Chapter 2
In Which Our Heroine Gets A Little Too Much Praise

It was supposed to be a good day.

Wednesday, hump day, was supposed to be a good day. Kate had Micro, Stats, Lit, and Gov (all AP, of course), and since it was only a couple weeks into senior year, she could count on her teachers to not saddle the twelfth-grade population with a ridiculous workload just yet. Plus, her and Gen were planning to get coffee after school, which was nice.

Anyway, it was supposed to be a good day, that is, until her younger half-sister Edwina flew home from London to resume her studies at Grosvenor.

It's not that Kate hated Edwina- no, far from it. She was the best sister a girl could ever ask for- kind (if a tad bit naive), tenacious, and loyal. Until about six months ago, Edwina had just been one of the hotter girls at Grosvenor, but everything changed the moment she got scouted and swiftly signed a contract with one of the biggest modelling agencies in the country.

(The term "exotic" had been mentioned way too many times in those contract meetings and it made Kate want to stab the agent with her salad fork, but hey, anything for Edwina).

From there, it had been a litany of fittings, shoots, and travel the entire summer for her. But now, Edwina was back in the city to make her debut at New York Fashion Week, and in the meanwhile, try to do as much of her junior year in-person as she could.

Here's the thing: the problem with Edwina returning wasn't Edwina herself, but all the unwanted attention she got. And that had only magnified when word quickly spread among the student body of Grosvenor that they were going to school with an honest-to-god runway model.

The second Kate and Edwina entered Grosvenor on Wednesday morning, Edwina had been mobbed by a crowd of adoring girls and guys alike, and within minutes had gotten asked out to the movies, Per Se ("my family has a standing reservation"), a party on the UWS ("I know guys from Columbia"), and the Hamptons ("we have a house there"). Kate would have found it all hysterical had Edwina not looked mildly panicked and pretty much fled into her first-period classroom for refuge.

You see, Kate took her job as Edwina's older sister seriously. After all, she'd been the one to hold her sister's hand and drag her across the street when some randos catcalled her at the age of thirteen. She'd been the one to help Edwina get over a bad break-up and the one who plotted and successfully carried out the social ruination of the asshole ex in question (the less asked about that incident, the better).

She was Edwina's protector, her bona-fide bodyguard, and she was not about to let another jerkwad use her sister and then conveniently discard her.

That's why when Kate entered the cafeteria on Wednesday during lunch, she was more than a little taken aback to see the company Edwina was keeping.

"Gen," she muttered to her friend Genevieve Delacroix, "why is Edwina sitting there?"

Gen followed her gaze and took in the sight of Edwina sitting at one of the corner high-top tables, her long legs swinging back and forth as she spoke animatedly with a pack of practically-panting boys surrounding her.

"Cressie?" Gen suggested with a smirk, jerking her chin towards where Cressida Cowper was sitting so close to Edwina, she was probably hoping some of that attention would rub off on her.

"Gen, nobody would voluntarily sit with Cressida Cowper," Kate said bluntly, her eyes still trained on her sister.

"Good point. Daphne's there too. Isn't she friends with your sister?"

Sure enough Daphne Bridgerton was at that table too, eying Edwina's next-season Manolo slingbacks (that she'd gotten for free after a shoot) in considerable awe. And of course, where Daphne went, Simon Basset wasn't far behind. He'd slung an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder and was watching the scene before him with vague amusement.

And where Simon Basset was…

Kate scowled, catching sight of a familiar mop of dark brown hair among Edwina's admirers, too close to be entirely innocent, and certainly too close for Kate's comfort.

Anthony-Freaking-Bridgerton.

Everyone knew Anthony was back on the market after a messy break-up with Siena Rosso. Apparently, she didn't want any baggage weighing her down before she left for college- and Anthony was that baggage. So after an entire summer of posting particularly unsubtle shirtless photos (not that Kate noticed), Anthony Bridgerton had returned to Grosvenor very single, very eligible, and now, so very, very dead.

Kate didn't even realize she was storming towards her nemesis until she was halfway there and Gen called behind her, "Kate! What are you doing?"

Unfortunately, before she could reach her target, Edwina caught sight of her.

"Kate!" her sister trilled and beckoned her forward. "I was just talking about you!"

"You were?" Kate asked, immediately weary. She elbowed her way through Edwina's crowd of admirers to reach her sister. Edwina threw an affectionate arm around Kate before turning to address her captivated audience.

"Kate's the best," Edwina gushed, flashing the group of boys a megawatt smile that probably would have made them faint had it not been for the excellent air conditioning in Grosvenor's cafeteria. Cressida adopted an expression of someone who'd drank kombucha for the first time. Edwina went on, "She helped me research all the modelling agency and contract stuff- you wouldn't believe the way they try to take advantage of models-" Edwina shuddered delicately, then immediately perked up, "-anyway, Kate pretty much saved me, and I don't think I could do anything without her!"

Kate winced. Why did Edwina make her sound like a control freak? "I mean," she attempted awkwardly, "you are your own person. You make decisions just fine."

"But you have such great instincts," Edwina cooed affectionately, somehow tightening her skinny arm around Kate. Though it didn't look like it, Edwina's arms had some serious muscles, and they were currently cutting off circulation in Kate's shoulder. This also prevented her from unpleasantly glowering at Anthony so he could get a hint and back off. "And your advice hasn't failed me yet!"

"And has this advice included anyone… you've dated?" A smug voice asked from Kate's right.

Kate's neck cracked with how quickly she turns her head. Of course, there was Anthony, failing to make his smirk seem like an innocent smile directed at Edwina.

Edwina nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely! Kate's met every one of my dates." She then added a damning, "She's never been wrong about any of them."

Kate groaned.

Gen would later tell her that every boy in the vicinity adopted the same expression of cognizance, their two brain-cells clearly having rubbed together to come to the same realization at once.

But Kate wasn't watching them- she was focused on one boy in particular:

Because Anthony Bridgerton wasn't looking at Edwina anymore.

He was looking at her.

Grinning.

Diabolically.

Apart from Eloise and Pen, there really aren't a lot of female friendships going on in the series, which is why I just made Genevieve Delacroix Kate's friend- she seems like the sharp but fun type and Kate would get along with her.

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