Diamonds in the Rough. Michelle Madow

Chapter 35: Peyton

       Chapter 36: Madison

       Acknowledgments

       Extract

       Copyright

      www.campusbuzz.com

      High Schools > Nevada > Las Vegas > The Goodman School

      First Day of School!

      Posted on Tuesday 9/3 at 11:37 AM

      I can’t believe school starts tomorrow! Summer has gone by way too fast. I wish I could live in summer forever, gossiping about who’s with who at what club, who has the best tan, and when we can stay out all night without having to wake up at dawn the next morning to sit in class all day.

      Adrian Diamond’s three daughters will be starting at Goodman this year, and since they supposedly grew up in some random town in northern cali, it’ll be interesting to see how they adapt. They made a splash the first week they arrived, but since then they’ve been under the radar. Probably because they’re nothing special and don’t deserve any of the attention they got when they first arrived!

      Anyway, I’m off to work on my tan and do some last minute back to school shopping. See you all bright and early tomorrow morning! : )

      1: Posted on Tuesday 9/3 at 12:56 PM

      Savannah Diamond posted some YouTube vids singing and playing guitar (she’s good, even though her vids are crappy quality on her laptop webcam and haven’t gotten tons of views), but her and her sisters haven’t been around as much since the first week they got here. Which sucks, cause they’re HOT!

      2: Posted on Tuesday 9/3 at 2:07 PM

      I hear they’re majorly behind on academics because their old public school sucked so they’ve been getting tutored so they won’t be behind at Goodman. What a shitty way to spend summer!

      3: Posted on Tuesday 9/3 at 4:21 PM

      Nick Gordon’s been MIA all summer too, and he was totally hanging with Savannah Diamond the week she arrived. Maybe they’ve been so involved with each other that they haven’t had time for anyone else!!!

      4: Posted on Tuesday 9/3 at 4:51 PM

      Or she’s been moping because Damien peaced out to travel all summer. Savannah was supposedly so obsessed with him that he left just to get away from her. Haha poor girl. Awkward, much?

Chapter 1: Savannah

      Savannah Diamond wanted her first day at her new school to be perfect, so she’d woken up extra early to get ready. But her nerves had her so on edge that she couldn’t even sing into her hairbrush along with her favorite songs, pretending she was a pop star performing a show. Peyton used to get so mad at her for it every morning, since she, Courtney and Savannah shared a room, and Savannah woke up earlier than Peyton because she needed more time to get ready. Having a room to herself was the best.

      If this were her first day of her sophomore year at Fairfield High, she’d have thrown on jean shorts, a pastel tank and sparkly summer flats. But The Goodman School was a fancy private school in Vegas, and since she and her sisters had found out last summer that billionaire casino owner Adrian Diamond was their father, and had moved into the penthouse next to his in The Diamond Residences, Savannah was supposed to be a sophisticated hotel heiress—not a girl who’d grown up in a poor neighborhood in a small town. She needed an outfit to fit the part. And since the only dress-code rules at The Goodman School were no ripped jeans and no belly buttons showing, she had plenty of options.

      She settled on a metallic spaghetti-strap top by Young Fabulous & Broke, paired with a black flair miniskirt and strappy Jimmy Choo heels. She curled her hair to give it volume, put on a Swarovski crystal headband and went all out with makeup—deep purples and silvers from her Urban Decay Vice palette, winged black eyeliner with liquid gold sparkles, extra coats of mascara and shimmery lip gloss. As she walked to her jewelry box to decide what to match with the outfit, someone knocked at her door.

      “Savannah?” Her sister Courtney peeked her head into the room. “Breakfast is here, and Adrian and Rebecca are on their way. Are you almost ready?”

      “Are these earrings too much with the bracelets?” Savannah motioned to her dangly crystal earrings and Alex and Ani bangles.

      Courtney examined Savannah’s outfit. “I don’t want you taking this the wrong way, but isn’t it a bit much for school?”

      Savannah pulled at her top and frowned. “The personal shopper from Saks said the outfit was perfect on me.”

      “It does look great on you.” Courtney bit her lower lip. “But it seems better suited for a cocktail party or other nighttime event…. Not for school.”

      “I shouldn’t have bothered asking.” She played with her charm bracelets, shuffling her feet as she scrutinized the outfit in her full-length mirror. It was flashy. But she couldn’t take fashion advice from Courtney, who had on jeans, flip-flops, a sky-blue T-shirt and practically no makeup. The only jewelry she wore was a practical watch and that boring old key necklace Grandma had given her for her birthday last year—an heirloom from their great-great-grandmother. “Sure, it would have been too much for Fairfield High, but this is private school in Las Vegas. The first day is when everyone gets most dressed up, so I want to be ready.”

      “I was just trying to help, but whatever makes you happy.” Courtney toyed with her necklace. “You’re lucky you aren’t nervous.”

      “You think I’m not nervous?” Savannah had tossed and turned all night, and her hands had been shaking all morning. “I don’t know anyone in my grade. And I have no idea what’ll happen if I run into Damien or Nick—which I’m assuming I will, since the school is small.” She frowned, thinking about how stupidly optimistic she’d felt in the beginning of July at the Diamond Hotel grand opening, when Damien had apologized for kissing Madison, and Nick had given her attention all night. Because a week later, Damien had left on a month-long teen tour to Alaska and Hawaii, and Nick was always busy with work. “I’m worried that they’ll see me and pretend they don’t know me. Or that they’ve forgotten about me.”

      The pathetic part was that it had been weeks since she’d heard from either of them—aside from an occasional text from Nick that he felt bad about not having time to hang out—and she checked up on them daily on Facebook and Twitter. Nick had been inactive on both, but Damien had posted pictures on Facebook from his trip, of him with gorgeous, confident girls—the types of girls who made Savannah fade into the background. Girls like Madison Lockhart.

      Which was why it was extra important that her first-day-of-school outfit was perfect. She needed to stand out, not fade away.

      “You’ll make friends,” Courtney said. “And if Damien and Nick ignore you, they’re not worth your time.”

      “Maybe.” She knew Courtney was right, but that didn’t mean it would hurt less if they pretended they didn’t know her.

      “I’m worried about the classes,” Courtney said. “What if the tutoring this summer wasn’t enough and we’re behind? I could barely sleep last night thinking about it.”

      “You do look tired.” Savannah observed the dark circles under Courtney’s eyes. “Let me help.” She applied concealer on her sister’s face, pink blush to brighten her cheeks, and mascara so she looked like she’d made a little effort. “That’s better. Now no one will know.”

      “Unless I fall asleep in class.” Courtney laughed, wringing her hands together.

      “That’ll never happen,” Savannah said.