Major Crush

Chapter 5

I folded my arms on my chest. "Good luck."

He looked at me like he wanted something else from me. But I didn't have anything more to give him just then. Except the SA T book.

Dad,and I watched the car climb the brick driveway. Little cotton fibers hung in the bright, still air and glinted in the sun.

"He seems like a nice boy," Dad said.

"He is not a nice boy. He just acted that way this morning because he's delirious."

"You might give him a break. He's going through a hard time with his family right now."

A hard time? Letting down the Morrow family drum major legacy? "What kind of hard time?" I asked. Then I remembered what Drew had told me on the bus about why he hadn't bothered to figure out which twin he was dating. He was distracted by stuff going on at home.

Dad shook his head. "If he hasn't told you, I can't tell you."

Drew 's mother was Dads patient. Dad couldn't give away his patients' secrets. I considered all the things that could be wrong with Drew's mother that would give Drew a hard time at home. Ovarian cancer. Breast cancer. I asked, "Is she going to die?"

Dad blinked. "No. Just give him a break, would you? Forgive and forget?"

Dad was asking me to give Drew a break. But I knew what he meant. Dad wanted a break for himself.

Drew was out of school Monday and Tuesday. The Evil Twins were out too. I was very thankful I didn't have to deal with them without Drew there to run interference for me. A nd I was glad they'd missed their hot date at the Rent 2 Own.

But I was jealous of their germs. I wondered what Drew had done with the twins to give them strep, and when. Then I remembered that it had been going around school for weeks. A nd when Luther came down with it on Wednesday, I felt much better.

Except that Drew was still acting like the whole hand thing hadn't happened. He was nice to me like he was supposed to be. He even flirted with me a little during practice, and seemed hurt when I didn't flirt back.

I lived for him to flirt with me, and I wanted so badly to flirt back. I lived for him to touch me there and there when we practiced the dip.

But I felt used. He still hadn't broken up with the twins. What did he think I was, some trashy hand-slut? I felt like he'd taken advantage of me for a good time and then dumped me. But he hadn't taken advantage of me. He'd hardly done anything. And I couldn't decide whether that made it better or worse. Which made me even madder.

Everyone was back at school on Friday, in time for homecoming. Sure enough, Allison was a candidate for Miss Homecoming/Miss Victory.

So was Tracey Reardon.

I couldn't believe it. People hated the twins. Or maybe they just hated Casey. But as I asked around, I found out that one or both of them had run a one-woman or two-woman public relations campaign of their own. They got some credit because they dated Drew, who was high profile. Plus, lots of boys apparently thought the mean Avril-Lavigne-on-steroids attitude was a turn-on.

The announcement came at the end of my English class, just before lunch on Friday. Allison got the most votes. She was Miss Homecoming.

Tracey was next. She was Miss Victory.

At the bell I rushed out of the room and down to the lunchroom, where I always met Allison. She waved and grinned at me from way down the hall. Then, as I watched, one of the twins stopped her, said something to her, and flounced away.