ELITE AMBITION Other books in the CANTERWOOD CREST SERIES: TAKE THE REINS CHASING BLUE BEHIND THE BIT TRIPLE FAULT BEST ENEMIES LITTLE WHITE LIES RIVAL REVENGE HOME SWEET DRAMA CITY SECRETS If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.” This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. ALADDIN M!X Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 www.SimonandSchuster.com First Aladdin M!X edition September 2010 Text copyright © 2010 by Jessica Burkhart All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. ALADDIN M!X and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Designed by Jessica Handelman The text of this book was set in Venetian 301 BT. Manufactured in the United States of America 0810 OFF 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 Library of Congress Control Number 2010929466 ISBN 978-1-4424-0382-6 ISBN 978-1-44240383-3 (eBook) No one else deserves a dedication more than Kate Angelella, who kept me semisane through a twelve-hour writing marathon and didn’t leave when I threw a lip gloss. … ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To everyone on Team Canterwood at Simon & Schuster including: Fiona Simpson, Bethany Buck, Liesa Abrams, Mara Anastas, Lucille Rettino, Bess Brasswell, Venessa Williams, Katherine Devendorf, Ellen Chan, Alyson Heller, Jessica Handelman, Karin Paprocki, Russell Gordon, and Dayna Evans. Alyssa Henkin, thank you for taking the first step toward Canterwood. Editor K (a.k.a. Kate Angelella), you fueled me through the final steps of writing and your notes made it übersparkly. P.S. I loved our reward system for this book and will only work under those conditions in the future. Reader girlies, huge hearts to all of you for chatting on the forums, creating graphics, and cheering me on while I write. Ross Angelella, thanks for saying you’d leave work in the middle of the day to shake me if you found out I was writing when I obviously needed a break. Thanks so much to all of my writer friends who offer support and encouragement. Kate Angelella, for the five fifteen a.m. roller derby–esque walks (“Oscar!”), “I know it’s a flower, but … ,” equal opportunity mocking, and for scaring the “what?” and “huh?” out of my vocabulary. LYSSMB. ELITE AMBITION 1 DEAR SASHA 9/19/10 11:15am To: Jacob Schwartz ([email protected]) From: Sasha Silver ([email protected]) Subject: Hey Hi Jacob, I can’t stop thinking about you, so I wanted to e-mail and say hi. It’s only the first day of fall break, but I miss seeing you around. I know things are messed up between us and this e-mail probably doesn’t help, but I wanted to be honest. Hope you’re doing okay after the Homecoming dance. ~Sasha PS: My phone broke and I won’t get it back till the weekend, so don’t try to text me. E-mail me back—if you want. 9/19/10 4:32pm To: Sasha Silver ([email protected]) From: Jacob Schwartz ([email protected]) Subject: re: Hey Sasha— I didn’t expect you to e-mail me at all. I’m really glad you did. I know you said you want to stay single. I respect that and I won’t push you anymore. But I miss you—I’m not going to lie, especially since we’re both being honest about this. Jacob 9/20/10 7:32am To: Jacob Schwartz ([email protected]) From: Sasha Silver ([email protected]) Subject: re: re: Hey That’s kind of why I was e-mailing. I’m just so confused. I know I keep sending mixed signals. I get that. And I don’t want to hurt Callie or cause drama. But … never mind. Hope you’re having a good break. ~S 9/20/10 6:25pm To: Sasha Silver ([email protected]) From: Jacob Schwartz ([email protected]) Subject: re: re: re: Hey You can’t leave things hanging like that. Just say it—whatever it is. Do you want me to call you or something? Someone told me you were staying with Heather. Maybe I could call you on her phone. Jacob 9/21/10 10:15am To: Jacob Schwartz ([email protected]) From: Sasha Silver ([email protected]) Subject: re: re: re: re: Hey No, don’t call. It’s too hard to talk about this over the phone. Okay … fine. I’ll tell you. I liked Eric. A lot. But now, I hope we can stay friends and that’s it. And I know you had feelings for Callie. But I’ve been thinking about what you said that we never got a chance to really try being boyfriend and girlfriend. If you want, could we meet at the fountain when we get back to school? I still want to be careful not to hurt anyone, but maybe we owe it to ourselves to at least talk. ~S 9/21/10 1:08pm To: Sasha Silver ([email protected]) From: Jacob Schwartz ([email protected]) Subject: re: re: re: re: re: Hey Sash, I never want to hurt Callie either. And I don’t want you to feel guilty about Eric, but like you said—you’ve moved on and I believe you when you say you want to be his friend. I think we should definitely meet when we get back to campus. Let’s talk about this before things get crazy with school. I can’t wait to see you. Jacob