What If... All Your Friends Turned On You (22 page)

Three minutes into the dance Matt was running his hands down Haley's back. She was racking her brain for an excuse not to dance to another song with Mr. Paws when his eyes darted over to Whitney—or more specifically, Whitney's bursting cleavage. “Hel-lo,” he said, turning away from Haley, but not before grabbing a friend and plunking him down in front of her as his replacement.

Matt's friend, a tall, blue-eyed cutie in glasses, smiled down at her. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” she said, relieved to be rid of Matt and glad to have a new prospect to dance with.

“My name's Rob,” he said. “Feel like dancing?”

“Yes, in fact, I do.” Haley took Rob's hand and they grooved to a hip-hop hit. Even though the song was fast and funky, Rob kept pulling Haley close and grinding up against her as if it were a ballad. She glanced around and noticed that her friends were being pawed in the same way. This preppy Ridgewood crew was a little more hands-on than the Hillsdale girls were used to, and harder to control. A subtle
nudge away wasn't enough to keep the boys from coming back for more.

I guess it means he likes me
, Haley told herself, but she didn't feel completely comfortable. Fortunately, she didn't have long to think about it, because she was soon caught up in a game of musical boys. Coco poached Cecily's cutie, so Cecily snagged Sasha's studly point guard, leaving Sasha eyeing Haley's Rob. Haley found herself passed from one boy to the next before she even had a chance to learn their names.

Finally, Haley somehow found herself stuck with the least attractive guy in the group. He was tall and a basketball player, but that didn't help. He had invisible braces that weren't invisible enough, horrible acne on his jutting chin, booze on his breath and a tendency to spit when he talked.

Just her luck, at that moment the DJ called for a slow dance. Haley sighed as Acne Boy took her in his arms.
“I
sweated so much at the game my chin broke out,” Acne Boy said self-consciously. Haley shut her eyes so that he couldn't see her rolling them. Why did he feel the need to explain? Acne was acne; she didn't care how he got it. But talking about it definitely made it worse.

“It was worth it, though—it's worth anything to kick Reese Highland's butt. That guy's so stuck-up. Thinks he's so great because of his perfect skin.”

That's true
, Haley thought sadly.
Reese's skin
never breaks out
. She suddenly missed him very much.

The dance was winding down. “Some Valentine's Day, huh?” Acne Boy said. “There's an afterparty at the Morton place. It's just up the street.”

They'd passed “the Morton place” on their way to the dance. It was a huge gated estate. Haley had no idea who lived there, but any party at an estate, especially when Matt Graham was involved, was bound to be lively, to say the least.

“I don't know,” Haley said. “I've got to check with my friends.”

She broke away from him and joined Coco and Company in a huddle. “We have to go to the after-party,” Coco said. “It will sweeten our revenge on the boys. We can take pictures of ourselves partying at this fabulous estate with these new guys and post them on the Internet to make sure we really rub it into the boys' faces.”

“Do we have to stay with the boys we were dancing with?” Whitney asked. “Mine smells like vodka.”

“No, we can keep switching around or whatever,” Coco said. “Remember—girl power! We've got to stick together.”

“So, you girls coming to the party?” Matt brazenly inserted himself into the circle and interrupted their deliberations. “It won't be the same without you.”

“We're coming,” Coco said. “Spencer and his friends are going to be so pissed when they hear about this.”

Matt laughed. “I don't think so. I texted Spencer that I was bringing you girls to the dance, so it's not exactly going to shock them.”

Coco's mouth fell open. “They know? What did Spencer say?”

“He seemed like he couldn't care less. I was surprised, to be honest. He said he and the boys were going to console themselves with a few freshman rally girls. I think he's throwing an impromptu SIGMA.” SIGMA was an exclusive traveling party Spencer sometimes held, notorious for wild goings-on. Drinking, gambling, hooking up … it all happened at a SIGMA party, and whenever Spencer threw one, it was always the place to be. Suddenly the school gym at Ridgewood High seemed dull and dreary by comparison, in spite of all the elaborate Valentine's Day decorations.

Coco looked like a volcano about to erupt. Her plan had backfired horribly. The Ridgewood boys who'd seemed so cute only minutes before—well, except for Haley's dance partner—now looked like big dorky goons who couldn't keep their hands to themselves. Coco had been had, and she wasn't taking it well.

“We're out!” she commanded. She marched out of the gym. Haley followed her, thrilled to leave Acne Boy behind.

“What a rip,” Whitney muttered when they were outside on the sidewalk in front of the school. “We wasted our whole Valentine's Day on those Ridge-wood dorks!”

“Yeah, if I wanted to dance with someone who had two left feet I could have stayed home and boogied with my dad,” Cecily said.

“Let's get out of here,” Sasha said.

They started for Sasha's car, but Haley held back a little. It was her birthday, after all, and so far she hadn't had much fun. She wished she could go somewhere else before the night was over and have at least a little adventure.

“Come on, Haley,” Coco called from Sasha's car.

Just then a blue sports car pulled up and stopped in front of Haley. “Hey, going to the party or what?” It was Rob, Mr. Glasses with the sweet blue eyes—the cutest one of Matt's friends. Haley paused, considering what she should do.

Well, that was a bust. Coco's plan totally backfired. If the girls want another chance to take revenge on their hoop-shooting exes, they'll have to think of something better than flirting with the boys from Ridgewood. The girls wasted the evening fending off handsy jocks they don't even like. Except for Mr. Glasses, that is—he could be different. Who knows? Anything's possible. Haley barely knows the guy, but if she doesn't give him a
chance, she never will. And how does she know he won't turn out to be the love of her life?

If you think Haley should give adventure one more shot before her birthday night is over, have her get into the car with Mr. Glasses on,
DATE WITH DWI
. If you're looking forward to seeing Hillsdale take on Ridgewood in a play-offs rematch, go to
HOME GAME
.

It's Valentine's Day, and you get only one of those a year. It's not very romantic unless you have a valentine to celebrate with. But will any old valentine do? That's up to you
.

H
aley felt a little down. It was the day after her birthday, the day after Valentine's Day, and nothing had really changed. She woke up that morning and thought,
I'm seventeen
, and she felt happy, but what did it really mean? Was anything different? Nothing she could point to. Sure, she had her driver's license now, but her new car was so heinous she didn't want to be seen in it. What good was having your license if you didn't even want to drive?

Then, that afternoon, the doorbell rang. It was Devon. He looked terrible: more rumpled than usual, with circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept well or was under a lot of stress.

“Haley, I need to talk to you,” he announced.

Haley wasn't eager to let him inside—her parents and Mitchell were home, and they were all pretty nosy. The air was crisp but the afternoon sun warmed the front steps, so Haley sat down with Devon outside.

“What's up?” He looked so distraught she automatically softened the cold manner she'd been using with him lately. On Irene's advice she'd been basically ignoring him, but she didn't have the nerve to go hard-core on him just then.

He poured his heart out. “I—I've just got to come out and say it: you're the most amazing girl I've ever met. I made a huge mistake not telling you this sooner. And getting mixed up with Darcy, who I realized I don't even like. But you! You, I totally and completely adore you, Haley. I think I might be falling in love.”

Haley stared at him in amazement. Was this really Devon? Telling her he adored her? That he thought he was in love? She'd been waiting for this day for so long, and now that it was finally here she felt as if she needed to pinch herself.

“I've always adored you,” he continued. “But I
guess I was too afraid to say anything. Or I didn't realize it, maybe. You know, I can't always read you. You're so confusing!”

Inside, Haley wanted to laugh.
She
was confusing? Look who was talking!

“Sometimes I think you like me, and sometimes I think you don't know I'm alive,” Devon said. “I just can't tell. And we have such a cool friendship, and I'd never want to mess it up. I've been crazy about you for ages but I was afraid if I told you and you didn't feel the same way our friendship would be ruined.”

He paused to look at her, to gauge her reaction. Haley didn't know what to do. Should she drop the cold act? It had almost become second nature to her by now. Or should she keep him dangling and see how far he would go?

She nodded, staying neutral for now. He kept talking.

“Lately I've realized that what I feel for you is really serious. I realized I had to say something to you or risk losing the most amazing, inspiring person in my life. You're so beautiful and smart and funny, and so cool, and you're graceful and have this great style and you're nice to people … you have a good heart … you're really everything, Haley.”

Her heart was pounding. This was one of the most beautiful, heartfelt speeches a boy had ever made to her. She'd been longing to hear someone say something like this ever since she could remember.
She just never thought that someone would be Devon. This was a total shocker.

“I don't know why I'm telling you this,” Devon said, his head sinking as he still got no reaction from her. “It's a total waste of time. Next year you'll get into some incredible college and go away and forget all about me. And I'll—well, who knows if I'll even be able to afford to go to college. I'll be some townie schlub and you'll be a fancy college girl. Once you start dating rich Ivy League guys you'll look back and remember Hillsdale as small-time. You won't think of me the same way anymore. You and your college friends will probably laugh over the rinky-dink high school boys you once knew. Ha-ha, that jerk Devon.”

Haley was stunned. She truly didn't know what to say. She'd gotten her wish, all right. Devon was out-of-control, crazy in love with her. The question was, what should she do now?

That Irene Chen is an evil genius. She should write her own advice column! She pegged Devon perfectly and her instructions for Haley couldn't have worked better.

But now Haley has the upper hand, and with power comes responsibility. Devon has basically dropped his heart at her feet and said
,
Do with it what you will. Pick it up or stomp on it
.
That's a lot of pressure for young Haley
.

What do you think she should do? If you think she should stick with Irene's plan and keep Devon dangling on the line as long as possible, turn to,
DARK VICTORY
If you think she's had enough adoration and it's time to level with Devon and be brutally honest, go to,
SLOPPY SECONDS
.

Devon has bared his soul to Haley, but is that what she wanted? Didn't she just want him to pay a little attention to her? Perhaps you think naked souls turn Haley off. Perhaps Devon's big confession strikes her as just the teensiest bit juvenile after his escapades with Darcy, and Haley would just as soon write him off. If you think she would like to forget about Devon altogether and see what college boys are really like, head up to visit Coco's sister at Yale,
SPRING BREAK AT YALE
.