“Not bad,” she said, lifting one shoulder.

Not bad was an understatement. Everyone loved the music, and the people-watching was a perfect distraction to keep me from obsessing about last night’s party. The one at Hammond’s. The one where none of my old friends had acknowledged my existence, David had gotten hazed, and Jake had ended up fooling around with some sophomore in the home theater.

Who was that girl? Was she his girlfriend or just some random hook-up? I glanced at Annie and thought about asking her. She, after all, knew all there was to know about the Cresties. She’d obviously know if Jake had a new girlfriend. But if I asked, she’d want to know why I cared, and that would open up a whole can of worms I did not want to deal with.

Someone stepped on my foot and muttered an apology, bringing me back to the now. My face burned even though no one here knew what I’d been thinking. So much for distraction. Controlled Chaos finished their song with a crash of drums and a peal from the guitar. Everyone in the packed basement cheered and whistled, lifting their cups.

“Whooo! Yeah, David!” I shouted, clapping my hands above my head.

“Thank you! We are Controlled Chaos!” David said into the microphone. Then he flung it on the ground, causing a loud wail of feedback, and loped out into the crowd. A few girls hugged him, and he slapped hands with some of his friends as he worked his way over to us.

“Hey, David! That was incredible!” I gushed.

He hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans, all casual. “Yeah. Thanks for coming.”

I blinked. This was not the excitable David I had come to know and was starting to like.

“Dude. Drop the rock-star act. You know you’re freaking out over all the groupies,” Annie said, shoving his shoulder.

David held his too-cool expression one second longer, then doubled over and snorted a laugh. “I know! Isn’t this insane?” he whispered to us. “That girl over there asked me to sign her bra!”

“Wow. Not bad for a first gig,” I joked as he leaned up against the wall next to me.

“Are you gonna do it?” Annie asked, taking a swig of her soda.

David’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding? She’s in my youth group at church. I think that would buy me a ticket directly to hell.” I laughed, and David studied me with narrowed eyes. “I’m glad you came.”

“Are you surprised?” I asked.

“No,” he said quickly, glancing at Annie. “Well, yeah. I mean, we just weren’t sure you would. Since it’s a Norm party and all.”

My throat tightened, and I looked down at my cup for a second. For days I had actually gone back and forth over whether or not to come. I hadn’t been to a party on this side of town since I was in Brownies, and I’d been worried that Annie’s friends wouldn’t want me here. But so far, no one had given me a second glance. Unlike the two Crestie parties I’d attended where I’d been just about as welcome as the Orchard Hill police.

“Well, the Cresties don’t exactly want me around anymore—”

“Oh, so you’re just here by default,” Annie said, an edge to her joking tone.

“No! It’s not that. I’m just saying . . .”

I looked around at the couple of dozen people milling around the basement. A few girls had whipped out an old Mouse Trap board game and were attempting to put it together. A couple of guys in the corner were firing up the ancient Xbox on the even more ancient TV. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and I felt relaxed. The way you’re supposed to feel at a party. Even though my old friends probably would have either laughed or heaved if they could see what constituted a party on this side of town.

“I’m having fun,” I said finally. “This is way better than any Crestie thing I’ve been to.”

Annie grinned. “Way better.”

“Oh, but come on!” David said sarcastically. “They have bars and pools and bathrooms with two sinks!”

“Ah, but the company here is of a much higher quality,” I said with a smile. “Norms are far cooler than Cresties.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Annie said, raising her plastic cup.

“I would too, but I don’t have anything to drink,” David added.

Annie and I laughed and clicked our cups together. “So, Ally, since you’re such a Norm now, do you want to come over tomorrow and help me and David with the Fall Festival? I’m in serious need of volunteers.”

Annie had mentioned the Fall Fest before. It was a fund-raiser she organized every year to raise money for the underfunded arts programs at school. Apparently most of our extracurricular cash went to the athletic teams.

“You should totally come,” David said. “She promised me free pizza.”

“Oh, well, if there’s free pizza, I’m in,” I said.

“There’s the most beautiful girl in the room!” Logan Pincus, the burly, curly-haired drummer from David’s band, came loping over and threw his arms around Annie, lifting her off the ground in a sideways bear hug. She rolled her eyes, and her whole body stiffened. David pressed his lips together as if to keep from laughing.

“Logan? Remember our chat about personal space?” Annie said.

He replaced her on the ground. “Right. Sorry.”

Annie took a step back as Logan shoved his huge hands under his arms. “So? What do you think? We rocked, right? Didn’t we rock?”

“Come on, Annie. You’ve gotta admit we rocked,” David said, rubbing his hands together.

The two guys exchanged a conspiratorial look, and I got the distinct feeling there was something going on here that I didn’t know about.

“I don’t know. I think we should ask Ally,” Annie said, looking at me pleadingly. “Ally? Do you think they rocked?”

I stared back at her. Clearly there was a right answer to this question, but I had no idea what it was. The two guys watched me expectantly. What was I going to say? That they didn’t rock their first gig?

“Um, yeah. They totally rocked,” I said.

Annie groaned, leaning backward. David and Logan bounced up and down so boisterously the bookshelves along the walls started to shake.

“We’re going to the Harvest Ba-all!” Logan sang, grabbing Annie and dancing her around. “We’re going to the Harvest Ba-all!”

“Thanks a lot!” Annie said to me, her head lolling around as Logan manhandled her.

“What just happened?” I asked David with a laugh.

“Logan’s been asking Annie to every dance for the past two years, and she always says no, but last week they made a deal that if we rocked our first gig, she’d go with him,” David explained. “You just sealed it.”

“Oh. Oops.” I bit my lip and smiled an apology as Logan twirled Annie past us toward the far wall. The other party-goers scrambled out of their way to keep from getting their toes crushed. “Sorry, Annie!”

“You’re going to make this up to me!” she shouted back. “Tomorrow you’re on glitter duty!”

“Glitter duty?” I asked David.

“She loves to have glittery signs for the Harvest Fest but hates dealing with glitter,” he replied. He looped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “Aren’t you so glad we crashed your table on the first day of school?”

I rolled my eyes as he headed off to the bookshelf that was serving as a makeshift bar. Someone turned up the music, and a few of the freshmen girls started to dance with the other members of David’s band. As the party swelled around me, my heart fluttered with excitement. The truth was, I couldn’t have been happier that Annie and David had crashed my table that first day. And I was psyched that Annie had invited me over to hang out with her and David tomorrow. For the first time, I was starting to believe that I could make new friends in Orchard Hill. That I could have a life here.

A life that was Crestie free.

october

You guys! I think Jake Graydon is going to ask me to the Harvest Ball!