Carlson Melody - Stealing Bradford

So even Taylor had her limits. Still, DJ knew that Taylor’s limits were primarily self-centered. As long as she came out on top, it was okay to break the rules and push the envelope. In fact, Taylor seemed to thrive on pushing everything and everyone to the max. The question was…why?

Still, DJ didn’t have time to think about that as she hurried to English lit. Like Taylor, she didn’t want to be late either. She’d had one tardy already this week and that was more than enough.

The morning seemed to flow fairly smoothly, and as DJ went to lunch—walking with Eliza and Taylor since they’d all just been in US History together—she thought that perhaps this school year was going to be a good one.

“Are those Jimmy Choos?” Taylor asked Eliza as they stood in line for lunch. As usual, they’d already staked out their table by placing DJ’s bag there.

Eliza just nodded.

“Nice,” said Taylor.

“Thanks,” said Eliza, but the way she held her head when she said it sounded a little snotty, like she was trying to put Taylor in her place. Just then DJ noticed that Tina and Madison were looking at their saved table. And then Madison was actually picking up DJ’s bag, holding it between her thumb and forefinger as if she were taking out the trash. Then she dropped it onto the floor.

“Hey, look,” said DJ, nudging her friends. “They threw my bag on the floor.”

“What a couple of—”

“I’m going,” said DJ as she broke from the line and charged over to where Tina and Madison were now making themselves comfy at the table.

“That’s my bag that you just threw on the floor,” she told them angrily.

“That piece of crap?” said Tina. “We thought it was something the janitor forgot to take—”

“That happens to be a Hermès bag,” said Taylor as she picked up DJ’s purse and handed it to her. “Not that you small-town, fashion-challenged hick chicks would know anything about that.” She looked down at Tina’s blue bag. “Like what is that supposed to be? Kmart’s blue light special?” Then she pointed to Madison’s shiny pink bag. “And I’ll bet you got a free Malibu Barbie with that little number. Is it made by Mattel?”

The girls didn’t say anything.

“And you are sitting at a table that we’d saved,” continued Taylor.

“It’s our table now,” said Madison.

“Fine,” said Taylor. “Then, you’ll just excuse us while we go and report what’s missing from DJ’s bag. We have at least three witnesses who will attest to the fact that Madison took—”

“Fine,” snapped Madison, standing.

Taylor looked down on her and smiled in a very catty way. “Let me guess, Madison…you got those pathetic jeans at Wal-Mart?”

As the two girls walked away, Taylor laughed, and DJ couldn’t help but chuckle. “You are something else, Taylor.”

Taylor took a twenty out of her bag and handed it to DJ. “You go and get me a salad and an iced tea, and I’ll save the table.”

“That’s all you want?” asked DJ.

Taylor nodded. “Unlike you, I won’t be sweating it out at volleyball practice after school today.”

“I’m sure Coach Jones would gladly let you on the team,” said DJ. “If you wanted to…”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure she’d love me to join the team. I hear that Coach Jones likes pretty girls.”

DJ rolled her eyes and headed back to join Eliza in the lunch line. Oh, well, like her grandmother had said—Rome wasn’t built in a day.

“DID TAYLOR MAKE A SCENE?”asked Eliza as she picked up her usual tossed green salad and lemon juice.

“Sort of…”

“What Taylor doesn’t seem to get is that it will do her no good to make more enemies.”

Suddenly, DJ remembered what she’d read about being kind to her enemies. She hadn’t been very kind to Tina and Madison. Certainly, she hadn’t put them down like Taylor had, but she had stood by Taylor. Wasn’t that like guilt by association? Still, those girls had thrown her bag on the floor. Was she supposed to take that lying down?

“I’m putting together a plan,” said Eliza quietly as they got in line to pay. “We’re going to help Rhiannon get Bradford back.”

“How is that even possible?” asked DJ as she balanced the tray with her food and Taylor’s.

“Trust me, it’s possible.”

“What about how things turned out last night?” she reminded her.

“I’ll admit that was sort of half-baked. But my new plan is flawless.” She winked at DJ. “You in?”

DJ didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t tell me you’re taking Taylor’s side?” said Eliza. “Don’t you even care about Rhiannon anymore?”

“Of course, I do. I’d do anything to help Rhiannon. What Taylor did to her was totally wrong.”

Eliza smiled. “There, that’s better.”

“So what’s your plan?”

Eliza put her forefinger over her lips. “Top secret…for now.”

“Right.” DJ felt slightly compromised, but wasn’t even sure why. Still, she assured herself that Eliza would never do anything mean. She just wasn’t that kind of a girl. Probably she was going to give Rhiannon a pep talk and makeover and maybe work out a way to convince Bradford that he still really liked her. Something like that.

“Coming to our soccer match tomorrow?” Conner asked DJ as she was carrying her tray to the table. “It’s the first home game of the year.”

“What time?”

“Three.”

“Hopefully, I’ll be done car shopping by then.”

“You’re getting a car?”

“According to my grandmother, I am.” She shook her head. “It’s so she doesn’t have to play Carter House chauffeur anymore.”

“So, you’ll be the chauffeur?”

“I guess.”

“Still, it’ll be cool having your own wheels. What’re you going to get?”

“I have no idea, but Taylor offered to help me pick it out.”

“You’re not letting her, are you?”

“Mrs. Carter liked that idea.”

“Man, I hate to think of what Taylor might pick for you. Probably a Corvette or Mustang.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, my dad’s always saying how those are the most dangerous cars on the road. More people get killed in them than any other car.”

DJ nodded. “Okay, definitely no Corvettes or Mustangs.”

“I’m pretty sure that goes for Firebirds and Camaros too.” She laughed as she set the tray on the table. “Like I’d even want any of those stupid cars. And I seriously doubt my grandmother would either. But thanks for the advice anyway.”

“What kind of cars?” asked Taylor as DJ set her food and her change in front of her.

Without going into all the details, DJ explained that Conner was advising her on what kind of cars not to get.

“That’s great,” said Taylor, “but how about some advice on what you should get?”

Soon everyone at the table was giving their two cents’ worth of car information to her, and by the time they exhausted the subject, she felt completely confused. “Hey, where’s Rhiannon?” she asked when she noticed she was missing.

“She said she was going to spend her lunch hour finishing up an art project,” said Eliza.

“Where’s Bradford?” asked DJ, suddenly wishing she hadn’t. What if this was part of Eliza’s plan for reuniting them?

“He’s with his mom,” offered Taylor.

“With his mom?” said Casey.

“Yes, she’s having an exhibit in her gallery tonight—he’s helping her.”

“That’s right,” said Harry. “It’s First Friday.”

“First Friday?” echoed Kriti. “What does that mean?”

“It means there’s an art walk in town tonight,” explained Taylor, like she was the expert. “All the galleries and some of the shops stay open to show the works of local artists. It happens every month on the first Friday.”