It was mid-afternoon by the time our plane landed at LaGuardia International Airport. I was still pretty pissed at Wes, so for the duration of the taxi ride to the hotel, I ignored him. Despite his constant attempts to talk to me, I was extremely offended that he would still choose Autumn, who wasn't even his girlfriend, over me.
Our taxicab was the first to arrive, but fortunately another taxi pulled up to the entrance. Kallie, Julian, and Autumn hopped out. You know what they say, I thought wryly to myself. Two's company, three's a crowd.
"Omigosh! Look!" Autumn squealed, jumping up and down at the plush, opulent hotel lobby. "Crystal chandeliers!"
I hid my snicker inside my white-gloved hand. Autumn had about much subtlety as a drunken clown.
Another taxi arrived, and Mia, Katherine, Payton, and Koh hopped out. A bellhop rushed to the taxi's trunk, pulling out the massive amounts of luggage the girls had brought. I understood why Payton and Mia had packed a lot—a girl can never bring too many shoes—but Koh? I observed the mischievous smile that darted across her face. Koh was definitely up to something, and I was definitely going to figure out what it was.
"Hey, everyone!" Payton squealed. "I can't wait for all the shopping! And cronuts! Don't forget cronuts!"
"What the hell are cronuts?" Autumn snapped.
Payton looked taken aback at Autumn's harsh tone. I was surprised myself, since there was no reason for Autumn to be in a bad mood. In fact, today had been a good day for Autumn. She'd ruined my new Vivienne Westwood sweater and forced my boyfriend to run errands for her. Not to mention she'd caused the current rift between me and Wes.
"God, Autumn, we're in New York. Why do you have to be so rude?" Mia asked, as Sakura, Nishan, and Ezra walked up to us.
I bit my glossed lip to prevent a snicker from escaping. When it came to being a boyfriend-stealing bitch, Autumn took the cake.
Payton still looked sad, so I took her arm. "Let's go freshen up. Mia?" I nodded. Mia said a quick see-you-soon to Katherine and walked to us.
In the ladies' room, I pulled out a miniature travel-sized Mason Pearson hairbrush and ran it through my glossy brunette locks. On my left, Payton reapplied pink Milani eye shadow to her eyelids, and on my right Mia ran a tube of Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara through her eyelashes.
Finally, I spoke.
"Autumn's gone too far," I announced. "The way she treated you today was just too cruel." I widened my eyes, oozing sincerity. "You're one of my dearest friends, Payton, and I cannot stand for my friends to be treated like this."
"Aww!" Payton squealed. "You're so sweet!"
"She's right, though." Mia cut in. "Autumn was so rude to you. We can't let this behavior slide at our school."
Payton hesitated for a split second, then she looked up at us. "So… what should we do about it?"