All That Glitters Read Online Free

before.
    â€œWe’ve heard so much about you from Camille,” Harper said.
    â€œAll good things,” Amory said, nodding enthusiastically. “We’ve basically been dying to meet you.”
    â€œStill
loving
your blazer,” Morgan said, bobbing her head to some unheard beat, as if she hadn’t just turned off her headphones.
    These girls were so immediately likable that I quickly felt at ease. And when I glanced across the aisle, I was happy to see that I recognized my friend Olivia from Miss Mallards sitting next to two of her friends, Dara and Veronica, whom I’d met when Olivia and I bumped into each other while shoppingthis past fall. I waved at them and all three waved back with big smiles and fingerless gloves.
    When the doors at the front of the auditorium opened and a group of stern women in navy blazers walked in, a hush fell over the crowd. I had never seen so much gossip evaporate so quickly. Camille had mentioned that the faculty at Thoney could be severe, but this bunch looked like it was their mission to leave a sea of anxious, quaking girls in their wake.
    A silver-haired woman with a loosely swept French twist and porcelain skin took the podium.
    â€œWelcome back, girls,” she said with perfectly polished Manhattan enunciation. “I trust you all had relaxing and enjoyable winter holidays.”
    â€œYes, Headmistress Winters,” the room sang back collectively.
    â€œMany of you are returning students, but for those of you who are new, it may do you well to hear some ground rules—rules that are taken quite seriously here at Thoney. Starting with the dress code …”
    Winters didn’t mince words. I was pretty sure that the dress code at Thoney was going to be a whole lot stricter than at Stuy, where basically anything went except bandannas and gang colors. But just as she was getting to the details of Thoney’s sartorialprotocol (which basically amounted to nothing overly provocative and she’d “be the judge of that”), Camille lightly touched my arm.
    â€œ
Our
dress code is what matters,” she said in a low whisper. “A group of us started Theme Day Thursdays. An e-mail blast goes out Wednesday night with the details. It’s so fun—you’ll totally love it. During finals last semester we did Bad Christmas Sweater Day. It was hilarious. Oh, and Fridays we always wear jeans.”
    I nodded, wondering half-jokingly if I should be taking notes. Because it seemed like for every official rule the headmistress had to offer to the group, Camille overruled it with a social rule of her own.
    â€œCafeteria commandments,” Camille went on, as the headmistress gave her honor code spiel. “Never get anything but the salad bar. Or the mac and cheese. Or the fries. Basically, all lunchroom meat and dairy products are frowned upon.”
    â€œAnd we always sit at the third table in any room we go into,” Harper leaned over to whisper, her curtain of blond hair hiding her moving lips from Winters. “It’s easier to remember that way. Third bench in the auditorium, third table by the windows in the cafeteria, third study cluster in the library. You’ll start to see that all the groups sit in similar places, soyou’ll always know where to find the various cliques—and there are a
lot
.”
    I squinted at them. “Is it really that divided?”
    Camille shrugged. “You’ll see. It’s not that bad. For the most part, everyone gets along. It just, you know, makes it easier to keep organized.”
    Just then Headmistress Winters bellowed out, “
Organization
is the key to your success at Thoney,” and Camille, Harper, and I had to bite our lips to keep from laughing.
    â€œOkay,” Camille went on, sneaking out her BlackBerry. “I made you a list of the clubs that are cool to join and those that are kinda off-limits. I’ll e-mail it to you before the Activities