She's So Dead to Us (29 page)

“Sorry. Is this a bad time?” Jake asked.

A bad time? Was he kidding? What the hell was he even doing here? The last time I’d spoken to him I’d taken off on my bike near tears. What about that encounter screamed, “How about you crash my birthday party?”

“No! Of course not!” my mother said brightly. I wondered how she was going to explain our random outburst to Gray later. And why was she being so nice to Jake? But then, I hadn’t told her about the prom thing. I’d just acted like going with Marshall as friends was all I’d ever wanted, because the truth was too humiliating. “Come on in, Jake.”

Jake’s face was all hopeful. Like, for a second he forgot to act cool. And I kind of liked that. He was wearing a light blue crew-neck sweater and jeans, looking way too handsome for words. There was a small, wrapped box in his hand with a yellow bow on it.

“Actually, I can’t stay,” he said. “I remembered it was your birthday, and I . . .” He looked down at the present, then thrust it at me awkwardly. “Here.”

I took the gift in both hands, at a loss.

“Well? Open it!” Annie said.

“It’s okay if you want to wait,” Jake said.

Of course that made me want to open it right away. I yanked the paper off, and inside was a maroon velvet box. Maybe he was trying to bribe me with diamond earrings. Get me to forgive him by dropping his father’s cash on jewels. He was a Crestie, after all. I pried the box open, planning all the witty, sarcastic things I would say when I shoved the contents back in his face.

My jaw dropped. Nestled inside the box was my championship ring. The one I should have been awarded my freshman year. It had a burgundy stone in the middle with
ORCHARD HILL HIGH SCHOOL
etched in an oval around it. One side was decorated with a tiny basketball with my first name stamped above it. The other side had the year and the inscription
JV CHAMPS
.

“Ohmigod,” I breathed.

“What is it?” Quinn asked, standing on her toes to try to see.

Gray was filming over my shoulder. I shrugged away from him, toward Jake. “It’s my championship ring,” I said. “Where did you get this?”

“They still had it in the sports supply closet,” he said with a shrug. “It’s no big deal.”

But his face was all blotchy, and I could tell he was trying not to smile over his job well done. I dislodged the ring from the slot and put it on. It fit perfectly. My chest filled with ten thousand different emotions. He’d remembered. That conversation we’d had all those months ago. He’d remembered, and he’d found my ring for me.

“Jake, this is—”

“It’s nothing,” he said. “You should have had it then. I just . . . got it to you.” He looked around at my hovering guests and ducked his head toward mine. “Can I talk to you for a sec? Alone?”

My heart pounded in my ears. “Um, sure.” I looked at my mom. “I’ll be right back.”

We went outside. He held the door open and everything. I was trying to figure out what I was supposed to say, when he just started talking.

“I’m sorry. About the prom,” he said, looking at his feet. “I shouldn’t have asked that girl.”

“It’s okay,” I heard myself say. It wasn’t okay, but it was one of those moments where it felt like it was, because this moment was so good.

“Did you . . . I mean, are you . . . with Marshall Moss?” he asked awkwardly.

I scoffed, toying with my ring. “Marshall? No. We just went as friends.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Really.” I was grinning from ear to ear.

“So, then . . . you wouldn’t want to . . . I mean, would you maybe want to, I don’t know, go to the movies or something?” he asked.

Somehow my grin widened. I knew he was thinking about that day in the car when I’d been talking about actually going out in public. “A movie would be cool.”

“Yeah?” he said hopefully. Happily.

His smile was huge. My heart was floating.

“Yeah.”

He reached out and took my hand. “Happy birthday, Ally.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I think it kind of is.”

The Monday morning after my first official date with Jake, I basically air walked into school. He’d held my hand throughout the entire movie, even when his arm went dead on the armrest. (He spent ten minutes afterward surreptitiously trying to shake out the pins and needles.) I figured that when the movie was over he’d drive us right up to the lake again, but he didn’t. We grabbed some ice cream at Scoops and walked around town for a while, and then he’d driven me home and kissed me at the door.

Which was so delicious it just made me wish we had gone up to the lake. But there was time for that. We were together now. And we both had our licenses. We could go to the lake whenever we wanted. A thrill went through my body at the very thought. Me and Jake. Together.

I was still grinning when I came around the corner into my locker hallway, but my smile quickly died. Shannen and Chloe were waiting for me.

Okay. This meant one of two things. Either they had heard about my date with Jake and were here to tell me to back off, get a life, and find a Norm boyfriend. Or they’d heard about my date with Jake and were here to surrender. I honestly didn’t know which it would be, but I lifted my chin and walked right by them, pretending not to care.

“Here to invite me to another nonexistent party?” I asked, turning my back to them as I spun my lock.

“Sort of,” Shannen said.

“Not exactly,” Chloe corrected.

“Here.”

Shannen shoved a thick square black envelope in front of my face. It was tied with a silver grosgrain bow. Intriguing.

“What’s that?” I asked, popping open my locker.

“It’s an invitation to my birthday party,” she said.

“It’s a party, but we promise it exists,” Chloe said, moving into my line of sight by leaning back against the locker next to mine. She plucked the envelope from Shannen’s hand and held it out to me. “And we also promise it’s being held exactly where the invitation says it’s being held.”

My stupid heart all but stopped. An invitation to Shannen’s birthday was huge. Her mom threw the sickest parties this side of Manhattan, and Shannen only ever invited her one hundred closest friends. The parties were so legendary, she’d had to have bouncers outside the country club for her thirteenth and had hired more for her fourteenth after some sixth graders had managed to sneak in through a kitchen window. People cried over not getting invited to Shannen’s birthday. They had their moms call her mom and beg.

And here was an invitation all for me. I tore my eyes away from it and yanked my chem book out of my locker.

“No, thanks.”

“What? Everyone wants one of those,” Shannen said, incredulous.

“Call me crazy, but I don’t,” I said, turning to face her. “Not from you.”

Shannen sighed and took the envelope back from Chloe. They exchanged a patient look that made me want to stomp on both their toes and run. What would they do if I actually tried?

“If this is about the going away party, I told you. That was Faith’s idea,” Shannen said slowly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“And we didn’t know the cops were going to be there. I swear,” Chloe said, her green eyes serious.

I believed that Chloe didn’t know about the cops. If she had, she would have stopped it. The girl knew when to draw the line. She understood the difference between what was right and what was wrong. Shannen, however, had known. She was probably the one who had called them. For her it wasn’t about right or wrong. It was always about how much she could get away with.

“Ally, look . . . we know about you and Jake,” Shannen said, looking at the floor briefly. She tossed her bangs out of her face as she met my eyes again. “If you’re going to be with him . . .”

“Then you’re going to be with us,” Chloe finished.

I looked from one face to the other. Chloe seemed so sincere. Almost hopeful. It always seemed to be this way with her. Like she wanted things to be different. Like she felt bad about the way the other Cresties were treating me. But Shannen was a different story. She’d been messing with me from day one.

“Just like that,” I said, looking at Shannen. “One date with Jake and all of a sudden you want to hang out with me.”

Shannen lifted her shoulders. “He’s my best friend.”

I felt like a knife had just twisted inside my chest. I was her best friend not that long ago. She should have been doing this for me, but instead, I was the outsider—the one being grudgingly brought in to the group by association.

Jake held some serious power around here, and he didn’t even know it.

“So. Will you come?” Shannen asked, holding out the envelope again.

“I’ll think about it,” I said, snatching the invite and shoving it into my bag.

Shannen scowled. She wasn’t used to being turned down or put off. “Well, think fast. I need to do table arrangements by the end of the week, and my table is, obviously, the most important. So if you want to sit with Jake, I need to know you’re coming ASAP.”

Sitting with Jake. The thought sent a thrill through my heart. Okay. I had to think about this for a second. Shannen’s party was an event we could actually go to together. It might even make up for the whole prom fiasco. The image of Jake arriving at my door to pick me up, wearing some stunning suit, looking all coiffed, was insanely alluring. All I wanted was to be with him, and this was another chance to do that. Besides, if they really cared that much about Jake, they wouldn’t mess with me—his date—while he was standing right there. Right?

“Okay,” I said, closing the flap on my bag and snapping it shut. “I’ll come.”

Shannen smiled. “Good.”

Chloe actually hugged me. “We’re going to have so much fun!”

“Yeah. Definitely.”

I forced myself to smile back and hoped for the best. But if this invite turned out to be some kind of joke, all bets—and bluffs—were off.

Ally looked amazing. She was wearing this short black dress with skinny straps and a colorful sash thing right under the chest that tied in a bow in the back. And her hair was up with that curl grazing her neck. At some point tonight I was going to push that curl back and kiss that part of her neck. I was practically salivating at the thought of it.

“I like you in a suit,” Ally said, looking me up and down. I’d bought a new light-and-dark-blue striped tie for the occasion.

“Thanks. I like you in a dress,” I replied.

She blushed and looked down at her knees. “Thanks.”

We were standing right outside the open double doors to the country club’s main ballroom. Inside the music was pumping. A couple of girls walked by us, coming back from the bathroom, and shot us odd looks. I didn’t remotely care.

Ever since Shannen had told me she was inviting Ally, I’d been wondering why. Was it some kind of apology? Or was she trying to say she was going to accept her now that we were together? But tonight, I didn’t care. I was just happy that Ally was here.

“Hi, hon! Hello, Jake.”

Ally’s mother came up behind us with Dr. Nathanson. Both of them were all dressed up. Shannen’s mom had invited a few of her own friends, too, including Mrs. Ryan. We said hello, and Ally gave her mom a serious look.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Ally asked her.

My heart gave a thump. I knew she was referring to that Sunday dinner when my mom had helped humiliate hers.

“Ally, we went over this. Danielle invited me, and she has been a good friend,” Ally’s mother said. “I’ve decided to just . . . rise above.” She shook her hair back and smiled.

“Okay,” Ally said. “We’ll see you in there.” Ally took a breath and stared through the doors after her mom and Dr. Nathanson. The room was dimly lit, strobe lights flashing, dozens of heads bobbing around in a sorry excuse for dancing. Over the music it was all screeches, squeals, laughter.

“So. You ready for this?” she asked.

I reached for her hand. It fit perfectly inside mine. “Ready.”

She grinned, and we walked inside. Together. Over our heads was a huge arc of black, pink, and silver balloons. The party had a fifties theme, which was Shannen’s mother’s idea. Vintage record albums dangled from the ceiling, there was a huge, illuminated jukebox behind the DJ, and all the waiters and waitresses were dressed in leather jackets or poodle skirts.