Secret Admirer by Melody Carlson Page A

will be plenty of time for boyfriends later,” Janna was telling the girls. “Right now you should just enjoy being yourself and having good friends. This is a time in your life that can never be repeated, a time when you can grow close to God and learn how to live a life that honors him. Having a boyfriend can really mess that up.” Then Janna started telling a story about a thirteen-year-old girl named Jessie who thought the best thing would be to have a serious boyfriend. She hooked up with a guy named Hunter who was sixteen, but it quickly turned into a mess. And, as much as Carlie wanted to hear the end of that story, she was about to drift off to sleep. But she also knew that her friends would retell the story to her tomorrow … if she asked them to.
    Mostly she knew that something really big had changed in her heart tonight. She knew that her commitment to God had deepened, and that her commitment to her friends had deepened as well. And, even with a broken arm and feeling too sleepy to think quite straight, she couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen tomorrow. She knew that with God in her life, it would have to be good.

chapter one
    “So are you guys going to the Valentine’s Day dance?” asked Amy.
    “Why would we want to do that?” Morgan’s brows drew together, and she peered at Amy like she’d just suggested that they all go jump into the ocean. Not a great idea since it was wicked cold and wet outside.
    “Yeah,” said Carlie, as she picked up a chip and popped it into her mouth. “Who wants to go to some lame dance?”
    “Because it’ll be fun,” said Amy hopefully.
    “Fun?” Emily frowned at Amy as she picked up a bead. “You gotta be kidding.”
    Now Amy regretted bringing the subject up. She looked out at the rain pelting the windows of the clubhouse, a converted school bus. The girls had gathered to spend a rainy Saturday just hanging together, doing beadwork and, of course, eating junk food — well, not
exactly
junk food, but not exactly the kind of food that Amy’s mom allowed in her house either.
    “What do you plan to
do
at the dance, Amy?” asked Morgan.
    “Dance, of course.”
    “You’re actually going to dance with
boys
?” demanded Carlie.
    “That’s the basic idea.” Amy just shook her head as she stared at her three friends. What was wrong with these girls anyway? Why were they so totally clueless when it came to boys?
    Emily laughed. “You’re nuts, Amy.”
    “Thanks a lot.” Amy frowned. This whole thing about not liking boys did not seem to be improving in the least with her friends. Amy had hoped they’d made some progress on their recent ski trip, but once they got back in school again, everything had gone pretty much back to the same old-same old. Just like always, most of the seventh grade boys would stick to their side of the locker bay with the girls clustered on the other. Not that Amy wanted to be like those girls who were regularly seen globbed onto their boyfriends and sometimes even kissing in front of God and everyone else. But, on the other hand, Amy thought it would be cool to have a guy interested in her. And she knew just which guy she wanted too.
    “Seriously, Amy, do you really want to dance with some smelly boy?” asked Morgan.
    “Not
all
boys are smelly,” argued Amy.
    “How many boys have you actually smelled?” teased Emily.
    “Which boys
aren’t
smelly?” asked Morgan.
    “Yeah, are you thinking of some boy in particular?” asked Carlie with a little too much interest. “Anyone we know?”
    Amy wished that Chelsea would hurry up and get here. That would help to balance out this discussion. Because Amy knew for a fact that Chelsea planned to go to the dance. In fact, Chelsea probably already had a new outfit all picked out for it — probably something very cool and expensive. And even though Chelsea had given up on Jeff Sanders (since he obviously liked Emily), she hadn’t given up on boys in general. In fact, she had