by J. Minter
When he emerged into the bright and green outdoors, he had to close his eyes to adjust to the light. When he opened them, he saw that he was surrounded by people in animal masks.
A short person in a bear mask and big purple shirt was moving toward him. “It’s him,” she said sharply, “the guy from the photographs. He’s one of the cronies of the patriarchy.”
Two other animal-faced people stepped up behind the bear. “Crony of the patriarchy! Crony of the patriarchy!” they chanted.
David couldn’t believe this was happening, and he was trying not to freak out. He opened his mouth to protest, and then another person—this one in a crow mask—joined in. “Did you know that women still make seventy-five cents for every dollar a man makes?”
“Um, no. But I don’t really make any money, so …”
“The position you hold in the patriarchy makes you complicit,” the crow snapped.
“Did you know that in this country a woman is sexually assaulted every two and a half minutes?” the bear added.
“I mean, that’s awful,” David stammered.
The people in animal masks—David had now figured out that they were girls—stepped toward him. “Awful doesn’t begin to describe it.”
Just as David was wondering whether he shouldn’t take his chances with the angry art fans, instead of the angry feminists, two more people joined the group. David knew instantly that the one in the penguin mask was a dude. Then he took the mask off.
David felt shock and anger and relief all at once.
“This is my friend David,” Jonathan said to the animal-faced crowd. “He’s one of the good guys.”
“Sorry, Jonathan,” one of the masked girls said, “it’s really nice that you’re down with the cause and everything, but this guy was pictured front and center in the restaurant photos. He’s so patriarchal he doesn’t even realize it.”
Jonathan looked pained but adamant as he said, “Can’t you hear yourself? He was pictured front and center. He was just as naked as all of the girls. It was a totally mixed group. And it was fun. Girls were having fun and guys were having fun. I mean women, the women were having fun.”
Jonathan sighed and fidgeted with his penguin mask. Then he turned to a girl in a tiger mask. “I’m sorry, Ava,” he said. “I think your cause is right on. I want you to have the same opportunities as I do, and I want to do everything in my power to make that possible. But I can’t get with what you guys are saying about David. He’s a super good guy, and he loves women. If there’s no room in your activism for guys like us, who want equality for women, then I think that’s just not right.”
There was a long pause, and several of the masked feminists shifted on their feet. Then they started clapping. “You go, boy,” one of them said.
Then Ava, the tiger girl, pushed up her mask. David was surprised—although he knew he shouldn’t have been—to see that she was really pretty, with earthy freckles and clear blue eyes and shiny brown bangs brushed sideways across her face. She trembled a little bit and then she stepped forward and kissed Jonathan. David wished he had someone besides the bear girl to confirm what he was witnessing. But there it was, still happening—Jonathan and this tiger girl were very publicly making out.
“Psst …” David turned and saw Arno’s head peaking around a tree. He tilted his head toward Jonathan and then Arno came hesitantly over. “What’s going on?”
“No clue,” David whispered. “Did you find that Lara girl?”
“She broke my heart.”
“Oh. Bummer.”
“Yeah, totally. Hey, can we get out of here?”
“Um, I think Jonathan is busy.”
Just then, the doors to the lecture hall were flung open with a loud bang. David and Arno looked up and saw Mickey running in their direction with a mob of angry people behind him.
i know when it’s time to go
When Ava kissed me I knew that I was on the right path to being a good person. My insides roared with good feelings, and I knew that in some crazy cosmic way I was being rewarded for trying so hard to find a cause to believe in. So I wasn’t surprised that the whole world seemed to be roaring, too.
I felt Ava’s lips part from mine, and then I looked up to see all the people we had just watched enter the lecture hall start to pour out. They were roaring, but not for me. Ahead of them, but not by much, was Mickey Pardo, and he looked deeply freaked out.
“What’s going on?” I hissed at David.
“It all went to shit,” he said. “I think we should really get out of here.”
I noticed that Arno was right behind him, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I looked back at Ava, who was still holding my hand. “You should go,” she said regretfully. Then she pecked me on the mouth, and it was the softest, sexiest peck I’d every experienced. “But if you don’t call me when you get back to the city, I’m going to picket your life.”
I stared into her eyes for one last second, and then I turned to my guys. “Let’s go!”
Mickey was right up behind us by then. “We gotta blow!” he was shouting. “Now!”
The crowd was growing now, and they were chanting, “Give our money back! Give our money back!”
So we ran. We ran for that tasteful wrought-iron gate we’d entered not twenty-four hours before, and as soon as we clear edit, we used all the strength we had to heave the thing shut. The art students were reaching the gates now, and they seemed really intent on taking something from us.
“They’re definitely going to get through that thing,” I said. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, a canary-yellow Mercedes came screeching toward us off the road.
“Patch!” we all shouted, out of surprise as much as joy. He stepped out of the car and gave us a lazy smile. He looked even more tanned and handsome than usual. The art crowd behind us was still yelling about their money, and happy as I was to see Patch, I really wanted to get my friends far away from Sarah Lawrence, and fast.
“Let’s do it,” I said, and we all went piling into the car.
Patch sat back into the driver seat. “Hey dudes,” he said. Then he punched Mickey—who was in the front passenger seat—in the arm. “I’m really sorry I missed your art thing again, Bro.”
“Forget it,” Mickey said, looking wildy behind us. “Could you just step on it, please?”
Patch put the car into gear, and then we zipped onto the road, leaving all those bitter Sarah Lawrence art types behind.
“No man, I mean, I’m really sorry. I just… I had to get out for a while, go someplace, you know what I mean?”
“What happened?” I asked. Patch met my eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Greta made out with this ex-boyfriend of hers. She said it was a one-time thing and she’s sorry, and part of me wants to get over it, you know? But another part of me thinks this a sign that it’s time to move on. Anyway, I heard about this crazy school in California called Deep Springs. So that’s where I went, to check it out.”
“Man, that sucks,” I said. “Are you all messed up about Greta?”
Patch shrugged. “I mean, we’re cool. She’s gotta do what she’s gotta do, and I gotta do what I gotta do. Going to Deep Springs really helped. I think… that might be my place.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” Patch sighed heavily, “I know we all talked about going to school together next year and how awesome that would be. But I think what I have to do is go to this little school in California where no one knows who I am, or thinks they do. Will you guys still like me if I abandon you for a couple years?”
I sort of had to laugh at that. “Patch, you’re always abandoning us, and we always like you anyway.”
The other guys nodded their agreement.
“And it’s probably a good thing you missed my lecture,” Mickey muttered. He shook his head. “I can’t believe it got that ugly. I mean, were my pictures that bad?”
“I thought they were good,” David said supportively.
“I mean, everyone loved them the first time around,” I chimed in.
“Uh, this was the first time around,” David said.
“What?”
“I had to take new pictures because Philippa hasn’t come out to her parents. They were new pictures. Just pictures of the city when it’s empty. Oh, and me, too.”
“Naked?” I said.
“Yeah, naked.”
“Mickey, don’t take this the wrong way. But next time you do something like this, would you consult with me, please?”
“Well, I tried, but you had a Greenpeace thing. It was like you didn’t have time for me, and that’s when things got messed up.”
“I know. Forgive me,” I said. “I’ll never do it again.”
We were on the parkway now, heading down toward the city, which sounded pretty much like the only place I wanted to be. There was a pause, and then Arno spoke up.
“I really feel your pain on the Greta thing. I just got my heart stepped on, too.”
“I knew Lara was bad news, man. I’m sorry that had to happen,” I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.”
“It probably did have to happen,” he said. “The ironic thing is that I thought being with her would make me more deep, but I think it’s the not being with her that’s teaching me all these new things about human nature and shit. Anyway, I’m just worried that Gabby won’t talk to me anymore. I called her, though. Maybe she’ll give me another shot.”
We were all quiet. It seemed doubtful, but I figured Arno had already had enough bad news for one day so I didn’t say anything.
“Girls”—David said softly, but before he could finish the thought his phone went off. He made a face and answered it. “Hi, Mom,” he said. “Really? That’s great … I mean, it’s great for her … No, I know you did what you had to do. It’s cool, I’m still your kid … I’ll see you soon, okay, Mom? Bye.”
He threw the phone on the floor and shouted, “Yes!”
“What happened?” I asked, sensing I was missing one last piece of the puzzle.
“Oh, well, during the week that you dropped out of our lives, I started dating Sara-Beth Benny. You remember how Mike’s Princesses worked? The dad’s a stand-up comic by night, plumber by day, and …”
“I’m familiar with the show, David.”
“Oh, yeah. Anyway, she moved into the apartment and my parents started treating her and it just got sort of weird, you know? I felt like she was more my sister than my girlfriend, and they wanted me to do all this weird stuff.”
I didn’t want to know what kind of stuff, so I just said, “But it sounds like it all worked out?”
“Yeah, my mom just called to say that Sara-Beth got a part in this indie film and she flew to L.A. this morning.” He paused like he was imagining what might have been. “She plays some kind of addict, apparently.”
“Man, that sucks. You gonna miss her?”
“Sure, but it’s not like I can’t see the bright side.”
And then I sort of had to start laughing. “Man you guys all got in a lot of trouble. Why didn’t anyone tell me any of this?”
“You were too busy shopping around for something to care about,” Arno said. “Going to fund raisers and shit.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I’ll never do it again.”
And even though I knew there was probably a fundraiser or two in my future, part of what I was saying was true. Because even before I’d had this whole caring panic attack, I had already really cared about something—my friends, and the lives they were trying to live. And that was something I was going to care about for a long time.
Don’t miss Girls We Love, the sixth Insiders
book, coming soon!
They’ve loved, lost, and totally obsessed, and now the Insiders’ girls are out for revenge … even if it means turning the Insiders into real boyfriends. Find out about:
Flan: The youngest and the ringleader. She’s ready for Jonathan to care about her … exclusively!
Philippa: Mickey’s messed things up so many times, but he does love her. Can she turn him into the boy of her dreams?
Liesel: Remember that girl from uptown who drove Arno crazy? She’s ba-aack.
Sara-Beth Benny: She’s a star, and she wants David to be one, too. But can David fake feelings?
And Patch’s mystery girl: He doesn’t even know her, but boy, does she know him …
Watch out! The Insiders may never look at each other—or girls—the same way again.
While you wait, catch up with the guys at www.insidersbook.com.
Also in this series:
the insiders
pass it on
take it off
break every rule
Copyright © 2006 by J. Minter and Alloy Entertainment
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, London, and Berlin
Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers
Electronic edition published in June 2006
www.bloomsburyteens.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Minter, J.
Hold on tight : an insiders novel / J. Minter.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Five wealthy Manhattan high school juniors visit several colleges
while trying to decide which institutions fit their images of who they are
and who they want to be.
[1. Friendship—Fiction. 2. Self-perception—Fiction. 3. College choice—Fiction.
4. Colleges and universities—Fiction. 5. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.M67334Hol 2006 [Fic]—dc22 2005031762
Produced by Alloy Entertainment
151 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
First U.S. Edition 2006
Bloomsbury Publishing, Children’s Books, U.S.A.
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
ISBN 978-1-59990-992-9 (e-book)