Everybody Bugs Out by Leslie Margolis Page B

to bother going at all.
    Yumi bought a cute black skirt and Rachel found some nice dressy black jeans. I tried on a shirtdress that they said looked good, but I didn’t want to buy it.
    â€œI don’t even have a date yet,” I told them as I looked at myself in the mirror. “So there’s no point in buying this and it seems too dressy, anyway.”
    â€œWhy don’t you ask Trevor Halloway?” said Yumi.
    â€œWho?” I asked.
    â€œHe’s this cute guy in my Latin class,” Yumi said.
    â€œI hear he’s going with Maya,” Rachel whispered.
    â€œSee—even the guys I don’t know have dates.” I headed back to the dressing room.
    â€œSorry, you weren’t supposed to hear that. But don’t worry. You’ll find someone,” said Rachel.
    Or maybe Oliver will ask me before Claire gets around to asking him , I thought but didn’t say. That’s what I was hoping would happen.
    Until Friday.

chapter thirteen
    the big shrug
    I could tell something big went down by the way Claire rushed up to our table at lunch, dropped her bag down, and then sat in this extremely dramatic way. Blue eyes wide, she puffed her cheeks out like they were filled with major news.
    â€œWhat’s up?” I asked.
    â€œWell,” she said, “I finally talked to Oliver.”
    She didn’t seem elated. Didn’t seem happy at all, in fact.
    I had a hopeful thought. Maybe Oliver turned her down. Maybe he said, “I can’t go with you because my heart belongs to another girl.” Or “Thanks, but it would be too complicated, a bad idea. I’m grounded. I’m allergic to school dances.” Or “There’s a cricket match I’d rather watch that night.”
    There were a gazillion reasons for Oliver to say no, and unfortunately I’d spent the last few days thinking up new ones.
    â€œWhat happened?” I asked, leaning so far forward I almost fell off the bench.
    â€œYeah, don’t keep us in suspense,” said Rachel.
    Claire huffed out another breath. “I asked him and he said yes.”
    â€œWait, that’s a bad thing?” Emma raised one eyebrow.
    She wasn’t the only confused one. All of my friends seemed completely bewildered. And this was good because it kept their attention away from me.
    I was not simply perplexed. I felt majorly disappointed. Tears sprung to my eyes. I blinked fast to keep them from falling as I tried to come to terms with the news.
    Oliver said yes. Well, of course he did. I’d tried to prepare myself for this situation. I’d even practiced my reaction to the news in the bathroom mirror the other day just in case I found myself in this exact situation.
    Eyes wide, bright smile, both thumbs up. “That’s awesome!” I planned on saying. But instead, my throat felt swollen and dry. So much so that I couldn’t manage to say a word.
    Which makes no sense because deep down, I should’ve known that Claire would ask Oliver, eventually. She liked him too much not to. Just like I knew Oliver was a nice guy who wouldn’t say no unless he had a really good reason to.
    I guess I just hoped something would happen before this moment arrived.
    Like, he’d ask me.
    Or Claire would change her mind.
    Or the president would cancel Valentine’s Day and all activities relating to the holiday for reasons of national security.
    But now it was too late.
    My chest ached, like someone had played Ping-Pong with my heart, which then rolled off the table and got stomped on.
    â€œWhat’s the problem?” asked Rachel.
    I looked up, afraid she’d noticed my reaction, but all eyes were still on Claire.
    â€œIt’s the way he said yes,” she explained. “Like, totally unenthusiastically. This was my first time asking a boy to a dance, my first time asking a boy anything important, and I guess I just thought it would be bigger. More eventful. It’s