Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets

introduce me to all his important friends.”
    She saw the look on my face and added, “And maybe next time he’ll take you.”
    I wasn’t jealous, so I said nothing, not that she would have noticed if I had. She was on a tear about the Heavenstone business and how hard Daddy worked, and how little appreciation Mother showed him. She said the truth was that he talked to her more about the business than anyone, including Uncle Perry. This was one of Cassie’s favorite topics,and if I had heard it once, I had heard it a hundred times. I was still in deep thought about Kent and really wasn’t listening all that closely to what she was saying, anyway.
    When we arrived at school, I hurried in, hoping to see and speak to Kent before the bell for homeroom sounded. We were in different homerooms. I did see him talking to some of his friends. He turned and saw me, and I started in his direction but stopped when he turned away abruptly and started down the hall.
    After that, I wasn’t going to initiate any conversation with him. I wanted to wait to see if he would speak first to me. He didn’t. In the classes we shared, he went directly to his desk and afterward either left before I did or after and didn’t catch up with me.
    I was afraid it would be this way all day, and sure enough, at lunch, he sat at a different table and didn’t acknowledge me at all. By this time, everyone’s curiosity was at high pitch. Bobbi was the first to ask what had happened. The way she asked me caused me to think she already had Kent’s answer, an answer that certainly didn’t flatter me.
    “I had the feeling you weren’t happy when I called you,” she said when I didn’t respond quickly enough. “Apparently, Kent didn’t have that good a time, either. Why not?”
    I thought hard for a moment and then said, “I think he was disappointed.”
    She smiled. “I’ll say. Too bad. You two looked good together. Maybe you just aren’t ready for a mature relationship.” She left to join Noel.

    After that, the buzz began. Whispers, like hummingbirds, fluttered about the ears of others in my class. Before the end of the day, I understood I had been accused of being a tease, a girl who promises more than she will ever deliver and enjoys tormenting boys. Most blamed it on my being a spoiled rich girl who always got what she wanted when she wanted it.
    Moving in like some parasite, Megan Stein was all over Kent whenever she had the chance. Maybe to hurt me more than to please himself, Kent behaved as though he had just discovered her. I saw him talking softly to her at her locker between classes, his lips so close to hers they were already kissing each other’s breath.
    As I was walking out of the building, Bobbi’s final comment to me for the day was, “You know that this makes it harder for you to get another boy in our school interested in you.”
    Instead of showing the sadness and pain that she and the others expected, I simply said, “I’ll survive,” and walked away from her. I knew this would just reinforce their idea of me as being stuck-up and arrogant. Since Cassie already had this reputation, it was easy for them to paint me with the same brush.
    I didn’t think that Cassie had ruined things for me with the other kids in school. In fact, I suddenly was prouder of her than ever. As I made my way out to the parking lot, all I could think was that Cassie was especially right about boys. Cassie was still the smartest person I knew. As usual, the moment she set eyes on me, she knew I had gone through a difficult day.

    She said nothing until we drove away from the school. I was looking out the side window but seeing nothing.
    “You don’t have to say anything, Semantha,” she began. “I’ll tell you what happened. Your wonderful new boyfriend treated you like horse dung all day.”
    I turned to her and nodded.
    “And he made sure everyone knew it was all your fault, right?”
    “Just like you said, Cassie.”
    “It’s so typical,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Most of the boys in this school are the same. They don’t have class. They’re not up to being with you and me, Semantha. This is why I wanted us to go to a private school. They’re all riffraff. Don’t you spend a second regretting anything. None of this is your fault, Semantha.”
    “I won’t.”
    “Good, good. Don’t worry. The right young man for you is out there, so get that sad look off your face. We certainly don’t want Daddy to see