Home Sweet Drama

by Jessica Burkhart

  Paige leaned forward. “C’mon already!’

  I wanted to build it up, but I couldn’t help myself.

  “Jasmine got expelled,” I said. “She’s gone.”

  Paige’s mouth fell open in what looked like a scene from a teen movie we’d mock. “What?”

  “It’s insane. I was riding in the arena with Mr. Conner’s camera on. I caught her on tape confessing to framing Julia and Alison for cheating. They got the tape and when I came back to go to our room a couple of hours ago, all of her stuff was gone.”

  “Wow,” Paige whispered. “I feel awful for Julia and Alison because they’ve missed all of that time riding, but … Jas getting thrown out, just like that. Can you imagine?”

  I shrugged. “Who cares? She framed them and she got caught. She’s gone. We never have to see her again. Ever.”

  Paige nodded. “Yeah. True. I just wonder where she’s going to go. And you found out a couple of hours ago. Where’d you disappear to?”

  I paused for a second. “The Trio’s. We were celebrating.”

  “Oh,” Paige said. “That makes sense.” She looked down at her lap and twisted the silver ring on her index finger.

  Paige was definitely not as thrilled as I thought she’d be.

  “We’re all so happy,” I said. “She was our biggest competition and she made every lesson awful.”

  “I know, I know,” Paige said. “You’re right. I’m really glad she’s not going to be stressing you all out anymore.”

  “Exactly.”

  Paige was quiet for a few seconds, her head bent down. “So, the truth about Julia and Alison finally came out.” She paused. “You think anything else might?”

  “Like what?” I pretended I had no idea what she was talking about. She needed to stop going there.

  Paige locked eyes with me. “I don’t know, like maybe the truth about what happened at your party?”

  I got up and pulled open my closet door, searching for pajamas. “Paige, let’s not do this again. You promised you were done talking about it. We both had awesome things happen today, so let’s just enjoy it, okay?”

  I turned away from my closet and faced Paige.

  “You’re right.” Paige shrugged. “Sorry I brought it up.”

  But I could tell by the tone in her voice that she wasn’t too sorry. She still didn’t believe that I’d tried to kiss Jacob, Callie’s boyfriend, at my birthday party. And she was right—he’d tried to kiss me. But Eric, my then-boyfriend, had caught me with my hands on Jacob’s chest. I’d been pushing Jacob away, but Eric had thought it was something else. Pain burned in my throat. I still cared about Eric and I’d hurt him so much. I knew there was no way we’d ever get back together.

  I tossed my pj’s on my bed and opened my laptop. Beside my computer was the egg Jacob and I were “parenting” for health class. I couldn’t help but smile when I looked at the goofy face he’d drawn on it. I stared at the face for a second. I hated hiding this secret from Paige—it was hurting our friendship. Since my birthday party I’d been set on never telling her the truth, but how long could I keep it from my best friend? If I told her the truth about my party, she’d be there for me—listening and offering advice. Maybe I’d been making that mistake all along. Maybe I needed to tell her.

  I looked back at my computer. I wanted to check my e-mail to see if there were any schedule changes for the week since it was Homecoming. I logged in and clicked on Homecoming schedule in my inbox. I opened the e-mail.

  “Did you see this?” I asked Paige, pointing to my screen. I needed a light topic of conversation to ease the tension.

  She walked over and stood behind me. Silently, we both read the e-mail from Headmistress Drake.

  Dear Students of Canterwood Crest Academy:

  It is with great pleasure that I present a list of activities for this year’s

  Homecoming. Though the schedule changes from year to year, the tradition

  of Canterwood Crest’s Homecoming remains the same. This week is a chance

  for you to show your support and loyalty to our fine institution. Please review

  the list below and I hope your schedule allows you to participate as often as

  possible. I look forward to honoring Canterwood Crest with my students.

  Sincerely,

  Headmistress Drake

  Homecoming Week Activities:

  Monday: Physical competition after lunch periods

  Tuesday: Crazy dress day

  Wednesday: Bonfire

  Thursday: Green-and-gold day, pep rally and football game

  Friday: Dance

  The rest of the e-mail listed the nominees for each grade and I tried not to roll my eyes when I read 8th-grade nominees—Sasha Silver, Paige Parker, Heather Fox, Nicole Allen, Callie Harper, Jacob Schwartz, Eric Rodriguez, Troy Brown, Ben Wells, and Ryan Shore.

  “Omigod—look at all of that stuff!” Paige said. “A pep rally, the dance, contests—it’s going to be awesome.”

  “Yeah,” I said, trying to keep my voice cheery.

  I closed my laptop—not wanting to look at the e-mail for another second. Even the font was hunter green and gold—our school colors. I couldn’t have been less interested in Homecoming. The last thing I wanted was to see Jacob and Callie together. Plus, Eric would definitely go and if he brought a date … also something I didn’t want to see.

  The absolute worst part about my avoid-Homecoming-or-die plan?

  I’d been nominated for Homecoming princess.

  4

  AND THE MADNESS BEGINS

  MONDAY MORNINGS WERE ALWAYS KIND OF awful just because they were Mondays, but Paige and I had been waiting for English class to start and I already knew today was going to be bad. The chatter about Homecoming would not stop. There had even been an endless announcement over the loudspeaker during breakfast about how Monday was the first day of Homecoming week and blah, blah, blah.

  “Omigod, did you get a dress yet? You did, right?”

  “Tyler already asked me to the dance!”

  “I look awful in everything. I’ve got to find the perfect dress or I’ll die.”

  I tried to read my notes on The Secret Garden for Mr. Davidson’s English class, but I couldn’t tune out the talk. It made things worse because the classroom wasn’t set up in the typical way. There were only ten of us since it was an advanced class. Instead of desks, Mr. Davidson had arranged comfy chairs in a circle and I couldn’t help but hear E-V-E-R-Y word about Homecoming.

  I looked up when Alison walked in and took a seat beside Paige. Alison and I smiled at each other, then Alison saw the sparkly purple notebook on Paige’s lap. At the top of the page HOMECOMING was written in bubble font and Paige was making notes. She’d written Things 2 get 4 decorations as the first thing on her list.

  “You’re helping decorate?” Alison asked Paige. Her voice was way louder than necessary.

  “Of course!” Paige said. “It’s Homecoming.”

  “I’m decorating too,” Alison said. “Omigod, everything’s going to look fabulous. Totally green and gold, but not too much so that it’s, like, tacky.”

  Paige nodded. “Exactly. I’ve got a list of ideas. Want to see?”

  Alison clapped her hands together. “Show me.”

  I just couldn’t believe it. Even Paige and Alison were bonding over Homecoming.

  “Hey, P,” I said.

  She looked away from Alison. “Yeah?”

  “Can we talk later? There’s something I want to—”

  “Paige!” Alison interrupted.

  Paige looked away from me and Alison pointed to a note on Paige’s paper.

  “You’re going to use gold glitter on the tables?” Alison asked. “Omigod. Love.”

  Paige looked back at me and started to say something, but Mr. Davidson walked into the classroom. He picked up a file from his desk and a worn copy of The Secret Garden, then took his seat.

  “We’ll talk later,” Paige whispere
d.

  Sure we would. After she did whatever she was doing for Homecoming.

  “Happy Monday, class,” he said in a teasing voice. “I hope you all had a good weekend and I especially hope you enjoyed reading the assigned chapters. Let’s get the discussion started. Vanessa, please tell us what you thought about the reading.”

  Vanessa blushed and, looking down, started fumbling through her papers. “Um, I, well, I …” She let her sentence trail off. “I thought it was good.”

  “Good how?” Mr. Davidson asked. His kept his eyes on Vanessa.

  Vanessa’s pink face brightened to red. “It was good because … the chapters weren’t boring. And the story was interesting. So it wasn’t … uh, boring.”

  Mr. Davidson narrowed his gaze. “Vanessa, did you complete the reading?”

  “No,” Vanessa whispered. “I’m sorry.”

  “You know my rule about this class,” Mr. Davidson said. “Anyone who has not done the reading and cannot participate gets a zero for the day. Normally, I’d ask you to leave, but since is the first time you haven’t done your homework, I’ll allow you to stay.”

  Vanessa blushed and looked down at her lap.

  Mr. Davidson looked at Mandy. “Mandy?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t read either, Mr. Davidson. I’m sorry. I got so busy with prepping for Homecoming.”

  Mr. Davidson frowned and shifted his gaze among all of us. “How many of you completed the reading? Let me reiterate—the assigned reading.”

  Only one guy and I raised our hands. I looked over at Paige and her head was down. Paige had never skipped doing her homework. Was Homecoming making everyone crazy?

  “This is unacceptable,” Mr. Davidson said. “I realize it’s Homecoming, but that is not an excuse for any of you to skip classwork. Those of you who did not do the reading will stay and read through the rest of the class period.”

  He looked at me. “Sasha, after you and Aaron share your thoughts on the reading with the class, you’re both free to go.”

  Major. Score.

  I looked down at my notes. “Well … ,” I started.

  After I finished, Aaron offered his opinion and Mr. Davidson asked us both a few questions. Then he motioned to the door.

  “You’re both free to go,” he said.

  I gathered my books and papers and shot Paige a sympathetic look. Everyone’s eyes were on Aaron and me as we left the classroom. I left the building and plopped my bookbag on a bench shaded by an oak tree.

  “Ugh,” I said aloud.

  It was going to be hard to force myself to go back to class after the half hour break was over. I wished I could sit outside all day, but I had many more classes to go. Ignore it for now, I told myself. And just enjoy the break.

  I pulled out my phone, thinking now was the perfect time to call Mom. We hadn’t talked in a while and since she was working at the library, she’d only have a few minutes to chat, so we wouldn’t have to talk for too long. I knew she’d want to ask me a zillion questions about Homecoming, but I was determined to keep the convo on other things.

  I dialed her number and waited.

  “This is Gail Silver speaking,” she said.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said.

  “Sasha! Hi, hon,” Mom said. “Why aren’t you in class?”

  “Our class let out early,” I said. I wasn’t going to tell her I’d been excused because I’d been the only girl focused on school instead of the H-word.

  “I’m glad you get a break. That’s nice. How’s your day?” Mom asked.

  I could hear the beeping of books being checked out.

  “Great,” I said. “Paige and I are going to start planning for fall break later.”

  That would definitely distract Mom from asking about Homecoming.

  “I’m so excited that you’re staying with Paige in New York City,” Mom said. “You’re going to have such a wonderful time. You loved it so much when you visited her this summer.”

  I laughed. “I’m only going to be there a week, Mom. But I’ll be sure to get you and Dad souvenirs.”

  It was Mom’s turn to laugh. “Sounds good, hon. And Dad and I will find you something special while we’re away. The bed-and-breakfast place we’re staying at in Maine looks absolutely charming, just like the town. We’ll be sure to find something you like.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” I said. “I’ve got to study, but I’ll e-mail you tomorrow.”

  “Bye, sweetie,” Mom said.

  We hung up and I spent the rest of the period dreading going back to class.

  I dragged myself back to class and, by some miracle, managed to tune out Homecoming talk for the rest of the day. Just like in Mr. Davidson’s class, so few people had prepared for the reading that it made me look good. I crossed my fingers that my teachers would remember it if I ever needed an extension.

  In the lunch line I ordered veggie soup and grabbed a handful of cracker packets. I started toward the Trio’s table. I paused midstep, wondering if I should sit with Paige. She was my best friend and I had been sitting with Heather, Julia, and Alison a lot lately. But it was only because there was seriously less tension sitting with them than with Paige. Paige wasn’t trying to upset me, but she did, every time she brought up my birthday party. Or Homecoming. Julia and Alison talked about Homecoming, too, but at least I had solidarity with Heather.

  I put my tray down across from Heather’s and noticed Julia and Alison staring at a sheet of paper on the table. They seemed überabsorbed in it.

  “What’re you reading?” I asked.

  Heather sighed. “You shouldn’t have asked. It’s the lovely schedule that we all got about Homecoming.”

  “The lunch activity is ridic,” Julia said. “The guys and girls are supposed to have physical contests. The one for us? Jumping rope until we have to stop.” She fake-gagged. “I don’t think so.”

  “We’re supposed to jump rope until we can’t do it anymore or until the period ends,” Alison said. “Lame, right?”

  Heather snorted. “You think? That’s the worst contest I’ve ever heard. Not that I care, but what’re the boys doing?”

  I crushed a handful of crackers into my soup and watched Alison scan the paper.

  “They’re having a push-up contest in the gym in twenty minutes,” Alison said. “I’m not jumping rope, so I guess we could go watch them.”

  Heather put her face in her hands for a second, then looked up at Alison, Julia, and me. “Puh-lease. We’re not going to watch. We’re going to participate.”

  “Yeah!” Julia said. “Why let the boys do a real contest? We can do push-ups too.”

  “I’m in,” I said.

  “Let’s finish eating and go,” Heather said.

  We hurried through the rest of our meal—Heather downed her grilled cheese, Alison finished her turkey sub, and Julia’s BLT disappeared in minutes. We gathered our trays and I realized I hadn’t looked up once from our table. I glanced around as I got up and didn’t see Jacob or Callie. Paige was sitting at the center table and looked at me as I walked by.

  “If you’re heading to the jump-rope contest,” she said, “I’m ready and I’ll walk with you.”

  I stopped and so did Julia, Alison, and Heather.

  “Actually, we’re going to do push-ups,” I said.

  “Jumping rope is so whatever,” Heather said. “If the boys are doing push-ups, so are we.”

  Paige looked at Geena, then back at us. “Oh, okay. Well, Geena and I are jumping rope. I guess we’ll see you at the gym.”

  This was so weird! Paige and I usually did everything together. Now, I was going with the Trio.

  “Yeah. See you there.”

  I walked away from Paige and followed the Trio out of the caf. We crossed the lawn and I tried not to look at the Homecoming banners and yard signs that kept popping up everywhere.

  “At least Homecoming Court nominees aren’t allowed to make signs and flyers on top of the ones already advertising the activit
ies,” Heather said. “Otherwise, I’d vomit.”

  “Me too,” I said, laughing. “They’d be everywhere trying to get votes.”

  Julia and Alison were almost jogging now, so far ahead of us in their rush to get to the gym.

  “It just means people get more creative,” Heather said. “They do all the verbal bribing and campaigning they can.”

  “Don’t forget the threats and blackmail,” I said jokingly.

  “Def,” Heather said. I looked over at her and knew she wasn’t kidding. Nominations were prob serious around here. If Heather had really wanted to win, she’d use everything she had to make sure it happened. She’d intimidate people for votes. Lucky for our grade that being Homecoming princess was the last thing she wanted.

  “So, you hate Homecoming as much as I do,” I said. “But you never said why. You know I do because of the … situation, but why don’t you like it?”

  Heather took a deep breath through her nose and glanced at me. “My mom was Homecoming queen in high school,” she said. “She loves everything about it and she still has her tiara from when she won. She was, like, obsessed with it.”

  I just nodded.

  “She wants me to be princess so bad,” Heather said. “I’ve never been into any of it and she knows it, but she never listens. At least my dad gets that I’m an athlete. But my mom …” Heather shrugged.

  “Doesn’t get that her daughter would rather wear paddock boots than heels, right?” I asked.

  “Something like that.”

  I felt bad for Heather. Her dad pressured her to ride all the time and her mom was trying to turn her into a school princess. Now it made sense why Heather hated every aspect of Homecoming.

  We reached the gym and walked across the shiny hardwood floor, our shoes squeaking.

  I didn’t take gym because of the equestrian team, but someone who looked like a gym teacher walked up to us. The velour track suit and whistle around her neck kind of gave her away.

  “Girls, go grab jump ropes,” she said. “Your competition starts in five minutes.”

  “We’re not here to jump rope,” Heather said, stepping forward. She oozed the confidence I wished I had. Her shoulders were back and her voice was firm. “We’re doing push-ups.”