“Oh, no!” Faith said. “There’s no sitting anything out on Guys Suck Day!”

She walked over to a cabinet on the far wall, opened it, and clicked on the stereo. A pounding dance beat filled the room, and Faith started to dance, kicking aside the throw pillows on the floor to make room. It was odd, watching her act so at-home in Annie’s house. I still couldn’t believe the two of them were actually ever best friends.

“Let’s go, Chloe. On your feet.” Faith took both Chloe’s hands and hauled her off the couch, almost tipping them both over from the effort.

“All right, all right!” Chloe said. She stepped from side to side carefully, and when Faith spun her around, she cracked a smile. “Hello? If I have to dance, you have to dance!” she shouted, pulling me into their circle.

“Fine,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Annie whipped out her Flip to tape us, and I found myself giggling nervously. As soon as the camera went on, Faith started hamming it up, rolling her shoulder back and kissy-facing the lens. Then Shannen joined us, half dancing, half posing for the camera.

Hmm. Perhaps Annie hadn’t invited them here for me, but so that she could film them doing embarrassing stuff she could use against them later.

“Oh, yeah! Work it, ladies! Work it!” Annie directed, climbing up on the couch to get an aerial view. Chloe and I cracked up laughing, more than happy to fade into the background as Faith and Shannen jockeyed for camera position.

“So where’s Will tonight?” I asked.

“He wanted to do something, but I said cheering you up was more important,” Chloe told me, tucking her brown hair behind her ears.

“Chloe! You didn’t have to do that!” I said.

“Whatever. We’ll go out for dinner tomorrow night,” Chloe said, lifting a shoulder. She reached around me for some chips and almost got her arm knocked off as Shannen attempted a twirl. “My dad says all the restaurants rob you blind on V-day anyway.”

Like Chloe had any sort of problems with money. But I guess Will was conscious of that stuff.

“Make love to the camera, girls. Make love!” Annie wheedled.

“Shannen! Get out of my dance space!” Faith whined, shoving Shannen aside.

“Don’t make me show them your bad side,” Shannen shot back.

Faith squealed and ducked her head as Shannen chased her around the room, Annie in hot and gleeful pursuit.

“This is actually kind of fun,” I commented, stuffing some more M&M’s in my mouth.

“Yeah. I’m not even thinking about all the things I don’t want to be thinking about,” Chloe replied as Shannen jostled her aside, trying to cut Faith off.

“Me neither,” I added.

Then we both just stopped. Because saying we weren’t thinking made us both start thinking.

“Let’s make Annie dance!” I suggested.

“Most definitely,” Chloe agreed.

We turned and grabbed Annie by the wrists, tugging her onto the makeshift dance floor as she screamed in protest. The rest of us made a circle around her, and Annie threw her hands up in surrender, probably experiencing her worst nightmare as the gooey center of a Crestie doughnut. I wrestled the camera away and turned it on her.

“Hey! This was your idea, remember?” I said with a laugh. “Dance, Goth Girl! Dance!”

“Okay, but you guys are so not prepared for the ferocity of my moves,” Annie said. And then she launched into a full-on lawn-sprinkler the likes of which I’ve never seen. Shannen tried to mimic it, badly, and before long all five of us were doubled over laughing, gasping for breath, and best of all, not thinking.

march

I can’t believe Ally and Jake actually broke up.

           What? You’ve been saying all year that they should break up.

I know, but they got this far. Like, why break up now?

Totally. She should’ve at least stuck it out till the prom.

OMG, I know. You don’t just give up the chance to go to the prom with Jake Graydon. I don’t care what he did.

Or who.

ally

“You girls look so beautiful!”

My mother took a step back to admire as Quinn and I stared at our reflections in the wall of mirrors in front of us. I had to say, for bridesmaids’ dresses, these were not half-bad. My mother had chosen basic, black, satin, strapless, tea-length dresses with a slim waist and an A-line skirt. There was no lace, no sequins, no tulle. Quinn looked pretty and slim, and I looked tall and sophisticated. It was a win-win.

“Are you sure you want black?” Quinn asked, turning to the side. “It’s kind of depressing for a wedding.”

“I’m going to brighten them up with some funky jewelry and maybe have you wear jewel-toned shoes,” my mother explained, reaching over to fluff my skirt.

Quinn frowned thoughtfully. “That could work.”

“Of course it’s gonna work,” I said, kind of nastily, I’ll admit. “It’s her wedding day. Anything she says will work.”

My mother shot me an admonishing look as Quinn raised her hands. “Okay, okay. Sor-ree!”

Quinn walked over to a pink velvet chair in the corner, sat down, and pulled out her phone. Probably texting someone about what an ass her soon-to-be stepsister was. Maybe even Hammond. In a disturbing new and somehow incestuous-feeling twist, the two of them were now officially a couple. He’d sent her two dozen red carnations in the Valentine’s Day flower sale fund-raiser, and she’d spent the rest of the day telling everyone who would listen that she now had a senior boyfriend. Last night I’d caught them making out on the couch in the living room and I’d almost lost my dinner.

“Honey?” my mom asked, smoothing my hair. “Are you okay?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” I asked, heading to another pink chair on the opposite side of the huge dressing room. When I dropped down, the skirt poofed up against the armrests like a black cloud. Classical violin music played through the speakers overhead, and the whole room smelled of lilacs and roses. I wondered if the people who worked here ever felt like they were going to OD on romance. “I’m fine, okay? I broke up with him. And it was, like, a month ago already.”

Actually, it had been three weeks and one day. A torturous three weeks and one day. Three weeks and a day of Jake walking past me in the halls without so much as a glance. Of watching him flirt with every underclassman blessed with two X chromosomes. A month of second-guessing myself, of thinking he looked happier without me, of wondering if I had somehow been the problem. So no, I was not okay. But it had been long enough that I felt like I should have been by now, so I kept pretending I was.

“I have an idea,” my mother said, perching on a stool next to the chair. “How about tonight you and I go out to dinner? Just the two of us?”

“Really?” I said, brightening slightly.

“Yeah. You pick the restaurant. Anywhere you want.”

I smiled. I knew she was busy with work and wedding planning and everything, so the offer meant a lot.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Aw, sweetie.” She kissed my temple and gave me a quick squeeze. “Everything’s gonna be okay. You’ll see.”

My phone rang, and the seamstress returned to the dressing room with her clipboard. My mom got up and I grabbed my phone to answer it. Annie’s tongue stuck out at me from the screen.

“Hey,” I said, smoothing my skirt out. “What’s up?”

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Annie said.

My already-tentative smile died. I sat up straight. “What?”

“The Evites to Jake’s birthday party just went out,” Annie said grimly. “He invited every single person in the entire senior class and half the juniors. I even got one.”

I swallowed hard. “Everyone except me.”

“Everyone except you, Chloe, and Will.”

I drooped back in my chair and stared. I didn’t even know what to feel. For the millionth time in the past month, my vision blurred. I picked at a string sticking out of the cushioned part of the armrest as the store’s soundtrack flipped to the classic wedding march.