I felt my cheeks go red.
“I’m not saying you need help with geometry,” he added quickly. “But… Well, if you do, I’d be glad to help. We could get together after school or something. Do homework together and… hang out.”
Oh my God. Oh. My. God.
“I—”
“Brody,” Mr. Daud, our teacher, called from his desk. “Can I see you for a second? I’m having trouble reading your handwriting on this homework assignment.”
“Sure,” Brody said. He looked at me again. “Let me know about… proofs.”
“I will.”
He smiled. “See you around, Bailey.”
He walked away and I sighed. I closed my eyes for a second, feeling a little light-headed and a lot euphoric.
“So you like my brother, don’t you?”
Justine Frasier, Brody’s younger sister, was standing by a desk a few rows away, staring at me.
“I… uh… I mean—”
She laughed. “It’s okay. You’re not the first.” She scooped up her books and flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder. “You are the first he’s seemed to like back, though.”
“Really? You think he likes me?”
“Seems likely.” She started walking toward the door and I hurried to catch up with her. “My brother’s not the biggest talker. I’m pretty sure that awkward mess a second ago was his attempt at flirting.”
“Wow. That’s so great. I mean, I—I kind of like him, so—”
“Well, obviously,” Justine said. “It’s written all over your face.”
“It is?” I felt my cheeks flush, then my ears get hot.
“Relax. Brody can’t tell. He’s totally oblivious.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. Good.”
“Hey,” Justine said, stopping outside of a classroom door. “You should come sit with my friends and me at lunch.”
“Really? I’d love to.”
“Great. See you then.”
She walked into the classroom, and I headed down the hall toward biology in a daze. This day was almost too good to be true. Justine Frasier wanted to eat lunch with me and her brother might like me. It was pretty much the best thing that could happen to a freshman at Hamilton High.
Thank God I didn’t wear the floral dress.
***
By the time the lunch bell rang, my joy had turned into pure nerves. I kept running through scenarios in my head. Every possible way this lunch could go bad and totally ruin my life.
“Hold still,” the lunch lady snapped as she attempted to put a glob of mashed potatoes on my tray.
“Sorry,” I said. But I couldn’t help it. My hands were shaking.
The truth was that lunch periods had been stressful for me since starting at Hamilton High in August. My family had only moved to Hamilton in May, right after I finished middle school. I thought it would be easy to find a group of friends at my new school—we were all freshmen, after all. This was the beginning. We were starting high school together.
But Hamilton is a tiny town. All these kids had been going to school together since kindergarten. They already had their groups of friends. And I hadn’t found one to fit into yet.
Don’t get me wrong. Everyone was nice, but I’d sort of flitted from table to table at lunch, never really cementing my place anywhere or becoming very close with anyone. I couldn’t help hoping that this lunch invitation would put an end to that.
Becoming close friends with anyone would be nice. But becoming close friends with Justine Frasier? Being a permanent installation at her lunch table? It was almost too good to even imagine.
Justine was president of the freshman class, a member of almost every club, and the star of this year’s musical—My Fair Lady. She was also really smart—almost all her classes were Honors or AP. I always thought girls like that would be called geeks or something, but not Justine. She was the most popular girl in the ninth grade. She was even dating a junior basketball player named Eddie—and they’d been nominated for homecoming court. Being one of her best friends would be like a dream come true.
I’d just spotted Justine and her friends when I heard someone calling my name. “Bailey!”
Elsie James, a girl I knew from the cheerleading squad, was walking toward me, carrying her tray. “Hey,” she said. She sounded a little nasal, like her allergies were bothering her. “So how are you feeling about that bio test tomorrow?”
“Oh, um. Pretty good. How about you?”
“I’m nervous. I was sick last week, so I’m missing a day’s worth of notes.” She put her tray down at the closest empty table.
“I have notes,” I told her. “You can borrow mine if you want.”
“Really? That would be awesome. Thanks, Bailey.”
“No problem.”
“Bailey.” Justine appeared at my shoulder. “I thought I saw you over here.”
“Hey, Justine.” Elsie brushed some dark curls behind her ear and smiled. “I love your skirt.”
Justine smiled and ran a hand down her fitted black skirt. “Thank you. It’s actually supposed to be knee length, but my legs are a little too long.”
“It looks great.” Elsie gestured to the seats at her table. “You guys can sit down if you want. I’m waiting on Tess and Grace, but there’s room for two more.”
“Oh, thanks,” I said. “That’s really nice—”
“But Bailey and I already have seats,” Justine said. “Thanks for the offer, though. Maybe another time?”
“Sure. Anytime.”
“Excellent. Come on, Bailey.”
I waved to Elsie and followed Justine across the cafeteria to her table. She was sitting with other popular underclassmen, including two sophomore cheerleaders, a freshman football player, the JV girls’ volleyball captain, and the sophomore class president.
“Sorry,” Justine told her friends. “I had to go rescue Bailey from Elsie James.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “She asked us if we wanted to sit with her. Isn’t that cute?”
“She is so weird,” Melanie, one of the cheerleaders, said. “What kind of name is Elsie, anyway? Sounds like a cow’s name. You’re not, like, friends with her, are you, Bailey?”
“Um…” I looked down at my tray, not sure how to answer. Elsie had always been really nice to me, but I had a feeling that wasn’t the right answer. “I mean, I don’t have anything against her, but we’re not, like, besties or anything.”
“Don’t bother with her,” Justine told me. “Trust me, she’s not worth knowing. You’ll be a lot better off if you steer clear of that girl.”
“She’s so weird,” Melanie repeated. “When she first got on the squad, I thought she was cool, but she’s so weird.”
“Melanie, dear, remind me to get you a thesaurus.” Justine sighed.
“A what?”
“Never mind. Continue.”
“Anyway,” Melanie said. “She’s, like, into those Japanese cartoons or something.”
“Anime?” I asked.
Everyone at the table turned to look at me.
“You watch that geeky stuff?” Ryan—the football player—asked.
“N-No. My brother used to, though. So I know a little about it.”
“Whatever. That’s a stupid reason not to like Elsie,” Justine said. “Lots of people are into anime.”
I gave her a small smile, glad to see she was at least reasonable. And once she said it, everyone started to agree. Nodding and mumbling things like, “Well, sure,” and “You’re right.” It seemed like she was the ringleader here.
“No, that’s not my problem with Elsie.” She sighed. “She’s just so… annoying? And overconfident. She’s always flirting with guys who are way out of her league. And trying to hang out with people who are just cooler than she is. I almost died when she asked us to sit with her. Did she really think she had a chance?”
“I-I don’t know,” I mumbled.
“It’s just sad, you know? She’s delusional. And
so, so shallow. She’s such a social climber.”
“She is pretty full of herself,” the other cheerleader, Wendy, said. “She’s constantly telling us how to do our flips at practice. Just because she’s been doing gymnastics since she was five or something. She’s always bragging about it. Like, get over yourself.”
“She does do that a lot,” I admitted. “But she helped me fix my backflip.”
“Bailey, your backflip was always awesome,” Melanie said. “You’re the best underclassman on the squad.”
I blushed. “Oh, thanks. I try really hard.”
“And you do a great job,” Wendy said. “Elsie James shouldn’t be showing you anything. Like I said, she’s just full of herself.”
“Overconfident,” Justine repeated.
“I guess she kind of is,” I said. “I never really thought about it. She always seemed pretty nice, so…”
“You are the nice one, Bailey,” Justine said, smiling at me. She had the same smile as her brother—big with straight white teeth. Either their parents had spent a ton on orthodontics or perfect smiles ran in the family. “Obviously you only see the good in people. I wish I could be more like that.”
“Oh, um, thank you,” I said. “But you’re kind of right about Elsie. Now that I’m thinking about it, she is a little… Well, I mean, I just remember one time I came into the locker room because I forgot something, and I walked in on her in her underwear posing in front of the mirror. Like in sexy poses—”
“Oh my God!” Wendy snorted. “She was checking herself out? No wonder she’s always the last one out of the locker room after practice. Talk about narcissistic.”
Everyone started laughing. Then Ryan started doing overexaggerated model poses at the table and it sent everyone into hysterics. Well, everyone but me. I tried to smile, but I felt kind of sick. Maybe I shouldn’t have told them that story. I hadn’t meant to make fun of Elsie; I’d just wanted something to add to the conversation. To fit in.
“Okay, okay,” Justine said, shaking off her laughter. “Enough about Elsie. We shouldn’t waste any more time talking about her. She’d like it too much.” Justine turned to me. “What are you doing this weekend?”
“Me? Oh, nothing in particular.”
“Excellent. Then you can come to my party Friday night.”
“Uh… yeah. Yes. I can. What time? Where do you live? I’ll have my mom drive me.”
“No need,” she said. “My dad can pick us up here after the student council meeting. You have cheerleading practice anyway, right? We’ll be done at the same time. We can hang out while we wait for people to show up.”
“Oh, okay.”
“And bring a sleeping bag. I’m having a few friends stay over for a slumber party after.”
She spent the rest of the lunch period briefing me on the party plans. When the bell rang, I realized I hadn’t touched my food at all. I’d been too nervous and distracted to eat. Justine and I scooped up our trays and walked to the trash cans together, chatting and giggling.
“Oh, by the way,” she said just before we separated in the hallway. “It’s a small party—invite only—so don’t tell anyone, okay? I wouldn’t want them to feel left out.”
“Of course. I won’t say a word.”
“Great,” she said. “It’ll be a blast.”
Chapter Two
I barely slept in the days leading up to the party. I was so nervous. I planned out my clothes, my shoes, my pajamas—I even had Mom drive me to the mall so I could buy a new sleeping bag. I’d had the same one for seven years, and it had Dora the Explorer on it, so that was out of the question. Luckily, I found a nice pink-and-yellow-striped one that I could afford with the allowance I’d saved up.
I was a mess on Friday. I couldn’t focus on anything. My biology teacher, Mrs. Robb, called on me to answer a question, and I hadn’t even heard a word she’d said all period.
“Uh, chromosomes?” I guessed.
She stared down her long nose at me. “Chromosomes. That’s your answer?”
“Um… yes.”
“Chromosomes discovered DNA, Miss Caulfield?”
Everyone laughed. I sank down in my seat, wishing I could disappear. “Sorry, Mrs. Robb.”
“Please pay attention.” She sighed before moving on. “Does anyone know the correct answer?”
Cheerleading practice was even more embarrassing. I was shaking so much that I kept screwing up my cartwheel. Elsie stepped in eventually to correct me.
“Keep your arms straight, Bailey,” she said. “Here, watch me. This is, like, second nature to me.”
Melanie and Wendy looked at each other and rolled their eyes. I sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “Thanks, Elsie. I think I got it.”
After practice, I showered and changed in the locker room, then waited outside the gym for Justine. She said she’d meet me there at four thirty, after her meeting. I was sitting with my back to the wall, playing a game on my cell phone, when the gym door opened and Elsie walked out. As usual, she was the last to come out of the locker room.
“Hi, Bailey,” she said. “What are you doing out here?”
“Oh, I’m just meeting someone in a little bit.” I closed out my game and tucked my phone into my purse.
“Justine Frasier?” Elsie asked.
“Um, yeah. Actually.”
“You guys have been glued together this week.”
“I guess. She’s been really nice to me.”
“Yeah,” Elsie said. “She’s really cool. You’re so lucky.”
There was an awkward pause. I remembered what Justine had said about the party being small and not wanting anyone to feel left out. I hadn’t said a word, but it seemed like Elsie felt left out already. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned I was waiting for Justine at all.
“Well, anyway,” Elsie said, reaching into her backpack. “Here are your bio notes. Thanks for lending them to me. They really saved me on that test.”
“You’re welcome.” I took my notebook from her. “It was a tough test.”
“Kind of,” she said. “Anyway. My dad’s out front, so I should get going. See you Monday, Bailey.”
“’Bye.”
A few minutes later, Justine showed up. She was wearing a purple cotton dress with a white cardigan. On me it would have looked like something an old lady wore to church, but Justine made it look chic and smart.
“How was your meeting?” I asked, getting to my feet.
“Good. We’re petitioning to have gluten-free options added to the lunch menu,” she said. “I think we have a real shot.”
“That’s awesome.”
“I know.” She glanced at the gym door. “Is anyone still in the locker room?”
“I don’t think so. Why?”
“Oh, I just need to run in there for a second and didn’t want to walk in on anyone. I left my phone there after PE this afternoon. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
She disappeared into the gym and I waited in the hall. She was only gone a few minutes before reemerging, looking at her iPhone. She giggled, then tucked the phone into her bag. “Ready to go?”
“Yep.” I grabbed my backpack and followed her out to the parking lot, where her dad picked us up in a shiny black SUV.
Once we were at her house, Justine led me to her room and showed me where to put my things. Then we went back downstairs and started setting out snacks for the guests. I couldn’t help glancing around the house, looking up every time a door opened or closed.
“Looking for Brody?” Justine asked as she popped a cashew into her mouth.
“What? Oh, no. I was just…”
“He’s not here. He has an away game tonight, so he won’t be home until late.” She walked over to the couch and started rearranging the throw pillows. “But you’re staying the night, so I’m sure you’ll get a glimpse of him at some point.”
Before I could say anything, the doorbell rang.
“Coming!” Justine called, h
urrying over to the front door. She pulled it open and Melanie, Wendy, and Ryan stepped inside.
“I brought brownies!” Melanie said, presenting a covered tray.
“Thank you,” Justine said. “Set them on the coffee table.”
“Did you get your phone?” Wendy asked, following Ryan to the couch and perching on his lap.
“I did. Thanks for letting me know where it was.”
“Anytime.”
The party was small. Only twelve or so people showed up, and at eight, Justine’s parents left the house, which surprised me. But Justine said her parents trusted her, and really, nothing much happened. Except a couple of the boys started smoking pot.
“You want a hit, Bailey?” Ryan asked.
I shook my head. “No, thank you.”
“I don’t do it, either,” Justine said, lighting some incense. “So don’t feel alone.”
“How long will your parents be gone?” Wendy asked.
“They’re getting dinner and catching a late movie before they have to pick Brody up. So not for three hours, at least.”
“Awesome.” She pulled a flask from her purse. “Don’t worry,” she said, seeing me watch her. “Ryan’s driving me home.”
“You’re not staying over?” I asked.
She shook her head. “My mom’s taking me shopping for a prom dress in the morning.”
A few other kids drank, but the party stayed pretty calm. Which was good—I wasn’t a big fan of parties. Or drinking. I’d had sort of a bad experience last summer after taking shots for the first time. It had ended with me passing out, my brother carrying me to the car, and a hangover the next day that I was sure would kill me. I’d gotten my first kiss that night, too, but it wasn’t something I liked to remember.
Everyone was gone by eleven. Well, everyone but Melanie, me, and Serena Hornby, this year’s homecoming queen. We followed Justine upstairs and rolled out our sleeping bags on her bedroom floor. Then we took turns changing into our pajamas in the bathroom upstairs.
After I finished changing, I went back down to the kitchen for a glass of water. I didn’t expect to find Brody standing next to the fridge, eating one of Melanie’s brownies.
“Hey,” he said. Maybe I imagined it, but it kind of seemed like his face lit up when he saw me. “I didn’t know you were here.”