Studying Boys

by Stephanie Rowe

  Oh, God.

  I was never going to be able to do this.

  But I had to. This was my big chance to get Theo to notice me. If he saw how smart I was, then maybe he'd realize I wasn't some kid who needed baby-sitting. Yeah, that's right. If I was running this whole thing, then he'd realize I was an adult and worthy of him.

  So, all I needed to do was go down there, act totally cool, and ask him to come to The Homework Club and bring all his friends.

  No problem.

  As long as I didn't pass out on the way down there.

  Chapter Four

  I made it down the stairs without falling and breaking my neck. Unfortunately.

  Followed Blue into the dining room.

  Sat down next to Theo.

  Stared at my strange-looking pastry thing and wished I was anywhere but there.

  The conversation started with a casual discussion of Theo's lacrosse team and how they were the favorites to win the state champs even though it was only the end of March.

  Then Blue kicked me under the table so hard I choked on my dessert. Spit it all over my plate, in fact. A little bit of my chewed-up pastry landed on the edge of Theo's plate.

  Great. Nothing like wanting to die.

  He stared at my regurgitated dessert like it was going to jump off the plate and attack him.

  "Sorry," I muttered, using my napkin to clean up the mess.

  No way could I ask him now. No way!

  "Frances," Blue said, with a tone that said she was going to bring it up if I didn't.

  I glared at Blue. "Shut up."

  "Now, Frances, you know we don't allow that kind of talk in this house," Blue's mom said.

  Yeah, yeah. But this was a special circumstance. I had to stop my friend from forcing the ultimate humiliation on me.

  Blue eyed me for a second, and I realized she wasn't going to be stopped. I hadn't even gotten my chair pushed back to bolt out of the room before she said, "Theo. Frances has something she needs to ask you."

  The entire table turned to look at me. Theo included. With his bright blue eyes, black hair and ratty T-shirt. "What do you need, Frances?"

  "Nothing," I muttered, pushing back my chair. '"I have to leave. I have homework to do."

  "She wants you to join The Homework Club," Blue said calmly, as if she weren't destroying my world.

  Theo laughed. Actually, he snorted. With derision. He snorted with derision at the thought of joining my Homework Club.

  Excellent. My humiliation was complete.

  "I think that's a great idea," Mrs. Waller said, to which Theo promptly snorted again and drank his purified water.

  No reply necessary, apparently.

  "Why do you want Theo to join?" Mr. Waller asked me. "He's not exactly studious." He shot Theo a sharp look that told him exactly what he thought of Theo's study habits.

  Blue folded her arms across her chest and blinked at me.

  She wasn't going to bail me out.

  I hate you, I mouthed to her. She shrugged and smiled.

  "Frances? Why do you want Theo to help?"

  I stole a look to my right, and Theo had stopped eating and was watching me. OMG. Like I'm supposed to be able to talk with him watching me?

  Look at Mr. Waller. Right. I turned away from Theo and focused on his dad. "We're not really having a lot of success with people attending The Homework Club." I rushed on before Theo could make another derogatory remark about it. "So we need someone popular to come. Someone who other kids follow. Someone who will make The Homework Club cool."

  Theo eyed Blue. "Colin refused, huh?"'

  She shrugged. "He said he'd come, but no friends."

  "What about Louisa?" Theo asked.

  "She said no," I said. "But I'm sure she'd come if you came." Yuck. How pathetic did that sound? Begging. Telling Theo how everyone did whatever he wanted. I shouldn't be feeding his ego!

  Oh, who was I kidding?

  I was desperate.

  I had no social skills.

  Theo already thought of me as someone who needed babysitting.

  Any chance for pride was already long gone. I was long past pathetic. All I had left was the chance to succeed at The Homework Club, because any chance to win Theo was completely destroyed. But I had my pride and I wouldn't let myself fail at The Homework Club. So I turned to Theo and faced him straight up. "Listen, Theo. I need this to be successful because I have to write an article on it. I don't know anyone else who can help. I need you to come and bring friends. Make it cool. Make it work."

  Okay, so it sounded like I couldn't do it without him. Well, it was true, wasn't it? But man, it really hit my gut to have to admit I needed him. A guy! Where was all the girl power my stupid all-girls school always preached? Nowhere!

  Theo gave me sort of a half smile. "Sorry, Frances. I can't help you out."

  At least he didn't snort at me. So I could crawl back into my shell with some semblance of pride.

  "Theo." Uh, oh. Dad Waller looked serious.

  Theo's grin faded at he looked at his dad. "What?"

  "Help out the girls."

  His jaw jutted out and he folded his arms over his chest. "Dad. I have practice."

  "I'm sure they'll schedule around it."

  "But it's a homework club." He didn't add further explanation, as if the mere title of it spoke for itself. Which, I guess it kind of would if you were Theo Waller.

  "Exactly. Your grades need it, and you need to help out the girls. It's about family, Theo," his dad said.

  Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted, for Theo to think of me as family. What kind of lustful dreams would he have about family?

  Theo put his fork down and glared at his dad. "I'm not going to a Homework Club, and I'm not dragging my friends."

  "Then no lacrosse."

  Oh, wow. This wasn't good. Theo was going to hate me.

  Theo glanced at his mom, who nodded. Of course she'd nod. Blue's parents always stood by each other.

  Then Theo glared at Blue.

  Didn't even look at me.

  He just got up from the table and left.

  Okay, then. That went well. Theo would be banging down my door with declarations of love in no time. Either that or he'd be coming after me with a pickaxe.

  Blue's dad grinned at me, looking very pleased with himself. "There you go. Theo's on board. Just give him the time and date and how many friends you want, and he'll be there."

  This was exactly how I'd envisioned finally getting Theo to notice me. Not.

  * * *

  Monday night. Ten past seven. At Allie's house. Waiting for The Homework Club attendees, who were already ten minutes late.

  I looked at my friends, who were munching popcorn and watching television. How could they be so relaxed? Didn't they realize what a big deal this was?

  We'd started an hour later so Theo could come after practice. With his friends.

  But it was ten minutes after with no Theo.

  Not even George had come.

  I walked into the living room and stood in the doorway. "This isn't working."

  Allie looked up. "They'll come. Boys like Theo need to be fashionably late."

  "Late? For a homework club?" That made no sense. This wasn't a party. This was like study hall.

  "Chill, Frances," Allie said. "Have some popcorn."

  "No."

  I walked back to the front of the house, and tried not to think about lying to my parents tonight. I'd told them Allie and I were doing a research project together on the Bolshevik Revolution, so we'd be working together a lot over the next two months.

  Liar! I was a liar!!

  I felt sick.

  Then the doorbell rang.

  And I felt more sick.

  But I walked over to it and opened it. "Hi George."

  George gave me a shy sort of smile and held out a plate of brownies. "My mom thought you might want food for tonight."

  "Thanks." I peered past George. Just his mom waving
at me from the front of her station wagon. I waved back, then shut the door.

  "So, just you and me?" George looked sort of pleased. "Into the living room?"

  "Um, no. My friends are watching television. How about we go to the kitchen and do math, or the den and do English?"

  "How about math?"

  "Sounds good." I sighed and led the way back to the kitchen, walking past the television set. "Maybe you guys should be studying."

  "Not without the boys," Allie said.

  I glanced at Blue. "Where's Colin? I thought he was coming tonight."

  "He'll be here."

  Right. The fashionably late thing again. What was up with boys? Why'd they have to be late for everything? What was wrong with being on time?

  At least George was here, with his red hair and glasses. George was my type.

  We sat down at the kitchen table and pulled out our books, and I soon learned that the right boy could make math interesting. He was funny, thought up cool examples for explaining things, and he loved talking math. How could I not have fun doing math when I was laughing the whole time? Plus I was learning! How awesome was that?

  It was so great to finally meet someone who was as dedicated to homework as I was. He didn't make me feel strange for being into school because he felt the same way! Made me realize how much I missed that kind of respect from everyone else in my life—except of course my parents, who were psycho, so they didn't count.

  About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. George's mom already?

  "I'll get it," Blue shouted.

  Right. Colin. As if he'd do any studying. He'd be mooning over Blue.

  This Homework Club was a total and utter failure.

  For everyone else. For me, at least, I had a study partner, right? So it wasn't a total loss?

  I heard a loud crash from the front of the house, and then a bunch of shouting and then loud music started cranking. What was going on?

  "Hang on a sec." I barely looked at George before I jumped up and ran to the front of the house, slamming to a stop as soon as I rounded the comer.

  There had to have been at least forty kids there. Boys, girls, all of them older. I didn't know anyone.

  Then I saw Theo in the corner. Theo! He'd come through! I would love him forever.

  Then he turned around and I saw he'd been leaning over the CD player. He was the one cranking out the music?

  "Who wants to dance?" he shouted.

  At least six giggly girls in obscenely tight outfits rushed over to his side, grabbing his arms and hands to drag him into the middle of the room, where they all started dancing around him.

  You have got to be kidding.

  Then more boys and girls joined in, and I could actually feel the floor shaking.

  I heard the sound of liquid exploding, and turned to my right in time to see soda spray all over some guy, while a girl I didn't know opened one of six boxes of pizza and started handing out food.

  And in the corner a couple was going at it in the big armchair.

  I didn't even know how to respond.

  I felt a tap on my shoulder and I spun around. "What?"

  It was George. "What's going on?"

  "I have no idea." Except that Theo was a total scum who was going to pay.

  "I can't study with this music," George complained

  "Me neither." And neither could all these other kids.

  "Who are all these people?" George sounded more than a little put out, and I couldn't blame him. He'd come to study and gotten some wild party.

  "I don't know."

  There was Allie, draped over some guy on the "dance floor." Blue was snuggled on the couch with Colin, cheering Allie on, and Natalie was sitting next to Blue, looking a little uncomfortable.

  "Fix this, or I'm leaving," George said.

  Fix it? How was I supposed to fix it? March up to a bunch of seniors and tell them to shut up? I was a freshman. They'd never listen to me. Ever. "You fix it," I snapped.

  George looked at me. "I'm not the one in charge."

  Yeah, right. He was just as afraid of all of them as I was.

  But I had to do something. This was worse than having no one. This was proving that The Homework Club would never work, which meant that the proposal to comingle the two schools wouldn't pass, and it would all be my fault.

  My heart was racing and the music was pounding in my ears. Theo was slow dancing with some girl who had her hands in the back pockets of his jeans. Disgusting. Slut. What kind of girl would do that?

  Not that I cared who Theo was with. At least, not at the moment. My life was falling apart.

  "I'm calling my mom." George walked back into the kitchen, leaving me with a bunch of gyrating seniors, blasting music and food. And I didn't see one textbook anywhere.

  That was it. I was getting help.

  I made my way across the room, dodging bodies and shrieking girls, and stopped in front of Colin, Blue and Natalie. "You guys have to help me!"

  Natalie's eyes widened. "How?"

  "Make them study." I looked at Colin. Blue and Natalie would have no more influence than I did. Only a peer would have any influence over these seniors. "Colin, please."

  He looked apologetic. "Sorry, Frances. These aren't my friends. They aren't going to listen to me."

  "Of course they will! You're cool!"

  He looked a little embarrassed by my shouted accolades of his character. At least there was one guy who didn't thrive on being adored. "They're Theo's friends."

  "Then talk to Theo!"

  Colin eyed me. "Why don't you talk to him?"

  I turned and looked at Theo, who now had two girls hanging on him while they danced. Yeah, right. As if there was any chance I was walking up there. "Please, Colin. Please."

  Blue elbowed him. "Just go talk to him."

  Colin rolled his eyes, but he got to his feet and walked over to Theo. I collapsed next to Blue. "You have a good boyfriend."

  Blue just smiled and looked happy. Great. I was so pleased for her. Well, I was sort of happy for her. But also it was a pain. She was different than the rest of us, with her boyfriend. And maybe I was a little jealous. Not a lot. But maybe a little. Not that I wanted Colin, but would it be so bad to have a nice guy actually think I was worth something and do favors for me?

  Colin caught Theo's arm. He simply reached between those squirming female bodies and grabbed him. Yeah, as if I could've done that.

  Theo disentangled himself from the girls and stepped aside, his head bent in conversation with Colin. How cute did he look, listening to Colin? It was obvious he respected Colin, with the way he nodded. It wasn't the kind of look he ever gave me. My look was more along the lines of, "Shouldn't you be in bed by now? It's past seven o'clock."

  Colin nodded, Theo slapped him on the back and they parted ways. Theo went back to his girls and Colin walked over to us. "Sorry, Frances. He's not interested."

  "In what?"

  "Studying." Colin sat down next to me, since I'd taken his spot next to Blue. "He said he was forced to attend but that doesn't mean he has to work."

  I narrowed my eyes and tried to incinerate Theo with my gaze. No such luck. "Is that really what he said?"

  "Yeah. He said he promised his friends a fun party with no parents and that's what he's going to give them."

  What a total jerk. I watched a girl grab Theo's butt, and I wanted to run over and rip all her stupid blond hair out. I mean, I wanted to go over and staple Theo to the wall so I could scream at him for an hour about what a selfish ingrate he was.

  "Sorry," Colin said. "I tried."

  "It's okay." Blue reached around me and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks for going over there. Theo's kind of an idiot, so don't worry about it."

  Yuck. I wasn't in the mood to be in the middle of some sort of mushy love stuff.

  I stood up and stalked across the dance floor, bumping into three flailing couples and shooting them all evil looks. Not that they cared or noticed. Ye
s, I felt invisible.

  George was just opening the front door when I passed through the front hall. "You're leaving?"

  "Yeah." He looked around. "This isn't my scene."

  "Mine either."

  He sort of eyed me. "Why don't you come with me? My mom can drop us off at the library and then she can give you a ride home."

  Oh, wow. Was he like asking me out on a date? Suddenly, I had goose bumps going all down my arms and my brain stopped.

  "Frances?" He peered at me. "Did you hear me?"

  I had no idea what to say. I mean, this was my first date invitation ever. I couldn't go on it without preparation! Not that George was this super cool senior or anything, but he was a guy!

  "I really should stay," I said slowly. "I'm supposed to be running this thing."

  "Oh, right. Sure. No problem."

  At that moment, some girl came running through the front hall, shrieking about something. She slammed into me, apologized, and then kept on going into the other room.

  Who was I kidding? This sucked. "Let me get my books."

  * * *

  That night, I couldn't sleep.

  It was three in the morning, and I still hadn't slept.

  I'd bailed from The Homework Club seven and a half hours ago, had a great study session with George, gotten home with my parents totally oblivious, snagged some chocolate cake, and I was still so angry at Theo I felt like I was going to explode.

  How dare he ruin everything for me? Didn't he care how important this was to me? And not just to me, to the kids at both schools. So many people were counting on this, even if they didn't know it, and he'd waltzed in there and made it a total disaster.

  I couldn't even think of enough bad words to call him.

  He was so not worthy of my love.

  He wasn't even worthy of my hatred.

  Or perhaps he was.

  Yes, he definitely was.

  I stared at the ceiling and imagined locking Theo in my basement and beating him with English books, math books, history papers. Everything I could think of until he finally realized that my life was important.

  Argh!

  I pulled my pillow over my face and screamed.

  I couldn't make The Homework Club work. Not by myself. Not with anyone's help. I had to e-mail Mr. Walker and tell him I sucked and couldn't do it. Might as well do it now. Get it over with.