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I start to reply, but Sadie lays a hand on my arm. “She’s not worth it.”
“I was going to be funny.”
“You save that for me. Don’t be giving your jokes around like freebies to people who aren’t worthy.”
“All right.” I like that. That she wants to keep me for herself. I wink at her, which causes her face to turn a pretty pink.
“I wouldn’t go to her party if you paid me. I’m sure it’s going to be a drag. No booze. No weed. They’ll probably have a piñata and dress her up with a sash and a little crown like it’s a five-year-old’s Disney princess festival,” Rose sneers.
The pretty pink turns red and this time not from shyness but embarrassment. I straighten immediately, and I’m about to lay into Rose when a girl from behind her says, “Shut up, Rose. No one is buying what you’re selling. You’ve been dying to get into Duncan’s pants since we were freshmen, and even though you’ve done everything but practically strip in front of him?—”
“No, she did that sophomore year during PE when she fake-tripped during floor hockey and her shirt somehow flew up and exposed her red lace bra,” adds in someone else. “Not that you noticed,” they direct to me. I have no recollection of this.
“Okay, so you’ve done everything to get his attention, and it didn’t work, but this girl?—”
“Sadie,” I offer.
“—Sadie shows up and bam, Duncan is in her pocket. You can’t live with that, so you’re making up stories?—”
“It’s not a story!” Rose insists.
“—that no one believes so give it up. Anyway, thanks for the invite, Duncan, we’re all going to be there, so it better not be a drag,” warns the girl. Madison, I think her name is.
I salute her. “Every drink will be spiked with tequila, and we’ll have weed baked into everything including the tortilla chips.”
The class is still laughing and cheering when Van walks in. He looks at us all suspiciously but agreeably gives high-fives as he makes his way to Sadie’s side.
“What’s this all about?” he asks.
“I told them you were going to sing at the party this Friday, and they’re all excited,” I say.
Sadie giggles. I’m guessing from her reaction she knew about the surprise party.
Van sits down with a thud. “The hell I am.”
“Your last school said you had the pipes of an angel. Looking forward to it, man.”
He stiffens. “You been checking out our old school?”
Belatedly, I realize my mistake. “Nah, it was just a joke.”
“Don’t stick your nose where it’s not wanted, asshole.”
I keep my tongue locked behind my teeth because I absolutely shouldn’t have gone there just for laughs when we were just beating down Rose for trying to scrape up old rumors about Sadie.
“He didn’t mean anything,” Sadie says quietly.
“Are you defending him?” Van is incredulous.
“Let’s talk about this at home,” I suggest. Around us, the classroom has fallen silent and more than a few are coming to the realization that something happened to Van and Sadie at their old school. Rose tips her chin up as if to say,See, I told you so.
“Okay, no karaoke,” I say. “And crowns for only the guys because otherwise the party favors are predictable.”
“I like karaoke, though,” chirps Madison.
“Because you’re the lead soprano in the choir,” a guy says. “Not all of us have pipes like that.”
“Karaoke is about confidence, not talent,” Madison says.
