The Lonely Hearts Club (9 page)

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inseparable best friends who on the surface seemed very different. Jen was the jock, captain of most of the girls teams, and could be a little intense, while Amy was very preppy and usually had a dress or blazer on, like she was going to work in an office instead of going to school,

Tracy excitedly filled them in on the details of the Club. Morgan and Kara just stayed silent the entire time. I'm sure they were probably wondering what they'd gotten themselves into.

"Watt!' Amy asked. "I thought you mentioned today in Art that you're going shopping for Homecoming dresses. Who are you going to Homecoming with?"

"Were going with each other," I explained. "We figure it will be a lot more fun than going with guys who will ditch us to talk about whatever it is that guys talk about!'

"Jock itch!' Tracy offered with a smirk.

Both Amy and Jen looked at each other. Amy then looked at us and said, "that sounds cool to me . . . can I join?"

"Amy!" Jen protested. "Are you seriously going to decide to not date for the next two years, just like that?"

Amy flipped her long, wavy black hair. "Please, this is such an easy decision. I've had it with all these guys at school, especially after what Brian Reed did to me in seventh grade."

Tracy and I exchanged confused looks.

"What did Brian do?" I asked.

Amy's eyes widened. "You mean you don't remember? '

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I shook my head.

She sighed. "Well, it was a while ago. But I always think about it because nothing has changed with guys since then. I mean, they're so juvenile."

"What happened?" Kara rejoined the conversation.

Amy sat up. "Well, Brian and I were dating -- and I use the term dating loosely. He'd walk me home from school every once in a while, and then on Friday nights we'd go to the arcade where I watched him play video games. One day, out of the blue, he walks up to me at lunch and in front of everybody, he says, 'Roses are red. Violets are blue. Garbage gets dumped, and now so have you.' All of the stupid jerks at the jock table just sat there and laughed."

"Oh, watt, I do remember that," Diane said softly. "Brian can be such a jerk."

"I was traumatized all year. All the dumb jocks threw trash at me when I walked by. I still to this day have no idea what I did to deserve that. And then the other day, Brian had the nerve to talk to me, as if he hadn't completely humiliated me and ruined my entire seventh grade."

Jen rubbed Amy's shoulder. "I had no idea it still upset you so much."

"I was twelve -- it totally traumatized me," Amy replied, "And believe me, I'm over it now. But that started my disastrous experiences with guys. the other stories aren't even worth repeating. I'm more than happy to banish these idiots from my memory."

Jen looked at Amy in shock. "But..."

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Amy put her hand up to silence Jen. "Please -- look at you! You've gotten screwed over more than I have."

"No, I--"

"Josh Fuller."

At the sound of Josh's name, Jen sank down on the lawn.

"Who's Josh Fuller?" Diane asked as she patted Jen's knee.

Jen ran her hands through her short blond hair. "He's the guy who broke my heart. We both coached basketball at park and rec this summer, and he ., ."

"He jerked her around," Amy finished. "He flirted with her constantly, led her on, even took her out on a date -- and then he just stopped. He continued with the flirting, but there never was a second date. instead, he would parade a different bimbo around the park every week, then tell Jen how hot she was. He just --"

"Enough," Jen said. "they get the point." She shook her head. "It's so stupid, but I hadn't really met a guy who I really clicked with before, and it all seemed to be there with him. It was too good to be true."

I nodded, knowing exactly how Jen felt.

I started to feel a surge of energy, "Come on, Jen, join us," I said. "We don't need them, do we?"

Jen smiled. "We sure as hell don't."

"Nice!" Diane nodded in approval. "We are up to five members. Kara? Morgan?"

Both Kara and Morgan had spent the last few minutes in silence.

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"Um, I have a date to Homecoming .,." Kara said, looking down at her uneaten lunch. "Ah . .."

"that's okay ..," Diane offered.

'And, ah." Morgan was clearly uncomfortable, "I'm sorry guys, I just need to . . ,"

"No worries, seriously," I assured them. "I understand it's a lot. When you're ready, we'll be here."

Knowing the guys at our school, I didn't think it would take that long for them to decide to join us.

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chapter Fourteen

THANK GOD TODD, CHESNEY sucked at Spanish.

He'd been trying to hit on me and ask me to Homecoming all week, but since his Spanish was so bad, I just looked at him, confused, and pretended that I didn't know what he was talking about. And since Todd, was so bad in class, he believed me.

Just before the bell rang on Thursday morning, I started my usual routine of grabbing my books and running out of class.

"Whoa, hold up, Margarita," Todd, grabbed my arm before I got a chance to dash into the hallway.

"Huh?" I tried to sound surprised.

"I need to talk with you." Todd, followed me into the hallway. "So I was thinking . . ."

Oh, this was going to be bad.

"... that you and I should, ya know, go to Homecoming together,"

He stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked at me. Although he was a few inches taller than me and was who-knew-how-many-pounds bigger, he looked a little timid. it almost made me feel bad enough to say yes. Almost

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"Oh, wow, Todd,, wow." I tried to sound surprised, "I actually have plans for Homecoming already."

"Who are you going with?" A hard edge seeped into his voice. "Bauer?"

"Ryan? No, why would you -- never mind." that threw me off

"Every chick in this school is watting around for Bauer to ask her to Homecoming. He better ask someone ASAP." He folded his arms, looking impatient.

"Uh-huh. Well, see, I'm not going with a guy. I'm going with some friends, that's all,"

"Why would you want to do that?" He looked confused. "You know what, Penny -- if you don't want to go with me you should just say so,"

"No, it's not that, I really am --"

"Whatever." Todd, walked away.

Well, that went well.

Despite Todd's reaction, for the first time since I'd been in high school, I was looking forward to Homecoming. Anytime I got asked who I was going with, I'd tell the truth, not caring if people thought it was weird that a bunch of girls were going together.

"Hey there, stranger -- have you forgotten where your locker is?" Ryan said to me after class.

"Yeah, well, I just. . ."

"It's okay. I understand."

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I had no idea what he was supposed to be understanding. I'd been avoiding my locker so I wouldn't have to deal with Todd,.

I got back to fishing my books out of my locker, but Ryan wasn't going anywhere. "So, Todd, told me what happened."

I turned around and leaned my back against my locker. "How much does he hate me?"

Ryan moved so his head was leaning next to mine. "It's not that bad. I told him that you really are going with a bunch of girls. Sorry"

"Why should you be sorry?"

A smile spread across his face. "Well, I think he may start hitting on you again once Homecoming is over."

"Oh."

"Anyways, you should be the one apologizing to me."

"For what?"

Ryan opened his backpack and started putting things into his locker. He was pretending not to hear me.

"Hey." I kicked his leg gently. "What did I do? I mean, I can't imagine what it could be, since I'm such a Goody two-shoes and all. . .."

"It would've been nice to warn Chesney that you were off the market."

"Oh, nice, 'off the market.' I know Todd, sees me as a piece of meat, but I expect a little more from you," I teased.

"I just can't believe I have to find out everything about you from Diane."

"What exactly did Diane tell you?"

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He looked confused. "That you guys are going to Homecoming together. is there something else?"

I shook my head. "No, nothing else. that's it."

Friday night I headed with Morgan to Tyson's concert. I'd never felt so out of place. I surveyed the room and all I saw were piercing, black eyeliner, and dirty hair. Everybody had a look on their face like they'd rather be somewhere else.

Well, I might've had one thing in common with them.

Morgan grabbed my arm. "I think we should go to the front, not too close, but close enough."

We maneuvered our way toward the front of the auto mechanic shop that was doubling as the concert venue. I didn't think we'd have a problem with Tyson seeing Morgan; there were only thirty other people there. Morgan reached in her purse and applied another coat of red lipstick.

there was movement toward the front as the band took the stage: Pete Vaughn sat behind the drum set and started twirling his sticks; Brian Silverman and Trent Riley stepped on stage with their respective instruments, guitar and bass; and Tyson came storming out with his guitar. Immediately, the band launched into the Clash's "London Calling." I was surprised at how Tyson, so shy in class, dominated the stage. He moved with the music, worked the crowd, and held himself like a seasoned pro. And the music wasn't half bad. the song ended and everybody started to cheer.

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"All right.'" Tyson grabbed the microphone. "Enough with the covers. We got a new song we re gonna play for you tonight. So give it up.'"

those were the most words I had ever heard him speak.

"Oh, I can't watt to hear their new stuff-- Tyson writes all of the songs." Morgan looked on like a lovesick puppy.

Tyson started playing a few power chords. His long hair was in his eyes as he bobbed his head back and forth. the rest of the band came in and I found myself now moving to the music. there was something intense about the beat. I looked around and saw everybody moving their heads to the bass.

As he sang his lyrics into the microphone, I was surprised at his voice -- so clear, powerful, and, in a way, beautiful. the lyrics were a lot deeper than I would've guessed.

Tyson closed his eyes and reached out his hand to the crowd. "You are the shadow that haunts me, the vision of who I want to be"

Despite the fact that Tyson was a guy, I started to wonder if I'd had him wrong. Not the part about him being the scum of the earth because he was male. But besides his being a boy, I'd always been so quick to dismiss Tyson all these years. Had I allowed the way he looked and his timid behavior to overshadow what was becoming increasingly obvious?

Tyson Bellamy wasn't a punk wannabe -- he was a musical prodigy.

After the band finished its last song, Morgan turned to me and said, "A promise is a promise -- we can leave."

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We started to exit, but there was a cluster of people in front of us. I decided to maneuver over to the side of the stage to get to the exit, then tripped over an amp cord.

"Are you okay?" A hand grabbed me to steady my balance,

I looked up. "Yeah. thanks, Tyson. Great show."

"thanks, Penny," he said with a bit of a smile. "I was a little nervous when I saw you were here."

Really?

"Really?"

"Yeah." I could see him blushing behind his hair. "I mean, you're named after a song from the greatest rock band of all time."

"Oh." I laughed. "Um, you know Morgan, right?" I motioned to Morgan, who was trying to hide behind me. So much for me not being the wing girl.

"Yeah, hi," Tyson said and looked down at the floor.

"Hi," Morgan replied, also looking down.

"Um, so do you guys practice here?" I asked, trying to make things less awkward.

Tyson nodded his head, "Yeah, at night." He didn't look up.

"Uh-huh, well that's . . . interesting."

Morgan nudged me.

"Um, well, good talking to you . . ."

Tyson nodded his head and peeked up for just an instant to smile.

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"I'm going to die" Morgan screamed as we left the garage. "That was so embarrassing. Could he have shown any less interest in me?"

"He's just shy!' I said, only half sure that was it.

Morgan opened the doors to her car and we got in, "Penny, do you know how long I've had a crush on Tyson?"

I shook my head.

"Since freshman year. two years. And finally I decided that this year I would do something about it. He's a senior, so time is running out. But it's so obvious he doesn't care." Morgan put her head on the steering wheel. "I'm so embarrassed."

"You've nothing to be embarrassed about. You don't need Tyson to --"

I cut myself off I didn't want to have a reenactment of our lunch from earlier in the week,

"I don't need to what?" Morgan looked at me expectedly.

"You don't need him."

Morgan nodded slowly. "You're right -- I don't. I've already wasted so much time on him." She sighed. "Hey, got room for one more in your club?"

I smiled. "Of course. You free tomorrow night?"