Ex-Rating

  Good, good, Holly thought. Think for yourself, that’s right. …

  “But black would be so easy to wear.”

  “That’s true,” Holly said. “But it’s so ordinary. It’s boring. Polka dots—now that’s different.”

  She crossed her fingers. Listen to how stupid I sound, she silently said to Julia. Can’t you see how bad my ideas are? I’m no help to you—no help at all. In fact, you’d be better off making these wedding decisions yourself and leaving me to live my life of studying and parties without the thrill of constant wedding planning. Okay?

  “You know,” Julia said, and Holly pleaded, pleaded for her to see the light. “Polka dots—it’s very unusual. Almost weird.”

  Yes, yes …

  “That’s what I love about it!” Julia finished. Holly’s heart sank. “You’re right, Holly. As always. Giant polka dots. It’s a great idea!”

  Holly wanted to smack herself in the forehead. Pea green cake? Clown suits for the bridesmaids? Her ideas were terrible! How could Julia keep agreeing with her? What would it take to get her to think for herself just once?

  “Julia, wait,” Holly said. “Think for a minute. You don’t really want polka-dotted bridesmaids, do you?”

  Julia thought it over. “Yes. Yes, I think I do.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “But you just said—”

  “I know, but on second thought, maybe Melissa is right,” Holly said. “Black. It’s easy.”

  “No, I think I like the polka dots,” Julia said.

  Oh, okay. Now she’s decisive. Now she wants to think for herself.

  “I think the black works better,” Holly said.

  “But you said polka dots before,” Julia said. “God, Holly, make up your mind.”

  22

  Most Likely to Meddle

  To: linaonme

  From: your daily horoscope

  HERE IS TODAY’S HOROSCOPE: CANCER: Today you will find out that—whoops!—you were wrong all along. From now on, why not begin with that assumption and save us all the time and trouble?

  See? I told you,” Ramona said. “You and Walker were meant to be. The tarot never lies.” She and Lina were sitting in the courtyard during a free period Wednesday, leaning against a big tree.

  “Oh, yeah?” Lina said. “Well, what’s going to happen next? What does it mean when you kiss a guy—after a blistering argument where you hurl insults at each other—and then he runs away? Huh? Do the cards have an answer for that?”

  “I’m sure they do,” Ramona said. “If you want, I’ll ask them when I get home.”

  “Don’t bother,” Lina said. “But you know what I would like? Next time, before you try to ‘help’ me by trashing somebody’s reputation, Elvira, would you mind asking me first? To make sure I want that person’s reputation trashed? Or better yet, just assume that I don’t, and don’t do it.”

  Ramona looked annoyed. “You shouldn’t be so snotty with me,” she said. “I’ve never done anything but help you.”

  “Right. Help me,” Lina said. “Posing as Walker’s ex-girlfriend and writing a fake X-Rating about him was a big help. Since then we’ve been inseparable.”

  “He kissed you, didn’t he?”

  “Yeah, and then he ran away, and I haven’t seen him since. It’s not exactly Love Story.”

  Someone chuckled from the other side of the tree trunk. Lina panicked—anyone could be sitting there right now listening to every word they said! Please, not Walker! Or Flynn!

  “Hi, girls.” Sebastiano poked his head around the tree.

  “Oh, it’s only you,” Lina said.

  “Only me! That hurts,” Sebastiano said.

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” Lina said.

  “I know. Look, I think this charade has gone on long enough,” Sebastiano said. “I can’t let Ramona take credit for my work anymore.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lina asked.

  “Ramona wasn’t Elvira,” Sebastiano said. “I was.”

  “You were!” Lina was shocked. “But Ramona confessed.”

  “I know,” Sebastiano said. “Ramona, how dare you! I’m sure it was tempting—my plan was so clever, and it worked. But, still—it’s not right.”

  Lina was confused. “Ramona—you weren’t Elvira?”

  “I tried to tell you that, but you wouldn’t believe me,” Ramona said.

  “She thinks she’s all diabolical, but really I’m the sneaky one,” Sebastiano said. “Maybe the next time someone anonymously helps you, you’ll think of me first.”

  “He works in the office once in a while, too, you know,” Ramona said. “He has access to the same codes I do. You might have at least considered him as a suspect before jumping all over me.”

  “But why did you confess?” Lina asked.

  “Because you didn’t believe me, anyway, so what difference did it make? And I was sick of having the same conversation over and over.” She made her voice higher to imitate Lina or Mads—it was hard to tell which. “‘Ramona, stop lying! You’re Elvira!’ I had better things to do.”

  Lina felt terrible. She’d been so hard on Ramona. “I didn’t realize you had it in you, Sebastiano.”

  “Neither did I,” Ramona said.

  “And I didn’t think you cared that much,” Lina said. “About my love life, I mean.”

  “Well, I couldn’t watch you and Walker fight the way you did at the softball game and do nothing,” Sebastiano said. “What kind of heartless cad do you think I am?”

  “Well—” Lina said.

  “You do think I’m a heartless cad, don’t you!” Sebastiano cried. “I’m—I’m stung.”

  “No, of course, I don’t think you’re heartless,” Lina said. “Right, Ramona?”

  “Not heartless, just a gi-normous busy body,” Ramona said. “Congratulations, Sebastiano. You move to the top of our Most Likely to Meddle list. Are you thrilled?”

  “Oh, I am,” Sebastiano said. “It’s an honor.”

  23

  Big Polka-dotted Surprise

  To: hollygolitely

  From: your daily horoscope

  HERE IS TODAY’S HOROSCOPE: CAPRICORN: If you had to do it all over again, you wouldn’t change a thing. Right? How dumb can you get?

  Holly, come to my room,” Julia said. “I have a big surprise for you and I don’t want to announce it here in the sunroom with those oafs watching some horrible reality TV show. It’s too big for that.”

  Too big? What could it be? Holly had arrived at the Safrans’ house after school on Wednesday determined to be with Rob and Rob alone, no matter what Julia tried to rope her into. She and Rob were warm under the afghan and she hated to get up. The afghan covered up all kinds of fun activities. Besides, once Julia got her into her room, who knew what diabolical wedding chores she might dream up for her?

  “You can tell me here, can’t you?” Holly said. “Whatever it is, I’m just going to tell Rob, anyway.”

  “You can tell Rob after I tell you,” Julia said. “I think he’ll be happy.” She grabbed Holly by the hand and tried to yank her to her feet. “It’s not a secret. It’s just a big, important, exciting announcement.”

  Now that Holly was standing, the afghan puddled at her feet, she saw the futility of resistance. “Toss that blanket back up here, babe,” Rob said. Holly covered him with the afghan. “And come back quick.”

  “I’ll try,” Holly said as Julia dragged her out of the sun room. Holly had to admit she was curious. This was a high level of excitement, even for Julia.

  “You’re going to be so thrilled,” Julia said as she sat Holly on her bed. “Okay—are you ready?”

  Holly nodded. “Ready.”

  “I want you”—she paused for effect—“to be my—”

  “Personal assistant?” Holly guessed.

  “Nooo—”

  “Slave girl?”

  “No.” Julia laughed.

  Go ahead and laugh, but it wasn’t a joke, Hol
ly thought.

  “It’s much better than that. I want you to be—my maid of honor!”

  “Your what?” Holly was stunned. Maid of honor? She’d only known Julia for a few weeks. Wasn’t that reserved for sisters and best friends?

  “You’ve been such a good friend to me since I came home,” Julia said, getting teary. “And such a big help. A huge help. I wouldn’t even be getting married if it weren’t for all you’ve done. Deirdre and Bethany have been completely useless.”

  “Well, gee, it wasn’t—”

  “Don’t say it was nothing,” Julia said. “You have such great taste, and you’re so decisive and organized and smart. … I feel so lucky that you’re my brother’s girlfriend. You feel like a sister to me. The sister I never had.”

  Holly didn’t know what to say. She felt guilty for her secret bad attitude toward Julia and all her tasks lately. Julia had a good heart, and she sincerely loved Holly. But still—maid of honor?

  “Julia, I’m so flattered,” Holly said. “But don’t you have another friend, someone closer to you, whom you’ve known a little longer, that you’d rather have for your maid of honor? You know, a best friend or someone like that?”

  “Oh—well, I used to,” Julia said. “I did have a best friend…but I lost her.”

  “I’m sorry,” Holly said, thinking, Uh-oh—sore subject? Did her best friend die or something? “What happened?”

  “She’s not speaking to me anymore,” Julia explained. “I kind of—stole Michael from her.”

  “Your fiancé? You stole him from your best friend?”

  “Yeah. It’s pretty terrible, I guess. But he didn’t love her, he loved me! What was I supposed to do? Walk away from the love of my life just because my best friend couldn’t handle it?”

  “That is a tough one,” Holly said.

  “So you’re it. You’re my best friend now,” Julia said. “I love Deirdre and Bethany; of course I do. But they aren’t as special to me as you are.”

  Holly had to admit that a part of her felt pretty good about this. It was an amazing honor, if you thought about it. So what if it meant more bridal chores? It was all in the name of a joyous occasion. As long as Julia didn’t try to stab Holly in the back the way she did her best friend. But since Holly’s boyfriend was Julia’s brother, she was probably safe.

  On the other hand …

  “What about a dress?” Holly asked, thinking she’d found an out. “It’s too late for a fitting now. I’ll never get a dress made in time for the wedding.”

  Julia broke into a wide grin. “That’s the best surprise of all,” she said. “I took care of that—all by myself! With a little help from you, though you weren’t aware of it.” She went to the closet. “I already had a dress made. And I’m one hundred percent sure you’re going to love it!”

  Holly’s stomach fluttered. She didn’t like the sound of this.

  “I finally made my decision about the dresses, you’ll be relieved to know,” Julia said. “I decided the bridesmaids should wear black after all. It is so elegant for an evening wedding.”

  Whew, Holly thought. Dodged that one.

  “Good going!” Holly said, genuinely proud of her. “See, I told you you could decide these things on your own.”

  “Thank you,” Julia said. “But I made another decision totally by myself. Since you’re the maid of honor, you need to stand out from the other bridesmaids. So I had your dress made a little bit differently.”

  She reached into the closet and pulled out a gown—the most hideous dress Holly had ever seen. White silk with big blue and red polka dots. “Ta-da! It’s the fabric you loved so much! Could you die?”

  Holly’s heart sank to her belly. Yes, actually, I could.

  “I just knew you’d be excited. You loved the polka dots best, I could tell. I know you told me to go with the black in the end, but your first instinct was polka dots. Wait until Rob sees you in this dress! Wait till everybody sees you! Just like you said, it’s so unusual!”

  “Yes, it is,” Holly said. “It’s unusual.”

  Julia made her look at the dress in the mirror. “What do you think?”

  Holly held the dress up. A little makeup, maybe a rainbow wig, and a red rubber nose, and it will be perfect, she thought.

  24

  Moonshot

  To: mad4u

  From: your daily horoscope

  HERE IS TODAY’S HOROSCOPE: VIRGO: Today will be one of your rare days of triumph. Enjoy it; then prepare to return to your usual state of mediocrity.

  Free speech for all!”

  “Hell no, we won’t shut up!”

  “Hear us, don’t smear us!”

  “You ready, Mads?” Holly asked.

  “Ready.” Mads sat with Lina and Holly in the backseat of her parents’ car, facing the huge crowd that had gathered outside Rosewood Thursday night. Lina and Holly had designated Mads chief speaker. Her big moment had come. Lina and Holly had done a lot to help the cause, interviewing students, gathering testimonials, and researching free-speech issues. But Mads was the one who was suspended. She had a lot to gain or lose from whatever happened that night.

  Mads’ mother kissed her. “Good luck, honey. We’ll see you in there.”

  “Go get ’em, killer,” Russell said.

  Mads, Holly, and Lina hustled through the crowd to get inside the school. They were amazed at how many students—and kids from other schools, too—had shown up to protest and support them.

  Mads’ suspension had given her a lot of free time, and she’d used it. She read about the history of the First Amendment and thought hard about what she was going to say at this meeting. She wrote and rewrote her speech. She practiced it in front of Holly and Lina until it was as good as she could make it. And she was so nervous, she couldn’t sleep the night before. She wanted the Dating Game reinstated, she wanted to make an important point about censorship, and she wanted her record cleared. But mostly, she wanted Rod and the parents’ board to see that the students had the right to express themselves. It was a lot to ask for in one night.

  The auditorium was packed with parents, teachers, and students. Mads, Holly, and Lina joined Rod and Belinda Crocker, head of the parents’ board, on the stage. Lina squeezed Mads’ hand. “You nervous?”

  “My stomach feels like it’s full of cement.”

  Mads was given a special dispensation and allowed back on campus for this meeting. There were a few routine matters the board had to vote on first, and then it was on to the main event: what to do about the school’s sex blog.

  Belinda Crocker took the microphone. “There’s too much talk about sex in our society,” she said. “It’s everywhere. The last thing our children need is more exposure to sex at school. That’s why I fought to close this dating site down. Enough is enough! It’s time the parents took charge of their children’s lives. Kids, I’m sorry, but you don’t know what’s good for you. When I was in school, nothing like this ever happened. The adults shielded us from it. And that’s the way I want it to be for my children.”

  She left the podium and sat down to a chorus of boos from the students and applause from some adults. Rod stood and took the mike.

  “I’d like to clarify a few points,” Rod said. “We are not trying to stifle student creativity or expression. We recently held a school art fair where all kinds of experimental work was displayed. But it is our opinion that this blog has gotten out of hand. Some students may be mature enough to handle the content of it, but some may not. I—”

  “It’s the parents who can’t handle it!” a student yelled from the audience. This was met with wild cheers. Rod frowned.

  “I will cancel this meeting if we cannot conduct it in a civilized manner,” he warned. “To continue, the students may do as they please, or as their parents allow, off school property. But the school Web site is no place for frank discussions of the students’ sexual lives. The members of the parents’ board voted on this, and a majority agreed that they do
not support this blog. Madison Markowitz, Lina Ozu, and Holly Anderson, the founders of the Dating Game, are here tonight to defend it and try to convince the board to reinstate it. I have warned them that it is futile, but to show the school’s willingness to listen to its students, we have agreed to let them state their case. Girls?”

  Mads stood and went to the podium, followed by Lina and Holly. Mads’ knees wobbled. The cement in her stomach turned to ice.

  The microphone squealed as Mads approached it. “Thank you, Mr. Alvarado,” she said in a shaky voice. A giant screen hung behind her, and she held the clicker for a slide projector in her hand. If there was one thing she’d learned at RSAGE, it was that multimedia was the best way to get a point across. The first slide showed the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

  “From the beginning of American history, people have tried to challenge free speech,” Mads said. “There will always be people who don’t like what their fellow citizens say and do. Some people like to dye their hair that super-saturated, Raggedy Ann shade of red. Other people think it looks stupid. They have the right to express that disagreement. No one can tell you not to dye your hair Raggedy Ann red. No one can stop you from saying it looks dumb. And no one has the right to shut down a forum for free expression, whether it is a newspaper, an art show, or a Web site.”

  The students in the audience clapped.

  “In the Constitution, students are guaranteed the same rights as their parents and teachers,” Mads said. “But parents and school officials often try to squelch our voices. Maybe if they listened to us instead of tried to keep us quiet, we would understand each other better.”

  More applause. Mads was gaining confidence.

  “The Dating Game was a place where students exchanged ideas. Some adults didn’t approve of what we were saying, so they shut us down. Was that right?”

  “No!” the audience shouted.

  “I have come here tonight to ask you, the parents’ board, and you, Mr. Alvarado, for two things. Bring back the Dating Game. And stop censoring us!”