Run by Francine Pascal Page A

expensive shoes drumming the highly polished floor of the loft.
    He didn't turn around.
    He should have.

What the Hostage Heard
    HE FELT THE LAUGHTER BEFORE HE heard it. An ugly rumble from across the room. Guttural, like an animal choking.
    The first footsteps -- approaching. A presence, near. Then, words:
    Sam Moon.
    "I enjoy . . . control.
    Gaia . . . taken with you . . . my whole world.
    A kick to his rib cage. A shouted question:
    . . . dreams come true?
    And then, in the slightest whisper:
    Do you love her, Sam?
    "Sam's bruised eye throbbed as he lifted his head. He had not attempted to use his voice in nineteen hours, but with what he sincerely believed might be the very last breath in his body, over the sound of fading footsteps, Sam answered.
    Yes.

ED
GAIA and Heather.
    When you look at them and take them at face value, one might wonder how one person (namely, me . . . and possibly Sam) could love them both in one lifetime.
    Gaia is tall, blond, powerful, and favors brown clothing.
    Heather is shortish, brunette, a slave to the masses, and never wears brown unless a respected fashion writer tells her it's the "new black."
    But Gaia and Heather are more alike than the general public might think.
    The first similarity? They'd both kill me if they heard me say that.
    The list goes on.
    Neither one of them is as brave as she thinks she is. They both have a lot of secrets. (Heather's I pretty much know, Gaia's I m not sure I want to know.) They both have trust issues. I've never known two people with such a gift for sarcasm. They are both extremely beautiful.
    And they both have a thing for college guys.
    So it's not hard to see why one guy could love them both in the same lifetime.
    The real question is, why do I bother?

phone tag
"Heather? It's Jeff Landon. . . . So, uh, are you busy Saturday night?"

Sex in School
    RRRING. CLICK. BEEP.
    "You've reached the Gannis residence. Please leave a message at the beep. Thank you."
    "Heather! It's Megan. Oh my God! I am still so totally freaked out by what happened at school today! I can
not
believe Sam, like, actually taped you guys doing it. And gave it to
Gaia?
That's like -- ugh --
so
unbelievably tasteless. It's like, okay, why don't we all just go on
Jerry Springer
? I mean, like, what if you were wearing weird underwear or something, y'know? Okay, so, like, call me as soon as you get in. Bye."
    Click. Beep.
    What kind of idiot was Megan? She knew Heather didn't have her own phone line. She knew Heather's answering machine was in the family room, where anyone could overhear a message coming in. Heather's parents were actually really good about not snooping, and they would never purposely listen to an incoming call. But what if they happened to be passing through the family room while Megan was ranting about she and Sam "doing it"? Idiot.
    Rrring. Click. Beep.
    "Hi, it's Ashley. I skipped school today to get my hair highlighted, but I just heard the best dirt! This morning somebody actually showed a video of people having, like,
sex
-- in school! Well, no, I mean, they weren't having sex in school, they showed the video in school. The sex was, like, someplace else. I don't know who was on the tape, though, 'cuz I heard it from Jen, who heard it from Mallory, who heard it from ... I dunno, like, somebody. But now I'm, like, so bummed that I dropped AP econ! Oh! Hey! You're still in that class, aren't you? So
you
must have seen it. Cool. All right, so call me with the info!"
    Click. Beep.
    It had been going on all day. She'd already erased at least twenty messages on this very topic. But she refused to take the phone off the hook, in case Sam tried to call.
    To explain himself.
    To apologize.
    "To tell her he'd had nothing to do with that damn video.
    She'd come home from the disaster at the dorm and spent the last hour lying on the family room sofa, screening calls.
    Rrring. Click. Beep.
    "Heather! It's Jeff Landon. Heard about your film debut. Whoa. Didn't know you