Hayride by Bonnie Bryant Page B

completely died on Veronica’s face. She cleared her throat. “Invitation?” she asked faintly.
    “Yes, I left the message with the maid because I couldn’t get through on your line,” Carole explained, growing annoyed. Did Veronica have to go on playing dumb? “The night I called everyone else, it was busy for over an hour.”
    Veronica attempted a fake smile but failed. “Message? With the maid? I never read anything she gives me,” she said wanly. Veronica thought for a minute. All at once she realized what had happened. “Do you mean to tell me that I went to all this effort to—I mean—I triedto—” Veronica stopped, pouting. Her eyes flashed angrily. There was nothing she could say. She couldn’t exactly complain about having been invited.
    “At least you were able to come—with Simon,” Carole said sweetly, beginning to understand the situation.
    “Darn right, with me!” Simon said. “Why, gosh, Carole, this practically makes you a matchmaker! This party is almost as good as a petri dish—you know, those things you grow bacteria in. See, Veronica and me—we’re like two pieces of bacteria …”
    Veronica stared at him. She had an intense desire to tear his hair out and run screaming out the door. She looked away to calm herself. She saw Lisa and Bob sitting on the couch, sharing a piece of pizza. Phil and Stevie were sitting on the floor, arm-wrestling. All four looked completely happy together. Veronica caught Stevie’s eye. Stevie looked at her and then—meaningfully—at the telephone. Veronica drew in a sharp breath and looked away hastily. Stevie knew about the phone call to Phil!
    “… and all the little bacterial
E. coli
keep growing and growing and—”
    Carole broke into Simon’s monologue. “What about the note I left on Garnet’s stall door?” she asked Veronica.
    With a sinking feeling Veronica groped around in her cream pocketbook and drew out the now crumpled note.“This? Oh, I—uh—never looked at this, either,” she said brusquely. “I mean, really, a note on a stall door.”
    “I wanted to be absolutely positive you got the invitation,” Carole said, putting on her best hostess smile. She told Veronica its contents, including the part about her ankle and her hope that she, Veronica, would exercise Starlight while Garnet was lame. “It just seemed like the logical solution, don’t you think?”
    “Gosh, it sure seems superlogical to me,” Simon said. Both Carole and Veronica gave him a withering look.
    Not meeting Carole’s eyes, Veronica said yes, she thought it was a good idea. She stared at the floor. How could she have known The Saddle Club would include her—even go out of their way to be friendly? She had totally misjudged them. She kept her eyes intently on the floor, wishing it would open up and swallow her. She looked up when she heard the sound of a male voice. Cam had come over to see how Carole was doing and to offer her a chair.
    “Actually,” Carole said, “I was about to come rescue you from my father. What’s he got you doing now?”
    “We’ve been moving stereo equipment, but it’s a secret,” Cam whispered. He put his arm lightly around Carole’s shoulder to help her back to the sofa. She leaned on his strong frame.
    Veronica stared after them.
    Simon poked her in the ribs. “Cheer up, Ronnie, the party’s just beginning,” he said. Veronica glared at him.
    “Lisa and Stevie, let’s get the rest of the pizza, okay?” Carole beckoned her two friends to follow her. In about two seconds The Saddle Club had convened in the kitchen, leaving Bob, Cam, and Phil to get to know one another better. The parents had finally cleared out, so the room was empty.
    Stevie thumped Carole on the back. “Gosh, swell party, Carole—almost as swell as my trigonometry course, where we’re learning all about sine and cosine waves.”
    “All right, all right,” Carole said, when the three of them had managed to stop giggling. “I think I know