Sara skipped lightly down the stairs. Who could be visiting at this hour?

Her mother strolled through the foyer. Her heels click-clanked as she walked. "We expect you at dinner soon," she said. "We aren't home that often. I'm sure you can make plans some other time with your friends." Mrs. Smith tossed her perfectly curled hair and disappeared around the corner to the cosy kitchen.

Sara took a deep breath and opened the door. "Oh--hi. Did you need something?" She leaned her shoulder against the doorframe. She tried to keep her expression neutral, but she was very much surprised.

Ella stood Barbie-style on her front porch. She played on Sara's field hockey team. Even though Ella wasn't very athletic, her parents forced Coach Mars to keep her on the team so she could list a varsity sport on her college application.

Her teammate wore a high school letter jacket over a long black skirt. "I won't be long," Ella said, placing a hand on her small hip. "You have my black sandals in your bag. I came to get them back."

Ella pushed past Sara and entered the foyer. "Yum. Smells like filet mignon," she said.

Sara crossed her arms, irritated.

Ella twirled around, letting her converse sneakers squeak across the marble floor.

"How do I have your sandals?" Sara asked as she started up the stairs to her bedroom.

Ella let out a dramatic sigh. She ran her hand over the stair banister as she followed Sara up the stairs.

Sara had purposely not invited Ella up to her room, but was too polite to say otherwise.

Ella sighed again. She had one of those Los Angeles style pinched nose voices that made everything she said sound as if she were constantly complaining. And she sighed. All. The. Time.

"Because...I put my shoes in your bag," Ella said. "Your bag was right next to mine on the bench in the locker room. I didn't realize my mistake until after you'd left."

Sara opened her door and went to her sports bag. She began to search through its contents.

Ella sat down at Sara's vanity table. She made kissy faces at her reflection in the mirror.

"Oh, here they are." Sara pulled the strappy black sandals from her bag. The shoes looked as if they belonged to Catwoman.

She walked over to Ella to hand her the shoes.

Ella was holding a picture in her hands.

As Sara glanced over her shoulder, she saw it was a photo of herself with Charles at his high school graduation.

"How's Charlie Pants doing? Does he just loooove Yale?" She traced her red painted fingernail across Charles' face.

Sara cleared her throat. The strappy sandals felt vile in her hands. The shoes were so sexy, just touching them made her feel impure, like she was handling someone's used underwear.

"Charles is great," Sara said. She dangled the shoes nearer Ella's face in the hopes the girl would take them and leave.

"That's nice," Ella said, still tracing her finger over the picture. "He is soooo cute."

Sara smiled a tight lipped smile. "Yes. Charles is quite the charmer."

Ella dropped the image onto the vanity table. She didn't bother to put it back where it had been taped on the mirror.

Ella grabbed Sara's Ralph Lauren perfume bottle. "You don't mind, do you? This brand is amazing." She quickly spritzed herself without waiting for Sara to answer.

Sara bit her tongue. She knew Ella wasn't exactly rude. She just hadn't been raised with the proper etiquette.

Ella took the shoes from Sara's hands. She slipped off her converse and daintily stepped into the sandals. She looked like a rock star.

"Whenever you do hear from Charles again, give him my regards. While your brother is adorable, I have to admit, Bentley Prince is waaaaay hotter."

Sara tried to conceal her annoyance. Charles had dated Ella briefly before he'd left for college. While Ella was still sore about him leaving, she didn't really miss him. It was more that Ella wanted to leave a relationship when it was in her favor. Technically, Charles moving away wasn't something she could control. And Ella was all about controlling people around her.

"Anyway," Ella continued, "Bentley is probably soooo annoyed with me. I'm purposely stalling up here, just to make him wait." She applied fresh lip gloss to her mouth. "He's to die for, don't you think?"

Her words made Sara's heart freeze over. "Wait...is...is Bentley waiting for you... outside?"

Ella studied her reflection in the floor length mirror. "Yep. He is."

Sara cautiously peeked through the curtains of her bedroom window. Sure enough, Bentley's tell-tale sleek, black car idled in the driveway. The headlights beamed across the garage doors.

Sara gulped and stepped back from the window.