meant it.
Still, in spite of her warning me not to, I felt like I
had
to say something.
"But you guys have had fights before, and you've always worked it out. Maybe you should sleep on it, Geri. You might feel different after you've had some time to think about it."
"Not this time," Geri Lynn said. She reached back into her bag and pulled out her date book.
The
date book. The one she’d shown me, the one with all the hearts in it. She opened it and, taking out a pen, put a big black
X
through today’s date.
I couldn’t help noticing that the number of hearts on the month At-A-Glance pages had diminished somewhat drastically over the past six or seven weeks. Like, to nothing. Either Geri had slacked off recording their most intimate moments, or she and Scott hadn’t had any in quite some time. . . .
Her next statement cleared up the mystery.
"No," Geri said, "this has been a long time coming, Jenny. I've felt as if Scott and I were drifting apart for some time now. We just don’t have the same interests . . . the same goals. Can you believe he didn’t even
want
to go the Spring Fling? He wanted to go to some anti-Spring Fling party Kwang is having—"
I knew all about Kwang’s anti-Spring Fling party. I was planning on going to it myself.
"So you’re just going to
ask
him?" Trina demanded. Trust Trina to completely ignore the fact that Geri's—not to mention Scott's—heart might very well be broken. All she wanted to know was what Geri’s plans for Luke Striker were. "Luke, I mean? You’re just going to march up to him and ask him to the Spring Fling?"
"You better believe it," Geri said, throwing back her shoulders. "Get outta the way."
"Wait a minute," Trina said. "Asking Luke Striker to the Spring Fling was
my
idea. I thought of it first!"
"But you already have a date, don’t you?" Geri reminded her sweetly.
"Not for long," Trina declared, and bolted for the bathroom door.
"WAIT!" Geri practically broke her neck pelting after Trina.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I mean, here were two people whom I’d basically always thought of as mature young women—two people whose keen intellect and independence I had always envied and respected—and they were practically at each other’s throats. Over a BOY, of all things!
"You guys," I yelled, running after them through the Chi-Chi’s vestibule and then out into the parking lot. "You guys, remember, you promised not to—"
But I never got to remind Trina and Geri not to tell anyone about Luke’s identity. Because by the time I caught up with them, they were standing on the outer fringes of this huge crowd that had gathered around Luke and the sedan he’d been washing.
Only now Luke was on top of the car’s roof, shouting frantically into a cell phone while he tried to fend off the grasping hands of about seventy-five Troubadours, Chi-Chi’s waitresses, random housewives who’d been on their way to the mall, and even a few of the guys from the pickup trucks, all of whom were screaming "
Luke! Luke! LUKE!
"
"Oh my God, you guys," I yelled at Trina and Geri as I watched Luke struggle to avoid the groping hands all around him. "What’d you
do
?"
"It wasn’t us," Geri said with a shrug. "We came out and they were already at it."
"I guess I’m not the only person in Clayton who knows about Luke Striker’s Angelique tattoo," Trina said glumly.
Geri stamped her foot. "How am I going to ask him to the Spring Fling
now!
I can’t get anywhere near him!"
As if that were the worst of anyone’s problems! Poor Luke was about to be torn limb from limb, and all his most diehard fans could worry about was how they were going to ask him to the
Spring Fling!
I looked up at Luke. He didn’t seem scared or anything—though
I
would have been, if I were in his shoes. He’d hung up the cell phone and was trying to speak rationally to the horde of screaming women around him.
"Listen," he was saying. "You can all have autographs. Really. Just one at
Still, in spite of her warning me not to, I felt like I
had
to say something.
"But you guys have had fights before, and you've always worked it out. Maybe you should sleep on it, Geri. You might feel different after you've had some time to think about it."
"Not this time," Geri Lynn said. She reached back into her bag and pulled out her date book.
The
date book. The one she’d shown me, the one with all the hearts in it. She opened it and, taking out a pen, put a big black
X
through today’s date.
I couldn’t help noticing that the number of hearts on the month At-A-Glance pages had diminished somewhat drastically over the past six or seven weeks. Like, to nothing. Either Geri had slacked off recording their most intimate moments, or she and Scott hadn’t had any in quite some time. . . .
Her next statement cleared up the mystery.
"No," Geri said, "this has been a long time coming, Jenny. I've felt as if Scott and I were drifting apart for some time now. We just don’t have the same interests . . . the same goals. Can you believe he didn’t even
want
to go the Spring Fling? He wanted to go to some anti-Spring Fling party Kwang is having—"
I knew all about Kwang’s anti-Spring Fling party. I was planning on going to it myself.
"So you’re just going to
ask
him?" Trina demanded. Trust Trina to completely ignore the fact that Geri's—not to mention Scott's—heart might very well be broken. All she wanted to know was what Geri’s plans for Luke Striker were. "Luke, I mean? You’re just going to march up to him and ask him to the Spring Fling?"
"You better believe it," Geri said, throwing back her shoulders. "Get outta the way."
"Wait a minute," Trina said. "Asking Luke Striker to the Spring Fling was
my
idea. I thought of it first!"
"But you already have a date, don’t you?" Geri reminded her sweetly.
"Not for long," Trina declared, and bolted for the bathroom door.
"WAIT!" Geri practically broke her neck pelting after Trina.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I mean, here were two people whom I’d basically always thought of as mature young women—two people whose keen intellect and independence I had always envied and respected—and they were practically at each other’s throats. Over a BOY, of all things!
"You guys," I yelled, running after them through the Chi-Chi’s vestibule and then out into the parking lot. "You guys, remember, you promised not to—"
But I never got to remind Trina and Geri not to tell anyone about Luke’s identity. Because by the time I caught up with them, they were standing on the outer fringes of this huge crowd that had gathered around Luke and the sedan he’d been washing.
Only now Luke was on top of the car’s roof, shouting frantically into a cell phone while he tried to fend off the grasping hands of about seventy-five Troubadours, Chi-Chi’s waitresses, random housewives who’d been on their way to the mall, and even a few of the guys from the pickup trucks, all of whom were screaming "
Luke! Luke! LUKE!
"
"Oh my God, you guys," I yelled at Trina and Geri as I watched Luke struggle to avoid the groping hands all around him. "What’d you
do
?"
"It wasn’t us," Geri said with a shrug. "We came out and they were already at it."
"I guess I’m not the only person in Clayton who knows about Luke Striker’s Angelique tattoo," Trina said glumly.
Geri stamped her foot. "How am I going to ask him to the Spring Fling
now!
I can’t get anywhere near him!"
As if that were the worst of anyone’s problems! Poor Luke was about to be torn limb from limb, and all his most diehard fans could worry about was how they were going to ask him to the
Spring Fling!
I looked up at Luke. He didn’t seem scared or anything—though
I
would have been, if I were in his shoes. He’d hung up the cell phone and was trying to speak rationally to the horde of screaming women around him.
"Listen," he was saying. "You can all have autographs. Really. Just one at
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