Ex-Rating

by Natalie Standiford

  “Did you have Cantwell for history, Gabe?” Holly asked.

  “Yup. I didn’t get an A, though.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I tried to show the birth of the trade unions after the Triangle Shirtwaist Company’s fire,” Gabe said. “So I basically drew some windows on a shoebox and set it on fire. Cantwell said it didn’t show much thought or research.”

  “Talk about lame,” Rob said.

  “I know. I got a D. I sucked at history.”

  Holly’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it. Mads was texting her.

  Lina had brilliant idea. Ramona—rod’s office—ax-s codes!

  What? Holly texted back.

  We can hack on2 schl site! Call me Itr.

  “Everything cool?” Rob asked.

  “Very,” Holly said. “Looks like we found a way to fight back. Against Rod, I mean.”

  “Is dinner ready yet?” Julia walked in wearing a bathrobe and drying her hair with a towel.

  “Almost.” Gabe gave the tomato sauce a stir and glanced at Julia. “But I require proper attire at my restaurant. Jeez, Julia, at least put some jeans on. You’re as bad as Mom.”

  “All right, all right.” Julia left. Gabe shook his head and clucked maternally. “I don’t know what’s gotten into that girl.”

  A few minutes later, Gabe was tossing the pasta in the sauce while Rob mixed the salad. Julia came in, dressed in sweats, plopped down next to Holly, and handed her a sheet of paper.

  “What’s this?” Holly asked.

  “It’s a list of things I need you to do for me tomorrow,” Julia said.

  Holly looked at it.

  1. Call photographer and confirm booking.

  2. Pick up summer dresses from cleaners.

  3. Call salon—make hair, makeup, and manicure appointments for day before ceremony. …

  The list went on. Holly stared at Julia in disbelief.

  This was the bulk of the wedding work. “Um, shouldn’t you be doing all this stuff?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you’re the bride,” Holly said. “I’m just the bride’s brother’s girlfriend. I don’t mind giving you my opinion on a few details, but—”

  “I’m doing a lot of work, too,” Julia said. “But it’s so hard to do it alone, and Mom’s no help. Please, please, Holly. I really need you. You’re so good at this stuff, and I’m such a space case. And this way you get to spend time with Rob.”

  Rob had only been half-listening, but he turned from the counter at the sound of his name and waved.

  “Like you said, you’re his girlfriend,” Julia said. “You’re part of the family. And everyone in the family pitches in to help, right?”

  “What about your mother?” Holly couldn’t help pointing this out.

  “Except Mom,” Julia said. “Special circs.”

  “But Julia, I’ve got to start my history project tomorrow. It’s half my grade—”

  “You’ve got plenty of time for that,” Julia said. “Besides, those little errands won’t take long.”

  Holly looked at the list again. Gather menus from five different caterers? She didn’t even know how to do most of these things. And even if she did, it would take a week to finish everything on the list.

  Julia leaned close, took Holly’s hand in hers, and said softly, so that the boys didn’t hear, “I can’t tell you how much it means to me. And Rob and Gabe. And Mom. They may not say anything, but this is such a hard time for us, and having you around, an extra pair of hands …” Her eyes teared up. She wiped them with her napkin. “You’re so sweet. Really. Sometimes I think if it weren’t for you, this whole family would be falling apart.”

  “I don’t want your family to fall apart—”

  “I know you don’t,” Julia said. “Because you’re a good person. A beautiful person with a generous heart.”

  “Well, I don’t know about that—”

  “You are,” Julia said. “So—you will help me, won’t you? Promise?”

  What could she say? “Yes. Of course I’ll help you.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  “Dinner is served!” Gabe called, carrying loaded plates to the table. Holly folded up the list and put it in her pocket. She couldn’t help feeling annoyed with Julia. It was her wedding, not Holly’s. Holly wanted to help, but she didn’t want to do everything. Julia was trying to make her feel guilty about it, as if helping her were Holly’s duty or something. Holly was beginning to see Rob’s sister in a new light. She sure was good at getting her way.

  Rob set the salad on the table, sat down on Holly’s other side, and gave her a kiss. “Great to have you here, Holls.”

  Julia lifted her glass of wine. “A toast. To Holly—practically.a member of the clan.”

  10

  Going Underground

  To: mad4u

  From: your daily horoscope

  HERE IS TODAY’S HOROSCOPE: VIRGO: You’re getting so bold! You’ll pay for it, but it’s nice to see someone really put herself out there.

  Lina! Did you get the code?” Mads asked.

  “Got it,” Lina said. She gave Mads a slip of paper. “But I feel funny about this.”

  Mads, Lina, and Holly huddled in Holly’s bedroom Sunday for an emergency blog meeting. When Lina told her that Ramona had access codes and could write on the school Web site, Mads knew she was onto something. She wanted to get started right away.

  “Why do you feel funny? The moral high ground is totally on our side,” Mads said, “We’re being censored! Denied our rights as American citizens, just because we’re in high school. Doesn’t that piss you off?”

  “Sure, it does,” Lina said. “But we’re also blatantly disobeying the principal. We could get into a lot of trouble.”

  “It’s pretty serious, Mads,” Holly said. “I’m with you all the way, but we should realize we’re taking a risk.”

  “It’s not that risky,” Mads said, “We’ll hide the blog where no one will ever find it—unless they know where to look.”

  That was the plan: to plant the Dating Game back on the school site, hidden at the end of the summer reading list. The only problem was that they needed a teacher-access code in order to write on that part of the site. Ramona worked in the school office and had access to the codes. She was more than happy to pass on the code in the name of subversive activity. She loved anything secret and dangerous.

  Using the access code, Holly sat at her computer and transferred the Dating Game, X-Ratings, questionnaires, and all, to the end of the summer reading list.

  “All we have to do is spread the word so people can find it,” Mads said. “But only the right people. Students, not parents.”

  “That’s what scares me,” Lina said. “What if this leaks out somehow? What if somebody tells on us?”

  “Anyone who does that will face a firing squad,” Mads said. “Just kidding.”

  “Finished,” Holly said, turning away from her screen. “The Dating Game is back in business.”

  “You know what?” Mads’ mind was humming. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if this leaked. There is serious injustice here. We shouldn’t be hiding it—we should draw attention to it. That’s the only way we’ll really beat this for good.”

  “How could we get more attention?” Holly said. “The school paper has covered the story.”

  “The school paper is small-time,” Mads said. “We need something bigger.”

  “But why would anyone outside of the school care about our little blog?” Lina asked.

  “National Radio Network cared about it,” Mads said.

  Holly’s phone rang. “Hello?” she said. “Oh hi, Julia.”

  “She called twice before you got here,” Mads whispered to Lina.

  “What does she want?” Lina asked.

  “First she asked if Holly thought she should wear flowers in her hair or a veil,” Mads said. “Holly said flowers, and ten minutes later Julia call
ed back and said, ’What kind of flowers?’”

  “Julia, if you want to wear a veil, wear a veil,” Holly said. “You’re the bride. You can do whatever you want. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Well, Rob was going to come over here that night. … No, don’t put her on. … Hi, Mrs. Safran.”

  Mads looked at Lina. Now what was going on? Holly covered her eyes with her hands as if she had a headache. All along, in the back of her mind, Mads was still thinking about the Dating Game, turning over ideas.

  “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well,” Holly said. “I understand. Sure. I’d be glad to help Julia address the invitations. Three hundred people is an awful lot. Okay. I’ll be over later. Hope you feel better.” After a pause she said, “Julia? When are your bridesmaids coming? You know, your bridesmaids? Deirdre and Bethany? Aren’t they flying in from Boston soon to help you? Oh. They had to postpone it? Not until then? All right. Just wondering. Okay. See you in a couple hours.” She hung up.

  “What was that all about?” Mads asked.

  “Julia’s kind of overwhelmed by the wedding,” Holly said. “Her mother’s not into it, and I think Julia feels like she’s doing everything alone.”

  “So she ropes you into helping her,” Lina said.

  “Well, I’m around a lot, seeing Rob,” Holly said. “Or trying to, anyway. We can’t get a minute alone lately. We haven’t had a good solid make-out session in a week!”

  “Bummer,” Mads said. “At least you get to see your boyfriend. Stephen’s always busy with some project, or away somewhere.” She glanced at Lina, who was the worst off of all. Lina told her and Holly about Walker and Flynn right after her fight with Walker, when she was still fuming, Mads was shocked. She just didn’t see it. But Lina’s anger had faded into sadness.

  “Did you read Walker’s piece in The Seer this week?” Lina asked. “‘Varsity Swimmers Drown Draper’? He’s so good with words.”

  The Seer. That made Mads start thinking about the blog again, and censorship, and press coverage …

  “‘Drown Draper.’ That’s cute,” Holly said, humoring Lina. “Let me fix you up with somebody else. Please! It will help you forget about Walker.”

  “That’s impossible,” Lina said. “And, anyway, with my luck, here’s what will happen: You’ll fix me up with some dork, and I won’t like him because I’m hung up on Walker, but then finally I’ll get over Walker and start liking the dork. But my heart will break because by then, he’ll have another girlfriend. You see, it’s hopeless. Life is just a big circle of unrequited love. Mads isn’t listening.”

  “I am, too,” Mads said, but she was really only half-listening. She had an idea, but it had nothing to do with Walker.

  “I know how we can get lots of attention,” she said. “A strike!”

  “What are you talking about?” Holly asked.

  “To protest the censorship at school,” Mads said. “We’ll have a huge rally. A full-school strike. A walkout! Rosewood has over eight hundred students. If everyone walks out of school at once, people will notice. I’ll bet we can get the local news to cover it.”

  “But how will we get everyone in school to strike at once?” Holly asked.

  “E-mail,” Mads said. “I’ll send out a mass e-mail to everyone in school. And you guys spread the word at school. We tell everybody to tell everybody. We can make flyers, too, and stuff them in people’s lockers. At two o’clock Friday afternoon, everybody in school—I mean everybody—will drop whatever he or she is doing and walk out.”

  “Right in the middle of class?” Lina asked.

  “Exactly,” Mads said. “Teachers can’t ignore this. Rod can’t ignore it. The whole student body will show our solidarity. What do you think?”

  “It’s daring,” Holly said.

  “We could get into big trouble for this,” Lina said. “Mads, I don’t think we should do it. Rod will suspend us for sure. If we call a strike … my parents will kill me.”

  “I don’t want a suspension on my record,” Holly said.

  “I don’t want to be suspended, either,” Mads said, “But I can’t sit by and let Rod and the parents get away with this. I just can’t! Look, it’s my idea. I’m going to do it no matter what. If we get into trouble, I’ll take the blame.”

  “Mads, no,” Lina said. “We’ll stick with you.”

  “I’m not worried,” Mads said. “What are they going to do—suspend the whole school?”

  STUDENT STRIKE!!!!!

  Fight censorship! Support the Dating Game! We are calling for a school-wide student strike on Friday afternoon at two o’clock. When the sixth-period bell rings, drop what you’re doing and walk quietly and calmly to the front lawn of the school. You will then receive further instructions.

  IMPORTANT: For this to work, we need total, 100% participation! No wimpouts! College wonks worried about your transcripts—wake up! A good college will respect you for standing up for civil rights and working for free speech and equality, etc. Call it an extracurricular activity. And, anyway, if you don’t join us, you’re a weenie and no college will take you, anyway. Bonus: You’ll be on TV! Channel 7 News promised to be there to cover the story. Plus, you’ll miss 45 minutes of class! How can you lose? Spread the word!

  11

  Elvira

  To: linaonme

  From: your daily horoscope

  HERE IS TODAY’S HOROSCOPE: CANCER: In the movies, great couples overcome obstacles and misunderstandings before they get together. In real life, they just have problems.

  Your name:Elvira Webber

  Your grade:10th

  Your ex’s name:Walker Moore

  Your ex’s grade:11th

  How do you know him/her?school

  How long were you together?Too long

  Who dumped who?I dumped him—you think I’m some kind of idiot?

  Why did you break up?Where do I start? Basically, he’s a jerk.

  Are you friends now?I don’t make friends with jerks.

  What do you think of your ex as a friend?See above

  What do you think of your ex as a boyfriend/girlfriend? (What was good and bad about him or her? Vices? Habits? Hang-ups? Family problems?)He’s a player. He cheated on me more than once—that I know of. He’s totally selfish. Sure, he seems sweet on the surface, but trust me—that’s an act. And I find it scary that a person can fool so many people. … There are tons of little things wrong with him, too. If I had to name just one, it would be—rampant backne. Ick!

  What would a new person have to have (that you didn’t have) to make a relationship with your ex work?She’d have to be crazy. I’m not kidding. But I know what kind of girl he likes: the kind of nervous, snooty girl who can’t resist mentioning the fact that she has famous Hollywood-director relatives. Just shows what sort of person he is—he pretends to be cool, but deep down, he’s a social climber.

  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, you rate your ex:negative 10 billion

  “Jeez Louise,” Lina said when she read Elvira’s X-Rating. “How did this get on the site?”

  It appeared on the Dating Game sometime during the night. Lina checked the blog that morning before school, and there it was. She didn’t post it, she knew that much. And she couldn’t believe Holly or Mads would have such bad judgment. It was so mean! But how else could it have gotten there? She had to talk to them right away.

  “Yikes, that is mean,” Mads said. “I’d never post it without talking to you first, Lina. Especially since it’s about Walker.”

  “I haven’t posted any X-Ratings all week,” Holly said.

  Lina had dragged them into the library to check out the site as soon as she got to school. “I don’t get it,” she said. “If none of us posted it, how did it get there?”

  The mystery preoccupied Lina at school all morning. Was this the same Walker Lina knew? Could any of this be true? Or was it just a joke—a very mean joke? Sure, she was annoyed with Walker, but she didn’t think he deserved anything like this.

&nbs
p; “What is that supposed to be?” Sebastiano asked her later on in art class. “A plane crash?”

  Lina was trying to make a birthday card for her father. Next to her, Mads, who was better at art, was taking headshots of people in her family and putting them on top of animal bodies.

  “It’s not supposed to be anything,” Lina said. “It’s abstract. For my father’s birthday.”

  “I guess your father has pretty gory taste,” Sebastiano said. “Use a little more blood-red, why don’t you. That doesn’t say, ‘Happy Birthday.’ It says, ‘I know what you did last summer.’”

  Lina looked at her collage and realized he was right. It was way too red. She grabbed some slips of blue paper and started pasting over it.

  “And Mads, why are you putting your sister’s head on the body of a cockroach?” Sebastiano asked.

  “Art is an expression of truth,” Mads said. “You’re so nosy, what are you making?”

  “A 3-D collage in the shape of a disco ball,” Sebastiano said. He showed them a half-finished sphere covered in pictures cut out from magazines. “Instead of mirrors, I’m covering it with pictures of everybody on Desperate Housewives.”

  “Very ambitious,” Lina said. Sebastiano sat down at the next table and started flipping through old issues of People, scissors in hand.

  “I can’t stop thinking about Elvira,” Lina said to Mads. “It has to be a joke. A made-up name. But who would do that? And why? What does she have against Walker?”

  “It’s weird,” Mads said. “Walker’s popular. Everybody likes him.”

  “I know,” Lina said. “Could somebody be out to get him?”

  “Or did he really mistreat some girl who couldn’t wait to blow his nice-guy cover?” Mads said.

  “It’s not a cover,” Lina said. “He really is nice.”

  “And what about Flynn?” Mads said. “That description of the kind of girl Walker likes was obviously Flynn. I’m not crazy about her, but that was pretty mean. But even if someone’s out to get Walker, why go after Flynn, too?”

  “It has to be someone who has access to the site,” Lina said. “But we’re the only ones. Except for Rod, of course, and his secretary—”