Don't Bet On Love (11 page)

CHAPTER TEN

B
ut of course I couldn’t forget. I spent most of the weekend sitting in my room, re
mem
bering Gary’s kiss and playing
“
No One in the World Like You
”
over and over again on
my stereo.

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to school on Monday morning. Now that I had resigned my position as Gary’s personal trainer, there was no reason for us to meet or even to speak to each other. I couldn’t imagine that anything unusual or interesting would happen—but I was wrong.

I had just finished taking my books out of my locker, when I heard someone calling my name. Turning, I saw Colette Carroll hurrying down the hall in my direction. I didn’t even kno
w Colette
knew
my name. But big
ger surprises were in store.

“
Molly, have you heard that I’m giving a party for Gary?
”
she asked.

“I’
ve heard rumors about it,
”
I answered.

“
Well, the rumors are true. It’
s this Satur
day night. How would you like to come?
”
Colette asked, beaming at me. She seemed to expect me to swoon from the sheer thrill of being invited to one of her oh-so-exclusive gatherings.

Needless to
say, I didn’t swoon, but I cer
tainly was startled. Why would Colette go out of her way to extend an invitation to a girl she’d hardly spoken to more than half a dozen times all year? It probably had something to do with Gary, but just what, I didn’t know.

“
I’m not sure if I’m free,
”
I hedged.
“
I’ll have to let you know. What time does it start?
”

“
Eight o’clock. See you there, I hope.
”
Wig
gling her fing
ers in farewell, Colette contin
ued down the hall.

When I told Beth and Jan at lunch about her invitation, they were as puzzled as I was.

“
Colette invited you to her party?
”
Beth gasped in surprise.
“
Molly, why?
”

“
I
have no idea,
”
I said.
“
But I’m sure she has her reasons.
”

“
Yeah, and I’m sure they aren’t purely social,
”
Jan agreed.
“
Have you ever talked to Colette about Gary?
”

“
Well, a few weeks ago I did tell her that he was a good algebra tutor,
”
I said thoughtfully,
“
but that was all.
”

“
Algebra?
”
Jan echoed, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
“
When I saw her in the hall with Gary right before last period, algebra was the
last
thing on that girl’s mind!
”

As if on cue, Colette entered the cafeteria, clinging possessively to Gary’s arm.

“
So what are you going to do about it, Molly?
”
asked Beth.

Unable to tear my eyes away from Gary and Colette, I watched as they took their places in the cafeteria line.
“
What
can
I do?
”
I asked sadly.
“
It’s what I trained him for.
”

“
She meant the party,
”
Jan said, giving me a knowing look.
“
You
have
got it bad, haven’t you?
”

I nodded. There was no point in trying to deny what Jan and Beth already knew.

“
What about it, Molly?
”
Beth asked.
“
Are you going or not?
”

“
Definitely not,
”
I said.

“
Gary might feel more comfortable if some of his old friends were there,
”
Beth sug
gested.
“
I mean, he doesn’t know Colette’s crowd all that well.
”

Across the cafeteria, Gary held a chair for Colette. She gave him a megawatt smile as she sat down, then quickly scooted her chair closer to his.

“
I don’t think he’ll have much opportunity to be lonely,
”
I said with a sigh.

“
Well, hey!
”
Jan put in brightly.
“
Who needs Colette and her old party, anyway? Let’s all do something together this weekend!
”

“
Great idea!
”
Beth agreed.
“
Where should we go?
”

“
Where else? The mall!
”
Jan said.
“
We can go shopping for prom dresses!
”

“
Oh, nice going, Jan!
”
Beth scolded with uncharacteristic sarcasm.
“
That’s just what Molly needs to make her feel better!
”

“
It’s okay,
”
I said, smiling in spite of the heaviness in my heart.
“
I’d love to go with you to pick out your gowns. Friday night, or Saturday?
”

Beth voted for Saturday, so I wouldn’t sit at home brooding all day, but since Jan had a date that afternoon, we
settled for Friday. Actually, I
had no real desire to go anywhere, especially shopping for prom dresses. Beth was right—it reminded me too much of Gary and Colette, and of Mark’s bet, which was looking more like a winner all the time. In fact, I thought w
ryly, probably the only peo
ple who could even come close to understanding the way I felt were Eddie and Steve, each of whom would most likely be ten dollars poorer by prom night.

But I knew Beth and Jan meant well, so on Friday night I pasted on a cheerful smile and crawled into the backseat of Beth’s battered VW. A
s we rode to the mall, Jan chat
tered away, predicting that I would meet a handsome stranger that very night, a guy who would never fall down the stairs, trip over his own feet, or botch the simplest comments about the weather, and who would never
ever
forget his wallet and land himself and his date in Jail. But Jan’s fictional dreamboat held no appeal for me at all.

Once inside th
e mall, the three of us wan
dered from store to store, alternately admiring and criticizing the dresses we found. Then, as we approached the fountain at the center of the mall, Beth spotted a peacock-blue formal in one of the shop windows.

“
That’s it!
”
she cried, pointing at the dress.
“
The prom dress of my dreams!
”

“
In Lundquist’s?
”
Jan asked skeptically.
“
Isn’t that a little rich for your blood, not to mention your pocketbook?
”

“
Probably,
”
Beth admitted.
“
But
I’ll
have only one junior prom, you know. At least let’s see how much it costs!
”

“
You go ahead,
”
Jan said, sitting down on the low wall surrounding the fountain.
“
I’m going to wait here and rest my tired feet.
”

“
Tired feet, huh?
”
Beth echoed skeptically, eyeing a group of boys who had just seated themselves on the other side of the fountain.
“
What about you, Molly? Do you want to come with me, or do you suddenly have tired feet, too?
”

“
Sure, I’ll come,
”
I said without much en
thusiasm, and followed Beth into the shop.

Of course, once we were inside, one thing led to another. Discovering that the dress was twenty-five percent off only made Beth determined to find out if they had it in her size. And when the saleslady brought out one in size seven, nothing would satisfy Beth but to try it on. I waited patiently outside the dressing room, watching in amusement as various articles of Beth
’s clothing were flung over the
door of the cubicle.

At last the door opened, and Beth stuck her head out.

“
Molly, can you come here a minute? I want your opinion.
”

I joined her, and Beth shut the door behind me.

“
Well, what do you think?
”
she asked, striking a pose.

It was hard for me to get very excited about anything concerning the prom, but there was no denying that the dress could have been designed with Beth in mind.

“
I think you look terrific in it,
”
I said, and meant it.

“
I don’t know,
”
Beth said, critically studying her reflection in the mirror.
“
I think it looked better on the mannequin.
”

“
That’s because the mannequin is six feet tall and wears a size five,
”
I said.
“
Beth, trust me. You look great! That shade really brings out the blue of your eyes, and—
”

I had been about to tell her that the dress made her tiny waist look even tinier, but something made me pause in mid-sentence. The dressing room door shook slightly as someone entered the cubicle next to ours. Then the sound of a girl’s voice came floating over the dividing wall.

“
Colette, this must be the fourth dress you’ve tried on tonight,
”
the voice complained.

“
Fifth,
”
a second voice corrected her friend. This one I recognized. It belonged to Colette Carroll. I glanced at Beth and raised one finger to my lips.

“
Why so picky?
”
the first girl asked.
“
Does this mean you have a prom date you haven’t told me about?
”

“
Oh, I’ve got a date, all right,
”
Colette said confidently.
“
He just doesn’t know it yet.
”

“
You mean Gary still hasn’t asked you?
”
A wild hope that he might have changed his
mind died with the other girl’s next words.
“
But everybody knows he’s crazy about you. What’s taking him so long?
”

“
Bashfulness,
”
Colette answered.
“
It was cute for a while, but it’s beginning to get old. He’ll ask me tomorrow night, though. I’ll see to that!
”

“
How?
”

“
I invited a girl named Molly McKenzie to my party. She’s a friend of Gary’s, and unless
I
miss my guess, a while ago she tried to get the two of us together. At the time I thought she must be nuts, but now I think she might be a useful ally to have.
”
I heard a rustling sound—Colette taking off a gown.
“
No, I don’t think I like this dress, either, Lauren. It’s just not
me
. Let’s go look somewhere else.
”

I could hear the unseen Lauren grumbling, and a moment later the door creaked open and shut again. Then there was no sound but the canned music playing over the PA system.

So that explained why Colette had invited me to her party! Gary wasn’t moving fast enough for her, and she expected me to give him a shove in her direction. Well, maybe I would go to her party after all, but
I wouldn’t be the “
useful ally
”
Colette was hoping for. I wasn’t giving my Gary to her on a silver plat
ter,
no way!

“
Beth
,
”
I said impulsively, “
do you mind if we have an
other look at that sale rack? I
just had a sudden urge to buy a party dress.
”