Kiss & Sell Read Online Free

my arms.
    “You guys, I think this may have been a major mistake,” I said, my head still down. “People are
laughing
at me. It’s humiliating.”
    “Are you kidding? This is awesome!” Phin said, chomping on his double-stacked hamburger. “The more people who know, the more people will bid.”
    “He’s right,” McCartney said. “Now that we’ve gotten the ball rolling, the bids are sure to come in. And then, that kiss will be yours!”
    I looked up at them stubbornly. “You guys would be feeling differently if it was
you
everyone was staring at. And judging ruthlessly,” I said and then took a bite out of my banana.
    Before either of them could respond, I heard a snicker coming from behind me. I turned to see one of the populars, Kristi Fern, standing there, sipping on her diet soda.
    I blinked my eyes in surprise to see the Queen B herself, standing in our section of the cafeteria. As a general rule, the popular kids usually stuck to their own kind and rarely chanced being seen with civilians, so you could understand my confusion. Kristi shook her platinum blond hair off her shoulders and then placed her hand on her hip, leaning over to one side as if she were posing for a dozen hidden paparazzi cameras. The girl was like a walking shampoo commercial, and it totally made me want to barf.
    Her two lackeys, June and Deb, trailed behind their leader, trying to copy her saunter but failing miserably. They each managed to slap on the same fake smiles, though, which was a feat unto itself.
    “So,
Arielle
,” Kristi purred. “It’s really just
so
sad that you have to sell yourself to get a kiss! I mean, aren’t you a little embarrassed that no one’s wanted to go there, yet?”
    I sat there stunned at Kristi’s bluntness and felt my face begin to heat up. Suddenly it dawned on me what the “B” in Queen B stood for.
    “Why don’t you just shut it, Kristi?” McCartney shot back, giving her the famous McCartney stink eye. “I mean, if you had a penny for every kiss you gave, you’d be able to afford better highlights.”
    People around us had stopped talking as soon as Kristi had started to speak, and now they whispered as they watched the confrontation. You could tell they were all silently hoping for a catfight. And considering what Kristi had just said, I was almost willing to give her one.
    “At least someone’s going to
pay
to kiss me,” I said boldly, before I could think of the consequences. Like ultimate social suicide. “You have to give yours away.”
    Kristi just smirked at me, unimpressed. “We’ll just see about that,” she said as she and her cronies walked away. “Really, who’s going to want to kiss such a loser?”
    “Whoa, Kujo, relax,” Phin said as he pulled McCartney back into the chair she’d just jumped up from.
    She glared at Phin. “Did you hear what she just said about Arielle?”
    “Yeah. But it’s
Kristi
. She’s been evil since we were in middle school. Who cares what she thinks anyway?” Phin said, stuffing a few French fries in his mouth. “Besides, if Kristi’s being a witch, it’s just because she’s mad that all the attention isn’t focused on her. And that’s because it’s all on Arielle instead. That’s revenge enough, isn’t it?”
    I looked around the room and saw that nearly every head was turned in our direction. Phin was right. The attention was definitely on us. Or more accurately, on me.
    Before I could decide whether that was a good or bad thing, the bell rang and we started to pack up.
    “You okay?” McCartney asked falling into step beside me.
    “Actually, I feel great,” I said and realized it was true. “Telling Kristi off actually made me realize that this crazy plan of yours might just work.”
    “That’s my girl,” Phin said smiling as he waited for a high five. Denied yet again, he stomped off to his next class.
    McCartney and I walked into history, still talking about Kristi and her clones. We sat down next to each other