“That’s fair,” I say. “But we really need to talk about what happened.”
The first bell rings, and everyone in the hallway starts to disperse toward their first-period classes.
“Look,” she begins. “It’s hard always being second best to your best friend.”
“What do you mean?” I screech, getting heated. “You’re never second best to me!”
“Hold up, that’s not what I mean. What I mean is that to everyone else, you’re always the best, and I’m always second. Or third. Or fourth. You’re the better dancer. You’re the more powerful ghost, who changed her clothes in, like, record speed. You’re the more talented ghost, who can take these amazing photos—something ghosts who’ve been around for years can’t even do. I just got tired of always being ‘Lucy’s friend.’ This time I wanted to be known on my own, to do something different and be good at it without being compared to you. And I knew you would never do cheerleading. And it is something I like to do.”
“I had no idea that’s how you were feeling,” I say, because I didn’t. Suddenly everything feels totally different. I feel so silly.
The second bell rings and Mr. Orville tells us to settle down. I try to whisper back to Cecily when he’s not paying attention. Every time he looks at me I freeze.
“I’m sorry,” I say quietly. “I never meant for you to feel that way.”
“Did someone say something?” Mr. Orville says, turning around.
No one speaks, so he turns back to the board and continues to write up the lab instructions.
“I wish you had told me,” I whisper. “I just … I thought I was losing you to her. I thought if we didn’t do Dance Club together, maybe we’d lose what we have in common the most. And maybe we wouldn’t stay friends.”
“Okay, I know I heard something that time!” he warns. “It’s not time to talk; it’s time to listen.”
The class laughs quietly.
Cecily takes out a piece of paper and scribbles something down, then hands it to me when he’s not looking again.
Cecily opens the note, writes something, then folds it up again to hand it back to me.
I reach out to grab it when Mr. Orville turns around for the first time in fifteen minutes.
“What is that?” he calls out, staring at the note that is now floating in the air squarely between my desk and Cece’s.
Uh-oh.
“Are you girls passing notes in my class?” he says, and neither of us says a thing. “Hand it over, now.”
It’s clear he means business, and I start panicking. I lose my concentration, and the note—the same piece of paper we’ve been vomiting our feelings all over for the last twenty minutes—falls to the floor.
“Okay, then, I’ll just get it myself,” he says, willing the note to float over to him. “Whatever you’re writing about must be much more interesting than what I’m trying to teach you,” Mr. Orville continues. “Perhaps we should just read the note aloud to the class and let them decide?”
Okay, first of all, the obvious answer to that is what we’re writing is WAY more interesting.
Second? I despise this teacher tactic. It’s a completely unequal punishment for the crime. What he’s been writing on the board is obviously not private—I mean, it’s on the board!
DUH.
The fact that we have to pass notes signifies that whatever we’re writing about can’t be said out loud. Embarrassing us by reading our innermost thoughts and feelings in front of other students is just plain cruel.
I’m so annoyed right now I could scream! Cecily and I were having a serious conversation in that letter. We’ve been fighting for four days! Four days! We needed to vent.
“AHHHH!” Mr. Orville screams suddenly, and I’m yanked out of my melodramatic inner freak-out session. “Fire! Fire!”
The note. Is on. FIRE.
I literally made the note go up in flames. IN HIS HANDS!!
No one knows what to do. Under normal, non-afterlife circumstances, we would all be rushed to the nearest exit and counted off like sheep. But since this is the Spirit World and everything, we all just sit here awaiting further instruction. Or ignoring it altogether. I mean, I’m pretty sure fire isn’t all that deadly to ghosts.
Ha.
Cecily looks at me and mouths, “I’m sorry.”
I smile back at her. “Me too.”
Mr. Orville puts the fire out, and everything goes back to normal.
Finally.
* * *
School is out and the Limbos first meeting is happening in, like, three minutes. Cecily doesn’t have cheer practice today, so she’s coming to watch! It’s such a relief to have the Cecily fight over with. I feel like a totally new ghost.
But, like, in a good way.
I look down the list of twelve people who signed up, and I’m surprised to see Miles and Oliver Rennert on the list. I didn’t notice those names the last time I checked.
This can’t be right.
“Uh, Cecily, is this who I think it is?”
“Miles and Oliver Rennert,” she reads. “Yup, I think it is. Miles has a younger brother named Oliver, I’m pretty sure.”
“Miles can’t be a dancer. It’s like, just, impossible.”
“Well, I think you’re about to find out exactly how possible it is.”
It’s four on the dot, and people start filing into the gym. Sure enough, there’s Miles and a kid who I assume is Oliver walking next to him. Miles makes his way over to me.
“Hey, stranger,” he says.
“Hey yourself,” I reply. Okay, I’m not even trying to be cutesy, but my words sound SUPER flirty. How does THAT happen?! “So, what brings you to the Limbos?”
“Moral support?” he says. “My little brother is an awesome dancer, but he has this feeling he’s going to be the only guy—so I decided to come with him and see what’s up.”
Uh, hello, is he kidding right now? Could he be any sweeter?
“Wow, that’s very big brother-y and protective of you,” I say.
Just then Ms. Tilly appears by my side, and it’s time to get started.
“Okay, thank you all for being here!” I say, enthusiastically. “I’m really excited to have our first official Limbos meeting. As you probably know, Ms. Tilly is here to advise us. She used to be a professional ballroom dancer! Which is super cool, and means we’re in excellent hands. My whole reason for starting this club is that I love to dance, and I think it’s a great way to have fun while learning the value of hard work, and it’s also a great way to make friends and feel like you’re part of a community. So, I want us all to feel that way. That this club is our community. I’m the captain, but I’m going to do my best to listen to everyone and try to make everyone happy. We can decide where and what we perform, and what our costumes and sets are going to look like—everything—together, as a group. My goal is that we’ll be able to perform at the Spring Fling Carnival at the end of the year. This is all brand-new to me, so please just remember that and cut me some slack if—when—I mess up. I’m totally open to suggestions. How does that sound?”
Everyone nods and smiles.
“Okay, great. So, let’s sit in a circle and take some time to go around the room and get to know one another. Say your name, what year you’re in, what kind of dance you like the best—or you’re most comfortable with—and then tell us why you signed up and what you want the club to do.”
It takes us about a half an hour to get all the way around the circle, and when we’re done I put some music on and we do some freestyle dancing. People are allowed to do whatever they want, by themselves or in a group. It’s awesome to see people collaborating on new things. Girls who don’t even hang out during the school day are choreographing things together and having a blast being creative. Everyone is smiling.
Even Miles.
Except that he’s not actually partaking in anything; he’s just sitting on the side of the stage watching.
“What’s this?”
I say, sneaking up next to him. “Not participating?”
“Like I said, I’m only here for moral support. But if you need a mean break-dancer, I’m your guy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say. Then I look over at Oliver, who’s in a group with four other girls doing a jazz routine, spinning them each around like he’s the king of the dance floor and they’re his marionettes. “I think Oliver is gonna be just fine here. He seems to be fitting in swimmingly.”
“Well, if you ever need to be lifted or thrown, just give me a call,” he says with a smirk, then gets up to leave.
“Good to know.”
Uhm, what just happened? Is he flirting with me? No, he can’t be. I’m just hallucinating or something.
(Right?!)
“Lucy, come over here!” Oliver calls out. “We want to show you something!”
I go over to join him, and he introduces me to his group: Allie Kit, Lara Briar, Sasha Kats, and Ryan Hawking. “Come dance with us! We need a sixth.”
For the rest of the time, I work on the routine with them. It was so freeing! And after the week I’ve had? I needed some serious release of pent-up energy. Also, Oliver is an insane dancer and a really strong partner, too.
This? Is gonna be amazing.
Before I know it, five thirty rolls around and it’s time to go. I thank everyone for coming. “The meeting on Friday will be more organized, I promise!” I yell out as everyone heads to the locker rooms.
I’m gathering my stuff when I see Oliver walking toward me.
“So, my brother’s into you,” he says, smirking and swatting me playfully with his sweatshirt.
“Uhm, what?” I say, trying to act all nonchalant, but failing miserably.
Cecily joins us. “Hey, I’m Cecily,” she says, holding out her hand for him to shake.
“Oliver,” he says, shaking hers back. “So … Miles is into you. I know it, I can tell,” he continues, all gossipy-like. “It’s not like him to crush on someone so new and young, either …”
“Well that probably confirms the fact that he doesn’t actually like me,” I say.
“Uh, excuse me?” Oliver says, arguing with me. “Why do you think he showed up here today? It wasn’t to put on pair of tights and leap across the gym like the rest of us.”
“Wait, he said he came for moral support—because you were worried you’d be the only guy here.”
“Oh, please! Does it look like I have any problem with who I am? Being the only guy in a sea of girlfriends is, like, my life. He came here for you.”
“Miles Rennert is into Lou?” Cecily screeches.
“Shhh….” I say, nervously.
She covers her mouth automatically. “I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“Uhm, there’s, like, nobody here but us,” Oliver says. “And who’s Lou?”
“I’m Lou.”
“Wait, how do you know he’s into her?” Cece asks Oliver, all excited.
“I just know. Miles is my brother—I’m very in tune with his M.O. He, like, could not stop talking about those pictures you took of him with the band that night. And Miles is a guy’s guy, so he can pretty much stop talking about anything whenever he wants to.”
“Oooh, this is getting good!” Cecily says. “But wait, what about Colin?”
“What about Colin?” I say. “I thought we were going to be something, but it’s become pretty clear that we aren’t. He can’t seem to get over Georgia. She’s, like, got him micro-chipped or something.”
“Excuse my frankness,” Oliver says, “but, girl, you can do so much better. I mean, Colin Reed is cute and all, but he’s a child. Anyone who would date Georgia Sinclaire is in need of some serious growing up.”
“I love you,” I say jokingly to our new best friend.
“And why are you not in the Limbos?” Oliver reprimands Cecily, unprovoked. “I saw you in that ballet getup when you first got here. I know you can dance.”
“Because I’m on Cheer Squad and Georgia won’t let us do more than one sports club. Says we need to be available and healthy to cheer for our Limbo teams.”
“See? Total drama queen!” he says.
I burst out laughing.
“I didn’t say a thing to him, I swear!” I tell Cece, but she starts laughing, too.
“Girls, we have our work cut out for us,” Oliver says.
“You mean in the Limbos, or in the afterlife?” I ask, as if Oliver is some kind of oracle or psychic.
Just then Oliver’s Tabby goes off. “Oops, I got to go,” he says, heading toward the boys’ locker room. “I’ll see you on Friday! And wear more red—Miles loves red!”
“This was WAY more fun than cheer practice!” Cecily says, laughing. “And you really should wear more red.”
What in the world just happened? Someone please pinch me to make sure I’m still alive?!
Oh, wait.
Never mind.
“Let’s go do something fun!” Cecily says, as we exit the school after Limbos practice.
“Like what?” I say. “It is a school night. We can’t be out too late or we’ll get in trouble.”
“Who cares? We got the band back together! Team Lucily is back in full force. We have to celebrate.”
“Wow, Cecily Vanderberg doesn’t care if we get in trouble? Don’t you, like, break out in hives if you even think a teacher is disappointed in you?”
“Funny. And yes. But tonight, it’s a whole new me! I’m wild and free, baby.”
“Hmmm … okay, well … Oh, I know! Let’s go to the Ghostbuster’s Theater and see a movie. We’ll watch some horrible chick flick, get popcorn and candy, and totally do it up right.”
“Sold!”
On our walk to Death Row, I take the opportunity to grill Cece about Marcus.
“So … what’s going on with you two? How many times have you gone out?”
“Twice, but we haven’t actually been alone on, like, a real date yet. We were supposed to on Sunday, but then Georgia basically inserted herself into our date when she found out I was going to see him. She just wanted a reason to tag along to see Colin—oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, really. So, you’ve seen him twice … and?”
“He’s nice. And cute and sweet. He’s the worst chess player ever. And he tells horrible jokes, but on purpose. Like, he knows they’re bad, but does it anyway. I guess he’s not afraid to look silly. And I like that.”
“That’s awesome—you seem to really like him.”
“I think I do,” she says, sweetly, staring off into space.
“So, how did you two leave things on Sunday?”
“Well, we finally got away from Georgia and Colin, and he walked me back to our dorm.”
“And?”
“And … yes, okay, we kissed.”
“Yippee!” I scream and clap, annoyingly.
“Don’t get crazy, it was just one little, tiny kiss. But it was sweet. And he asked if I wanted to go with him to Georgia’s party on Saturday night.”
“That’s cool,” I say, unsure if this means she’s changed her mind about my show.
“I told him that I really wanted to go to your show, and he said he didn’t care where we went, as long as we were hanging out together.”
“Awww … that’s super cute!”
Cecily just smiles, but I wonder if she’s holding something back to be nice. After everything with Colin, I think she feels bad for me and doesn’t want to brag.
“You know how you said that it’s hard always being second best to me?” I ask her.
She looks down at her hands, and then says, “Yeah.”
“Well, you’re not always second best. When it comes to this kind of thing—to boys and dating and stuff—you definitely come in first.”
“Don’t say that!” she says, all concerned.
“No, it’s okay!” I reply, and it really is. “I’m not feeling bad about myself or anything. It’s just the truth. You’re better with guys. You’re more su
re of yourself, and you know how to do this whole dating thing. I’m awkward and emotional and I do weird things. And even things that I think are, like, sure things, get messed up. Like with Colin.”
“I knew you were upset about that,” she says.
“I’m not, not really. I mean, maybe I am a little bit. But it’s more just me wondering what I did wrong, you know?”
“Oh my god, you didn’t do anything wrong! He’s a big dodo head.”
“He’s a dodo head?” I ask, smirking.
“Yes. That’s what I said. And don’t laugh at me!” she says, cracking up and fake swatting me on the arm.
“Okay,” I say, smiling. “He’s a dodo head.”
“Well, he is. I mean, if Colin chooses Georgia over you, then he really isn’t good enough for you. I don’t care how cute he is. And if you don’t believe me, you have to believe Oliver. We’ve only known him for what, like, two hours? And even he said that you can do way better than Colin!”
“I think he was just saying that to get me to like Miles.”
“Uhm, who cares?! Miles is super cute and dreamy!”
We arrive at the theater and buy two tickets to the new romantic comedy Cupcakes and Co., about a cupcake chef and the cute guy who lives above her shop. It’s cheese at its absolute best—and I’m embarrassed I’m actually about to admit this but … I can’t wait.
Rom-Com forever.
The only thing I’m slightly upset about? We don’t have any cupcakes.
“I have been dying to see this movie!” Cecily squeals, excitedly.
“Okay, if I can predict what’s going to happen, dinner’s on you.”
“I thought this was dinner,” she says, nodding to our stash of M&M’S, Sno-Caps, Twizzlers, Sour Patch Kids, and medium-size popcorn.
“Not if you’re buying! Okay, so … First they hate each other, but then they fall in love. Then they have a HUGE fight, but just when we think all is lost they make up and get married and live happily ever after.”
“I did not agree to this bet,” she says, all pouty.
“Ha! Because you know I’m right.”
“Just watch the movie and try to be normal, please!”
Crushed Page 8
