Georgetown Academy, Season One Read online

  Dedication

  Begin the story

  Book One

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  It’s Rookie Party time! Which girl do you want to follow for the night?

  CHAPTER SIX: Evan

  CHAPTER SIX: Brinley

  CHAPTER SIX: Ellie

  CHAPTER SIX: Taryn

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  Book Two

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  It’s time to get ready for Follow the Stars! Which G.A. star do you want to follow?

  CHAPTER TWELVE: Brinley

  CHAPTER TWELVE: Taryn

  CHAPTER TWELVE: Evan

  CHAPTER TWELVE: Ellie

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Book Three

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  It’s already been a crazy night, who do you want to follow for the rest of it?

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Follow Ellie

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Follow Evan

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Follow Brinley

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Follow Taryn

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Book Four

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  It’s time for the Dedication Party! Who do you want to follow there?

  CHAPTER NINE: Ellie

  CHAPTER NINE: Taryn

  CHAPTER NINE: Brinley

  CHAPTER NINE: Evan

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Acknowledgements

  About Coliloquy

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Georgetown Academy, Season One

  by

  Alyssa Embree Schwartz and Jessica Koosed Etting

  Palo Alto | San Francisco

  Dedication

  To our parents…who always knew this day would come.

  Georgetown Academy

  Book One

  CHAPTER ONE

  Tuesday, 7:45am.

  Ellie Walker briskly made her way past the dozens of black town cars that clogged the curbside of Georgetown Academy every morning, giving a quick tug on her black, pleated Marc Jacobs skirt. It was just a tad too short on her. But her best friend, Brinley, who Ellie easily conceded knew a lot more about fashion than she did, had convinced her this was the perfect outfit for today. The first day of a new political administration didn’t mean much at almost every other high school across the country, but at Georgetown Academy, it was the most important day of the school year and Brinley had reminded Ellie that she needed to dress to impress.

  She passed throngs of students congregated around the vibrantly green, manicured front lawn and the bare Willow Oak trees surrounding them, her straight chestnut-colored hair blowing in the wind behind her until....

  She was suddenly shoved off the brick pathway, saving herself ungracefully at the last second from flashing the entire school and face-planting into the grass.

  “Oops, sorry!” The culprit, a hopelessly disoriented student, exclaimed. He was skinny with glasses too big for his face and he gazed up at the expansive building in front of him, looking like he might break down in tears.

  Definitely a rookie.

  That’s what the lifers, like Ellie, called all the new students whose parents were serving their first term in the government. Today was their first day at G.A. and she felt a pang of sympathy. They really had no idea what lay ahead of them.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She readjusted her black cashmere sweater, then dodged a few more confused, wide-eyed students on her way up to McKinley Hall, the Victorian-style three-story red brick building that marked the main entrance of Georgetown Academy. The campus sprawled out for another twenty acres; several buildings dotted the grass and connected by brick pathways from the state-of-the-art Science Lab to the glass-enclosed Visual Arts Studio.

  As she walked up the steps and past four monstrous white columns, she nervously licked her lips, realizing she probably didn’t have any gloss left on them. Every year for the past ten years, this particular day made Ellie anxious. But today was worse, and it was difficult to swallow the thick lump that had appeared in her throat with a vengeance a few days ago. The new administration brought her mother’s political enemy, Richard Mills, back into the Senate. He had been re-elected to his seat after a brief hiatus, and though she had tried to convince herself for the past few days that his return wouldn’t affect her family, deep down she knew that was naïve. She should be bracing herself for a difficult few weeks, as he was most likely gearing up for a new round of personal attacks on her mother. Senator Mills preferred to strike below the belt.

  Just as she was about to walk through the school’s massive double doors, a familiar arm encircled her waist. She turned to see her boyfriend, Hunter McKnight, and her nerves melted away like an ice cube dropped in boiling water. Even though she and Hunter had been dating for almost two years, she smiled every time she heard his voice.

  “Hey, babe,” he said, his voice a perfect blend of confidence and assurance that always gave her a boost. And of course it didn’t hurt he was so good-looking. Today, he was wearing the navy polo she loved on him. There was something about the color of the shirt against his dirty-blond hair and light blue eyes. In khakis and brown Docksiders, Hunter mastered the East Coast preppy style every guy at G.A. sported, though they could only aspire to look as good in it. When Ellie looked up at him, it still felt surreal he was actually her boyfriend.

  “Ready for today?” she asked, slipping her hand into his as they made their way toward her locker. She knew the answer before it was even out of her mouth. Hunter was always ready for anything. Nothing ever seemed to faze him.

  “Yeah, we lost half the starting line up of the basketball team, though,” Hunter said.

  Ellie had realized this last night when she had mentally gone through all the students who would not be returning to school today. If your mom or dad wasn’t re-elected, you were out. Just like that. She felt lucky all of her good friends’ parents had remained safely employed in the new administration, but she had definitely witnessed some tearful good-byes at school last week.

  “I got a glimpse of the new Sec Def’s son in the parking lot. He’s at least six two,” she said while twisting the combination into her locker. She opened her backpack and Hunter began extracting her heavy books and putting them in her locker for her. She loved how he did this every morning even though she had never asked him to.

  As students made their way past them, practically every single one paused for a moment to stare—even the teachers. With his classic good looks and gen
uine charm, there was no doubt Hunter McKnight was the beloved JFK of Georgetown Academy. He was captain of the basketball and lacrosse teams, class president and basically wielded as much power in high school as his father, the newly appointed Attorney General, did in the White House. Ellie understood everyone’s infatuation with him more than anyone. She, herself, had been in awe of Hunter way before they had their first conversation two years ago. But what made Hunter even more endearing was that he barely seemed to register the effect he had on people or the constant attention lavished on him.

  Hunter shut her locker and took her hand again, as they glided down the hall together, more eyes on them. Under the scrutiny, she self-consciously tousled her wind-blown hair, thankful the ends naturally curled and she didn’t have to manipulate them with an iron. She would much rather sleep a little longer than spend hours on a complicated morning-grooming routine. A few girls Ellie had never exchanged more than three words with eagerly said hello to her. She smiled back politely, a little uncomfortable with the fact that she knew this mundane exchange would probably make their day.

  If Hunter was the JFK of Georgetown Academy, that made Ellie his Jackie, which meant she was almost as intriguing to everyone as Hunter. Two years ago, random people didn’t care what kind of drink she got from the vending machine or what color lip gloss she applied in the bathroom. In fact, it didn’t take her long to understand why Jackie was such a fan of headscarves and sunglasses. Sometimes she needed something to hide behind, too. Though her day-to-day unease over all the attention had slightly subsided over the course of their relationship, she still had massive anxiety at the press-filled D.C. events she and Hunter attended. Just next week would be yet another one, the annual Follow the Stars charity gala, where a phalanx of photographers would be out in full force, threatening to practically blind her with their flashbulbs. But then again, it was worth it. This definitely beat the anonymity she had before Hunter was her boyfriend and Brinley was her best friend.

  Hunter tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. “I’ve got to go run something by Mrs. Rice for student government, but I’ll see you in history later.” He gave her a quick kiss before he walked away, knowing she wasn’t a huge fan of PDA. She had told him this early on in their relationship and it was the truth, but there was a little more to it than that. PDA tended to make all the staring that much worse.

  As she headed to her first period classroom, she saw Brinley wearing head-to-toe Chanel and strutting toward her, her deep auburn hair perfectly blown out and swishing dramatically at her shoulders. The YSL black leather tote she used as a book bag swung freely from one hand while the other was enmeshed with Graham Wells’, her boyfriend, his tanned skin making Brinley’s look even more porcelain. The fact that he was the vice president’s son had initially peaked Brinley’s interest in him last year, but Ellie wasn’t sure what kept it. They always seemed a half note out of sync, like an out of tune piano.

  “See you later, babe,” Graham said, as they caught up to Ellie. He kissed Brinley’s hand before walking the other way. But he didn’t make it more than three steps before he immediately started chatting up Marie Carducci, a pretty junior whose tight turtleneck made her already-enviable chest seem gargantuan. Brinley, who had quickly interlocked her arm in Ellie’s, either didn’t notice or was blatantly ignoring it as she launched into a rant.

  “Have you seen some of these rookies?” she asked, disapproval dripping from her voice. “I mean, seriously, does this school not have standards anymore? Montgomery County has a perfectly adequate public school system.”

  “They’ve only been in school for, like, three minutes, Brin. Give them a chance,” Ellie said, rolling her eyes with a smile.

  “Oh please. You know I have impeccable judgment of character. It’s in my blood.” Brinley narrowed her perfectly lined deep brown eyes, the flecks of gold in them flashing, as they made their way down the hall. Today was Brinley’s favorite day of the year. While Ellie felt uncomfortable watching all the lifers jockey their positions within the school to ensure the rookies understood the hierarchy, Brinley burrowed herself in the heart of it, reveling in every minute. She wanted every rookie to understand she was Brinley Madison. Yes, of those Madisons. The family that boasted a Supreme Court justice (her grandfather), a one-time cabinet member and now uber-powerful political strategist (her father) and of course, a former president and founding father of the country (great-great-great-great uncle or something like that...truth be told, Ellie always got a little bored when Brinley talked about her family lineage). And the family that for five years in a row had graced the cover of the coveted President’s Day Washington Life spread, affirming their position of power in D.C. and beyond.

  “Speaking of no standards...” Brinley began and Ellie followed her gaze to a tall, lean Latina girl with thick, dark, Victoria Secret runway hair. It was impossible not to notice her as she fiddled with the combination on her locker. With her long, flowy, belted dress and beaded headband, she easily stood out among the preppy, conservative G.A. girls. Ellie wasn’t nearly as much of a fashionista as Brinley, but even she knew boho-chic was not really a look anyone here rocked. Ellie had to hand it to the girl, though. She totally pulled it off.

  “Who is that?” Ellie asked, as Brinley stopped at her own locker.

  “Taryn Reyes. Alan Reyes’s daughter,” Brinley answered with disdain. Ellie immediately recognized the name. Alan Reyes was the extremely popular former California governor who had recently been elected to the House of Representatives. But everyone knew he was only in the House biding his time until he eventually landed on a much bigger ticket. The country was already touting him as the man who could be the first Hispanic president.

  Brinley began unloading her books with vigor, speaking so quickly that Ellie had a hard time following her. “Her whole family is soooo nouveau. I heard she was coming here, but I didn’t want to believe it. Just in case I’ve been keeping tabs, though. Do you know what she tweeted on July 4th?”

  Ellie shook her head.

  “‘Freedom for all. And not just the top one percent.’ Can you believe that?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at how disgusted Brinley was by Taryn’s innocuous tweet.

  “It’s not funny! It’s insulting. She’s a hypocrite. I happen to know for a fact she’s flown private on more than one family vacation.” Brinley slammed her locker shut.

  “So why are you following her on Twitter?”

  Brinley scoffed dramatically, offended. “Ew. I’m not. Graham retweeted it. Obviously, I made him take it down immediately. He said he was doing it to be ironic, but still.”

  Ellie struggled to keep up with Brinley, as they walked toward their first period classrooms. Brinley was cracking her knuckles with such ferocity she was in danger of losing a finger. Brinley never cracked her knuckles. She wasn’t one who let herself succumb to nervous compulsions. She had once told Ellie she stopped sucking her thumb through sheer willpower. At two years old.

  “Are you okay, Brin?” Ellie asked.

  “What? Of course. I’m fine,” Brinley said quickly.

  “You just seem a little on edge.”

  “I said I’m fine.” The finality in her tone was clearly meant to shut Ellie up.

  “Okay.” They walked in silence for a beat. “So do you want to swing by and pick me up tonight before the rookie party?” Ellie asked. Maybe the change in subject would momentarily thaw Brinley out.

  “I’m not sure. I have to do something after school. I don’t know how long it’s going to take,” Brinley answered tightly, without looking at her.

  “Okay. We can just meet there if you want—”

  “God, Ellie! You know what? It’s getting really exhausting taking care of everything for you all the time. I don’t have every single minute of my day planned out at eight o’clock in the effing morning!”

  And with that, Brinley strode away and disappeared into a classroom, leaving Ellie standing alone, complete
ly stunned.

  She had seen Brinley unleash her wrath on others—an unlucky freshman girl who had shown up to school in the same Ralph Lauren Black Label cashmere sweater Brinley had chosen to wear that day, the poor hostess at Proof who had accidentally given Brinley’s usual table to Jenna Bush—but Brinley had never snapped like that at her.

  However, before she could even process Brinley’s tirade, Ellie turned the corner and stopped dead in her tracks, all thoughts of what just happened, or anything else for that matter, flying out of her head. The last person she ever expected to see or wanted to see was now standing right in front of her.

  Gabe. What was he doing here?

  Somehow Gabe looked totally different and exactly the same. He still had tousled brown hair that looked like he had just woken up or that he could pose for a cologne ad. His style hadn’t changed much—T-shirt, dark ripped jeans and Converse—a much edgier look than the one preppy G.A. guys preferred. But then Gabe was never the type to conform. Topping it all off was a vintage pendant that hung off a long chain around his neck. She usually found jewelry on a guy off-putting, but on Gabe, it just looked sexy. She let her anger toward him slip over her like a security blanket so she didn’t have to think about it.

  He was startled to see her, too, but he recovered quickly. “Hey, Ellie,” he said, casually, as if they had just seen each other yesterday when in reality, they had not spoken in two and a half years.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Ellie blurted out.

  “I’m going to school,” he said slowly. He seemed genuinely taken aback by her tone. Unbelievable. He couldn’t honestly think she would have forgiven him.

  “But you went to Sidwell before. Why are you here?” She knew it was useless at this point to even try to hide her anger.

  “My parents thought G.A. might be a better fit this time around.” His dark eyes seemed even darker now, more brooding than she remembered.

  She could barely look at him, though, still in disbelief she was having this conversation. That Gabe was actually standing in front of her. They stood in silence and she swore she felt electricity pass between them. Like actual electrical currents. He moved a little closer and she instinctively stepped back.