My mom looked at my dad, who nodded. Go, Dad! Mom turned to me. "Frances, you're right. You can do the newspaper next year."
"Really?" Sweet! "There's a meeting tomorrow night. Can I go?" I wanted to hear all the comments about my article. Tomorrow night I wouldn't be a loser sitting alone against the wall. Tomorrow night, I'd be in. And then after that, going the next time would be so much easier. I hadn't had the courage to return since that first meeting, but if I could go as the superstar, it would be different. I had to take advantage of it!
"Of course you can," my dad said. "Go. Do it."
I grinned. "And can I go to my friends' houses again?" I saw my mom falter, and I jumped in. "You have to give me a chance to prove myself. I hated lying to you, but I need my friends. Base it on my grades. If they go down, then you can stop me."
My dad nodded, and my mom sort of rolled her eyes. "Fine. But if those grades go down ..."
"They won't!" I jumped up. I was so going over to Blue's house to tell her.
Blue's house.
Which was also Theo's house.
I thought of how Allie and Blue had told me that Theo hadn't gone out even once since we'd had our fight. I thought of how he'd sat there at my kitchen table for three weeks, because that was the only way he could see me. I thought of how he'd brought twenty friends to the Homework Club and made it work for me. I thought of the look on his face that night in the backyard when he'd accused me of not fighting for him, and I realized he'd been right.
I hadn't fought for anything my whole life, until these last five minutes. My parents might not think Theo was studious or serious enough for me, but he was. I knew the real Theo, but I'd never totally trusted him, despite all the things he'd done to show me that he cared. He deserved to be fought for.
So I sat back down and clenched my hands in my lap. "What about Theo?"
"No." My mom sat back in her chair. "No dating until you're eighteen."
"Eighteen," my dad repeated.
Clearly non-negotiable. Except I couldn't walk away. Not from Theo. "I'm a teenager."
They both eyed me.
"Do you really think you can make me not be interested in boys for my entire high school career?"
"You can be interested in them," my mom said, "but you can't date them."
I gritted my teeth. "I'm going to date Theo."
"Frances!"
"I'm sick of lying to you guys, so I won't do it anymore. But you have to understand that I'm going to date him. I'd rather have your approval, and that way we would hang out here and you could get to know him and keep an eye on us. But if you refuse to let me, I'll do it anyway." My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking. It was one thing to ask my parents to let me be on the newspaper or hang with my friends, but to openly defy them? '
It was exhilarating!
And terrifying.
Because Theo was at stake.
My dad was eyeing me, and again, it really looked like pride in his eyes. "Since when did you grow up?"
I blinked. "What?"
"You're not a kid anymore, are you?"
"No."
He nodded. "You're doing well, Frances. Good job on the article."
I grinned. "Thanks."
My mom cleared her throat. "You aren't thinking of letting her date, are you?"
Dad shook his head. "No."
Oh.
"But it looks to me like she's going to hang out with Theo. I'd rather have her hanging out here where I can watch them. It's not dating, though." He shook his head at me. "No dating."
A glimmer of hope flickered inside me. "No dating," I agreed.
My mom sighed. "No dating."
"And if you're at Blue's house and he's there too, their parents have to be home."
"Agreed." But it would hardly be my fault if I went over there to see Blue and discovered her parents weren't home but Theo was.
I grinned. Okay, so I wasn't the perfect Frances I used to be. It was a good compromise.
"So, can I go?"
"Where?"
"To Blue's house. To tell her about the article."
My dad narrowed his eyes. "Is Theo going to be there?"
"I have no idea." I hoped so. Unless it was too late for us. I stood up. "I have to go."
"Is your homework done?"
"Not yet, but I'll do it over there." I grabbed my book bag.
"Frances!"
I stopped and looked at my parents. "My homework will be done. I swear."
After a long moment, my dad looked at his watch. "I want you home by eight."
Eight? That was a little early.
Then again, it was better than being grounded.
"Fine. Eight."
He nodded.
I nodded.
Small steps, but huge progress.
One more hurdle to go, and his name was Theo.
* * *
I ran out the front door and down the steps, and had just turned right to head to Blue's house when a voice stopped me. "Frances."
I spun around. There was Theo, leaning against his car, which was parked in front of my house. He looked so good, with his black jeans, his hair blowing in the breeze, his arms folded as if he didn't care about anything.
"Theo!" Oh my God, I was so happy to see him! But I was suddenly nervous, too. I hadn't heard from him in two weeks. I wasn't sure what to say, or how to act. Did he still like me?
"Heard about the article," he said. "Good job."
I grinned, hope flirting in my chest. "Thanks. Did you see your name in the article?"
"Yeah. You didn't need to do that. I didn't need credit. It was your deal."
I shook my head. "No, way. You deserved to be called out. I couldn't have done it without you."
He shifted. "You didn't make me sound like a jerk. You left out the first meeting I went to."
"Yeah, well, you redeemed yourself." I took a few steps toward him, stopping just out of his reach. "Why'd you come over here today?" I had to know. I couldn't stand not knowing anymore.
"To tell you good job." His eyes were wary, his face reserved. Sort of how I felt. We hadn't exactly parted on good terms.
"So, I'm not grounded anymore," I said.
He nodded. "Good."
"I can do the paper and hang with my friends."
He lifted a brow.
"No dating, though."
He shrugged. "I don't care."
I took a deep breath. Just say it, Frances. "I asked them about you."
His eyes softened for one second and his lips twitched in surprise. "You did?"
"Uh huh. They said I couldn't date you."
His face became cool again. "Not a surprise."
"I told them I'd do it anyway."
He didn't say anything. Just looked at me, but the wariness was gone from his face, replaced by a softness that made my heart speed up. "And what did they say?"
"They agreed we could hang out at your house or mine. But no dating." I grinned nervously. "I think it's a good start."
He nodded, and didn't say anything. Didn't reach out for me.
Hope began to fade. It was too late. Too little, too late.
"About The Homework Club," he said.
I sighed. "What about it?"
"I kept it going."
Really? I frowned, trying to figure out his point. "Why?"
"Because you started it, and I figured you'd want it to keep going. And it was a good thing."
I smiled, a warm feeling building in my chest. "You did it for me?" That was the sweetest thing he'd ever done. He'd kept it going, for me. That was better than flowers or a date. That said everything I needed to hear.
He shrugged. "Maybe a little."
I dropped my backpack on the sidewalk and walked over to him. "You did it for me."
He set his hands on my hips and pulled me against him. "I'd never do anything for a girl."
"Liar."
He grinned.
And then he kissed me.
&
nbsp; "Frances Spinelli!" My mom hollered from the front porch.
Theo cursed under his breath and pushed me away from him, and I grimaced. Sunk, already? This totally sucked.
"Frances!"
I sighed and turned toward the porch. "What?"
"Don't you and Theo need to come inside the house to do homework?"
"She's not sending me home?" Theo whispered.
Yes. I tried to look smug. "I told you I fought for you."
He looked impressed. "I guess."
"Inside. Homework. Both of you. Now!" My mom stood on the porch and waited.
I picked up my backpack and looked at Theo. "So? Can you take it?"
"Take what?"
"Hanging with a girl who can't go clubbing every night?"
He grinned and grabbed his own bag from his backseat. "I think I can manage."
I smiled and started walking toward the house, only to have Theo catch my arm. "Frances?"
"What?"
"The Homework Club thing? When I kept it going?"
"Yeah?"
"It might have been for you."
I smiled. "I know."
He grinned, and I knew it wouldn't be too long before I found a way to go out dancing with him again. Because he'd turned me into a new person who I was beginning to like very much.
For a jerk, Theo was turning out to be quite the guy.
Excerpt From WHO NEEDS BOYS?
It's Allie's turn now!
Tad and I went for a midnight swim to cool off my bee stings again. We swam out pretty far, and then Tad stopped and treaded water. "Can you float on your back?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Do it, and look at the sky."
I glanced up and realized the black sky was dotted with more stars than I'd ever seen in my entire life. I immediately rolled onto my back and puffed up my chest so I didn't sink. The dark night stretched endlessly above my head, a blackness illuminated with glittering diamonds as far as I could see. Millions and millions of dots of light. It was incredible, daunting, and the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life. I felt tiny, but at the same time, I felt drawn into the magnificence of the sky, as if it were a part of me, and I was a part of it. "It's incredible," I whispered.
"I know. I could stay out for hours," Tad said, floating so close that his shoulder brushed into mine. "Did you see that?" Tad asked.
"See what?" I was too busy thinking about the tingling in my arm from touching Tad to be paying attention to anything else.
He pointed off to the right, his hand coming across my field of vision. "The shooting star. Off toward shore."
"No, darn it. I've never seen one." I turned so I could study the sky over the land. "What am I looking for?"
"A streak of light." Tad bumped against my leg. "Sorry."
"No problem." Really. It was no problem. I was beginning to be fond of him touching me, though it had only been to tackle me into the water in a bee rescue and to hold ice on my arm. I wondered what it would be like if he held my hand, just to hold it.
I saw a streak of light and shrieked. "Was that one?"
"Yeah. Cool, huh?"
"Incredible." The most incredible thing I'd ever seen. It was like the universe was lighting up just for us.
We stayed floating forever, and I saw eight shooting stars. It was, quite possibly, the most amazing night I had ever had.
* * *
"One shooting star for each bee sting," Tad said later as we were slogging through the water back to shore.
"Don't remind me." I hugged my arms against the shivers that had finally set in. We'd floated for so long that the night had cooled off and the water had felt cold.
"Want to sit for a minute?" He nodded at a flat rock on the shore.
My stomach jiggled, and suddenly I wasn't cold anymore. "Definitely."
He spread out his towel and we sat next to each other. Not touching. Normally, I'd have no qualms about leaning against him and giving him some broad hints, but I didn't. I had no idea what he was thinking about me. Or why I was having guy/girl thoughts about him.
So we simply sat in silence for a while, listening to the water lapping at the shore.
"Can I ask you something, Allie?" he said.
"Of course." I crossed my fingers behind my back and hoped it was something good.
"What happened with Rand last night?"
Rand? Wow. It felt like an eternity had passed since then. I picked up a stick and began picking the bark off it. "We had a difference of opinion."
"I'd like to hear about it."
He didn't demand. He didn't judge. He simply asked nicely, and that was one of things I liked about him. He respected me, and he showed it. I angled my head so I could look at him, but he was staring across the lake. His face was lit by the moon, so his skin was a bluish, grayish, glowing color. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because."
Because he liked me and wanted to know whether Rand was out of the picture? I could only hope. On the chance my wish might come true, it was worth it to tell Tad what had happened. "He wanted to kiss me, and I didn't want to."
His neck tensed, but he still didn't look at me. "Why not?"
"Um ..." I chewed my lower lip while I tried to figure out how to explain something I wasn't sure I even understood.
"I thought you liked him." Tad still didn't look at me.
"I did. Or I thought I did." I'd been wrong.
"What changed?" He stole a sideways glance at me, then focused on the horizon again.
I rubbed my chin. "I'm not sure. I guess... well... I'm tired of people ditching me."
"What makes you think he would have ditched you?"
I rolled my eyes. "Give me a break. I'm the queen of short relationships. I look for that kind of guy, and Rand is the perfect specimen. No attention span, which is exactly what I wanted."
Tad finally gave up the pretense of not listening and turned to look at me. "So, if he's perfect, why'd you dunk him? Playing hard to get?"
"No." I pursed my lips. "I'm just sick of being ditched. I don't want to play that game anymore." There. I'd said it. I'd put the truth out there. And you know what? It wasn't so hard, and it didn't feel so scary.
We were quiet for a moment, letting my confession linger in the night.
"Who ditched you?" Tad finally asked.
I hugged my knees to my chest. "My dad."
He made a noise of sympathy. "What happened? Divorce?"
"Well, yeah, but that's not the problem. He took off for California, and I haven't spent very much time with him in six years. I was supposed to go out and stay with him for the summer and get to know the woman he's going to marry, but then he called the night before I was supposed to leave and disinvited me." I bit my lip. Jerk.
Tad sighed. "That sucks."
I couldn't help but laugh at his emphatic tone. "I know." Then I sobered. "Most people think it's cool that I have no parental supervision. My friends tell me all the time how lucky I am that my mom is never home and no one cares if I stay out all night."
"It has its advantages," Tad said. "But it sucks to be ditched by your parents." He paused, then gently elbowed me. "You want parental supervision? Then come hang at my house." He grinned. "My family loves you."
Warmth settled in my belly. "Really?" I mean, that made me feel great that his family loved me, because they were amazing… but what about him? How did he feel about me?
"Yep. You heard them. My mom already has you on her list of potential superstars that she has to mold into greatness.”
Greatness? There was the possibility of greatness in my future? I remembered how excited Tad's mom had been about my voice, and how awesome that had felt. "Maybe I will come over to your place."
He nodded… and then I wasn't sure what to say next. It was just him, just me, sitting side by side on a towel in our bathing suits. Moonlight on the lake, a warm breeze, wet hair. It was completely romantic, and I suddenly wanted him to kiss me. Not some older guy. Not some
college kid. I wanted Tad, so much it actually kind of hurt. So... what now?
Tad cleared his throat. "Ready to head up to camp?"
Oh… disappointment surged through me. I'd been thinking about kissing him, and he'd been thinking that it was time to go back? "Sure." I tried not to sound bummed.
Tad hopped down and took my hand to help me jump off, but then he let go once I was on the ground. He walked me to my tent, then sort of stood there for a minute. "So, um, tomorrow we head back."
Yeah… to the farm. "Back to real life."
He nodded. "Back to carrots and tomatoes."
My stomach turned to sludge at the thought. What if he returned to the old Tad? "Tad?"
He was watching me closely. "What?"
"Are you going to be mean again on Monday?"
He lifted a brow. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, you were pretty impatient with me when we were at work. Nothing like how you've been up here." Gah. How pathetic did I sound? I was a major loser. As if whether Tad was nice or not could affect me. But it did. I wanted him to keep being like this.
His hand went toward my arm, but he dropped it before he actually touched me. "I thought you were different from how you really are. I misjudged you."
I relaxed a little bit. That wasn't exactly an apology, but it was close. "You did?"
He nodded. "We'll be cool."
Cool? What did that mean? Why didn't he just grab me and kiss me and tell me he was so glad I wasn't interested in Rand because he couldn't live without me?
He touched my shoulder. "See you in the morning.
"In the morning." Yeah, that was so romantic.
Then he turned away and walked off to his tent. Gave me a little wave, then disappeared through the flaps.
Never had I wanted a boy to kiss me more, and never had I felt more at a loss for how to let him know. Or maybe he did know, and he didn't care. Or maybe he did know and the thought repulsed him. Was there any chance that he did want to kiss me and didn't have the courage?
For the first time in my life, I needed my friends' advice on boys. Badly.
Excerpt from SMART BOYS & FAST GIRLS
It's Natalie's turn now!
I leaned over and rested my chin on Matt's shoulder, trying to support him. He might be only my fake boyfriend, but I wasn't about to leave him dangling in front of my friends. They thought we were really going out, and I had to treat Matt the way he'd deserve to be treated if he was really my boyfriend. Matt was already uncomfortable with the fake boyfriend thing, and I'd made it worse by making him come out with my friends.
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