CHAPTER 1
"Melanie, honey, let's go over this list. There are
lots of things I want you to be sure to remember while your grandmother's here,"
Mrs. Edwards called from the kitchen just as Melanie headed up the stairs to
her room. "She'll be arriving in the morning, you know."
Melanie stopped in the middle of the stairway, but she didn't
turn around.
"Mo -om, " she protested. "I already
know all that stuff. Besides, Shane will be here in less than an hour, and I
haven't even decided what I'm going to wear yet."
"I know how important your big date with Shane is, but
this will just take a moment," her mother said firmly.
Melanie rolled her eyes and trudged back down the stairs.
Sometimes she was sure that either her mother had been born already an adult or
else she had amnesia about being in the seventh grade. Otherwise, she'd
remember what it was like. And she'd understand how important it was to be
going to the varsity basketball game with Shane Arrington, who was the cutest,
the coolest, the most laid-back boy in Wakeman Junior High.
"Now, I want you to remember to keep your stereo turned
low enough so that it doesn't disturb Grandma Dee . . ."
"I know, I know," insisted Melanie, "and don't
hog the bathroom. We've been over all this a hundred times. Why don't you just
give me the list and let me tape it up in the middle of my mirror?"
"Great idea," her mother said brightly, holding
the list out toward her.
Melanie groaned under her breath and took it. Couldn't her
mother tell when she was just kidding?
When she got to her room, Melanie started to toss the list
onto her desk, but her conscience was nagging at her. Instead, she got out her
tape and centered the list in the mirror above her dresser. She knew it would
please her mom if she came into the room and saw it. She hadn't meant to be so
crabby. And she really was glad that Grandma Dee was coming to stay with them
for a while. It was just that this was such an important night.
She had had a crush on Shane Arrington ever since their
first day at Wakeman Junior High. He had always been friendly and sometimes
acted as if he liked her, too. But it wasn't until she'd followed the
instructions in the love test that her cousin from California had sent her that
Shane had liked her enough to ask her out.
Melanie smiled to herself as she remembered how the love
test had almost ended in disaster. She had done everything her cousin had told
her to do to make Shane her one true love. She had handed out copies of the
test to six girls, waited four days, and then drunk a glass of water and
started to say Shane's name, which was supposed to make her romance come true.
But it was just then that that jerk Richie Corrierro had
stuck a rubber frog in her face and yelled, "Kiss me—I'm a prince!"
And instead of saying Shane's name, she had done something absolutely awful.
She had screamed, "Richie!" From that instant on, she had been
sure she was doomed to spend the rest of her life dodging Richie Corrierro. But
somehow, even without her saying Shane's name, the love test had worked, and he
had asked her to go to the basketball game tonight.
Melanie sighed and threw herself across her bed to dream
about Shane, but then she bounced straight up again as she caught sight of the
clock on her bedside table.
"Oh, my gosh! He'll be here in half an hour!"
Twenty-nine and a half minutes later, she came tearing back
down the stairs. Shane was here. She had seen his father's ancient orange
Volkswagen Bug with flowers and butterflies painted on the sides sitting in the
driveway beside her mother's red van.
"Mom! Dad! I'm going! I'll be home early!" she
shouted as she grabbed her coat and tried to catch her breath. She opened the
front door just as Shane was raising a fist to knock.
"Oh, hi," she said, suddenly feeling shy.
"Hi," said Shane, giving her an easy smile that
made her knees turn to putty. "Ready to go?"
She nodded, and they climbed into the backseat of the VW
Bug. Mr.
"Melanie, honey, let's go over this list. There are
lots of things I want you to be sure to remember while your grandmother's here,"
Mrs. Edwards called from the kitchen just as Melanie headed up the stairs to
her room. "She'll be arriving in the morning, you know."
Melanie stopped in the middle of the stairway, but she didn't
turn around.
"Mo -om, " she protested. "I already
know all that stuff. Besides, Shane will be here in less than an hour, and I
haven't even decided what I'm going to wear yet."
"I know how important your big date with Shane is, but
this will just take a moment," her mother said firmly.
Melanie rolled her eyes and trudged back down the stairs.
Sometimes she was sure that either her mother had been born already an adult or
else she had amnesia about being in the seventh grade. Otherwise, she'd
remember what it was like. And she'd understand how important it was to be
going to the varsity basketball game with Shane Arrington, who was the cutest,
the coolest, the most laid-back boy in Wakeman Junior High.
"Now, I want you to remember to keep your stereo turned
low enough so that it doesn't disturb Grandma Dee . . ."
"I know, I know," insisted Melanie, "and don't
hog the bathroom. We've been over all this a hundred times. Why don't you just
give me the list and let me tape it up in the middle of my mirror?"
"Great idea," her mother said brightly, holding
the list out toward her.
Melanie groaned under her breath and took it. Couldn't her
mother tell when she was just kidding?
When she got to her room, Melanie started to toss the list
onto her desk, but her conscience was nagging at her. Instead, she got out her
tape and centered the list in the mirror above her dresser. She knew it would
please her mom if she came into the room and saw it. She hadn't meant to be so
crabby. And she really was glad that Grandma Dee was coming to stay with them
for a while. It was just that this was such an important night.
She had had a crush on Shane Arrington ever since their
first day at Wakeman Junior High. He had always been friendly and sometimes
acted as if he liked her, too. But it wasn't until she'd followed the
instructions in the love test that her cousin from California had sent her that
Shane had liked her enough to ask her out.
Melanie smiled to herself as she remembered how the love
test had almost ended in disaster. She had done everything her cousin had told
her to do to make Shane her one true love. She had handed out copies of the
test to six girls, waited four days, and then drunk a glass of water and
started to say Shane's name, which was supposed to make her romance come true.
But it was just then that that jerk Richie Corrierro had
stuck a rubber frog in her face and yelled, "Kiss me—I'm a prince!"
And instead of saying Shane's name, she had done something absolutely awful.
She had screamed, "Richie!" From that instant on, she had been
sure she was doomed to spend the rest of her life dodging Richie Corrierro. But
somehow, even without her saying Shane's name, the love test had worked, and he
had asked her to go to the basketball game tonight.
Melanie sighed and threw herself across her bed to dream
about Shane, but then she bounced straight up again as she caught sight of the
clock on her bedside table.
"Oh, my gosh! He'll be here in half an hour!"
Twenty-nine and a half minutes later, she came tearing back
down the stairs. Shane was here. She had seen his father's ancient orange
Volkswagen Bug with flowers and butterflies painted on the sides sitting in the
driveway beside her mother's red van.
"Mom! Dad! I'm going! I'll be home early!" she
shouted as she grabbed her coat and tried to catch her breath. She opened the
front door just as Shane was raising a fist to knock.
"Oh, hi," she said, suddenly feeling shy.
"Hi," said Shane, giving her an easy smile that
made her knees turn to putty. "Ready to go?"
She nodded, and they climbed into the backseat of the VW
Bug. Mr.
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