The Lonely Hearts Club

"Hey, there." He put his hand on the small of my back. "Everything okay? Did your brain implode from all the exams?" He started to play with my hair.

I slapped his hand away. "Careful, this takes a really long time to do, you know. Especially with a big ol' dent in my head."

He started laughing. "Oh, okay."

I smirked. "Let's see how you like it," I reached up and did what I had always wanted to do. Tousle his hair. And it was as soft as I had always imagined it.

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I let out a huge laugh. I noticed that everybody was staring, then quickly looked away the second I looked over.

Right. I shouldn't have been doing that with the guy Tracy had a crush on.

I moved away from Ryan so we were no longer touching.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so self-conscious. Everybody knew that we were friends. I was sure I was imagining it.

But just to be safe, I took another step back.

I couldn't believe how much I ate, but I figured I might as well have one last piece of fudge. I popped the last piece on the plate into my mouth as I started clearing the table. the party was starting to wind down and there were only about a dozen people left. I had taken off my boots when I started to gather all of the trash that was lying around.

Tracy came over, linked her elbow with mine, and brought me toward the front hallway. "Good lord," she said. "I thought that if I invited him you would finally do something, but I guess not. You can be so frustrating sometimes,"

What?

"Just go out with him already, you're driving me crazy!"

What?

I just stared at her. Tracy groaned, "Pen, I've been your best friend for years. Do you think I didn't know what was going on with you and Ryan?"

What?

"Listen, Pe

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dating with the Club. But the rules have changed, remember? Stop denying yourself!' She started to smile, "Plus, you're really a

"Wait." I was in shock. "You invited Ryan for me?"

Tracy groaned. "Of course I did J Why else would I?"

Holy crap.

I started shaking my head. "I can't. .."

Oh God.

I looked over and saw Ryan talking to Morgan and Tyson. I had never asked out anybody in my life, and what if he said no?

"He's not going to say no!'

How did she . . . ?

"Well, what about Diane?" I asked, hoping that I could put this off for a few more days or months or years.

"Were you not paying attention to what she said earlier?"

I looked at Tracy in disbelief.

"She was talking to me.. ."

"Seriously, Pe

"Watt a second, you and Diane have discussed this?"

"Pen, the guy only sang to you in front of the whole school. it's pretty much the only thing the Lonely Hearts Club talks about when you're not around."

Great, the Club knows. So people really were staring.' I was so embarrassed. this couldn't have been happening.

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"Plus, you and Ryan are Diane's closest friends. She wants you both to be happy!'

"Well, I should talk to her first. .."

Tracy smiled. "She already left. She didn't want to make you more uncomfortable. She wanted me to tell you to call her tomorrow so you can plan your outfit for your date."

Diane had left. But... But...

Tracy just shook her head, "Sometimes I really wonder about you. Go for it, girl."

Before I could even catch my breath, Tracy yelled out, "Hey, Ryan, do you have a second?"

Oh. My. God. Not now, I can't do this right now.

Ryan excused himself and walked over, seeming a little confused.

"What's up, Tracy?"

Tracy just smiled and pulled Ryan over so he was standing directly in front of me, "I don't have enough room in my car -- can you give Pe

"Of course," he said.

"Great! Especially since Pe

I was completely horrified.

"Oh, and one more thing." Tracy turned around and pointed above us. "You're standing under the mistletoe. 'Bye!"

Both Ryan and I looked up and saw mistletoe directly above us.

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I looked back and saw Tracy scooting the few remaining people into the kitchen.

I was going to kill her.

I turned back and flinched as I found Ryan leaning in to kiss me.

He saw my reaction and stepped back. "Sorry, it's just... a holiday tradition." He pointed above our heads. "I guess I shouldn't have." He stepped farther away.

"No, no, it's okay I just.. ."

How was I supposed to do this?

"You had something you wanted to ask me?" He folded his arms, a look of amusement flickering across his face.

"Um, yes. See . . ."

I was hopeless.

"So, fu

"Did I miss something? Did they kick you out?"

"Ha, not yet." I took a deep breath. "Well, you know we couldn't, um ... we didn't..."

Ryan straightened up and his smile faded a bit. "You can't have a boyfriend."

"Well, yeah. But we've decided that maybe that wasn't very fair for people, . . ."

"I see. And now?"

I started to shift back and forth. Why would Tracy do this to me? I wasn't prepared for this at all.

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"Now . . . I'd like to . .. try to .. ." I hadn't given guys enough credit all these years -- this was torture.

"Pe

Wow, that was easy.

Thankfully Ryan could take a hint.

"Yes, that would be great."

We smiled at each other, and he stepped forward and put his arm around my waist. Then I realized something.

"Watt! We can't go out on Saturday nights. Those nights are for the Club "

"No worries. There are six other days in the week."

He was making this way too easy. Maybe this dating thing wasn't going to be so hard after all.

"Oh! And I eat lunch with my friends, and if you want to do something, you have to give me advance notice because I will not change plans with any of my friends just because you come calling."

Ryan nodded. "Okay, anything else?"

"Umm, well, I'll have to look over the new rules. I just want to make sure --"

Ryan grabbed my hand and leaned in. "Pe

I blushed. I needed to take it down a notch before I started making decisions about our china pattern.

"We can do that."

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"All right. Let's go say good-bye to everybody and I'll take you home!

He started to head to the kitchen.

"Wait!" I called after him. I pointed at the mistletoe that was still over my head. "It would be wrong to break a holiday tradition."

Ryan smiled at me and walked over to where I stood. My heart was beating fast as he cradled my head with his hands. He leaned in, but instead of freezing or ru

We pulled our lips away and he hovered an inch from my face. "I've been waiting all year to do that!' he told me. "What took you so long?" I asked him. "Do I really need to remind you?" We both smiled. As we walked into the kitchen, the entire room went silent. it wasn't hard to figure out what they were talking about. As we said good-bye to everybody, Tracy came over to give me a hug. "So. . ." She studied my face and I was sure she could tell what had happened.