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And it is.
But it's also the story of a lot of other things. A boy so beautiful he's like a punch to the throat. Best friends -- the outrageous old ones and the out-of-the-blue new. It's about fishnets and eyebrow rings and a chick named Hamlet. Kick lines at lumber yards and conga lines at prom. Crying in cars and gazing at stars. Mistakes, misunderstandings and misconceptions. Good girls, bad boys, and everyone in between.
This is a story about love.
So, look at the picture all you want.
I am so much more than what you see.
Chapter One
Beg Me
Ash says she's the Dark Queen of the Damned. I say I'm the Empress of the Undead. My dad, passing by the bathroom where we're getting ready, takes one look and declares us Two Weird Girls from Jersey.
"That'll work," Ash says.
Tonight, we're Goth. We've got the layers of black mesh shirts, the cargo pants rolled up to the knees, the ripped fishnets, the combat boots, the white face makeup and the smudgy rings of eyeliner. Ash brought a can of black hair spray, but she's already used most of it on her curly brown hair. "Not sure if there's enough left for you, Rapunzel."
"Shut up and start spraying," I say. My hair is blond, and long enough to tuck into the back of my cargoes. Ash blackens the strands around my face and puts skunky streaks all around the back. The noise scares Cat Stevens--aka Stevie, The Furminator, and Mr. Honey Head--who is watching us from his perch on the toilet tank. He jumps down and dashes out of the bathroom.
"What did you do to Stevie?" my mom calls. I hear her murmuring, "Poor baby kitty. Little marmalade man."
After Ash finishes, we crowd the mirror. "We are so hot," she says. And we are. Dark and freaky and brooding, the way vampires might look. I should like it more than I do. My black bra doesn't fit right, and the straps dig into my shoulders. The fishnets itch. It's a stupidly warmnight, and I'm already sweating. Plus, I've got on so much mascara that when I blink, my lashes spike my skin.
It's different for Ash. She's sort of Goth-y anyway, with her pierced eyebrow and sharp cheekbones and the German swearwords courtesy of her Deutsch grandma. I lean closer to the mirror. "I should have bought contacts. In the store, I saw these green lenses with slanted pupils, kind of like a lizard."
Ash frowns. "You have the coolest eyes on the planet. Amber."
"Right," I say. "Like that stuff insects get caught in."
"Plus," she says, ignoring me, "you don't get contacts for one Halloween party." Ash blinks her own dark eyes, lush as melted chocolate. "And you can stop being so cranky, please."
"Sorry." I bite my lip. "Can you believe this is our last Halloween together?"
Ash's hands fly up. "Enough with the 'Can you believe this is our last whatever?' stuff. It's October. We've got like eight whole months of school left."
"More like seven."
"Seven, then."
"Six if you count vacations," I say.
"Audrey, the key word is 'months.' Besides," she says, digging her elbow into my side, "there are more important things to worry about right now."
"Like what?"
"Like a certain person by the name of Luke DeSalvio, who I'm sure will be at Joelle's tonight. You remember him."
"Oh," I say. "Right."
"Listen to her!" says Ash. "Oh, right. Like you aren't about to explode all over this bathroom."
"Yeah, well. Like you're always reminding me, it's not serious. We're just friends," I say.
"With benefits," says Ash, her voice low so my parents can't hear it. "Anyone for tongue sushi?"
I smile but don't answer. This is Ash, the girl whose name is always mentioned in the same breath as mine: AshandAudrey, AudreyandAsh. But there's so much I haven't told her, and now I don't even know where to start. What I do know: me and Luke aren't friends, me and Luke aren't anything. I had decided I would tell him this tonight, if the subject ever came up. But we never did do much talking.
"There will be lots of guys at the party," I say. "Who knows? Maybe I'll branch out a little."
"Really?" Ash says. "Well, well. I guess someone's got a brain in her head after all."
Her phone bleats like a sheep and she grabs for it, looks at the screen. "Picture mail," she says. She presses a few buttons and the image pops up. "My baby brother in his Spider-Man costume."
I look over her shoulder. "Cute."
"Please. The boy's a demon from hell. Last week, he actually peed in one of the houseplants." Ash tosses the phone back on the sink and shakes her head in the mirror. "The spray looks great on you, but it makes my hair look like ramen noodles."
That makes me laugh a little. "Squid-ink ramen noodles," I say.
"You have to get your parents to take you to normal restaurants once in a while. Pizza, anyone?"
"We go out for pizza. Of course, it's the kind with a cornmeal crust and gobs of goat cheese."
"Goats!" says Ash.
My not-quite-normal parents are waiting for us in the living room with two glasses of wine and a digital camera--the wine for them, the camera for us. Usually, I hate all the pictures. I don't need anyone documenting my awkward teenage years. Tonight my dad insists and for once I'm okay with it, maybe because I don't look much like me anymore. My dad has us pose on the antique church pew against the yellow wall. He backs up and almost falls over the coffee table. My mom laughs and takes a sip of wine, shining and velvet in the light. They love this part, the part when I'm getting ready to go out but I haven't left yet. I wonder if it will be hard for them when I'm off at college. Besides Cat Stevens, I'm all they've got.
"Okay, girls," my dad says. "Look Gothic!"
"Goth, Dad," I say. "Not Gothic."
"Sorry," he says. "Ready? Say 'Goat cheese!'"
Because it's my dad, we both yell "Goat cheese!" In the picture, we've got the black hair, the white skin, and the bruise-colored lips, but we're both grinning like five-year-olds. Ash takes one look at the picture and says, "We've got to work on our attitudes, girl. We've got to think dark thoughts."
Excerpted from Good Girls by Laura Ruby Copyright © 2006 by Laura Ruby. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Audrey Porter is a good girl. The kind that works hard to keep up her grades, spends weekends working in her dad's store, manning the cash register, and basically just being a good daughter and a good friend. Things change, though, when she falls for Luke DeSalvio, a guy known around Willow Park High School as a player. <BR/><BR/>Audrey's best friends, Ash and Joelle, had warned her from the beginning not to lose her heart to Luke. But unlike her dedication to schoolwork and good grades, there's something about being with Luke that turns her brain to mush and her normal level-headedness to idiotic levels. After Audrey hears that Luke has been with another girl (as if all of his constant flirting wasn't bad enough), she decides to call off their friends-with-benefits, not-really-boyfriend-and-girlfriend relationship. Unfortunately, she decides to do this after one last hurrah with Luke, one last make-out session at a party that puts her in a very compromising situation. A situation that someone captures on their cell phone camera and proceeds to distribute among the student body. <BR/><BR/>She could have ignored the millions of instant messages on her computer calling her a [...] and a ho, she even could have ignored the leers and jeers of the guys in the halls at Willow Park. What she can't ignore, though, is the fact that someone has sent the picture to her father's work email address. Or that Mr. Swieback, the principal, found copies on the library computers. Or that even Ms. Godwin, the drama teacher, seems to think Audrey is some type of sex maniac. <BR/><BR/>Humiliation complete, Audrey must come to terms with her new social status, which has nothing to do with being a good girl. Along with Ash and Joelle, who have stood beside her, she forms a new, tenuous friendship with Pam and Cindy, two girls who had previously held the title as school [...]. But as Audrey realizes that she may have been wrong about the girls, especially Pam, she also realizes that being a good girl doesn't mean always being perfect. <BR/><BR/>I really enjoyed GOOD GIRLS. This is a book with heart and emotion, with true-to-life characters who don't preach or moralize, but who work hard at being the best type of people they can be. There are girls like Audrey, Ash, Joelle, Pam, and Cindy in every high school--just as there are boys like Luke and the insufferable Chilly. This is definitely a book for your keeper shelf.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.6239432
Posted July 2, 2011
must read
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 10, 2011
this is a must read!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I love this book I am actually going to reread it soon
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This was a great book,I would suggest this book to any teenage girl who likes books with real situations and real problems. I was completely addicted from being to end. loved it!!!
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This book was thrilling. As soon as it sucked you in of course. At first it does, with the mystery it has, but it starts to drag on a little. But if you stick to it, your reward shall be great. I recommend it.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 4, 2008
I Also Recommend:
this was the first book ever that i can actually say that i didn't put it down until the end!! i was really impressed with how real it seemed compared to my life where i had been growing up!! this girl seems so real that she seems like she could walk in the halls of my high school. its very funny and touching. it goes through real events that i think most girls go through at her age if not soon. I LOV THIS BOOK!!!!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.shay-bay-08
Posted October 16, 2008
I Also Recommend:
For the person who wrote a review before me i would have to bag ta differ.<BR/>Laura Ruby is an excellent writer. She truely showed the girls struggles and how she dealt with them. She was strong. Sorry we can't all be perfect like you. Yes, we do make mistakes, we are human and some mistakes happen to be bigger than others. But, this wasn't a mistake in the end, she got her dream boy and graduated from highschool. And her speech at the end was breath taking and will truely leave you speechless! I highly recommend this book, there's alot of lessons to be learned from it!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 14, 2008
This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It is a great book for teenagers 13 and above. I don not think this book is good for children under 13. This is because it has some mature things in it. Besides that, this book is great. It is edgy, serious at some point, catches you of guard and is defiantly one of those books you can not put down. It tells a story about a girl how does something she is not so proud of and gets caught by somebody and the whole school finds out, including her father. That¿s all I can tell you so if you think that is interesting wait tell you read the book it is 100 xs better. It is also a very realistic book. Some girls have probably gone through what the main character has gone through. Those girls will really understand how the main character feels and relate to them and really like it. It is a great book and if you have not read it you are missing out on it. So just get the book!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 17, 2008
In my opinion, this book was horrible. The main character was extremely messed up, and the back cover is very misleading, because it says she has to 'discover the strength she never had', when really, she kept going back for more from the one guy who was in the picture with her! It's not like she was helping her reputation at all! She doesn't even seem that dissapointed when the picture comes out. Ugh. Don't read this, unless you like graphic details and weak main characters.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 13, 2008
good girls is the type of book where drama surrounds this girls life. Things happen with her boyfriend, a picture gets taken, and it spreads around. This book teaches you that you can't trust everyone, tell the truth, or just walk away from a situation. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read a differently written book, yet tasteful plot.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 28, 2008
I loved this book. It's quite different from other books. Her personality is so real and everything is so realistic. It had supportive evidence on her problem and the ending was not a fake cinderella one, and i liked that. i think i finished this book in 1 or 2 days. There is some inappropriate content, but isn't there inapproriatness in all books now a days? Read this, it's great and u will learn something from it.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 25, 2008
this book was AMAZINGGG. it was so real. i could see this actually happening and felt what audrey felt. i think the people that rated low might have missed the point, though i didnt find the theme hard to understand.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 27, 2008
Wow, this book was seriously FANTASTIC! the plot was so believable and the narration was perfect, I felt like I was Audrey. The events made me sad, happy, excited, nervous, curious...everything! MUST READ.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 22, 2007
Audrey Porter is a good girl. The kind that works hard to keep up her grades, spends weekends working in her dad's store, manning the cash register, and basically just being a good daughter and a good friend. Things change, though, when she falls for Luke DeSalvio, a guy known around Willow Park High School as a player. Audrey's best friends, Ash and Joelle, had warned her from the beginning not to lose her heart to Luke. But unlike her dedication to schoolwork and good grades, there's something about being with Luke that turns her brain to mush and her normal level-headedness to idiotic levels. After Audrey hears that Luke has been with another girl (as if all of his constant flirting wasn't bad enough), she decides to call off their friends-with-benefits, not-really-boyfriend-and-girlfriend relationship. Unfortunately, she decides to do this after one last hurrah with Luke, one last make-out session at a party that puts her in a very compromising situation. A situation that someone captures on their cell phone camera and proceeds to distribute among the student body. She could have ignored the millions of instant messages on her computer calling her a slut and a ho, she even could have ignored the leers and jeers of the guys in the halls at Willow Park. What she can't ignore, though, is the fact that someone has sent the picture to her father's work email address. Or that Mr. Swieback, the principal, found copies on the library computers. Or that even Ms. Godwin, the drama teacher, seems to think Audrey is some type of sex maniac. Humiliation complete, Audrey must come to terms with her new social status, which has nothing to do with being a good girl. Along with Ash and Joelle, who have stood beside her, she forms a new, tenuous friendship with Pam and Cindy, two girls who had previously held the title as school sluts. But as Audrey realizes that she may have been wrong about the girls, especially Pam, she also realizes that being a good girl doesn't mean always being perfect. I really enjoyed GOOD GIRLS. This is a book with heart and emotion, with true-to-life characters who don't preach or moralize, but who work hard at being the best type of people they can be. There are girls like Audrey, Ash, Joelle, Pam, and Cindy in every high school--just as there are boys like Luke and the insufferable Chilly. This is definitely a book for your keeper shelf. **Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka 'The Genius'
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 23, 2007
This book was very well written. I do recommend it but to kids who are at least 15 years old. I do like the concept of the character finding strengh from mistakes, I liked how it was written and I enjoyed reading it. What I did not like, was the sex part, I understand that the arthur might have wanted to presnt something real, but instead it sounded extremly dirty and unnecessary. Otherwise it was a good novel.
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Posted July 4, 2007
This book is ok to me nothing really that big of a deal and so no the best book i have ever read ...but good .. it had a good plot but i think i could have been more about the love then about the sex.... The book starts off talking about sex and even ends with sex.... from oral to well going all the way!!.. but still not a big deal ... it would have been worse it didn't have the blunt message of sex.... i just think i could have been i alot better if it would have been funny a little to talk the edge off..!!
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Posted July 28, 2007
Well anyone that know me knows that I don't read for fun, in fact I usually hate reading, But I red this book in 3 days. I liked it so much because it is somthing that could happen in real life at my school and I felt that I could realy connect to Audrey and her friends!
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Posted April 29, 2007
i thought this book was amazingly awesome i could not put it down if you are in to the drama teen type things this book is the prefectest book for you!! i give it 5 stars
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Posted January 19, 2007
Not my typical book. I must say, I dont like the typical teen books these days. Their all about drinking and drugs and, in this case, sex. I dont like to read about that stuff all the time and this book was basically all about it. Given, it was written well and it did suck you into it sometimes, like a good book should. It covered good topics too about losing old friends, gaining new ones you wouldn't necessarily pick. About knowing and not knowing what your gonna do after highschool. and all that stuff, good topics. But I warn you, if you don't like reading about girls doing things they shouldn't be doing, this probably wouldn't be you first pick. But I'd have to say it wasn't too horrible
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Overview
And it is.
But it's also the story of a lot of other things. A boy so beautiful he's like a punch to the throat. Best friends -- the outrageous old ones and the out-of-the-blue new. It's about fishnets and eyebrow rings and a chick named Hamlet. Kick lines at lumber yards and conga lines at prom. Crying in cars and ...