Crash Test Love (25 page)

Members of the jury scowled at me. Neither Mr. Townsen nor Principal Newman was anywhere to be found. Only the Diamonds and me, separated by a judges’ bench and an apology.

Clarissa looked stone cold. “You are being charged with multiple o enses, Ms. Valentine, including First-Degree Backstabbing with Intention to Hurt, Second-Degree Being a Huge Slut, and Third-Degree Fugliness. How do you plead?” Despite everything, I couldn’t help laughing at the ridiculousness of the entire scenario. “Is this for real?”

“We need your answer,” Priya said.

“Why didn’t you return any of my cal s?” I asked.

“Please note that the defendant refuses to answer the question,” Clarissa said sti y, “which automatical y enters a default plea of guilty.” I could tel I needed a bet er tactic. “Look, I have absolutely no desire to talk about this with you guys in front of al these people”—I glanced around the room—“but you’re making it impossible to do otherwise, so here goes: I’m sorry.” I locked eyes with Clarissa. “This thing with Anderson just … happened. I didn’t tel you because I didn’t want you to be upset. I don’t want to lose your friendship over something like this.” For a moment Clarissa’s face softened, but then she said, “So you admit to having a secret relationship with Anderson behind my back, and behind Priya’s and Lili’s, too?”

I felt my heart fold itself in half. “Yes,” I said, because real y, what else was there to say? Someone behind me whispered, “Slut,” and someone else whispered, “Dumb tranny,” which I hoped wasn’t about me (but probably was), and before I knew it, Clarissa slammed down her gavel and said, “The Diamond Court nds you guilty of al the above charges.” Apparently, she didn’t even need to check in with the jury for this one. “You betrayed our trust and you’re never to speak to us again. If you see us in the hal , look the other way. Delete our numbers from your phone, and forget our e-mail addresses. Don’t sit next to us in class.” She leaned forward and scowled. “From this moment on, Marni, you no longer exist.” I was speechless. Lili stepped down from the bench and walked toward me. She looked the same as always, only there was something meaner, something crueler, that lay just beneath her skin. “Hand over your necklace, Marni.” My hand involuntarily went to my col arbone, where my diamond pendant lay against the base of my throat. “You can’t be serious,” I said, waiting for her to apologize for this outrageous scenario.

“Give us the necklace,” Lili said. “Now.”

Slowly, I reached behind me and unclasped the one tangible item that proved I was a Diamond, the daily reminder of who my friends were and what my place at Bennington was.

I dropped it into Lili’s hand and held on to her ngers before let ing go.

“Case closed,” Clarissa declared.

This is a work of ction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used ctitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2010 by Ted Michael

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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