after they meet. Because when you're living with your stepmother, there is no happily ever after.

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Chapter Sixteen

I'd expected to arrive halfway through the first quarter if I was lucky, but when I yanked open the

door of the gym, the teams were still warming up. How was that possible? Looking up at the

clock just under the scoreboard, I saw that it said eight-thirty. So I was late. But so was the game.

I stood by the door watching as each player took a shot and then melted into the snaking line of

players forming and reforming below the basket. Fans cheered so wildly the gym literally shook.

Music blared out of the loudspeakers, and the room itself seemed to be sweating from all the

bodies crammed inside. I felt the heat and noise acting on me like an elixir. In less than a minute

I'd identified Connor--like magic, the second I saw him, he sank a perfect layup, and the crowd,

me included, went wild.

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It took forever to find Madison and Jessica, and then my chunky-heeled boots turned the climb

up to were they were sitting into an aerobics class. By the time I arrived at the sliver of space

they'd been able to save for me, I was panting as hard as the guys on the team. "Sorry I'm late," I said after I'd hugged them both hello. Then I looked down at the court just in time to see us lose

the tip.

Jessica waved away my apology. "Guess what?" she asked.

South Meadow was good. Really good. We'd barely managed to get the ball when they got it

back.

"Know what?" Jessica asked again.

I pointed at the clock. "Why'd the game start late?"

"I think their bus broke down or something," Madison said. I watched as the ref called Glen Lake for traveling.

"Aren't you going to ask what?" said Jessica.

"What what?" I asked. South Meadow made the foul shot, and I managed to take my eyes off the

court long enough to notice both Madison and Jessica were grinning from ear to ear. "What?" I

repeated.

"The prom committee's announcing the prom theme on Monday." Her smile broadened. "And

you know what else?"

"What?--The ref blew his whistle just as Jessica put her arm around my shoulder and leaned in to

whisper in my ear. Had he called another foul against Glen Lake? I

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couldn't see. "What three girls are the only sophomores who will be receiving invitations?"

Suddenly my mind was very much not on the game. "No!" I said, staring at her.

Jessica nodded. "Yes."

Now I started to smile, too. "Wait a sec," I said, rethinking what she'd said. "You don't know they're going to ask us."

Madison put her arm around my other shoulder and leaned into me, the three of us forming a

tight huddle. "Not only are they going to ask us," she said, "but I think they're going to ask us tonight."

"Tonight?" I repeated.

She and Jessica squeezed me, like they were making a Lucy sandwich. "Tonight," said Jessica.

Just then Connor got the ball, and the three of us leaped to our feet along with the rest of the

Glen Lake fans. I cheered until I was hoarse as Connor dribbled the ball toward the net, moving

so easily he didn't even need to fake out the people sent to guard him--his fluid body simply

swayed one way, then another, and suddenly there was only empty space where he'd been a

second before. Watching him sink the ball, I couldn't believe someone so confident and talented

had chosen me to be his girlfriend.

Still clapping, Jessica leaned into me. "There goes your prom date," she said.

"Stop," I said, hitting her on the shoulder. "Watch

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the game." But I couldn't help laughing and neither could she.

It was probably the only time anyone on our side of the gym laughed all night. By the third

quarter, the game, which everyone had predicted would be a close one, was proving to be

anything but. South Meadow--a team that seemed to have the ability to read one another's minds,

twelve giants who dwarfed even our tallest players--was unbeatable. No, not unbeatable--

untouchable. While they sank basket after basket, we barely scored, until eventually we were

behind by almost thirty points. Their coach started rotating in players who probably hadn't been

off the bench all season, letting the score get a little closer before sending back in a well-rested

starter or two. Our starters, meanwhile, were exhausted; they'd been running all night, but the

few times they were rotated out they couldn't sit still. I watched them pace back and forth along

the court, swigging water restlessly until they were sent back in. When the final buzzer rang and

South Meadow had won by fifteen, most of the guys on the Glen Lake bench were holding their

heads in their hands. A few were actually crying.

Even Madison and Jessica were crushed, though for a very different reason. "The guys are gonna

be so pissed," said Madison.

"Maybe we should go to the diner for a while," suggested Jessica. "You know, give them a

chance to wallow a little?"

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We decided that was a good idea, and while Madison called a cab to take us to Dan's Diner,

Jessica text-messaged Dave that we'd meet them at the party. When I took out my wallet to

check how much cash I had, I saw a corner of the postcard Sam had put on my locker. In the

midst of being so depressed, it was nice to remember the part of the evening that hadn't been a

complete disaster.

We didn't talk much at Dan's, and nobody uttered the word prom. We just sat over our fries and

Cokes, wondering how disappointed the guys were going to be, until finally Jessica decided we'd

waited long enough and she called a cab to take us to the no-victory party.

Even though I knew Connor was going to be totally bummed about losing, my heart couldn't stop

doing its little tap dance of excitement the whole ride. This was going to be my first official

high-school party. And it wasn't like I was going as some desperate, dorky freshman or even an

anonymous sophomore--I was going as Connor Pearson's girlfriend. Maybe the basketball team

was suffering the agony of defeat, but I couldn't help feeling the thrill of victory.

We turned off Cypress Avenue and started making our way through what was clearly a mega-

rich neighborhood, the kind where you can't even see the houses from the road. As we got closer

to Darren's, traffic suddenly became a problem--cars were parked on both sides of the street, and

our cab slowed to a crawl to make its way between the rows. We pulled up in front of a

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gigantic wrought-iron gate with an iron eagle perched on top of it, paid the driver, and joined the

river of people heading up the gravel driveway. Hovering on a rise above us was Darren's house,

the biggest home I'd ever seen outside of a movie set; it was as if a French Chateau had been

lifted off its foundation, flown across the Atlantic Ocean, and dropped, perfectly intact, onto the

North Shore of Long Island.

Inside the massive front door a group of guys was playing Nerf basketball; the foyer was so big

their game wasn't even disturbed by the crowds of people milling around. Madison, Jessica, and I

looked at each other. The entryway branched off in two directions, and Jessica held her hands out

like a pair of scales, standing like that until Madison tapped her right arm. We turned right,