall again. It was depressingly blank. Even though she had nothing to report, she went over to the IKC page. Though more and more girls were posting, it was no one she knew. And right now she needed her friends.

Glancing down, she saw that Piper was also online.

Messages

Between
Izzy
and
Piper
:

Izzy

Pipes, you there? I need advice. I need to figure out who I can kiss.

Piper

Take a page from “Twilight” and flirt with the guy who sits next to you in science. Make sure you smell good.

Izzy

That’s the best you can do?

Piper

I’m really sorry, Iz. I’ve got to go. I have glassblowing class. I think I’m finally getting the hang of it!

Izzy stared in disbelief as Piper logged off. Izzy had been late for Shane’s concert the other day because she’d been giving Piper advice. And now, when she needed her most, Piper was too busy to even think about it.

Izzy frowned at the screen, something sour and ugly churning in her belly. Enough was enough.

Whatever had happened between Piper and Germaine, what did that really have to do with her? Piper was in Paris, having the time of her life, kissing more guys than even populated the city of Paris, Texas. Izzy would actually have to start kissing farm animals if she wanted to keep up.

She clicked through the Fans of the Paris High School Facebook page until she found Germaine’s wall. She typed a message furiously, then jabbed the Send key before she could change her mind.

Messages

Between
Izzy
and
Germaine
:

Izzy

Save me a seat at lunch tomorrow.

A second later, Germaine replied:

Germaine