Breaking Up Is Really, Really Hard to Do (17 page)

A bell rang in the kitchen. “That's another batch of quesadillas,” Georgia said. “I'll be right back.” She hurried into the house.

“What's the news from Beauregard?” Ramona asked.

“Not much,” Lina said. “The e-mails have started slowing down.” Since Larissa had told Beauregard that she was moving to India, he'd seemed to withdraw. Lina couldn't blame him. Especially after she'd stood him up, sick cat or not.

“Did he say anything about a new job?” Ramona asked.

“No,” Lina said. For once Ramona knew something she didn't. “Why?”

“Well, I was sitting outside Alvarado's office yesterday and I overheard his secretary say she heard a rumor that Dan was offered a job at another school next year.”

Lina's heart nearly stopped. “No! Where?”

“Don't know,” Ramona said.

“Is he moving away?”

Ramona shrugged. “I guess.”

“So he's leaving?”

“It's just a rumor. So far.”

But a believable rumor. Dan had made it clear to Larissa he wasn't happy with his job at RSAGE. Still, Lina was stunned. Somehow she'd thought he'd always be around—ready and waiting by the time she graduated.

“You know what this means, don't you?” Ramona said. “It's now or never. If one of us is going to make a move, we have to do it now. Before he slips away for good.”

For good. Lina couldn't believe she'd just passed up a chance to sit and have lunch with him alone. After this school year she might never see him again. When she was finally old enough to be with him, he will have forgotten all about her.

“We have to do something,” Ramona said. “Something more effective than casting spells on him.”

“I know,” Lina said. But what?

“Look,” Ramona said. “This is an emergency. No more secrets. Promise? The two of us have to work together from now on. Is it a deal?”

Lina saw the emotion on Ramona's face. Loving Dan was a kind of loneliness. It was like believing in something no one else could see. But Lina and Ramona had each other, and it would help.

“Yes,” Lina said. “The two of us together. It's a deal.”

“See anybody cute?” Holly asked Britta. If she was going to make a match for Britta, she needed to know what type of guy she liked.

“He's cute,” Britta said, pointing out Rob. “But he's clearly taken.”

Rob was wearing a t-shirt that said O
LD
U
PHOLSTERERS
N
EVER
D
IE
—T
HEY
A
LWAYS
R
ECOVER
. Holly shuddered. Not so much because of the t-shirt, but because he was sitting on the picnic table with Christie, who was feeding him a quesadilla. She was wearing a t-shirt, too. Hers said S
UPPORT
Y
OUR
L
OCAL
U
NDERTAKER
—D
ROP
D
EAD
!

It was bad enough that they never took their hands off each other. Now they were dressing alike, too? Holly thought she was going to be sick.

“Who's the melonhead?” Britta asked.

“Her name is Christie,” Holly said. “Rob's dating her.”

“That's Rob?” Britta said. “Your Rob?”

Holly nodded.

Britta watched while Christie fed Rob another bite of quesadilla. She kissed him between every bite. At first he seemed to like it. But by the fifth kiss he pulled back and said, “Christie, I haven't had a chance to swallow yet.”

Ha,
Holly thought. She remembered the way Rob used to kiss her constantly and how it annoyed her sometimes.

Christie straightened up in a huff. But then she handed Rob his drink and wrapped her arms around him, cooing.

“This is so repulsive,” Britta said.

“I know,” Holly said. “They're always all over each other like that.”

Rob tried to put his drink down on the picnic table, but it was hard with Christie holding him so tight. “Christie,” he said, “could you let go for one second? I want to set my cup down.”

“You didn't say ‘pretty please, honey pie.’” Christie kissed him on the ear, then on the cheek.

“Pretty please, honey pie,” Rob said. Holly could hear the irritation in his voice. Hmm, this was getting interesting.

Christie released him. He stood up and stretched. Then she put her arm around him and stuck it in his back pocket.

“There's Laura,” Christie said, pointing out one of her friends. “Let's go talk to her.”

“I'll catch up with you later,” Rob said. “I'm going to see what Walker's up to.”

“No,” Christie said. “Stay with me. Come on, Robby-bobby.”

Rob took her hand out of his pocket. “Christie, it won't kill you to spend ten minutes talking to your friends without me. We haven't been surgically attached—yet.”

Whoa. Look at Rob—standing up for himself!

“About time he said something,” Britta said.

Christie gaped at him in surprise. “My friends were right about you!” she squeaked. “You're not affectionate enough! You might as well be made of metal! You don't love me!”

She ran across the yard to her friend Laura. Rob watched her, looking baffled.

“This is so weird,” Holly said to Britta. “I dumped him partly because he was too affectionate. He likes to kiss every five minutes. I can't believe it's not enough for her!”

Rob shook his head and sat down on the bench. Then he spotted Holly. He gave her a little smile and a wave.

Look at him,
she thought. So cute. She didn't care about his silly t-shirts—those had nothing to do with the warm person he was inside. And he didn't
have
to wear them—it wasn't as if they were tattooed on his chest. Anyway, he'd probably grow out of them soon.

“Go over to him,” Britta said. “He wants you to.”

Holly was nervous. After all, the last time she'd confronted him he said he didn't want her back. And it had crushed her. But he was worth risking another try. She walked over and sat beside him on the picnic table.

“You know what, Holly?” he said. “I think I understand how you felt when we were together. Like we had a little too much of a good thing?”

“But it
was
a good thing,” Holly said. “I hate your t-shirt, by the way.”

Rob laughed. “It's one of my favorites. But I don't have to wear them all the time. I'm getting a little tired of them. Christie really likes them.”

“Really? She seems like such a paragon of taste.”

“I can't take her anymore,” Rob said. “No matter how nice I am to her, it's never enough.”

“She's crazy,” Holly said. “You're the sweetest, most affectionate guy I know.”

Rob gazed into her eyes. He still liked her—she could feel it. He always did have a thing for her eyes.

“Christie's always demanding more,” he said. “But I never had that problem with you. You never took advantage of me and you always told me how you felt.”

“But I was too picky,” Holly said. “All those little things that bugged me were so silly. What I really care about is the real you—the guy who knows how to make me feel better when I'm sad. The guy who makes happy times happier…”

She kissed him. He put his arms around her.

“I want my Holly back,” he murmured. “The Anti-Christie.”

A scream emanated from across the yard. The crowd parted, as Christie raced over to Rob and Holly.

“What are you doing?” Christie shrieked. “Why are you kissing her?”

“Christie, I'm sorry—” Rob began.

“You're horrible!” Christie cried. She picked up a handful of tortilla chips and pelted him with them. That didn't have much impact, so she gave up and dumped the whole bowl on his head. Then she ran away in tears.

Holly took the bowl off Rob's head and helped him brush the chips off. The party went quiet.

“Well,” Holly said. “That was awkward.”

“I didn't want to upset her like that,” Rob said. “I probably should have found a nicer way to break up with her.”

“She started it,” Holly said. “She accused you of being made of metal.”

Mads and Lina came running over. “Is everything okay?” Mads asked. “What happened to Christie?”

Rob put his arm around Holly, and she leaned against him, feeling happy. People started talking again, the music blared, and the party went back to normal.

“Hey,” Lina said. “Are you two back together?”

Holly glanced at Rob. “Yes,” he said. “We're back.”

“Yay! Rob and Holly are back!” Mads cheered.

“We always thought you guys should be together,” Lina said.

“It was just a temporary setback,” Rob said.

“Hey, Mads,” Holly said. “I just thought of another quiz topic. ‘Was Your Party a Hit or a Flop?’”

“I like it,” Mads said.

“Give yourself a point for every time you answer yes to one of these questions,” Holly said. “Question One: Were the coolest kids in school there?”

“Yes,” Mads said.

“Question Two: Did any new couples get together?” Holly asked.

“Yes,” Lina said. “Mads and Stephen!”

Mads grinned and waved at Stephen, who was stuck talking to her father. “The Overlord loves him already.”

“Question Three: Did the neighbors complain about the noise?” Holly asked.

Mads beamed. “Yes! We already got an angry call from the Zieglers.”

“Question Four: Was there a fight?” Holly said. “Did at least one person leave in tears?”

“Yes and yes,” Mads said.

“Well, Mads,” Holly said, “looks like your party is a big hit!”

“And it's not even over yet,” Mads said. “Maybe the police will come! People would talk about that for weeks.”

“We can only hope,” Holly said.

Here's a sneak peek at the Dating Game #3

Can True Love Survive High School?

L
ina jumped on her bike and pedaled toward the water. Carlton Bay “was a waterfront town, full of boat piers and seafood restaurants and a weathered boardwalk that ran along the shore called the Marina. Ramona was waiting for her on a bench, licking an ice Gream cone, her own bike leaning against a rail.

“Heard you got an eyeful at the game today,” Ramona said. Drops of pink ice cream dripped into her raven hair and down her ragged black dress and tights.
She really has the Goth look down,
Lina thought, taking in Ramona's black outfit, green nails, and elaborate mask of Goth makeup. Around her neck Ramona wore a thin orange tie, a symbol of her love for Dan, their teacher, who always wore skinny ties.

“I can't believe how fast word gets around when there's nudity involved,” Lina said. A streaker had run onto the field at the varsity lacrosse game.

“Sit down, we've got to talk fast,” Ramona said. “I don't have that much time. My mom's having trouble unloading a house, and she wants me to put a spell on the buyers.”

Ramona was into spells and voodoo. Her mother was a real estate agent, not Goth at all, but it looked like Ramona was drawing her into her web. Lina would have thought real estate was immune to supernatural power, but obviously she was wrong.

“First of all,” Ramona said, “I surrender him to you.”

“What?” Ramona was nearly as in love with Dan as Lina was, and very competitive. It wasn't like her to surrender anything to anyone.

“Look, there's no time to fool around,” Ramona said. “Only one of us can have him, right? I mean, if you look at it realistically. And that's what we've got to do—be realistic. So, you're the one who's been secretly e-mailing him and all. Once we get him, he's yours. I just want to live vicariously through you. But you have to promise to tell me every detail, no matter how personal or gross. Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Really? Do you swear? Do I have to extract some kind of elaborate vow from you?”

“No, you can trust me, Ramona. You know that.”

“I do
not
know that, but I don't have much choice. Now. How are we going to get him?”

Lina thought a minute. “Um, what are we talking about, exactly? What do you mean, get him?”

“Well, you know…” Ramona trailed off. That was the thing about loving a teacher. You longed, you yearned, but for what exactly? It was so unlikely you'd get anywhere with him that you didn't have to think that far ahead.

“You're going to be his girlfriend,” Ramona finally announced.

And that was what Lina wanted. But somehow she found it hard to picture.

“We'll start slow,” Ramona said. “Let's say our goal is that by the end of the month he will think of you as different from the other students. Special.”

Secretly, Lina hoped he already felt this way. “That's not enough.”

“Okay. The two of you have to be somewhere alone together. Not school-related. And it has to be understood that what you're doing is not a student-teacher thing, but a guy-girl thing.”

Ramona was rolling now. “I've got it. We'll send him a note from ‘a secret admirer’ and get him to meet us somewhere. You'll go up to him with a black veil over your face, so he can't see who you are, and then—”

“Ramona—” Lina elbowed her in the ribs. A familiar figure was walking toward them down the boardwalk.

“What? I'm on a roll here. Then, when the moment is right, you rip off the veil—”

“Ramona! Look!” Lina nodded at the man, who was coming closer. It was him. Dan.

Ramona clutched Lina's arm. “Oh my god! It's him! I conjured him with my psychic brain waves! I knew I had powers!”

“Ow—Ramona, your claws are digging into my skin.” Lina peeled Ramona's hand off her arm.

“This is a sign,” Ramona whispered. “This is our moment. We've got to act NOW!”

“Now? What are we going to do?”

“Just go!” Ramona yanked Lina to her feet. Dan had nearly reached them.

“Ramona, stop it!” Lina whispered. “I thought you had to go home and cast a spell on some real estate.”

“That can wait.”

“At least tell me what the plan is!”

Don't miss a minute of THE DATING GAME WITH Holly, Madison, and Lina!

Here's how it all began…