Hunters of Chaos Read Online Free Page A

you, Principal Ferris.”
    She gave me one last warm smile and retreated down the hall, humming to herself.
    Reluctantly, I closed the door and followed the sound of Nicole’s chatter to our shared walk-in closet. Seriously? I didn’t even have a walk-in closet at home.
    â€œThe left side is mine,” Nicole said, gesturing to the long rack of what looked like brand-new clothes and a shelf stacked with shoe boxes. “The right side is all yours.”
    I looked from the huge empty half of the closet to my pathetically small suitcase. “Um, I don’t think I’ll need a whole side,” I muttered.
    Nicole seemed momentarily confused. “This isn’t all you brought, is it? I know my mom didn’t want me lugging four suitcases around the airport, so she shipped the rest of my things in boxes. Thank God, too. I wouldn’t have had the heart to fold my Carolina Herrera dress.” She reached out and lovingly stroked a gorgeous designer gown made of some kind of shimmery fabric that looked like vanilla ice cream.
    â€œThis is all I brought,” I said, suddenly feeling underdressed and underpacked.
    To Nicole’s credit, if she was appalled, she hid it well. She shook her head and said, “Well, you don’t need a million pieces. You probably just brought the essential ones. Less is more. Am I right?”
    I had a feeling I’d be answering that question a lot and that the answer was always supposed to be yes. But now as I unpacked my neatly rolled T-shirts and Old Navy jeans, it seemed to dawn on her that maybe, for the first time ever, she was wrong. Very, very wrong. Her side of the closet screamed New York Fashion Week, and mine screamed Cleveland mall. Suddenly I felt kind of dumb for not having seen this coming. When I flashed back to everyone I’d seen in the lobby, it occurred to me that they hadn’t all been just like me. Not that I was any kind of fashionista, but I could read labels as well as anybody, and I knew that one girl had been wearing a Donna Karan tank top, and one of the purses I’d seen had been Louis Vuitton. Nicole’s side of the closet was a who’s who of every designer I’d ever heard mentioned on Fashion Police . Until now, I’d never met anyone who had even one piece of designer clothing—not a real one, anyway. But designer clothing was all Nicole seemed to own!
    I shouldn’t be surprised. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that a school that only the rich could afford would be filled with rich kids.
    And me, now.
    â€œUm, Ana, don’t take this the wrong way, but . . . did you bring anything a little less . . . casual?”
    I didn’t want to tell her that my idea of dressing up was wearing a belt with my jeans. My expression must have said it all, because she looked at me with real sympathy for a moment, like I was a lost puppy she’d come across in the woods.
    â€œYou know what?” she said. “Don’t even worry about it. Actually, this is a good thing. You can be my little protégée!”
    I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that. I almost protested. But then I thought about how out of place I already felt. Maybe I could use a little training. It couldn’t hurt.
    I grinned at Nicole. “Okay, sure. Help me, Obi-Wan. You’re my only hope!”
    Her nose crinkled in confusion. I guess she wasn’t a Star Wars fan. “You’re so weird,” she said. “I love it! Now, I think we’re about the same size. So let’s get you into something a little more sophisticated.” She rifled through the rack, her wooden hangers snapping against one another, until she came across a beautiful silk skirt with orange flowers blooming along the hem. Then she pulled out a sky-blue sleeveless mock turtleneck from a pile of folded tops on a shelf. “Perfect!” she said. “You don’t want to be too