Spring Fling (24 page)

Then Danielle walked back down the runway.

When she did, the applause was thundering. For almost a second, she wanted to point a finger at herself and ask, “Who? Me?”

She couldn‟t believe what she was hearing!

After that, it was all over for the rest of her group. The level of their applause didn‟t come anywhere near Danielle‟s. She was named the winner and joined the other three girls who had already been chosen by the audience.

Now one of them would be voted Miss Spring Break.

The rest of the contest passed by in a blur for Danielle. Each girl walked down the runway one last time and the audience once again voted by applauding. A brunette with a short pixie cut won third place, and an African American girl with blond corkscrew curls won second place.

That left Danielle and another girl to find out who would win first place and who would win Miss Spring Break.

Danielle still couldn‟t believe she had made it as far as she had.

The emcee pointed to Danielle‟s competition, a petite blonde wearing a sky blue bikini. She got a loud round of applause. Then the emcee pointed to Danielle, who received an even louder round of applause.

“We have a winner!” the emcee announced, taking Danielle by the hand and raising it up in the air.

The competition was over.

A shocked Danielle was Miss Spring Break!

“I can‟t believe it!” Danielle said when she got off the stage and was surrounded by Ava and Lindsey, who instantly hugged her. She was wearing a sash that said MISS

SPRING BREAK, and a plastic tiara had been slipped onto her head. In her arms was a bouquet of red roses.

“I knew you were going to win!” Lindsey gushed. “I just knew it!”

“I didn‟t!” Danielle laughed. “Thanks for the applause.”

“Don‟t thank just us,” Lindsey said, pointing over her shoulder. “You had a little help from a friend.”

Danielle turned around with a smile, expecting to see Ethan.

Instead, she saw Rory.

“Hey, gorgeous!” he said. “Congrats!”

“Thanks,” she said, surprised to see him.

“You didn‟t think I was going to miss this, did you?” he asked. “Didn‟t I say you were a shoo-in?”

Danielle felt herself blushing. “Yes, you were the one who told me to enter the contest,” she admitted.

“And you didn‟t want to! See, I was right.”

“You were right,” Danielle agreed. “I owe my tiara to you.”

“It looks good on you.”

“It makes me feel special. I‟m going to wear it until I get back home. That way everyone at North Ridge High can see that I was voted Miss Spring Break!”

“You should,” Rory said.

“Where were you? I didn‟t see you.”

“I was busy working up the crowd,” he explained. “I‟ve got a lot of friends. And they‟ve got friends.”

“You made them applaud for me?”

“I didn‟t make them do anything,” Rory said. “If they applauded for you, it was because they liked what they saw. Just like I do.”

Danielle blushed again. Before she could say anything, Jade came running backstage. “Li‟l sis! You won! You won!” Jade wrapped her arms around Danielle in a huge hug, squeezing tight. “I‟m so proud of you!”

“Me, too!” Crystal said, joining in with a hug of her own.

“I can‟t breathe!” Danielle laughed.

Jade broke the hug first. “This calls for a celebration!”

“What kind of a celebration?” Danielle asked.

“A party!”

“Where?”

Crystal‟s eyes lit up. “Back at the house!”

“Is Sharla going to be okay with that?” Ava asked.

“Aunt Sharla‟s going to be out late tonight,” Crystal said. “
Very
late. She‟s got some sort of charity benefit. She‟s not going to be home until three o‟clock in the morning.”

Jade snapped her fingers in the air and bumped her hip against Crystal‟s. “Which means that we can
par-tay
!”

Crystal checked the time on her cell phone and then turned to Jade. “Come on! We need to go shopping. We‟ve got tons to do!”

“Ava and I will help,” Lindsey offered, hurrying after Crystal and Jade.

“Can you get back to the house okay?” Ava asked Danielle.

“I‟ll give her a ride,” Rory offered.

“Thanks, but
I’ll
be giving her a ride home,” Ethan said as he walked up to Danielle‟s side and gave her a hug. “Congratulations.” At the sight of Ethan, Danielle‟s face lit up with a smile. “Hey! Where have you been?”

“Trying to make my way through the crowd. You‟ve got a lot of admirers out there.”

Not to mention the two back here
, Danielle thought, picking up on the tension between Ethan and Rory. Why did guys have to be this way? Why couldn‟t they play nice?

“I have to pose for some pictures for the local paper,” Danielle told Ethan. “Are you sure you don‟t mind hanging around?”

“Take all the time you need,” Ethan said. “I‟m not going anywhere.” Danielle noted that Ethan‟s last comment was aimed directly at Rory.

“So you‟re having a party tonight,” Rory said. “Mind if I come?”

“You have to come!” Danielle exclaimed, ignoring the scowl that suddenly appeared on Ethan‟s face. How could she
not
invite Rory? “If it wasn‟t for you, we wouldn‟t be having a party,” she said, hoping Ethan was listening to her words. “I wouldn‟t even be Miss Spring Break if you hadn‟t made me fill out an entry form. You have to be there.”

“Then I‟ll be there,” Rory promised. “Is it okay if I bring some friends?” Danielle turned away from the mirror where she was checking her tiara, making sure it sat
just right
on her head. “Why not?” What were a couple more people? It was a party. “The more, the merrier!”

The party was out of control.

It had started out small and then it had kept growing.

And growing.

And growing.

Every room of the beach house was filled. Danielle had never seen so many people before. Everywhere she looked, there were guys and girls. In the bedrooms, the living room, the dining room and kitchen. They were also in the bathrooms, sitting on the stairs leading to the second floor, and lining the front porch. Music was blaring, couples were dancing, and everyone was having a good time.

Everyone except Danielle, Ava, and Lindsey.

“Where‟s everyone coming from?” a panicked Danielle asked Ava as another two cars parked in front of the house and more couples spilled out.

“I don‟t know, but it‟s not letting up!” Ava exclaimed, turning away from the living room window.

“What are we going to do?” a worried Lindsey asked. “Even if everyone leaves by midnight, this place is going to be a mess. There‟s no way we‟ll get it all cleaned up by the time Sharla gets home. We‟re going to be in
big
trouble.”

“Jade and Crystal are going to be in big trouble,” Ava pointed out. “They‟re the ones who kept inviting everyone they crossed paths with at the supermarket! And those people probably invited their friends, who did the same thing!”

“This is my big sister we‟re talking about!” Danielle reminded them. “When have you ever known her
not
to drag me into things when she gets into trouble?”

“We should try to find them,” Lindsey said, darting her head around the crowd.

“And then what?” Ava asked.

“Have them tell everyone that the party is over!” Lindsey stated.

“It just started!” Ava shot back. “No one‟s going to leave.”

“Well, we have to do something!”

“Come on,” Danielle said. “Let‟s see if they‟re in the kitchen.” It took them a while to make their way through the crowd, but they finally reached the kitchen. There they found Jade and Crystal opening bags of chips and jars of salsa, pouring them into bowls.

“Isn‟t this party a blast!” Jade howled when she caught sight of Danielle.

“There are
soooo
many cute guys out there,” Crystal giggled.

“There are too many people!” Danielle exclaimed. “This house isn‟t big enough for everyone.”

Jade waved a hand dismissively. “It‟s a spring break party! It‟s supposed to be big!”

“Massive!” Crystal added.

“You‟re not back at North Ridge High!” Jade added. “This is how the big kids party!”

“But when everyone leaves, the house is going to be a mess,” Danielle said. “Sharla is going to flip out!”

“Don‟t worry about Aunt Sharla,” Crystal said. “I know how to handle her.”

“I hope so,” Danielle worriedly stated.

Jade shoved bowls of chips and salsa at Danielle. “Here, take these into the dining room. Then relax. Have a good time! You‟re Miss Spring Break!”

“Maybe she‟s right,” Lindsey said as she and Ava followed Danielle out of the kitchen. “Maybe we should just have a good time.”

“I guess,” Danielle murmured. “Things can‟t get any worse, right?” An hour later, things had gotten worse.

Danielle was walking out of the dining room when Rory stepped in front of her.

“There you are!” he exclaimed, giving her a smile. “I‟ve been looking all over for you. From the size of this crowd, it wasn‟t easy.”

“The party‟s gotten a little bit out of control.”

“But it‟s a blast!”

“I‟m glad you‟re having fun.” Danielle wished she could say the same thing, but she was too busy cleaning up spilled drinks, tossing out paper plates and plastic cups, and trying to make sure the house stayed in one piece. She and Ava and Lindsey had already collected all of Sharla‟s fragile belongings and hidden them away in closets so they wouldn‟t break.

“I see you‟re still wearing your tiara,” Rory said.

“Of course I‟m still wearing it! I told you, I‟m not taking it off until I get back home.”

“I never got a chance to congratulate you today,” Rory said.

“Yes, you did.”

“I mean
really
congratulate you. In a personal way.”

“Personal way?” Danielle asked, confused.

Rory nodded, giving Danielle a smile. “I‟ve been wanting to do this all week. Since the first time I saw you.”

“Do what?”

“This!”

And then Rory caught Danielle off guard, pressing her against the wall and giving her a kiss.

Danielle wasn‟t going to lie to herself. She had wondered what it would be like to kiss Rory and now she was finding out.

His kiss was nice.

He definitely knew what to do with his lips.

But it wasn‟t anything special.

His kiss wasn‟t like Ethan‟s.

Ethan!

Oh, no!

NO!

Luckily, Rory‟s kiss ended and Danielle frantically searched the party crowd, but she didn‟t see Ethan anywhere. In fact, she hadn‟t seen him all night. Maybe he hadn‟t arrived yet. Could she be that lucky?

She desperately hoped so.

She knew when it came to Rory that Ethan was jealous.

She didn‟t want to imagine what might happen if he saw Rory kissing her.

Ethan couldn‟t believe what he was seeing.

He had just walked through the front door and was making his way to the dining room for a soda when he saw Rory kissing Danielle.

Ethan didn‟t even think of what he was going to do next. Instinctively, he stormed his way through the party crowd and grabbed Rory by the arm, pulling him off Danielle just as he was getting ready to give her a second kiss.

Rory stared at Ethan‟s hand on his arm. “Let go,” he said, his voice a steely whisper.

“What are you going to do if I don‟t?”

“This!” Rory shouted, throwing a punch.

Within seconds, Rory and Ethan were punching and shoving each other while the partygoers surrounding them started cheering them on, chanting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!

Fight!”

“Stop it!” a horrified Danielle cried. “Stop it!”

But Ethan and Rory wouldn‟t listen. They kept fighting until Danielle tossed the contents of an ice bucket over their heads. As soon as they were splashed with water, the fighting stopped.

“What did you do that for?” Rory asked, wiping his face with the bottom of his T-shirt.

“I had to do something to break things up!” Danielle shouted.

“He started it!” Ethan accused.

“No,
you
started it!” Rory threw back.

“Who said you could kiss Danielle?”

“Hey, I might have made the first move, but Danielle didn‟t push me away from her. You‟ve got two eyes. You saw what was going on. She let me kiss her!” Listening to Rory‟s words, Ethan replayed the scene he had walked in on. It was true. Rory might have been kissing Danielle, but Danielle hadn‟t been doing anything to stop him. Suddenly, he felt like an idiot.

“I‟m out of here,” Rory told Danielle. “I don‟t have time for these games.” Danielle didn‟t say anything to Rory as he walked away. Instead, she turned to Ethan. “Let me look at your face,” she offered, reaching out to gently touch a bruised cheek.

Ethan pushed her hand away. “Leave me alone!” he snarled.

Danielle stared at him in shock. “Ethan! I know you‟re mad, but I didn‟t ask him to kiss me!”

“Maybe you didn‟t ask him,” Ethan accused, “but he‟s not solely to blame. You‟ve been flirting with him all week. Admit it, Danielle! You wanted him to kiss you!” Danielle didn‟t say anything, which for Ethan was all the answer he needed.

“I thought so,” he whispered.

“Ethan! Wait!” Danielle pleaded. “Let me explain!”

Ethan didn‟t want to hear Danielle‟s explanation. Instead, he said exactly the same thing as Rory. “I‟m out of here.”

Then he turned his back on Danielle and left the party.

Mindy loved arriving late to parties. It meant she could make an entrance. Why show up early when no one was there? If no one was there, they couldn‟t see how fabulous you looked.