An hour later, we stood at the door to our suite. Most of our classmates were in hotel rooms on the two floors below us, but I had done my own booking. When the hotel staff heard my last name, they were only too happy to give us the penthouse suite. Behind me, Payton, Mia, Katherine, and Kallie waited as I unlocked the door.
"OMG!" Payton gushed. "Check out the view!" In front of us, the skyscrapers of New York spread out all around us.
We were interrupted from our exploration of the room by a series of loud, sharp knocks.
"Coming!" Payton shouted. Still, the person didn't stop knocking.
"I swear to God I'm going to get a migraine," Mia put her manicured hand over her forehead and closed her eyes. Katherine looked at her worriedly.
In an effort to stop the knocking, Kallie ran to the door and opened it.
Of course, it was none other than the devil in ratty sneakers herself, Autumn Brooks.
"Oh." Autumn's eyes narrowed when she realized that it was Kallie who had opened the door.
I strode up behind Kallie. "Is there a problem?" My brown eyes shot daggers at the hipster slash art freak.
Autumn gestured to two figures down the hall. "Over here!" she hollered. I resisted the urge to cover my ears at her shrill, grating voice.
As they approached our suite, I realized that the two figures were… Julian and Wes. And they were carrying some luggage.
"What's going on?" I raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. Ratty Sneakers had a lot of explaining to do.
Autumn's squinty eyes danced wickedly. "Didn't you hear? There was a plumbing emergency in the room I was assigned. It seems I have to room with you guys."
I felt like an ice cube had just been dropped down the back of my shirt. It seemed like my perfect New York vacation was going to be ruined.
Just as quickly, I made that feeling dissipate. There was no way in hell I would let that bitch bring me down. She'd have to deal with me first.
"Where should we put this down?" Julian asked. He was carrying Autumn's suitcase. As I inspected it I recognized that it was a roller suitcase. Autumn could have rolled it up the elevator herself. There was no need for her to make Julian carry it… but there was certainly a want to steal Kallie's boyfriend.
"In here." Autumn pointed at our suite. Kallie and I were forced to move to make way for Julian hefting the luggage.
"Where's my room?" Autumn demanded.
This was going to be a problem. Mia and Katherine had one bedroom, and Payton and Kallie shared the other. The master bedroom was mine. And there was no way in Hermès I would be sharing a room with Autumn again. During the Greece field trip between our school and Athena Academy, we had been randomly assigned as roommates in the hotel we were staying at. That was not an experience I wanted to relive.
"Change of plans," I announced. "We're going to switch some roommates around."
Mia gave me a warning look.
"Obviously, Mia will be staying with Katherine," I began. Mia smiled, dropping her warning look. "Payton, instead of rooming with Kallie, you'll be with Autumn." I fought the urge to roll my eyes. What a whiny little brat, disrupting everything as usual. "And Kallie, you'll be with me." I knew if she roomed with Autumn, Autumn would take advantage of the naïve, homeschooled girl, and sabotage both her and her new relationship with Julian.
Autumn ignored me and instead gestured for Wes to hand her her backpack. What the heck? Her backpack wasn't even heavy. In fact, there was no need for Wes to even carry it when she could clearly do it herself. Just like with Julian, she was just using her luggage as an excuse to flirt with our boyfriends. And that just made her deader than last season's Miu Miu pumps.