Home Sweet Drama (13 page)

CAN'T LET THE NIGHT GO UP IN FLAMES

PAIGE AND I WALKED TO THE BACK OF THE campus, near the spot at the woods where I'd ridden the new cross-country course.

“You look nervous,” Paige said. “Don't be. It'll be okay. Really. The nominees
have
to be there, but at least you all don't have to do anything together.”

“But the odds of us all running into each other are ridiculous,” I said. “You know I'll see
someone.
”

Paige touched my arm. “Don't worry. Even if you do, just walk away. It doesn't have to turn into a thing.”

That made my head jerk back a little. Did Paige think I always turned social events into “things?”

“I don't want it to turn into anything. I just want to be there until I can leave and then go.”

Paige pressed her lips together, not saying anything. We walked the final distance across campus where the glow of the bonfire reached into the sky and illuminated darkness. I loved the smell of burning wood. The sparks of the fire flew into the air and shattered into ash.

We reached the fire and it was so much warmer, even though the night air was cooling around us.

“Hey,” Ryan said, walking up to us. He grabbed Paige's hand and smiled at her, then me.

“Hi,” Paige said. She touched his upper arm with her free hand.

“A bunch of people are roasting marshmallows over there,” Ryan said, looking at us. “Want to?”

Paige nodded. “Sure.” She looked over at me. “Sash?”

I looked around to the spot Ryan was talking about. Roasting marshmallows sounded like a popular spot.

“You go,” I said. “I'm going to go find a hot dog or something.”

“You sure?” Paige asked.

“Totally. Go and I'll meet up with you later.”

“'Kay,” Paige said. “Sounds good.”

Hand in hand, Paige and Ryan walked away to the other side of the bonfire. I tried not to feel anxious about being on my own since I'd told them to go, but I couldn't
stop running through scenarios. What if I saw Jacob? Or Eric? Or Callie?

I was most worried about seeing Callie. I didn't trust myself not to run up to her, hug her, and tell her that she was going to be okay. Panic was just starting to rise in my chest when I saw Heather, Alison, and Julia walk up to me.

“Is this not the lamest thing ever?” Heather asked. Lame as she claimed it to be, she'd dressed for it, too, in a black skirt, sandals, and V-neck T-shirt.

“So lame,” I said. “We're
forced
to be here. How wrong is that?”

Alison rolled her eyes at us, grinning. “Stop it! It's Homecoming week. It only happens once a year, so embrace it. Stop whining and just enjoy it. It's a bonfire. Have fun!”

My eyes met Heather's and we rolled our eyes.

“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled. “Bonfire. Hot dogs. Yay.”

Alison grabbed my arm and steered me around to the other side of the fire. “You're going to have fun,” she said. “So deal.”

I let her pull me over to where teachers had set up a food station. The Trio and I readied our hot dogs. We headed over to an empty spot near the fire and stuck our hot dogs near the flames.

“I'm eating two and saving room for s'mores,” Julia said. “Did you see how many bags of marshmallows there are?”

“I was too busy trying not to spear myself with the hot-dog roaster,” I said.

We twirled our hot dogs for a few more minutes, watching how the seventh graders had clumped together on one side of the fire and we and the rest of the eighth graders had staked out our own space on the other side.

“So glad we never looked like that,” Heather said, nodding her head in the seventh graders' direction. “They look all scared and pathetic.”

“
We
never looked like that,” Julia said. She glanced at me. “But admit it, Sasha, you totally did.”

I couldn't help but smile. “Okay, okay! That's true. At least I'm not like that now.”

Heather stared at me as if she was going to argue, but smiled instead. “Yeah, you've gotten a little better.”

“Ha-ha,” I said. “Thanks a lot.”

We finished roasting our hot dogs and took them over to the table with plates and everything we needed to fix our hot dogs. We got plastic cups of soda and handfuls of chips while Alison looked around for a good spot to sit. I grabbed one of the blankets the school had stored in a bin for us to use.

“Over there?”
she pointed. Julia, Heather, and I nodded. She'd picked a spot that was quiet and just far enough away from the bonfire that we wouldn't feel like we were melting.

We put down our stuff and spread out the—what else—
green
blanket and started eating. Ketchup from Alison's hot dog oozed out and plopped onto her plate.

“Oops,” she said, giggling.

“At least it landed on your plate and not your lap,” Julia said. “Remember when you spilled mustard down the front of your shirt just before that big show a couple of years ago?”

Alison tilted her head back, looking up at the black sky. “Omigod, that was so awful. I just
had
to have a hot dog and of course I didn't bring another shirt.”

“Did you show with the stain?” I asked.

“Nope,” Heather said. She grinned. “In some mysterious, strange way, another girl's shirt disappeared from her clothing bag.”

I munched on a barbecue-flavored chip. “You stole someone's shirt? Did you give it back?”

“After Alison's class, we did,” Heather said. “So yes,
Jasmine
got her shirt back.”

I burst into laughter. “Omigod!”

All of us started laughing. We glanced up when someone walked by the end of our blanket.

Callie. The fire light flickered on her face and I could see anger in her eyes, even in the semi-darkness.

My laughter stopped instantly.

She glared down at us and shook her head as she stomped by. The Trio exchanged glances. Without saying anything, we all went back to our food.

16

JUST TALK TO ME

I STAYED WITH THE TRIO FOR A WHILE longer, then Ben walked over and pulled Julia up off the blanket.

“Want to roast marshmallows with me?” he asked.

“Definitely,” she said.

“I need another soda,” Alison said, peering into her empty cup.

“Me too,” Heather said.

“I think I'm going to go find Paige,” I said. “I gave her space with Ryan for a while, but I know she wanted to hang with me, too.”

Alison and Heather nodded and got up off the blanket. We split up and I started looking for Paige. There were a lot of people and it was hard to make out faces in the
shadows. I walked past clumps of students and someone grabbed my arm.

I turned to find Jacob's handsome face glowing in the firelight.

“I can't talk now,” I said. “I'm looking for Paige.”

He released my arm. “Sasha, please. Just talk to me for a second.”

“No,” I said. “People can't keep seeing us talk.”

I moved away from Jacob and left him standing there.

“Sasha!” Paige popped into view, a s'more in one hand and a bottle of root beer in the other. “I'm so glad I found you. Ryan just went to get more marshmallows. You have to hang with us for the rest of the night.”

I smiled, not wanting her to see I was upset. “Actually, can we talk for a sec? Alone?”

Paige frowned and stared at me. “Of course. Did something happen?”

“We need to walk away from everyone else.”

Paige followed me to the edge of the woods and we stood in the semi-darkness, away from the fire and the crowd.

“Just tell me,” Paige said. She touched my elbow. “What's going on?”

I couldn't hold it in for another second. “You've been
right this whole time. I've been lying to you about what happened at my party. I'm so, so sorry, Paige.”

Paige rubbed her forehead. “Jacob
did
try to kiss you, didn't he?”

“Yes.”

“Sasha, I knew you'd never do anything like that. Why didn't you just tell me?” Paige's eyes were full of confusion.

“I don't know! I guess I was afraid to make him look like the bad guy and I
never
wanted Callie to know the truth, even though I know you'd wouldn't tell her.”

“No,” Paige said, her tone soft. “I'd never do that.”

“I should have told you that night, but it just felt like the right thing to do not to tell anyone—Jacob and I both agreed.”

Paige was quiet for a minute. “You gave up your other best friend to protect him. You lost so much—I'm sorry.”

“I just wish I'd told you sooner. You would have been there for me. I'm really, really sorry I lied to you, Paige.”

Paige leaned over, hugging me. “I'm sorry you felt like you had to. But I'm your best friend. You can always tell me anything. I'm glad I finally know the truth. I'd known something was off and—”

Paige stopped talking when footsteps approached and Ryan came into view.

“Hey,” he said to us. “Paige, the Homecoming committee is looking for you. They need to know where the extra packages of Hershey's bars are.”

I looked at Paige, waiting for her to tell Ryan we were having a chat and she'd help them when she could.

“Okay,” Paige said. She smiled at him and squeezed my hand. “I've got to go. But thanks for talking to me. We can talk as soon as I finish with the committee.”

And she and Ryan left me standing there.

This was ridiculous. I hurried away from the fire and walked across the grass and to the sidewalk, my shoes thudding on the pavement. Obviously, Homecoming came before best friends.

I took a breath and I saw Jacob's face in the firelight. I sighed, wishing I could think of anything else. But now my mind was stuck on him.

He was single.

I was on my own.

But it didn't matter. We had to stay apart.

17

“spirit” day? don't think so.

WHEN PAIGE AND I WOKE UP, WE WERE BOTH quiet. It was Spirit Day, but it definitely didn't feel like that in our dorm. We didn't say much as we got dressed. I pulled on a hunter green skirt over black leggings and a gold T-shirt. Paige dressed in dark green cords and a white T-shirt with gold stitching.