Welcome to Bridgeport Academy, an elite boarding school in New York where glamorous rich kids don't let rules get in the way of a good time.
[ Based on the It Girl series by Cecily Von Ziegesar ]
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Kae could barely concentrate in English class on Wednesday, even though it was normally one of her favorites. She loved the way the classroom was set up as if it were a conference room: one giant oval table with fifteen chairs around it, filled with students and the ultra-petite Miss Rose, who wore bright pink lipstick. It was a discussion class, which meant Miss Rose would talk for about ten minutes and then open the conversation up to the students. At first Kae had been shocked at the intimacy and sophistication of it all. There was no hand-raising or wrong answers, just how she imagined classes would be in college.
They were already a third of the way through Madame Bovary, and Kae was completely enthralled with Emma and her struggles living with a man she didn't love. It made her wonder what it would be like to never find love or to be forced to settle for something inferior just because that's what people did. What would it be like to be stuck with a Charles Bovary when she knew there was an Chris Brown out there?
"Kae," Miss Rose said as the other students packed their bags and filed out of the classroom. "Is everything okay? You were awfully quiet today." Her hair was pulled back in a bun, making her look a little more severe than usual, but she still looked beautiful, like a china doll dressed in a black Dolce & Gabbana pantsuit. Whenever someone made some observation that was way off base, like maybe Emma Bovary was a lesbian, she'd say, "All right. What support for that can you find in the text?" instead of telling the student off. Kae felt like she'd learned more from the way Miss Rose taught than the actual assignments in class.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine!" Kae stuffed her notebook into her suede bag. It was packed with art supplies for her outing with Chris. The sight of her brand-new pastels and box of pencils sharpened and ready to go reminded her again that in twenty minutes, she'd be alone with the newly single Chris. "I'm just a little ... distracted today."
Miss Rose nodded sympathetically. "Well, I really enjoyed your short paper comparing the imagery of the novel to the painting style of Gustave Courbet. I thought it was fascinating that you made those connections. Congratulations!" She handed Kae her paper back, with an enormous A+ on top. It was the first grade she'd received at Bridgeport. What a good omen for the day.
She nervously felt for the note Chris had slipped her at lunch. Butterflies frolicked in her stomach. Kae didn't exactly have a good track record in her romantic relationships. And there weren't many: her brief fling with sexy stoner Dame had ended when she realized he was just using her to get back at his ex-girlfriend. Then there was her relationship with Justin, which had started out well, but she'd realized quickly that he bored her. Other than that, her romantic history included getting pawed at by Dave on the first day of school. She was so inexperienced with relationships, no wonder she was nervous.
In the dining hall at lunchtime, Chris had flashed her a smile and dropped a folded piece of paper on her tray. She'd forced herself to pick up a tuna fish sandwich and make a salad at the salad bar. Then she sat down at an empty table off to the side, grateful that there were only assigned seats for formal dinners. She took a bite of her sandwich and unfolded the note.
