Diamonds in the Rough

Oh, right—because she’d thought everyone at Goodman would dress up. And because she’d stupidly thought it would catch Damien and Nick’s attention. Seeing as no one else was as dressed up, she might catch their attention…but not in a positive way.

Her throat constricted, and she wanted to run back to the limo and beg Teddy to drive her back to the Diamond so that she could change. But that wasn’t an option. She would have to suck it up.

Betty at the front desk was an older woman with short gray hair—she looked like a grandma who baked cookies for her grandkids after school. She welcomed Savannah and her sisters and handed them their locker combinations.

“Here’s the sheet you sign whenever you need to leave school, or if you arrive late,” she said, pointing to a clipboard on the desk. “Seniors have senior privileges and can leave whenever they want. Everyone else has to say why they’re leaving early.”

“With a note from a parent?” Courtney asked.

“You don’t need a note,” Betty said. “At Goodman, we trust students to leave only when necessary. You’re responsible for any missed material, so it’s understood that attendance is crucial to earn high marks.”

Peyton laughed. “And no one takes advantage of how easy it is to skip?”

Betty smiled. “The students here want to attend their classes so they can excel in their studies.”

“It sounds nice.” Courtney looked around in wonder at the well-lit, airy, carpeted building.

“What are senior privileges?” Savannah asked.

“As a sophomore, you won’t have to worry about that for a while,” Betty said, turning to Peyton. “Since you’re a senior, you’re allowed to leave campus for free periods and lunch, as long as you’re back in time for class. There are a lot of restaurants nearby that students enjoy.”

Savannah’s mouth dropped open, and she closed it so she wouldn’t look like a gaping fish. The seniors here went to restaurants for lunch? At Fairfield High, a good fraction of students were on subsidized lunches—including her and her sisters. They wouldn’t have dreamed of going out to eat, or had the time, as Fairfield’s lunch blocks were short and rushed. But with seventy-five minutes set aside for lunch, and credit cards connected to their parents’ bank accounts, students at Goodman had no reason not to go to restaurants.

“What happens if we don’t get back in time?” Peyton asked.

“If it happens more than three times, your senior privileges will be revoked,” Betty said. “But that’s rare, since students want to keep their privileges.”

“You really trust the students here.”

“It’s the Goodman philosophy that everyone is capable of rational self-discipline,” Betty explained. Then she told them to come to her if they had more questions, and they cleared out so that she could talk to the students in the line behind them.

“I guess this is where we part ways,” Courtney said.

Savannah’s stomach flipped. Goodman might as well have been in a different universe than Fairfield, she was dressed all wrong, and she had a terrible feeling that despite her summer tutoring, she would still be behind in her classes. Girls in a nearby clump were looking her over, smirking and whispering what Savannah imagined were mean comments. She pulled her miniskirt down to cover as much of her legs as possible (which wasn’t very much), not wanting to leave her sisters’ sides.

But they had no classes together, so she didn’t have a choice.

* * *

Savannah arrived at first period early and situated herself in a seat in the middle of the U-shaped table configuration, then browsed YouTube on her phone to look busy. After putting her first video online—the one Nick had bought for her of her singing karaoke at Imperial Palace—she’d dreamed it would go viral and she would become an internet sensation. Instead, it had reached around three hundred views and plateaued off. She’d posted a few more videos since then, but despite her best efforts, she still hadn’t cracked a thousand views on any of them.

Maybe she just wasn’t that great and should stop trying.

“This is European History, right?” a short girl with long, dark hair asked from the door. She wore designer jeans and a fitted green T-shirt that looked like a Michael Stars, and the raised triangle label on her black tote was distinctly Prada.

The bag made Savannah regret her Longchamp. The girls at Goodman seemed to favor higher-end bags by Prada, Chanel and Givenchy, to name a few. After school, she had to go shopping for a new bag. She could use the Longchamp when she went to the pool.

“Yeah.” Savannah placed her phone on the table and smiled, hoping to look friendly and approachable. “At least, I hope so. It’s my first day. I’m Savannah.” She moved her bag off the seat next to her so that the girl could sit there.

“I’m Alyssa.” Instead of taking the seat next to Savannah, she left one between them.

Savannah’s cheeks burned. Why did this girl not want to sit next to her? Was she really that overdressed? Or maybe Alyssa had heard rumors about her and already didn’t want to be friends? Savannah knew people talked about her online, but she’d hoped her new status as Adrian Diamond’s daughter would make people want to be friends with her—not avoid sitting next to her.

“Sorry.” Alyssa shrugged. “My two best friends are in this class, and I promised to save them seats.”

“No problem.” Savannah forced a smile. If she’d had a class with Evie and Evie had asked her to save her a seat, she would have done the same thing. She shouldn’t take it personally. But that didn’t stop her throat from feeling tight, as if Alyssa had purposefully insulted her.

“Did you go out last night and not have time to take off your makeup this morning?”

Savannah jerked at the question. “Um, no,” she said. “Why?”

“You just seem really…done up for eight-thirty in the morning.” Alyssa motioned to her own natural makeup, which was opposite from Savannah’s purple metallic shadow and gold glitter liner. “I don’t mean it in a mean way,” she said. “I just guess Goodman is different from whatever school you transferred from.”

“It’s definitely different.” Savannah sighed, not wanting to describe Fairfield High. It would probably make this girl judge her even more.

Then Alyssa pulled out her iPad, and Savannah saw something on the back of it that made her brighten—a sticker of a volleyball.

“You play volleyball?” she asked.

“Yep,” Alyssa said. “I’m on the team here. Do you play, too?”

“I was on JV at my old school.”

“Ohhh, okay.” She nodded condescendingly. “Since Goodman’s so small, we only have varsity.”

“I was one of the best players on JV, and they subbed me in for varsity sometimes,” Savannah said. “Maybe I’ll have a chance.”

All right, they’d subbed her in only once, when a stomach bug had made its way around school and a lot of the varsity players had gotten sick. And they’d lost that game. But Savannah was one of the better players on JV, and she would have been a serious contender for varsity this year at Fairfield.

“Maybe,” Alyssa said, although she didn’t sound like she believed it. Then other students filed in—including the girls Alyssa was saving seats for, Brooke and Jackie. The three of them gossiped like they hadn’t seen each other in years, and Savannah brought out her laptop, pretending she was busy on it.

Being new and knowing no one in her grade really, really sucked.

She didn’t fair better in her next class, so when it was time for lunch, she was on her own. Everyone else joined up with their friends, but Savannah hurried into the nearest restroom, waited for the door to shut, and burst into tears. Why did no one want to be friends with her? She ripped the stupid crystal headband that she’d thought was so cute this morning off her head and tossed it into her bag, along with the sparkly, dangly earrings. If only she could be like Superman and change her outfit, too.

She sniffed, grabbed a paper towel and fixed her makeup, trying to remove the glitter without making it look like more of a wreck. Then the toilet in the end stall flushed, and she froze, her hands propped on the sink. How had she missed that someone else was in the bathroom?

She wanted to dive into the nearest stall, but before she could, the girl opened the door and met her eyes. Luckily, this girl didn’t look like the gossiping type. Her coarse brown hair was pulled back into a boyish bun. She wore thick-rimmed glasses and baggy cargo pants, and her fraying backpack had Japanese cartoon characters stitched into it.

She must be the school weirdo.

“Are you okay?” the girl asked as she washed her hands.

Savannah stared at her blankly. Of course she wasn’t okay. But she wasn’t about to confess her problems to this random girl, either.

“I’ll take that as a no.” She took a deep breath. “You’re new here, right?”

“Yeah,” she somehow managed. “Savannah.”

“I’m Wendy,” she said. “I was about to go eat with my friends, if you want to come with?”

Savannah’s first day of school, and the only person who had reached out to her was the school weirdo. But she didn’t want to be alone at lunch on her first day. And it was kind of Wendy to offer, especially since she knew nothing about her other than that she’d been crying by herself in the bathroom.

“Um, sure.” She glanced at the mirror to make sure the mascara was off her cheeks, picked her Longchamp up off the floor and attempted a smile. “Thanks.”

* * *

Goodman’s cafeteria wasn’t inside the upper school—they had a separate building just for eating. And they didn’t call it the cafeteria, either. They called it the “dining hall,” and everyone bought lunch. Not one person carried a bag from home.

“Upstairs are the normal daily foods—pizza, pasta, sushi, Chinese, salad bar and the hot meal special of the day,” Wendy told Savannah as they entered the dining hall, which looked more like a restaurant than a high school cafeteria. The tables had chairs instead of attached benches, and the walls were covered with giant windows that had views of the swimming pool and the lake. “Downstairs is the deli bar where you can get made-to-order subs and sandwiches, and the grill where you can get hamburgers, hot dogs and fries and stuff.”

“What do you normally get?” Savannah asked, still trying to process that they had sushi and made-to-order subs. That was nothing like the mystery mush at Fairfield High. Why did the seniors need to go to restaurants when they had all these choices at their school? Not that it mattered—she was glad the seniors went to restaurants, since it meant she wouldn’t run into Damien.

“I get sushi almost every day,” Wendy said. “Make sure to stay away from the pizza—it makes the frozen stuff from the grocery store taste like a delicacy. And Thursday is waffle fries day. They’re the best, but you have to get to the grill early or the line will take forever. Anyway, I’m going to grab some sushi—want to come with?”

“I’m actually not a sushi fan,” Savannah said. Well, she’d never tried it—the thought of eating raw fish weirded her out. “I’ll just get a sandwich.”

“The deli’s downstairs.” Wendy pointed at the steps. “I eat down there with my friends from anime club, and sushi is faster than sandwiches, so I’ll save you a seat.”

“Thanks,” Savannah said. Her sisters were nowhere to be found, and sitting with Wendy would be better than sitting by herself. At least she seemed nonjudgmental and kind. But anime club? That was just…not Savannah’s thing.

The line for sandwiches was long, and the last person in it was Alyssa from first period, who didn’t acknowledge Savannah as she stepped into line behind her. Hopefully the line would move quickly, and Savannah could get away from her as fast as possible.

Then the last person she’d expected to see walked through the doors—Damien. He’d gotten tanner over the summer, probably from spending time outside on his teen tour, and his hair was longer—it almost hungover his dark brown eyes. Her heart pounded. Now she would find out whether or not he was going to ignore her and pretend like the time they’d spent together in July had never happened. She took deep breaths and played with the ends of her hair, praying he would notice her.

He waved when he spotted her, and she waved back, trying to keep herself from smiling like an idiot while her stomach flipped like crazy. Was he going to talk to her? At least he’d waved, so her fear of him ignoring her hadn’t come true. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned their first meeting since July—with her dressed wrong for school and her makeup smudged from crying—but he’d already seen her, so there was nothing she could do.

Alyssa was looking at Savannah, her eyes shining with a friendliness that hadn’t been there that morning. “Did Damien Sanders just wave to you?” she whispered.

“Yeah.” Savannah ran a hand through her hair and tried to play it cool, since Damien was getting closer. “We hung out a little bit over the summer.”

Alyssa’s jaw dropped, and Savannah couldn’t help but feel victorious after the way the girl had snubbed her earlier.

“Savannah Diamond,” Damien said, stepping into line behind her. “I’ve been wondering when I would run into you.” Then he studied her closer, his expression morphing into concern. “Are you okay? Your eyes look red.”

“It’s just allergies,” she lied, trying to sound upbeat. She’d never had allergies, but no way was she admitting to crying alone in the bathroom. “Anyway, how was the rest of your summer?”

“I did a Hawaii/Alaska teen tour,” he said. “We cruised through Alaska, toured the Pacific Coast, and stayed at some resorts in Hawaii. It was pretty cool.”

“Is that the tour by Rein?” Alyssa chimed in. “I’m looking into their Europe trip for next summer.”

“That’s the one.”

Savannah nodded as if she knew what they were talking about, even though she’d never traveled beyond California and Vegas. “I saw your pictures on Facebook,” she said. “It looked like you had fun.” She tried not to sound bitter, but when she thought about the album he’d posted, she was reminded of the two tall, tanned girls in lots of pictures with him. Even though it had made Savannah feel like a stalker, she’d clicked on both girls’ profiles. One of them lived in L.A., and the other in Miami, so they couldn’t be a threat, but she hated seeing them draped all over him—even if it might mean he’d meant it when he’d said he was over Madison.

“It was fun, and everyone was cool, but it got old being around the same forty people all the time,” he said. “I was glad to get home.”

“Is everyone keeping in touch?” Savannah asked, thinking mainly about L.A. and Miami.

“For the first few days back we chatted on Facebook and stuff, but most of them are from California, New York, D.C. and Florida, so we’ve mostly split ways,” he said. “But enough about me—what have you been up to while I’ve been gone?”

The real answer: doing mounds of work assigned by tutors to catch up on Goodman academics. But she wasn’t telling Damien that.

“Hanging with my sisters at the pool,” she said casually. She had spent a lot of time at the pool, but she’d usually brought her homework with her. “I’ve also been getting my YouTube channel started.”

“How’s that going?”

“It’s going okay.”

“Cool.” Damien smiled, watching her like he really cared, and a thrill went up her spine. “I’ll check it out tonight.”

Her heart shrank at the realization that he hadn’t seen her videos. “Let me know what you think,” she said. Just because she’d been tracking (stalking?) him online all summer didn’t mean he’d been doing the same to her. He’d been too busy traveling the country—and spending time with L.A. and Miami—to know her YouTube channel existed. Even now, he probably couldn’t wait to get out of the lunch line to hang out with his real friends.

Savannah ordered and paid for her sandwich. “I guess I’ll see you around,” she said to Damien, gathering her plate in preparation to join Wendy and whatever friends of hers would be at that table.

“Hold up,” he said. “Where are you sitting?”

Savannah’s stomach fluttered at the idea that Damien Sanders cared about where she was eating lunch. But she didn’t want to tell him she was sitting with the anime club.

“She was going to join me and some of the other volleyball girls at our table near the pool,” Alyssa jumped in. “Tryouts are soon, and we heard Savannah plays, so we’re hoping she makes the team.”

Savannah glanced questionably at Alyssa, who smiled and tossed her long hair over her shoulder, as if none of this should be strange. Clearly she was being welcoming now only because of Savannah’s connection to Damien.

But did it matter? It had broken the ice between them. Sure, things hadn’t gone well in first period, but now that Alyssa wanted to be friends, she seemed like a fun girl. And Savannah would have more in common with the volleyball team than with the anime club.

“Do you and Alyssa want to eat with me and my friends upstairs?” Damien asked. “If her friends don’t mind, of course.”

“That sounds great,” Alyssa said quickly. “I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“Okay.” Savannah couldn’t believe it. Sure, she was ditching Wendy, but when Savannah glanced around to find the other girl, a tall, lanky guy had joined Wendy at her table, so she wasn’t alone. She would understand. After all, Savannah—a sophomore—had been invited to sit at a table with seniors. And not just any seniors—Damien Sanders and his friends. Which hopefully wouldn’t include Madison, but it was too late to turn back now.

She tightened her grip on her water bottle to keep from shaking. “I thought the seniors went off campus for lunch?”

“We do sometimes,” Damien said. “But since today’s the first day back, most of us want to stay here and catch up.”

He led them upstairs to a group at the center table in the cafeteria, and introduced them to his friends. Savannah recognized two of them from Myst over the summer, but the others were new to her. As they ate, Damien and Alyssa were the only ones interested in talking to her—the rest of them were too busy gossiping about their summers—but that was fine by her.

At least Madison wasn’t sitting with them. But Damien kept glancing at the table where she was eating with Oliver and some of her other friends. Savannah’s heart dropped at the realization that he still wasn’t over Madison. But either Madison was oblivious to Damien, or she was an expert at ignoring him.

At the end of lunch, Savannah followed Alyssa to the trash cans. Alyssa was friendly and continued asking her questions—she was a completely different person from that morning.

Someone else called Savannah’s name, and she brightened at the sight of Nick Gordon pushing through the crowd. He glowed as usual, but there were also huge bags under his eyes.

“Hey, Nick,” Savannah said, relieved he wasn’t ignoring her, either.

“How’s your first day going?” he asked.

“It’s different from my old school, but it’s going well,” she lied, since she didn’t want to sound like a downer and tell him about how awful everything had been until she’d seen Damien in the sandwich line. “I met Alyssa in first period, and we both play volleyball. Do you two know each other?”

“We’ve seen each other around, but haven’t officially met,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m Nick.”

Alyssa nodded, as if she already knew who he was, and shook his hand. “Nice to officially meet you.”

Nick smiled and turned back to Savannah. “Did your tutoring this summer pay off?”

“I hope so,” she said. “But it’s hard to tell on the first day.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” he said. “And I’ve been checking out your YouTube channel when I have time. Your latest videos are great.”

“Thanks.” Savannah shrugged. He was probably only saying it to be nice, otherwise wouldn’t there be more people who agreed with him? “It’s good to know that at least a few people like the videos.”

“I bet one will go viral soon, and then you’ll be an instant hit.”

“That would be a dream come true.”

His blue eyes were so focused on hers, and her breath caught at how electric the air felt around them. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then Damien joined them, and Nick took a step back.

“Hey, man,” Damien said, as if he and Nick were friends. Which they weren’t—especially since Nick used to date Madison.

“Hey.” Nick slipped his hands into the pockets of his khaki pants. “Didn’t see you around much this summer.”

“I was doing some traveling.”

“Bet that was fun.” Nick held Damien’s gaze steadily, and if Savannah didn’t know better, she would have thought they were having a macho territory battle over her.

“I need to get to my next class,” Savannah said, glad to have an excuse to get Damien and Nick away from each other. “Thanks for inviting us to sit with you,” she said to Damien.

“You’re welcome to join us whenever you want.”

“And if you want a change of scenery, you can sit with me and my friends, too,” Nick offered. “We sit out on the upper deck looking over the pool until it gets too cold.”

“Thanks,” Savannah said, not wanting to promise either of them anything. Were they really fighting over sitting with her? Or was she making this out to mean more than it did? “I’ll see you guys around!”

Alyssa linked her arm with Savannah’s as they left the dining hall. “I can’t believe you know Damien Sanders and Nick Gordon and you didn’t mention it!” she said, bouncing as she walked.

“I met them both this summer,” Savannah said. “It’s a long story.”

“What are you doing after school today?”

“Nothing so far.” Well, she was supposed to connect with Evie on Skype to tell her about her first day, but Evie wouldn’t mind waiting.

“Good,” Alyssa said. “You can come with me, Brooke and Jackie to Starbucks and tell us everything that happened this summer with you and two of the hottest guys in school. Judging from the way they just acted, I have a feeling this is going to be good.”

Chapter 2: Courtney

“Thanks for having lunch with me,” Courtney said to Brett, taking a bite of her grilled cheese sandwich. The cheese was gooey and amazing—the dining hall at Goodman was a five-star restaurant compared to the cafeteria at Fairfield High. Brett had secured a table for them near the lake, beneath a tree and secluded from the main groups of students, which was just what Courtney needed.

“You looked like you needed a break from those girls in AP English.” He hadn’t sat with her in class—he’d been avoiding her since she’d told him they couldn’t continue whatever was going on between them. Which was for the best, because every time she saw him, or thought about him and the incredible times they’d shared during her first week in Vegas, it felt like there was a hole in her heart. But when the group of girls discussing fashion, partying, celebrities and gossip about their “friends” had tried to drag Courtney with them to lunch, she’d looked at Brett for help. Luckily he’d stepped up and rescued her from their clutches.

“They had good intentions, but an hour and fifteen minutes of lunch with them…” Courtney placed her grilled cheese down and contemplated how to word it nicely.

“Would be mentally exhausting?” Brett supplied.

“Exactly.” Courtney smiled and tried to ignore the electricity that arced between them. The best way to do that was to keep talking. “It was nice of those girls to reach out, but I didn’t feel like I had much in common with them.”

“It’s only been half a day, and you can already tell that you’re different from the girls at Goodman,” Brett said, studying her. “And I mean that in the best way possible.”

“They just haven’t been exposed to much outside their little bubble.” Courtney gazed out at the lake—anything to keep her from getting lost in Brett’s forest-green eyes. Even if they weren’t together, they could be friends, right? She just needed to get her heart in tune with her brain. Which would be easier if it would stop racing every time he looked at her. “But I’m going to the first Habitat meeting tomorrow during lunch block. Maybe I’ll meet people I have more in common with there.”