No Accident (2 page)

Kelly Reeves stared out the picture window in her grandmother's kitchen as the firemen packed up their gear on the far side of the pool. All that was left of the Mediterranean-style pool house was rubble and ash. The fire outside was extinguished. The fire inside of Kelly still burned.

At the table Phoebe Reeves snuffled into a linen handkerchief. She was blubbering on like she was at a funeral, wringing her hands and looking as if the world were ending. Kelly scowled. It was just a building! It wasn't even close to as important as the other thing that had been destroyed tonight—her life! Seconds
before the explosion, Kelly had heard the biggest shocker in all of her fifteen years (and there had been some biggies). In the middle of a nasty argument, Aunt Christine had blurted out that she—not Phoebe—was Kelly's real mother.

Looking at the blubbering ball of emotion melting at the table, it almost made sense. Kelly was much more like her glamorous movie-star aunt than like her oversensitive, overly accommodating mother. Kelly and Christine had the same drive. The same ambition. The same green eyes, blond hair, sharp tongue, and highly developed sense of self-preservation.

Aunt Christine is my mother.
The idea was sinking in. But Kelly had more questions, and she needed answers. Right now.

Leaving Phoebe to her whimpering, Kelly silently left the kitchen and clicked up the huge central staircase. A moment later she burst in on Aunt Christine in one of the guest suites. Her suitcase was open on the bed and clothes were spread everywhere. It looked like a private trunk show.

“You're packing?” It was not the question Kelly had intended to ask first. She simply
couldn't believe her eyes. “You're leaving? Just like that? After what you just told me?” Kelly's voice dropped to a hiss. No sense in letting everyone in on their conversation.

Christine held a strapless dress up against herself and checked out her reflection in the full-length mirror. She was clearly admiring the way the red fabric set off her eyes and her shoulder-length razor-cut hair. She did not look at Kelly. “Life goes on.” She shrugged. “I have a plane to catch and a movie to shoot. Nothing has changed.”

“Everything has changed!” Kelly couldn't keep her voice down now. She was shouting. How could Christine possibly think that nothing had changed?

Tossing the dress into her suitcase, Christine turned and looked Kelly dead in the face. Their eyes locked. The expression on her face was pure annoyance. “Get over yourself, Kelly,” Christine said coolly. “I can't just scoop you up and move you to Hollywood in an instant.” She snapped her fingers before turning back to her packing, then added, “I suggest you forget we ever had that conversation.”

Kelly picked at a spot on her thumbnail where her manicure was starting to flake. The girl at the salon had told her that the “hot buttered thumb” was the latest rage in Milan and the mani would last for weeks. What a joke. It had only been two days. Now she would have to go back. But that wasn't the only thing bothering Kelly—she'd been on edge for weeks, ever since Aunt Christine left. And school was doing nothing to distract her.

Trapped in the classroom, Kelly felt like a caged tiger at the zoo…pacing, wishing she could sink her claws into fresh meat. She felt sick to death…of everything. Even her latest
conquest, Chad Simon, whom she had stolen all too easily from Alison a few weeks before, was too busy trying to finish his history homework before the bell to pay her any attention.

Sighing loudly, Kelly sat back and crossed her long legs, pressing her calves together to make them look skinnier. She watched expressionless, as Audra Wilson, Stafford Academy's girl Einstein, walked into the room and headed straight to the first row. She was going for her usual brownnosing seat, front and center, so she could do as much kissing-up as possible. But Audra's seat was already taken—by Stafford's resident fire-starter, Zoey Ramirez. Enjoying this unexpected bit of drama, Kelly sat up to see what would happen next. Audra tapped her foot, sneering, and waiting for Zoey to move. Zoey didn't even look up—she seemed totally oblivious.

Kelly nudged Chad so he wouldn't miss the scene. He smiled at her quickly. “Almost done,” he whispered. Kelly rolled her eyes. Chad was cute and all, but he was way too worried about schoolwork. And he had no edges. Unlike Audra. Kelly had seen her in a scrap or two,
and for a brainiac she could hold her own. She looked like she was ready to go off on Zoey now, but at the last second she turned away and slid into an empty desk near Chad's best friend?—?and Zoey's twin brother?—?Tom.

Disappointed, Kelly slumped back in her desk. There would be no fight. She watched Zoey wave to Alison and motion her toward a nearby seat. Alison smiled at Zoey, looked to see if Chad was watching her (he wasn't), then quickly looked away.
Good
, Kelly thought. Her cousin was still tortured over losing Chad. And she was seriously bottom-feeding with her new best friend. Socially, Zoey did not have a clue. Then again, that was why she was the only one willing to talk to Alison. Kelly had to give herself credit—her plan to make her cousin social poison had worked perfectly. Alison's life was pathetic.

Of course, Grandmother Diamond had done her part by getting Alison's mother arrested and humiliated in front of all the news cameras. At least, that was Aunt Christine's theory of who was responsible. Which was exactly why it was so unbelievable that Alison was living with her!
The thought of goody-goody Alison buddying up with that old hag on a daily basis made Kelly's skin crawl. Still, the Diamond estate was the lap of luxury, and if she could stop herself from being an idiot for half a second Alison could make it pay off in a big way.

Ugh. Kelly sighed again as the bell rang. The teacher was late. She was bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Ruling Stafford Academy offered no challenges anymore. She was sick of being the big fish in such a little pond, which was why she was seriously considering going to Hollywood with Aunt Christine. She would be nothing but a guppy there, she knew. But she would be a guppy with great white potential.

“
I can't just scoop you up and move you to Hollywood in an instant!
” Aunt Christine's voice played in Kelly's head. Aunt Christine clearly wanted Kelly to move there, even though she couldn't take her that minute. She was right, of course. Kelly and her new mom would have to buy a bigger place—a place with a pool and a separate wing for Kelly. Maybe in Brentwood, or Malibu, or Bel Air. And Kelly needed to prepare for her departure, maybe even leave behind a
few things for her friends and enemies to remember her by.

It still burned Kelly up that Christine had disappeared so fast. A real mother would have stuck around. This was not one of Aunt Christine's movies. This was Kelly's life! And the worst part was that Kelly had nobody she could talk to about it. She couldn't talk to her mom, Phoebe, who still didn't know the secret was out. She sure couldn't talk to Alison. Chad was not an option. And though she'd left her several messages, Aunt Christine had not returned Kelly's calls. She was probably too busy shooting.
Never mind
, Kelly thought.
She'll find time to call me back any second. She's my mother
.

Kelly was about to pull out her phone to check her messages once more before class started when someone else entered the classroom. Kelly watched through narrowed eyes as a dark-haired girl stepped confidently into the room. She was new. Kelly had spotted her before first period. The thing that caught Kelly's eye was the school uniform. The girl was wearing a plaid skirt and cardigan over a white button
down. But there were no uniforms required at Stafford—this was clearly just a fashion statement. At first Kelly thought it was lame. Who would wear a uniform when they didn't have to? But somehow the girl pulled it off.

Kelly looked her up and down. The girl's shoes were hot—tall black boots with a towering heel. Her bag looked straight out of Paris. She had latte-toned skin, big dark eyes, and a fabulous, chin-length haircut. She was pretty—if you went for the exotic type. And the moment she walked in the room, there was an audible buzz.

Kelly eyed the girl warily. Maybe she
was
worth her time after all.

Sliding easily out of her desk, Kelly walked up to the new girl casually—like she was just on her way to Zoey's desk. (As if !) “Aren't you new?” She flashed her winning smile. “I'm Kelly,” she said—like the girl didn't already know.

The new girl simply stared. Her expression was hard to read, flat —almost amused.

“And you are?” Kelly prodded. By now the whole room was watching.

“X,” the girl replied.

Kelly nearly choked.
X?
What kind of name was that? Kelly would have scoffed and walked away, but something told her the girl wouldn't care—and Kelly would lose the upper hand.

“Well, X, if you want to sit with us, I can ask Kate to move.” Kelly gestured toward the group of desks near the back of the room that was strictly A-list territory. It was a generous offer. Most kids at Stafford would kill or die to be offered a seat there.

Not X. She looked at Kelly blankly. She let her eyes drift in the general direction of Kelly's entourage—the only indication she'd even heard what Kelly had said—before walking away and casually slipping into a seat in the center of the room.

Kelly was struck dumb. The new girl did
not
just do that. X obviously had a lot to learn about life at Stafford. She had just gotten her first and last opportunity to be part of Kelly's crowd. Nobody said no to that—not without paying a price. But exacting the price would come later. Right now Kelly had to turn the tide. Every kid
in the room was looking at the mysterious new girl. Kelly needed an attention-grabber, fast. Luckily she had just the thing.

“Guess what?” Kelly said casually as she made her way back to her seat. She leaned on Chad's desk with her back to X and flipped her hair over her shoulder. She was addressing Chad and Tom, but knew everyone could hear. “I'm moving to Hollywood!”

Zoey sauntered into the kitchen, flung her messenger bag over a chair, and opened the double-door refrigerator. The thing was stocked with her dad's girlfriend's diet drinks, a half-empty bottle of champagne, a jar of mango chutney, and not much else. Didn't anybody around here eat normal food? Grabbing a bottle of Smartwater, she slammed the fridge and noticed Tom for the first time.

Her twin brother was slumped in a chair at the dining room table, drowning his sorrows in a huge bowl of Cap'n Crunch.

“What's wrong?” Zoey asked before she could really think about it. She and Tom were not
exactly tight. He'd barely spoken to her since she got kicked out of her fifth and final boarding school, and ever since news got around about the fire incident he wouldn't even look at her at Stafford. Zoey knew she was far from an A-lister (closer to Z) and that her best friend, Alison, was a bona fide social pariah. But she didn't care about that stuff. For real.

Apparently, away from the hallowed halls of Stafford, Tom didn't care, either. Without looking up, he mumbled, “Just can't believe Kelly's moving to California.”

Wait. Tom was depressed about the queen bee moving to Hollywood? That had been the best news Zoey had heard all day! Hollywood, with its fakey-fakeness, backstabbing, and soulless beauty, was the perfect place for two-faced Kelly. Zoey had to resist laughing. Tom really looked worked up about this.

“How could you possibly—” Zoey squinched up her face in disgust and was trying to figure out Kelly's appeal when she was interrupted by her father. He walked into the house, slamming the front door. Debbie #5 (known to the rest of
the world as Deirdre—but Tom and Zoey called all their father's girlfriends Debbie—it wasn't worth keeping closer track) was on his arm. Together they waltzed into the dining room.

“Good, you're both here,” District Attorney Ramirez said in a loud voice. He sounded like he was addressing the constituency he hoped to gain in the upcoming Maryland congressional election, as opposed to his own two kids. “We have an announcement.”

“I'm all a-flutter,” Zoey said, softly enough for only Tom to hear. In fact, she did feel a little nervous. An “announcement” from her father was never good. The last one was that he was running for Congress—a bomb that had rattled Tom quite a bit. Zoey didn't really care what their father did, as long as she didn't have to spend any more time with him. Besides, the more he had to do, the less he would hound her.

“We're getting married!” Debbie #5 squealed, giving the DA's arm a little squeeze.

Zoey felt the wind go out of her.

“Isn't that great?” Deirdre jumped up and
down like a five-year-old, still clinging tightly to her fiancé. Mr. Ramirez forced a smile and tried not to look put out by the jiggliness of his bride-to-be. Always the politician.

Tom choked on his Crunchberries. Zoey clapped him on the back harder than she meant to and Tom splat tered milk across the table just as their father dropped the second bomb.

“The wedding will be in three weeks.”

“What?” Zoey stared at her future stepmother, who was beaming like the cover model for
Trophy Wives Weekly.
This had to be a joke. Only problem was, her father had no sense of humor. At all.

“Why the rush?” Zoey blurted. “Are you pregnant?” It was the only reason she could think of.

“That was uncalled for, Zoey,” DA Ramirez said sharply. “And I strongly suggest you watch your tongue, young lady.”

Beside him, Deirdre looked befuddled, as if she hadn't understood the question. “Why, no,” she said. “At least, I don't think so…”

“Of course she isn't,” DA Ramirez said. “But I
need the pictures right away for my campaign brochure.”

Zoey wished she were surprised. Her father was so calculating, it was ridiculous.

Deirdre pounced on Zoey and Tom to kiss them. “I just can't wait to be your new mommy!” she squealed.

Zoey felt like she was about to barf.

Thankfully, the doorbell rang, and Zoey was saved from having to run for the bathroom. She quickly excused herself and hurried to answer the door. Taking a quick look through the peephole, she only caught a glimpse of Alison's dark hair before throwing the door wide open. Now that she was living at her grandmother's house Alison had been coming over more than ever.

“You are
not
going to believe this,” Zoey hissed, hustling Alison up to her room.

When they were both sprawled on their backs on Zoey's queen-size platform bed, Zoey spilled everything.

“Debbie number five's gonna be your stepmom?” Alison laughed so hard, she started to choke. Zoey wasn't laughing.

“Oh, I don't mean…I just mean, she's not exactly mom material,” Alison said, trying to backpedal.

Zoey knew Alison wasn't trying to remind her of her real mother. She wasn't that mean. But just hearing the word
mom
gave Zoey that horrible kicked-in-the-chest hollow feeling. The feeling that had overtaken her for a year after her mother had died, when Zoey was in fifth grade.

“Hey, speaking of mothers, did you tell your grandmother that Kelly's moving in with Christine?”

Alison shook her head. “Not yet. I'm kind of waiting to see what happens. I don't think anyone but me knows that the secret is out. And I have no idea how Grandmother will react to Kelly's plan. I don't know why Aunt Christine gave Kelly to Aunt Phoebe, but I'm sure that my grandmother arranged the whole thing. Aunt Phoebe doesn't even sneeze without my grandmother's permission, and Aunt Christine is completely obsessed with inheriting her money. She's even more shallow and calculating than Kelly.”

Zoey sat up on her knees. “I am
so
glad she's leaving. What are we going to do without Kelly to make our lives so…horrible?”

Alison's smile faded. “You know, there's a part of me that hopes she stays.”