by Kieran Scott
I smiled and texted back.
Tnx 4 the flowers.
What flowers?
LOL V funny.
I have no idea what ur talking about.
I froze. It wasn’t possible, was it? It had to have been him who sent the secret admirer flowers. He drew the shield and sword. No one else would have—
Gotcha!
I bit my tongue to keep from laughing. We texted for the rest of the class period. I found out his birthday was coming up in March. I told him that mine was in May. He confessed that his favorite snack dip was hummus. I told him mine was pineapple salsa. I asked if he really liked Hammond or was just taking pity. He said Hammond was cool when he wasn’t licking his own reflection in the mirror. That earned him another laugh and me another lip-purse from Chloe. Toward the end of the period, Jake sent another text.
Ready 4 big game 2nite?
Valley High is going down! U coming?
Will b there cheering 4 u.
I blushed so hard I thought I might pop.
Cool.
When the bell rang, I tucked my phone away and closed my laptop. My pulse raced as I wondered what to do next. Clearly Jake and I had just taken our relationship, whatever it was, to some new level. Should I go talk to him? Was he going to come talk to me? Maybe just a smile over my shoulder and—
But then Jake walked right by me and over to Chloe and Faith, without so much as a nod. My heart fell. Apparently, the text fest hadn’t changed a thing. But then why had he started it? What was the point? Was he really just that bored? Maybe he spent every class period texting someone, and he’d simply run through his entire address book.
As I lifted my bag onto my shoulder and started for the door, I loathed myself for getting so excited. Just before I got to the hallway, my phone lit up again. It was from him.
Same time tomorrow?
My heart, all of a sudden, was back from its trip to my toes. I texted back.
I’m in.
jake
The gym was packed. I’d been to a lot of Shannen’s games last year, but I’d never seen it like this. One side was all yellow and purple, the other all maroon and gold. And everyone was screaming. Including me.
“Let’s go, Shannen! Get the ball!” I wanted to yell for Ally, too, but I was surrounded by my friends. Still. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
The girl was effing good. Even better than I’d thought. All night she’d been hustling—taking shots when they were good, passing off when she was double-teamed, stealing the ball, getting in her player’s face when she was on D. She didn’t stop. I’d never seen anyone play so fierce in my life.
It was beyond hot.
“Come on!” Hammond shouted, leaning forward. “Don’t let them hog the ball!”
“Let’s go, Hill! Let’s go, Hill!” the Idiot Twins shouted. They were shirtless behind us, their chests painted with tiger stripes, each wearing a huge burgundy frizz wig. Every time they cheered, the crowd cracked up.
The fans around us joined in the chant. “Let’s go, Hill! Let’s go, Hill!”
Time was ticking down. Only fifteen seconds left on the clock, and we were down by one.
“Come on, Shannen!” Chloe cheered politely.
“Yea, go,” Faith said as she texted on her phone. She lifted a fist at shoulder level. “Whoo.”
Hammond and I rolled our eyes at them.
“Ohmigod yes!” Trevor shouted suddenly.
“Go, Ally!” Todd added.
Suddenly the entire Orchard Hill side of the bleachers was on their feet. In the two seconds Hammond and I had taken our eyes off the court, Ally had somehow stolen the ball and was now sprinting toward the basket. I jumped up. One of the Valley players chased after her, probably intent on fouling her, but Ally was too fast. She made a perfect layup. The crowd went nuts. The scoreboard clicked. We were up by one with four seconds left. The whole team surrounded Ally, hugging her and slapping her hands. She nodded but didn’t smile. The game wasn’t over yet. She was all business.
Did I mention she was beyond hot?
Valley called a time-out and everyone relaxed into their seats. The cheerleaders jogged onto the floor to start a chant.
Faith finally looked up from her phone. “What happened? Did we win?”
“Not yet,” Hammond said patiently. “They get one more shot.”
“God. This game takes forever,” she complained.
Chloe gave her a sympathetic pat on the knee.
The whistle blew.
“This is it.” I had to stand up, because everyone in front of me did. The whole crowd was on its feet as two Valley players lined up at the end of the court. With only four seconds left they raced to the key. Coaches screamed, parents wailed, cheerleaders shouted. The taller girl passed it off to the lead scorer, and Shannen raced forward to get in the girl’s face.
“Three! Two!”
The girl lifted her arms to take her shot, her eyes focused on the basket as if Shannen weren’t even there.
“One!”
The shot went up. Shannen jumped. She reached. Time froze. And then, her fingertips just grazed the bottom of the ball, sending it sailing off the court.
“Yes!”
The timer buzzed, and the Orchard Hill bleachers emptied out onto the court, surrounding the team. Everyone was jumping up and down, hugging, screaming, crying. I was looking for Ally, hoping to congratulate her in the mayhem, when suddenly Shannen was in my arms.
“Did you see that?” she yelled.
“That was awesome!” I replied.
“We’re going to Jump, right? Did Hammond drive?” She slung her arm over my shoulders, tugging me through the crowd. Hammond had scored an Explorer for his birthday, so he pretty much drove everywhere now. He’d been worried he wasn’t going to get a car, but apparently his parents were selling their shore house after this summer to pay for his college, so now they felt like they had spending money again or something.
“Yeah. Let’s find everyone.”
My eyes scanned the gym, still looking for a glimpse of Ally. Finally I found her, standing over by the door, grinning at her mom. Dr. Nathanson and Quinn were over there too, Quinn bouncing around in her cheerleading uniform like a toddler on too much Kool-Aid. I guess the high of a big win canceled out whatever negative feelings she had about Ally. Then a couple of guys from the basketball team—Marshall Moss and Chad Lancaster—went over and gave Ally these big bear hugs. Marshall practically swallowed her into his varsity jacket even though she was covered in sweat. A lump rose up in my throat. What was that all about?
“Jealous?”
I blinked. “What?”
Shannen stood in front of me, her arms crossed over her jersey. “Want me to go invite her to Jump?” she asked sarcastically, nodding over her shoulder at Ally and her growing entourage. Her friend Annie was over there now too, plus Dorkus Drake, though he was hanging back looking pouty
“What? No. What are you talking about?” I said.
She rolled her eyes at me. “You so like her. Why don’t you just admit it already?”
“I was looking for Hammond and Chloe.” I spotted them standing next to the bleachers. “There they are. Let’s go.”
“Yeah. Sure you were. I have to hit the showers first,” Shannen said, clearly irritated. “I’ll catch up with you guys.”
I watched her jog toward the door, which also gave me a chance to check if Ally and Marshall were holding hands, or worse. But they weren’t. Which was good, at least. Ally turned and followed Shannen toward the locker room, and her family went out to the lobby to hover and wait—Marshall and the rest of them included. A surge of envy nearly knocked the wind out of me as Marshall yucked it up with Ally’s mom. Marshall and those guys got to be close to Ally—to help her celebrate after one of the biggest wins of the year. And I—just because of where I lived and who my friends were—couldn’t.
jake
“Where the hell are we going?”
�
��Have you learned nothing yet?” Shannen asked, turning around to walk backward so she could face me. “When I’m in charge, you don’t get to know till you know!” A freezing cold wind whipped her hair in front of her face. She and Faith giggled and walked ahead again, looping their arms together. Hammond cursed under his breath. I kicked black snow from the curb onto Fourteenth Street and got cursed at by some crazy dude on a bike.
It was fifteen below outside. No one should have been out in the city—on foot, on a bike, or at all. But for some reason, we had let Shannen talk us all into driving in and going to Paddy B’s, this one bar in the Village that Cresties had been going to since the dawn of time because they didn’t card. All of us except Chloe, who had some big family event tonight. I didn’t get what the big urge was to hit Paddy B’s all of a sudden. We’d been there before Christmas, and we could have gone again when it wasn’t cold as a witch’s butt cheek.
And now, after an hour of playing pool and drinking beer, we were out on the street again, following Shannen to do who knew what who knew where. Only the Idiot Twins had stayed behind at the bar, wanting to finish a game of darts with a couple of NYU dudes who had challenged them. We were supposed to swing back there and pick them up after we completed Shannen’s latest mission. Whatever it was.
Shannen and Faith suddenly stopped in front of a brightly lit window. They peered inside, clutching each other, standing on their toes.
“Holy shit. It’s him,” Shannen said.
Faith doubled over laughing. “Oh. My. God. Come on. Let’s go in!”
Hammond looked up from the turned-up collar of his coat. He stared at the sign, which read FIFTH AVENUE GOURMET.
“Oh, shit,” he said.
“What?”
But he was already following the girls through the door. Why couldn’t anyone answer me? I grabbed the still-closing door and tromped into the warm shop. Shannen had her cell phone out and was holding it up as if to take a picture as Faith strode up to the counter.
“Mr. Ryan?” Faith said with a gasp. “Oh my God! Is that you?”
My heart took a nosedive. Mr. Ryan? As in—?
The man behind the counter was tall, slim, graying, and stunned. He wore a white shirt, a stained black apron, and a matching visor. He was getting paler by the second. Ally’s father. I was looking at Ally’s father.
“Hello, Faith . . . Shannen. How are you girls?” He looked at Shannen, who was still holding up her phone. “Are you—is that a camera phone?”
“No,” Shannen said, waving her phone around. “I just can’t seem to get any bars in here.”
My fingers clenched into fists at my sides. Suddenly I realized what she was doing. She was taping this onto her video card. And he had no idea.
“Hi, Mr. Ryan,” Hammond said, walking up to the counter. “Sorry to surprise you like this. Shannen didn’t tell us where we were going,” he said through his teeth, staring Shannen down.
“What? I didn’t know he worked here,” Shannen said. Her acting was completely believable. “Do you actually work here?” she asked, training her phone on Mr. Ryan.
“Well . . . yes. I do. I have . . . for about a year now,” Mr. Ryan said, looking suspiciously at the phone. “Chloe’s father was kind enough to give me a job while I get back on my feet. I’ve been trying to get my old job back.”
“Yeah? And how’s that working out for ya?” Shannen said, leaning her elbow on the countertop and keeping the lens trained on him. “I mean, it’s gotta be tough after you cheated dozens of people out of, what, millions of dollars?”
His lips clamped together, and he looked like he was about to hurl. “It . . . it wasn’t like that,” he said. “It’s complicated. You kids couldn’t understand—”
“Well, why don’t you try explaining it to us?” Faith said snottily.
He slipped his visor off. Bowed his head. Mopped his brow with the back of his hand. “I . . . I didn’t . . . I never meant to . . .”
That was it. I couldn’t take it anymore. “All right. That’s enough.”
Shannen whirled around, surprised. It was like she’d forgotten I was there. I grabbed the phone out of her hand and exited camera mode.
“What’s your problem?” Shannen asked.
“Excuse us, sir,” I said, clamping my arm around Shannen’s shoulders. “We were just leaving.” I dragged Shannen out of there, feeling her tense under my arm.
“I just wanted to say thanks a lot, Mr. Ryan,” Faith said behind me. “If it wasn’t for you, my parents wouldn’t be getting divorced.”
Unbelievable. This was why we’d come into the city? To torture Ally’s dad?
“Faith, I’m so sorry,” he replied. “I didn’t—”
“Whatever.”
We were back out on the cold sidewalk, but my skin was so hot I didn’t feel the chill anymore.
“What the hell was that?” Shannen shoved me away from her with both hands. “You don’t get to throw me around!”
“What were you doing in there, Shannen?” I demanded. “You can’t just ambush somebody like that.”
“Why not? He ambushed us when he stole all our money!”
“He’s right, Shannen,” Hammond said, joining us. “That was not cool.”
Shannen rolled her eyes. “Of course you guys would defend Ally’s dad.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Hammond blurted.
“Are you forgetting what that guy did to us?” Shannen said, ignoring his question. “So what if seeing us made him feel bad for five minutes? I feel bad every fucking day of my life thanks to him!”
“She’s right. He deserves it,” Faith put in, shoving her hands into the pockets of her white coat. Her nose was all red and her eyes watery, but I couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or because she was upset. “I can’t even believe Chloe’s dad would give him a job.”
“Not to mention a place to stay,” Shannen said, looking up at the apartments over the deli. Another stiff wind nearly blew us all off our feet. “What a traitor.”
“He’s not a traitor,” Hammond spat, turning up the collar of his coat again. “He saw a friend in trouble and helped him out. Any one of us would do the same for you.”
“Yeah, Shannen,” I said. “You of all people know that it’s not all black and white when it comes to friends.”
Her eyes flashed, and she glared at me. We both knew I was walking a fine line, talking about the Hammond/Chloe/Ally situation right in front of the others. But I was right. I knew I was.
“What I don’t get is, why tonight?” Hammond asked. “Chloe spilled back before Christmas. Why the sudden motivation to come find him?”
Shannen shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Something happened after the game last night that inspired me,” she said, looking me right in the eye.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. Was she doing this because she thought I liked Ally? Trying to remind me that the Norm wasn’t worthy because her dad worked in a deli? How shallow did she think I was?
“Whatever. I’m over this conversation,” Shannen said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
She turned around and grabbed Faith’s hand, speed walking down the street. Hammond and I looked at one another, sighed, and followed. All I could think about for the rest of the night was the look on Mr. Ryan’s face when he’d seen Faith. He looked scared. Like he was watching his life pass before his eyes. I knew the feeling. I’d seen Ally’s dad. I knew right where he was. Where he worked, where he lived.
The question was, what the hell was I going to do about it?
march
Okay. Ally Ryan just texted all through French class.
So?
So!? Who is she texting?
I saw her hanging out with Marshall Moss at
Starbucks last night.
No. Seriously? She just broke up with David Drake.
Um, that was, like, a month ago.
I bet he’s the one who sent her all those flowers.
&
nbsp; David?
No. Marshall. He seems like the romantic type.
Not possible. Marshall was still going out with Kristie Murphy on Valentine’s Day. He got her those gold earrings and then she dumped him?
So, wait. In the last month Ally Ryan has had David
Drake, Marshall Moss, and some secret admirer
all over her?
Yeah.
I thought she was supposed to be unpopular.
ally
Quinn twirled across the stage in a sequined pink leotard and huge, graceful tutu, her arms perfectly turned, her hair perfectly bunned, her feet perfectly pointed. Everyone in the audience applauded as she finished her circuit, my mom more enthusiastically than anyone. I checked my watch and sighed. When was this thing going to be over already?
My mother looked at me and clucked her tongue. But what did she expect? I’d never been a dancer, I’d never been remotely interested in dance, and yet here I was, sitting through a three-hour-long dance recital just so I could catch Quinn in one group number and one solo? Was this really how she thought I wanted to spend my Saturday? I couldn’t even believe this was where she wanted to be right now. But she’d said that Quinn had asked her personally to come, and she couldn’t turn her down. I guess the two of them were getting closer or something. Which of course completely wigged me out. I mean, it was sad that Quinn’s mother had passed away and all, and I’m sure it was nice for her to have a mom-type figure here watching her performance. But why did it have to be my mom?
Okay, that was selfish and immature. But still. I didn’t like where this was headed. It felt way too blended-family If I wasn’t step-freaked before, I definitely was now.
Of course, it wasn’t like I had anything better to do. Annie was working. David was still avoiding me. Marshall and the guys from the basketball team were going to a Knicks game tonight and spending the day in the city. And Jake was not an option. Today was his birthday. I’d texted him to wish him a happy birthday that morning, but so far, no reply. He’d probably gotten his license and a brand-new car and was now out with Hammond and the twins and Shannen doing something Crestie. Something I couldn’t be a part of.
