“Dude. Don’t go there,” he said. “Haven’ t we had this conversation already?” I tore my eyes away. “What? I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” “Good. Because Ally Ryan is off-limits,” Hammond said, pocketing his phone again. “I know , man. Please. I’m not about spoiled goods.” I felt guilty even as I said it. “Spoiled goods.” He laughed shortly and slapped my chest with the back of his hand. “I’m totally using that.” Shit, I hoped not. The thing was, I bet Ally Ryan could have made the boring-ass school dance at least semitolerable. The crap she’d pulled before the half tonight had been semicheesy , but it had worked. My head had been all over the place—my mom’s obsession with getting me an SAT tutor, my dad’s threat to take away my Xbox and cable if I didn’t get my grades up, that girl from Friday night who would not stop freaking calling me—and Ally’s antics had gotten it back in the game. “Anyway , I’m weighing my options. Y ou?” “Ha ha. You’re hilarious, man,” he said. His eyes flicked toward Ally. Or maybe he was just looking for Chloe. “Chloe already picked out my suit and my shoes.” “Nice,” I chided, nudging him with my elbow. “She fit you for the leash yet?” “Hammond!” Chloe called out from her spot behind the bar. Since we were at his place, she’d taken over as hostess. “We need more ice. Do you have more ice?” “Duty calls, man,” Hammond said, rushing of f. I laughed and looked over at Ally again. My heart did that catching thing it had only ever done since she’d moved here. She was watching me. No. We were now watching each other. Screw Hammond and his warnings. I had to talk to this girl. What she’d done at the game was unexpected, to say the least. Especially after everything. What did it mean? Had she forgiven me for the almost-kiss thing? I had to know . “Hey,” I said, joining her . She didn’ t look at me. “Hey .” “I’m surprised you came,” I said. Her eyes flashed. “Not you, too.”
“Not me too what?” I asked. “This whole no-Norms thing?” she said. “No. That’s not what I meant.” My face was getting hot. “I don’t think you shouldn’ t be here. I mean—” “Good. Because this is a party for the soccer team and the backslappers, and I am a backslapper , in case you haven’ t noticed.” I sighed. Two seconds of conversation, and I’d already stuck my foot in it de ep. “Can we talk about something else?” “Sure. Brilliant hazing,” she said. “Not cavemanish at all.” My jaw clenched, but I let it roll off my back. “This is nothing. Last year they made me and Hammond jump up and down on a trampoline in our underwear for three hours just because we were the only sophomores to make varsity .” “Oh, so you think this is better?” Ally asked. “Believe me. It’ s better.” My face burned even hotter at the memory of every hot senior girl at OHH laughing at me while I tried to ke ep my junk from bouncin g around in their faces. This was far better than that. I wanted to tell her that I was the one who k ept her little friend David from being alone in drag, but it sounded too much like a pathetic plea, so I didn’t. But why was she friends with that guy, anyway? Every day I had to watch them eat lunch together , and he was always cracking her up even though he isn’t remotely funny. It was so annoying that he got to hang out with her and no one even cared. Meanwhile I was standing here feeling conspicuous for saying two words in her vicinity. I took a sip of my beer and tried not to look at my friends. But they were starting to notice. “Why do you have to be so tense all the time?” I asked her . “It’s a party .” She rolled her eyes and shoved a pretzel in her mouth. I sighed and looked where she was looking. Dorkus Drake was trying to talk to Shannen, who was only half acknowledging him—doing that tight smile thing she does when she wants someone to leave her alone but isn’t in the mood to humiliate them. As I watched, she looked up at me, then at Ally , like WTH? Snagged. “That’ll be the day,” I said, turning to the side to avoid further eye contact with Shannen. “What? Y ou don’ t see it?” Ally asked.
“Shannen Moore and Dorkus Drake? Uh, no.” I downed the rest of my beer and placed it on the bar . “The guy’ s a total loser .” Ally bristled. “That loser was one of two people who lowered themselves to talk to me on the first day of school.” “Hey. I talked to you,” I reminded her. “You just didn’t want to talk to me.” She blinked. I had her. Ha. But then her eyes narrowed. “Excuse me. I’m going to go hang out with my friend now.” She stood up straight, dusted some salt off her fingers, and strode across the room, where she tugged Drake away from Shannen. Two seconds later, she and Dorkus were slow dancing. They both looked ridiculous—him in his outfit, her with his boobs in her face. She stared at me over his shoulder , like she was trying to prove some point. Whatever . Like her walking away from me to dance with a dork was going to piss me off? And now Shannen was weaving her way through the crowd and around the pool table toward me like she was out for blood. Great. Now I was going to get the third degree over talking to Ally Ryan, when all she’d done was completely blow me off. Sometimes it sucked being best friends with a girl who had such serious opinions about everything. I turned around, grabbed Lacey Goodman by the wrist, and dragged her through the door into the theater room. When I glanced back, Shannen had frozen in her tracks, and as the door was closing, I saw Ally stop dancing and stare at me. Mission accomplished. “Hey, Jake. I didn’t even think you noticed I was here,” Lacey said, backing into the velvet-covered wall. Only the can lights over the screen were on, and I could barely see her in the dim glow . “I noticed,” I said. Even though I hadn’t really. When I went to kiss her she kissed me right back. No ar guments, no ducking away . Easy. I didn’t need Ally Ryan. I could have any girl, anytime. No strings. No guilt. No judging stares. And that was the way I liked it.
On stage, David Drake was kinda hot. Well, not on stage really. It was more a cleared-out corner of Annie’s wood-paneled basement. But there was a spotlight on him and his band. And ten freshmen woo-woo girls screaming in his face. He was wearing a long-sleeved, gray waffle shirt under a black Doors T-shirt, distressed jeans, and a beanie cap, all of which worked for him. And he had the whole wide-stance guitar-playing thing down like nobody’ s business. “He’s awesome!” I shouted to Annie, who was bobbing her head in a noncommittal way to the beat. She was wearing a sleeveless, plaid wool dress with a lace top underneath and knee-high boots. Someth ing no one else in the room could have pulled off but that looked perfect on her. It made my plain-old jeans and striped T-shirt look seriously blah in comparison. “Not bad,” she said, lifting one shoulder . Not bad was an understatement. Everyone loved the music, and the people-watching was a perfect distraction to ke ep me from obsessing about last night’s party. The one at Hammond’ s. The one where none of my old friends had acknowledged my existence, David had gotten hazed, and Jake had ended up fooling around with some sophomore in the home theater . Who was that girl? Was she his girlfriend or just some random hook-up? I glanced at Annie and thought about asking her. She, after all, knew all there was to know about the Cresties. She’d obviously know if Jake had a new girlfriend. But if I asked, she’d want to know why I cared, and that would open up a whole can of worms I did not want to deal with. Someone st epped on my foot and muttered an apology , bringing me back to the now. My face burned even though no one here knew what I’d been thinking. So much for distraction. Controlled Chaos finished their song with a crash of drums and a peal from the guitar. Everyone in the packed basement cheered and whistled, lifting their cups. “Whooo! Y eah, David!” I shouted, clapping my hands above my head.