The Lonely Hearts Club

  "Ugh, this is painful, I could do a better job!' Tracy said as the cheerleaders anemically asked if we had spirit.

  The buzzer sounded and the teams got back to the court. Diane sat patiently at the end of the bench, her knee visibly shaking with nerves.

  Jen threw the ball from out-of-bounds to Britney Stewart, who was immediately fouled by a desperate member of the Springfield team. the team lined up at the free-throw line, and Britney easily scored two extra points for the team.

  "Oh, come on, Coach!" Tracy screamed. "Put Diane in!"

  All five Ravens players sprinted down to the other end of the court. Jen easily recovered a failed attempt from Springfield to score a basket. She grabbed the ball fiercely and began to dribble it down the court. A tall brunette player from Springfield ran up alongside her and pushed her down with a swift motion of her hips.

  The whistle blew as the referees conferred.

  "That so better be a technical foul," Tracy hissed.

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  the team congregated near the bench to be briefed by Coach Ramsey. As the coach talked to the team and went over the next play, Diane looked on intently, then she bit her lip, and headed into the game. the entire Club section stood up and started cheering. Signs were hoisted, and chants of "Diane" started filling the gymnasium.

  Diane's eyes narrowed as she lined up at the foul line and watched Jen miss her two free throws. Then, when the action resumed, she ran full force to Springfield's end of the court. She was squatting down and staying low as the guard from the other team approached her. Diane stayed with the guard the entire time, focused on the player's torso, a trick Ryan taught her. the ball was thrown to a tall blonde who missed the basket. Jen recovered the ball and threw it to Diane,

  Diane dribbled the length of the court, every ounce of her attention on the basket before her.

  "Come on, Diane!" Tracy and I screamed in unison- Tracy grabbed my hand as we watched Diane approach the basket for a lay-up and . .. miss.

  "It's okay, Diane!" Kara screamed next to me. We all continued to clap as Springfield called another time-out.

  "Can you believe them?" Tracy motioned down to the front, where the cheerleading team had decided to take a break. "they sat down the second Diane took to the court. So pathetic."

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  the cheerleaders were sitting on the first bench. Missy was texting someone on her phone, while the rest of them were doing everything they could to ignore the game.

  "Oh, they make me so mad. A few weeks ago, all those girls were kissing Diane's ass and now they can't even cheer for the team . . . it's their job!"

  I nodded, annoyed at how shallow they were being.

  "I've had it." Tracy stood up.

  "Tracy, don't cause any --"

  Before I could finish my sentence, Tracy stood up on our bench, turned around to face the people behind us, and screamed at the top of her lungs, "GIVE ME A D!"

  Our section quieted down as everybody stared at Tracy.

  She looked exasperated. "Come on, people, I said GIVE ME A D!"

  Oh my God, is Tracy , . . cheerleading?

  D!" Morgan, Kara, and Amy shouted.

  "GIVE ME AN I!" Tracy continued.

  "I" the Lonely Hearts Club started to roar.

  "that's more like it! GIVE ME AN At" Tracy started to clap and bounce on the balls of her feet. the cheerleaders from below turned around, mouths opened in shock as the Ravens side of the gymnasium gave Tracy an "N!"

  "GIVE ME AN E!"

  The gymnasium echoed with a loud "E!"

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  "What's that spell?" Tracy made her way down to the front of the bleachers.

  "DIANE!"

  She was now at the space occupied a few moments earlier by the cheerleading squad. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" She placed her hand up toward her ear.

  DIANE! "The crowd cheered back.

  The buzzer sounded and everybody was on their feet cheering. Tracy looked over at Missy and company and gave them a little smirk, letting them know they were no longer the ones in control of the crowd.

  Diane got back on the court, determination sketched on her face. Less than fifteen seconds was left on the clock. Springfield took possession of the ball, and the guard slowly made her way down the court. Their team was going to lose, so why would they let us score any more points.

  "TEN. . "--the crowd started to count down with the clock.

  Diane's eyes zeroed in on the approaching player.

  "NINE..."

  She started to shuffle back and forth.

  "EIGHT..."

  The guard tried to make a quick break to the left, but it was too late.

  "SEVEN.,

  Diane stole the ball and dribbled at a sprint down the court. . .

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  "SIX. . .."

  .. while the entire Springfield team rushed after her.

  "five..."

  Diane focused on the net ahead and .. .

  'TOUR ,. "

  . . . went in for the layup.

  "THREE..." the ball bounced off the rim and hit the backboard . . .

  "TWO..."

  . .. and went right into the net. the buzzer was muffled by the cheers erupting from the crowd. Diane was swarmed by her teammates. the cheerleaders rushed out of the auditorium with disgusted looks on their faces. the Springfield side was clearly confused about the celebration before them.

  I thought back to the Diane who sat across from me at the diner less than two months ago. I looked around at all of the Club members to whom Diane had been such an inspiration. She had shown us all that it could be done.

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  chapter Twenty nine

  IT WASN'T LOST ON ME THAT there was a correlation between the demise of my friendship with Ryan and the growth of the bond within the Club.

  Every time the Club moved forward (Diane's basketball triumph last night), Ryan and I took a step back (he never showed up at his locker that day).

  While that was upsetting, there was another problem that I needed to face. Nate.

  There was another e-mail waiting for me when I got home. This one entitled

  FRIENDS?

  I sat down and clicked it open.

  Pen,

  I've been thinking about us a lot lately. Actually, you're all I think about. I know I'm not going to hear from you. I know you hate me. I know you will never feel for me the way I feel for you. I deserve this. But I just need to ask you one question, and I want you to think about it (if you're even reading

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  this) before I see you in a couple weeks. Do you think we could at least be friends? I need you in my life. And I'll take you whatever way I can.

  I am going to do everything possible to get you back in my life.

  Love,

  Loser

  Friends? He wanted us to be friends? Could I be friends with Nate after everything that happened?

  Ryan and Diane were friends, but Ryan didn't cheat on Diane. Ryan was ...

  I couldn't handle thinking about how wonderful Ryan was. Or being friends with Ryan, since he clearly had no interest in even talking to me.

  Maybe the best thing would be just to tell Nate we could be friends and move on.

  But I knew: I -was fooling myself if I thought that I would be able to do that.

  After brooding about it for a week, I decided to ask Diane for advice over dinner. "How can you be friends with Ryan?" I blurted out before we even ordered.

  Diane was surprised. "He's been in my life for so long."

  "But so has Nate ., . for me," I replied.

  Diane looked concerned. "Yeah, but Ryan never .. ."

  I sank back in my chair.

  "What is this about?" Diane bit her lip.

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  I filled her in on the e-mails and Nate's plea for us to be friends.

  She shook her head. "Penny, do you want to be friends with Nate?"

  "No -- I never want to see Nate again. But that isn't going to happen."


  She sighed. "I really think you need to come clean to your parents." No way.

  Diane set down her menu and grabbed my hand. "is everything okay? You've been really quiet all week."

  I shrugged.

  "You know!' Diane offered, "it wasn't easy at first, being friends with Ryan. I had to get in a new routine with him, but now he's one of my best friends. And so are you." She hesitated. "And I wish that my two closest friends could forgive each other."

  "What?" My mouth dropped open. "Forgive each other? Diane, he won't even look at me. I've tried to apologize to him, but he doesn't even acknowledge my existence."

  "I know. He's just upset."

  "Upset?" I was so frustrated. "What Rosanna said was a blatant lie. He knows that, right?"

  Diane nodded.

  "So, what's his problem? We've been friends for a long time and then he doesn't want to talk to me? Why? Because people thought we went on a date."

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  Diane shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Penny, Ryan thought it was a date."

  "Diane, he knew about the Lonely Hearts Club. He knew I couldn't date."

  She shrugged.

  "You know," I said, "maybe Nate and Ryan aren't that different after all."

  Diane looked shocked. "How can you say that?"

  "Come on, Diane." My face was flushed. "So, fine, Ryan thought it was a date. So because I wouldn't be ..." I wanted to say "his little girlfriend" but didn't want to offend her, "Because I wouldn't go on a date with him, he doesn't even want to be my friend? is all he wants from me, I don't know, to get laid?"

  Diane pursed her lips. "You know he's not like that."

  "Do I?"

  I started to get upset. I knew I'd crossed the line. I knew that Ryan wasn't like Nate -- but I missed Ryan. I missed talking to him, hanging out with him between classes. And he just dumped on me. Just like Nate did. So was he any different?

  'I'm just saying that my opinion on guys hasn't changed," I said.

  I was sure I was right to not get involved with Ryan. He would've just hurt me in the end. Just like he'd already hurt me,

  Tracy came up to me the next day after class. "Hey, I need to talk to you for a minute." She looked serious.

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  We walked over to the benches that lined the hallway near the cafeteria.

  "There's some stuff going on with the Club that I need to let you in on."

  "The Club?" I thought everything was great. But I'd been so distracted lately, it didn't surprise me that I may have missed something.

  "Yeah, Kara is going to miss the next two meetings,"

  "Oh?"

  Tracy looked around. "Yeah, I didn't say anything to you or Diane because I swore I wouldn't tell anybody."

  "What's going on?"

  "She's going in for counseling." Counseling?"

  Tracy sighed. "Oh, come on, Pen, We've all kept quiet the last couple of years while we watched her waste away. I don't know what prompted her, but she started talking to me and Morgan at the last meeting about wanting to get back in control."

  "That's great." I was so happy for Kara. Happy and concerned.

  "So, anyways," Tracy continued. "The program she is going to is all weekend long."

  "Of course, it's fine." I felt bad that I didn't know about it or hadn't been there for Kara.

  Ryan came walking toward his locker. it was the first time I had seen him outside of World History in a week.

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  "Hey, Ryan!' Tracy said.

  He looked up from his locker. "Hey, Tracy."

  He, once again, didn't even look at me. He quickly grabbed his things and left.

  Tracy looked between me and Ryan, who was walking out the door. "What's going on with you two, anyways?"

  "Nothing,"

  And that was the truth. There was absolutely, positively nothing going on.

  I decided I was going to use the week before thanksgiving break to focus back on the Club. I'd had enough of stressing over Ryan's coldness and Nate's desire to be friends.

  "Okay, spill it!" Tracy said to Morgan as she sat down at our meeting on Saturday. "We want details."

  Morgan blushed as the entire group awaited the details of her first date with Tyson.

  "Well, Tyson picked me up in his mom's station wagon."

  "He did not!" Erin exclaimed. "that is so not what I pictured."

  "I know." Morgan smiled. "I thought he would've had some rock-star car, but it was really sweet. We went to the Mexicana Grill and had the greatest meal -- they have the best guacamole. Then we went to the garage, and I got to hear their band rehearse, and he sang a song for me." Morgan blushed at the memory.

  "An original song?" Teresa asked.

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  As Morgan continued the story of her night, I looked around at the group. Everybody was interested in Morgan's date and happy for her. I couldn't help but smile.

  these were the kinds of friends that I needed. Supportive ones. Not Nate, who'd betrayed me. And not Ryan, who was so quick to dismiss me.

  "Did he kiss you or not: I said details," Tracy teased.

  Morgan blushed and looked down.

  A chorus of "wooo" filled the room as Morgan put her hands up to her face. "Penny, you've got to help me," she begged.

  "All right, all right. Let the girl have some amount of privacy." I laughed.

  I went through a list of movies we could watch and let the debate start between an eighties teen comedy or a horror flick.

  "Hey, Penny." Teresa Finer came up to me. "Would it be okay if Marta and I went upstairs to study?"

  "Study? it's a Saturday night, guys."

  Marta Gonzales took out her Advanced Calculus textbook. "I know, but there's a big test on Monday we need to go over."

  Teresa leaned in. "I failed the last exam, and if my grade drops any lower I'm going to lose my volleyball scholarship at UW."

  "Oh, of course!" I motioned for them to follow me as I walked them up to my room. "It will be quiet here. Let me know if you need anything."

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  "Thanks," Teresa said as she sat down on my floor.

  When I headed downstairs, I saw I had a text from Nate. Tracy had shut off his ringer, but that didn't mean he couldn't get through.

  I flipped open the phone and burst out laughing.

  "What's going on?" Tracy was in the kitchen with Diane getting more food.

  I kept laughing. "Oh, it's this text from Nate . .."

  Tracy ran over and grabbed the phone. "What; I don't get it."

  "What's it say?" Diane asked.

  "Milk was a had choice," Tracy read. I burst out laughing again.

  "It's . .." I kept giggling. "It's from Anchorman. We saw it this summer on TV, and we kept quoting lines from it all the time. See, it was really hot out. . ."

  Tracy and Diane were both horrified.

  "Penny, have you lost your mind?"

  "What? it's a funny movie."

  "You don't see what he's doing?"

  What was he doing?

  Tracy hit the delete button. "I'm keeping this tonight." She put my phone in her pocket. "Let's go back downstairs. Maybe being around the group will remind you why we're here."

  I followed Tracy downstairs. But I had a smile on my face, remembering laughing so hard with Nate that I had tears running down my face. Good tears.

  I had almost forgotten that there were good times with Nate.

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  I kept getting texts all week. And I hated to admit that I was beginning to look forward to them. Just like I used to look forward to going to my locker and talking to Ryan.

  I told Tracy that they'd stopped, because she was demanding possession of my cell phone. And it wasn't like a few funny lines were going to make me forget about what he'd done.

  I just needed to laugh.

  I raced back to my locker to pack up before thanksgiving break. I checked my phone and began laughing at his newest quote.

  "Hey, what's so funny?" br />
  I almost didn't recognize the voice.

  Ryan. He was smiling at me.

  "Oh." I hadn't talked to him in weeks. I had been waiting for this moment, but didn't know what to do. "Oh, I just got a funny text."

  "Well, it's good to see you smile again, Bloom."

  I didn't know how to take that. "Um..." it was good to be talking to him again. if only I could've figured out what to say. I decided to be honest. "I guess I could say the same thing to you."

  He laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Been a tough few weeks, huh?"

  I just nodded. Where had this come from?

  "Well." He shut his locker. "Have a great thanksgiving. I'll see you when we get back." He touched my shoulder as he walked off My heart sank.

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  Right then I got another text from Nate, but I deleted it without looking. Funny quotes were all well and good, but that's not what I wanted.

  It scared me that that brief encounter with Ryan meant so much to me.

  I closed my eyes. I was thankful for the Club. For not dating.

  Because there was no way Ryan Bauer could do anything but break my heart.

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  chapter thirty

  "PENNY LANE, YOU AREN'T GOING to wear that are you?" Mom asked when I walked down to the kitchen on thanksgiving morning.

  I looked down and inspected my outfit -- a nice pair of jeans and a long-sleeved tee. "Ah , . yes. this is standard Bloom holiday wear,"

  She was busy wiping down the kitchen counter and looked more stressed than usual.

  "I know, but we have guests this year."

  "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize the Queen of England was stopping by."

  "Penny Lane!" Mom snapped at me. I had forgotten how much entertaining took out of her. Rita and I had been doing our best to help her, peeling potatoes and cutting up vegetables. I had the cuts on my hand to prove it.

  Dad walked in with the newspaper rolled up in his hand. "Penny Lane, please change for your mother, will you? She's a little upset that Lucy isn't coming home this weekend."