I nervously reached for the keys and sprinted into the office. I flipped on the overhead lights and then ran in the back to my dad's main exam room. Like an automatic reflex, I turned on all of the equipment, grabbed a fresh set of instruments, and placed them down on the counter.
Katie's sobs were getting louder as my dad and Ryan
229
approached the room. "I was upstairs getting dinner ready and then I heard a crash. I guess she was jumping around and . . . fell!' Ryan was explaining to my dad.
He set Katie in the chair and Dad gently removed the towel that was covering her face. All I could see was blood.
"Oh, no!" Ryan exclaimed, and he put his hands over his head and started to pace.
"Everything's going to be fine!' Dad said. I couldn't tell if he was talking to Katie or Ryan.
I ran into my dad's office, grabbed Abbey the Walrus, and ran back. Dad was examining Katie, who was now crying even harder. "Here, sweetie." I went over and gave her the stuffed animal that I used to play with when I was about her age. Katie hesitantly took the walrus and then held on to it for dear life.
"All right, some of the teeth are a little loose, but everything is going to be fine. I'm just going to clean up the wound and then see about stabilizing the teeth," Dad looked over at Ryan, who seemed like he was about to faint.
"Penny Lane, why don't you take Ryan to the lobby," Dad went on, even as Ryan began to protest. "Ryan, I think it's best for you to watt there. You've done all you can."
I walked out the door and Ryan followed me. Before I could even think about it, I placed my hand on his shoulder.
He plunked down on the couch in the reception area and put his hands over his face. "My mother's going to kill me."
I sat down next to him and put my arm around him. "Ryan, you didn't do anything wrong."
230
"there's so much blood," he protested.
"But that's just because the blood is mixed with the saliva, so it just looks worse than it actually is," I assured him.
He jerked his head up. "Why are you even here?" I couldn't tell if he was angry or embarrassed.
"My dad, he, um, thought he might need help . . and that you might need a friend." I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze.
Ryan's cell phone rang and he jumped. "Hey, Mom, . . . no, I got ahold of Dr. Bloom..., Yes ... okay ... okay ... I will. . . 'bye."
"You have to know this isn't your fault," I said after he'd hung up. He just stared straight ahead, "Um, when I was two, Lucy was supposed to be watching me. She was only ten at the time, so that was probably pretty irresponsible of my parents, but she left me on the top bunk bed in her room and, well, the next thing you know, I fell off the bunk bed and onto the floor. And you know, I turned out seminormal." I bumped my knee against his. "Or maybe not. .. ."
He smiled. "I know she'll be okay, but my mom sounded like I really let her down, and Cole is so overprotective of Katie. it's just... do you have any idea how frickin' exhausting it is to be me sometimes?"
I stared at him in disbelief.
"Ryan," I said, "nobody expects you to be perfect"
"Right, tell that to the coaches and my parents."
I'd never really thought about that. I'd just always assumed that Ryan was perfect.
231
"It's my own fault," he continued, "I kill myself to live up to peoples expectations. Just once I'd like to skip class, drink at a party, not always say the right thing, I can already hear my parents, 'You should have been watching her, Ryan,' What were you thinking, Ryan! 'How irresponsible, Ryan! 'We are so disappointed, Ryan! that's the worst, when they tell me that they're disappointed in me, like I'm not allowed to mess up once in a while. I'm just thankful my dad doesn't need to know about this!' it was the first time Ryan had mentioned his father since he hadn't shown up at the game earlier in the year. "if I have to hear from him one more time that an A-minus is the same as a B-minus and that no decent college is going to let me in unless I get nothing but straight As . . .like t want to follow his path to being a self-absorbed prick."
My mouth dropped open.
He looked horrified, "I'm sorry ... I shouldn't have ... I didn't mean ,. ."
"It's okay" I rubbed his arm. "You're just really stressed about Katie, that's all. there's just... a lot going on right now."
He turned to me, looking so tired. "I know you think I'm overreacting, but I spend so much time doing things to not disappoint people.. . . What about what I want?"
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Does it even matter?" he replied as he leaned his head against the wall.
"Yes, it does, if it's important to you."
"Well, I can't have it, so what's the point?"
232
this was such a different side to Ryan -- he was so vulnerable. it made me like him even more. I reached out and held his hand again. "Ryan, you're an amazing person and you do deserve whatever you want,"
He looked down at my hand in his. "I'm not stupid, so I'm willing to settle."
I was confused; I had no idea what he was talking about. He reached out his free hand and cupped my chin. "I know things have been weird, but can we please have things go back to normal between us?"
I didn't know if that was even possible. What was normal anymore?
I nodded. 'I'm really sorry for everything. Rosanna was just. .."
"I know," he said as he put his hand back down and took his other hand away from mine. I had the urge to grab it again, but resisted.
"Well." I hit him on the knee. "Leave it to you. You come in here with your sister and you end up making me feel better."
"Yeah, well, leave it to Mr. Perfect..."
I laughed. "Hardly. Don't forget I overheard you singing at the concert and you, mister, have a little problem with pitch. I say you're far from perfect."
He shook his head and we sat in silence. I started to hum along to the Muzak playing in the background.
"Oh my God," I said.
Ryan looked up. "What's wrong?"
233
I shook my head, "Nothing, it's just..." I went over to the front desk and turned up the volume, "Seems to be appropriate, don't you think?" I started to sing along to the music playing.
Won't you please, please help me.
"You have no idea." He breathed what appeared to be a sigh of relief.
Dad came out a few minutes later, holding Katies hand. Her mouth looked a lot better, besides the gauze that Dad affixed to help slow the bleeding. Ryan jumped out of his chair and was on his knees hugging her.
"Dr. Bloom, thank you so much. I'm so sorry for having to call you at home -- I just didn't know what to do."
My dad shook Ryan's hand. "No worries -- you did the right thing."
Katie came over to me and extended Abbey in her small arms, I bent down. "You know, I think you might need Abbey more than me." Her face lit up and she ran over to Ryan and grabbed his leg,
"Well," he said, "I guess we should go. thanks again, Dr. Bloom." He walked over to me, saying "thanks, Penny" as he gave me a hug. then he leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.
I saw the surprised look on my dad's face. As we let them out the front door, he looked at me. "So .. . that Ryan. Great guy, huh?"
You have no idea, I thought.
234
[Page Blank]
235
With a Little Help From My Friends
"I get by with a little help from my friends..."
236
[Page Blank]
237
chapter Thirty three
USUALLY AFTER A BREAK, I dreaded going back to school But I couldn't watt to see Ryan, to see if things were really okay between us.
We fell quickly back in place, and I practically ran to my locker between classes. instead of dread, I started to look forward to my between-class teasing session. Usually I told him how many ways he wasn't perfect, and he commented on the unfortunate shape of my head from my bu
nk bed trauma.
"Come to think of it, I never see you wear hats -- is that because of the, you know, accident" He tugged on my scarf as I was buttoning up my wool coat.
"Gee, let me think. I've never seen you play a musical instrument -- is that maybe because you're completely inept at anything related to music?"
I wrapped my scarf around my neck so it smacked him in the head every time it circled around.
"Oh, excuse me . . ,"
"Penny!" I heard someone cry from across the hall. I saw Jen running toward me, with Tracy following quickly behind her.
This couldn't be good.
Tracy broke the news. "Principal Braddock told her that we can't have the karaoke night in the gymnasium anymore."
238
"What?" I screamed. "It's four days away!"
Jen took a deep breath, "He said that he feels it's turned into a Lonely Hearts Club event and that it can't be on school grounds!'
"that doesn't make any sense!' I protested, "Were raising money for the basketball team. We're just helping because you're our friend. Everybody's invited."
Jen put her head in her hands. "I just don't know what we're going to do. We've all worked so hard."
Tracy sat down and put her hand around Jen's shaking body. "It's okay, we'll just have to postpone it until..."
"the hell we are!" I proclaimed. Both Tracy and Jen looked up at me in shock. "We're going to have this party and raise so much flippin' money that the basketball team is going to have the best uniforms in the school's history."
Tracy looked at me like I had gone insane. "But, Pen, we can't use the school."
"then we'll find somewhere else to have it. I am so sick of all the drama. Seriously, what's the point of having the Club if we can't find a way to overcome these little obstacles?"
"But all of the flyers have been put up.., ." Jen argued.
"So we'll make new ones. Screw Principal Braddock -- let's show him how much power we really have," Now even I was a little surprised by myself. "Let's go to my house -- we've got some phone calls to make."
In less than an hour, all thirty members of the Lonely Hearts Club were at my house, ready to step into action. My
239
parents had ordered pizza for the group as we analyzed our options.
"I still say all the parents need to get together and talk to Braddock," Dadsaid, opening up a pizza box and helping himself to another slice.
I shook my head. "No, we need to do this on our own and show him that we can stand on our own two feet. We can handle whatever he's going to throw at us."
Dad nodded while he chewed, looking around the room, clearly happy to be in the middle of all the excitement,
"All right, here's the deal," Eileen Vodak said as she came into the basement. "My uncle will let us use the event space at the Bowlarama for free, but since it's a Saturday night and he'll have to turn away paying customers, he asks that we don't bring in any food but have people buy sodas and snacks. Or, if we give him $5 a person, they will cater the event for us with soda and chips and stuff"
"But that's going to cut into the profit," Jen replied as she sat nervously on the floor.
"Exactly how many people are you expecting?" Dad asked.
Jen picked at her uneaten slice of pepperoni, "I have no idea -- fifty?"
"But fifty hardly covers the Club and the basketball team," Diane reminded us.
"Wow, you're right. I guess a hundred or a hundred and fifty." Jen started writing figures down in her notepad.
Dad looked over Jen's shoulder at her writing. "Come to
240
think of it, Jen, I don't think the Bloom Dental Office has made a donation to the team this year. How about this -- you guys pull this off and I'll pay for the refreshments?"
Jen looked up at my dad with her big blue eyes, and for the first time all night she smiled. "Dr. Bloom, thank you so much." She got up and threw her arms around him. "I promise to start flossing every day!"
Dad laughed. "Well, that's just great."
I think that might have made his day more than saving the basketball team.
"Okay." Jen nervously bit her lip. "I guess all we need to do now is to let everybody know about the location change. We've got flyers. ... I guess that will be enough." She didn't seem convinced.
"We should make an announcement over the PA system," Tracy said, drawing a microphone on poster board. "Like Braddock would ever let that happen. I just wish I could find a way to get in there and do it."
"You can't," Diane told her,
"Well, I know that. I was just joking," Tracy responded.
Diane stood up. "No, I'm just saying that you can't, but I can."
I stared nervously at the clock before homeroom and took a deep breath to calm down. I hoped Diane could pull this off and that she wouldn't be suspended for it.
Since Diane was the president of the student council, she was responsible for the Friday morning announcements.
241
Usually, she just edited the announcements that all the clubs had submitted for the week and let other members read them over the PA.
Not this time.
Hilary Jacobs and I exchanged glances as the bell rang and everybody started to take their seats.
We had been distributing the new flyers all week in the school parking lot. We had to take different shifts to make sure we didn't get caught. One girl hung outside the school office with cell phone in hand, while two others monitored the exit closest to the parking lot. the rest of us were each assigned a row in the parking lot to hand out flyers. Another group came in later to make sure that nobody had littered so there wasn't any evidence.
To my knowledge, Principal Braddock had no idea that we were even still having the karaoke fund-raiser. I couldn't watt to see the look on his face when Jen presented him with the money on Monday. the buzz of the intercom sounded. "Good morning, everybody, and happy Friday," Diane announced. "the following are your announcements for the week. the Key Club's annual flower drive begins next week. Carnations are a dollar, and you can get. . "
I could hardly concentrate on the announcements as I was too nervous for Diane, I prayed that Principal Braddock wasn't too close by and that she would have enough time to do it.
242
"And, finally, please note that the girls' basketball karaoke fund-raiser on Saturday night at seven p.m. has been switched from the gymnasium to the Bowlarama on Cook Street." there was a noise in the background, but Diane sounded as calm as ever. "the entrance fee is five dollars, which includes food and drinks. We look forward to seeing you all Saturday night at the Bowl --"
The intercom went dead.
"You're my hero, Diane," Jen said as we headed into the Bowlarama. She was beaming as we bought tickets. "There are so many people here already! I've got to go check on the sign-in sheet for the songs. Remember, you guys aren't off the hook yet."
I didn't want to be reminded.
Diane smiled at her as she handed over her admission fee. "Hey, I took one for the team. Anybody would've done it."
I don't know how many people would've taken getting suspended from playing at Tuesday's basketball game and having her announcement duties revoked in such stride, but Diane was glowing.
We walked into the back room, and it was packed -- there had to be easily over one hundred and fifty people already there. The room was dark with white lights hanging down from the ceiling. it was sort of pretty, for a bowling alley.
I saw the stage up front with a big spotlight on it and a monitor to display the words to the songs. As we headed there, Jen ran over. "This is a total disaster!"
243
"Everything is great and look at the turnout -- what could possibly be wrong?" I asked.
"Erin is sick -- her voice is shot."
Wow, Jen really needed to chill out. With all of the drama the past few weeks, I really didn't see one person being sick as a disaster. "Jen, there are plenty of people who will sing,
don't worry about it."
"But who will be the first person? Everybody who has signed up has refused to go first. Please, Penny, you need to help me."
I looked around and noticed that Tracy had made a quick getaway.
"Really, Jen, you don't want my help. if I'm the first person to start, the room will be cleared out."
"Please, Penny. Everybody looks up to you. if you do it, I'm sure the whole Club will, too."
Okay, I was wrong. this was a disaster. "Fine".
"Thank you, thank you. I totally owe you."
No kidding. I wasn't going to forget this anytime soon.
I walked over to the Club's five front tables. "All right, guys, I'm going first. Who wants to go up with me?"
You could hear a pin drop. For the first time since the Lonely Hearts Club started, nobody would look me in the eye. "Seriously, guys, if we all go up in a group together, it wont be so bad." Please, oh please, somebody has got to go up with me. "Anybody?"
244
Tracy was playing around with her bag of chips, refusing to make eye contact.
Et tu Tracy ?
This was ridiculous. it was just singing a song.
Jen was looking around anxiously. If I didn't act soon, she was going to snap.
"Okay, Jen, let's get this over with! What song am I singing?"
A look of relief spread over her face. "Any song you want. Remember -- I've got Beatles songs!"
Although I loved the Beatles, I felt a little silly singing one of their songs in front of everybody. As Ryan had learned, there were only four people who could ever do those songs justice, and I was not one of them.
The Lonely Hearts Club Page 16
