3

AVOID HOMECOMING OR DIE

WHEN I WALKED PAST JAS’S DOOR FOR THE second time, it was shut tight. I smiled as I walked by and opened the door to my room. Paige dashed in front of me, hopping up and down.

“Omigod,” she said. “I have the most amazing news ever!”

“Me too!” I said.

We grinned at each other. “You go first,” I said.

“No, you,” Paige said.

I shook my head. “You were the first to say you had news. Go.”

Paige grabbed my hand and pulled me onto her bed. “Okay! Okay! I’ll go.”

I looked at her flushed face and had a feeling what this was about.

“I. Kissed. Ryan,” Paige said. She covered her face with her hands, blushing, then glanced up at me. “We kissed!”

“Ohhhhmiiiigod!” I screamed. “Paige! You and Ryan! You kissed Ryan. That’s so amazing. Tell me everything.”

Paige’s smile was huge. “He asked me to the Sweet Shoppe and when we were leaving, he held my hand. It was so sweet. Then, he walked me back to Winchester. We stopped at the bottom of the stairs and he looked at me and I just knew. I remembered you telling me about your first kiss with Jacob and how you had that feeling?”

I nodded. “Yep. You just know.”

Paige got up and started walking around our room. “So he took both of my hands and looked at me. We leaned in at the same time and … kissed.”

“Was it perfect?” I asked.

“Beyond perfect,” Paige said. “Sooo amazing. I thought I’d be nervous and worried about doing it wrong, but it was so special.”

I smiled at her. “That’s awesome, Paige. I’m so, so happy for you.”

Paige sat back on the end of her bed. “And that’s not even the best part. When I was about to go inside, he asked me to be his girlfriend!”

“I knew he would!” I said. “You’ve got a boyfriend, Paige Parker. A boyfriend!”

Paige shook her head like she didn’t believe it. “I know. But it’s so weird. I can’t even process it.” She played with the ends of her red-gold hair. “I have a boyfriend.”

I hadn’t felt this excited for her in a long time. Paige deserved this.

“Now spill your news!” Paige said. “I need to know!”

I smiled. “Well, it’s not as exciting as getting your first boyfriend, but it’s pretty close.”

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.