Ashlee's Rival Love Read online

  He chuckled and stretched his legs in front of him. “Yep, you’re still mad. Look, if it will make you feel any better, I am wrong,” he paused, “Sometimes.” He laughed and moved his chair slightly before I could hit him. “Don’t get too mad, I’m just teasing.”

  Principal DeGraff cleared her throat. “Attention everyone. I have the votes counted. It looks like we will have another set of co-presidents since we have a tie. Sarah Larsen and Jake Hartley have been elected as our new officers.”

  Sarah let out a squeal and covered her mouth with her hands.

  Jake’s jaw tightened and he stared down at the floor. Several kids rose to congratulate them.

  It’s time this meeting adjourned,” Principal DeGraff stuffed papers into her briefcase. “Thank you for your comments and suggestions. We will meet again on Wednesday.”

  I stood and hugged Sarah. “I’m so happy for you. You will be the best president.”

  Sarah grinned. “Thanks, but it’s co-president, remember?”

  “That’s right.” I spun around to congratulate Jake just as he was ready to leave. He slammed the door behind him.

  I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Ashlee,” Tim said, “your input was great.”

  “So was yours,” I said turning around. “Congratulations on being elected into the council.” I stared into his eyes. He was relaxed, friendly. I regretted that the sparks weren’t there. He knew I only wanted to be friends and I sensed that was all right with him.

  “Thanks. You’re doing a great job as co-president.” He leaned closer. “All you have to do is work on getting along with Tanner. He’s a nice guy. You’ll be good together.” He grinned and patted my shoulder.

  “You know that we argue a lot?”

  He chuckled. “It was a guess and it’s only because I know Tanner so well that I guessed right. He’s lucky to have you to work with.”

  “I don’t think he agrees with you.”

  “Sure he does. The only thing wrong with him is that he has Tiffanyitis. It blocks his vision.” He took a deep breath. “Give Tanner a chance. I think you like him a lot more than you realize.” He nudged my shoulder and stepped back. “See you around.”

  I stared after him, trying to figure out what he had meant. Whatever it was, he was wrong. Tanner wasn’t someone I could like. He was someone to tolerate.

  Looks like you made another conquest,” Tanner said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been flirting with him since he walked into the room.”

  “I wasn’t flirting. Tim and I are friends. That’s something you don’t know how to be.”

  “No, Ashlee. That’s something you don’t want from me.” He made his way to the door and slammed it almost as hard as Jake had.

  Chapter Four

  I climbed another step up the ladder and glanced down at Gina. “How much longer do we have before the dance starts?”

  “The doors won’t open for twenty minutes.” She handed me a blue paper streamer. “This is the last of the decorations we have to hang. The gym looks great.”

  “Yeah, the council has worked hard. If we could get the students to work together like we have, we wouldn’t need this Get Acquainted dance.”

  Gina rolled an extra streamer around her finger. “I know what you mean. But we can’t even get the kids to talk to each other. Our only hope is that this dance will break the ice.”

  “We’ve done everything we can to make it a success,” I said, admiring the room. Blue and white streamers hung from the ceiling in a draped spider web design. A cluster of blue and white balloons swung from the center. The refreshment table was draped with a white floor length cloth. A blue felt “W” adorned the middle. An assortment of cookies surrounded the twin punch bowls. Sarah stood behind them pouring soda into the punch.

  “The streamers and balloons match Westview colors exactly,” I said. “I don’t know where you found them on such short notice.” The council had voted for the dance two days ago. All of us had to rush to get the gym ready.

  “Last year, when I was chairwoman of the prom, I found a shop that carries them.”

  I taped the streamer in place and climbed down the ladder. “I’m glad you did. It doesn’t look like the gym. Although,” I wrinkled my nose, “it still smells like sweaty socks.”

  Gina giggled. “I’ll get out the room freshener. The party shop is on the north side of town. The best shops are over there. I spent about ten minutes buying the dance supplies, and two hours looking for something to wear tonight.” She twirled around. “How do you like it?”

  I had been admiring her tan pants and sweater. It brought out the golden tint in her hair. “It looks great. I’ve heard you have some cool shops here, but I haven’t had a chance to check them out.”

  “You’ve been too busy as co-pres. But maybe this dance will ease the tension and you’ll have more time. ”

  “That’s not exactly the reason. It’s because Westview has been our rival town, and I felt like a traitor just driving through here.”

  “We felt the same way about Carlton. I’ve never gone shopping there. But now everything has changed and I’m going to.”

  A wave of loneliness swept over me. I should have been in Carlton’s gym decorating with brown and white streamers. I turned away from her and stored the scissors and tape in the cardboard carton. At Carlton we had kept everything in a plastic box. I belonged at Carlton, not Westview. It didn’t matter that I had Westie friends, or that the school was becoming familiar. It didn’t matter that I was co-president. My heart remained at Carlton. No one understood that it was more than a school. It was home to me.

  “I’ll bet you miss Carlton,” said Gina as if she could read my thoughts.

  “Yeah, sometimes I can’t believe our school doesn’t exist any more. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it.”

  “Don’t feel bad. That’s what makes you a good leader. You really care about school and all of us. I think you’re starting to like us too.” She poked my side. “Before long you’ll consider yourself a Westie.”

  I nudged her back playfully. “Probably, but a part of me will always belong to Carlton.”

  A loud boom shook the gym. Tanner and Jake stood by the sound system with sheepish looks on their faces. “Sorry about that,” Tanner shouted. “We’ll have it fixed in a minute.”

  “Sure you will,” Sam yelled from the opposite side of the gym. “If not, you’ll be singing real loud.” Everyone laughed and went back to work.

  Tanner glanced up from behind the speakers and smiled at me. Surprised, I smiled back. All he had done was frown since the first council meeting. Maybe he had been right. I didn’t want to be his friend. We never had anything to say to each other, unless it had to do with school. He was a stranger to me. We never talked about normal things like I did with my other friends. There was so much I didn’t know about him. I still didn’t know why he hadn’t returned my calls all summer.

  Tim approached us with a string of balloons. “Can you think of a good place to put these? It’s the last of the bunch.”

  “We need something colorful at the front doors,” I suggested.

  “Okay,” Tim turned to go, “don’t forget to save me a dance.”

  I chuckled. “From the looks of it, you’re not going to have the time to dance with me. I’ve seen the girls hanging around you.”

  “I’ll make time for you.” His expression was light and playful.

  I hadn’t known what to expect. I was glad that he could tease me, and think of me as a friend.

  “Gina,” Tim said, “I hope you’ll have time to dance with me too.”

  “Of course,” Gina’s face reddened, “I mean, I’ll try.” She lowered her head and busied herself with the supply box.

  I could have kicked myself. I had been so involved I hadn’t noticed how she reacted around Tim. She liked him and I wanted her to know that I wasn’t interested in him. “He’s a nice guy. Too bad we decided to remain fri
ends.”

  Gina jerked her head up. “You’re just friends? I thought you were dating.”

  “No, we only went out once.”

  “Then he’s free?”

  “As far as I know.”

  “It’s hard to keep up with him. He’s always had a lot of girlfriends.”

  “Have you ever been out with him?” I asked nonchalantly.

  “No,” there was regret in her voice. “He thinks of me as the girl next door. We live right across the street from each other.”

  “Sometimes guys are blind. Maybe he’ll open his eyes tonight.” I started to say something more but Sarah came striding toward us, two paper cups in her hand.

  She handed each of us a cup. “I thought you could use a drink,” she said.

  I took a sip, licking my mouth afterwards. It tasted like crushed fruit whipped in cream. “You did a good job. This is delicious.”

  Sarah grinned. “Thanks, then I’m done with the refreshments.”

  Debbie joined us with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. “I forgot I left these in the car.” She glanced at the refreshments. “I hope we have enough. It looks like everyone brought some.”

  “Everyone on council did, except Tiffany,” Sarah said. “She told me she had a modeling job after school and didn’t have time. Then she offered to give me money to go out and buy some for her.”

  Gina chuckled. “Did she, really?”

  “Yeah,” Sarah nodded. “That wasn’t so bad. What got me was when she rearranged the table twice. She said Carlton kids don’t have the social skills to be in charge of refreshments. I almost threw some punch on her.”

  “That sounds like Tiffany,” Gina said. “Where is she? I haven’t seen her at all.”

  Sarah flipped her hair back. “She’s fixing her makeup for about the third time tonight.”

  Another loud boom vibrated through the gym. Tanner backed away from one of the speakers. “Hey everyone, don’t look at me.” His expression was serious but his eyes held a touch of laughter. “That was Jake’s fault.”

  Jake grinned and crossed his arms. “It’s amazing how you can say that with a straight face. Why don’t you turn the speakers around and show them how you crossed the wires?”

  Tim rolled up his sleeves. “It looks like you need a pro to fix it.”

  “Okay,” Debbie glanced at her watch. “We girls will give you guys five minutes to get that fixed, then we’ll do it.”

  The guys scoffed, while all of the girls cheered.

  “You better hope they can fix it. I don’t know a thing about electronics.”

  Gina chuckled. “That doesn’t matter. Neither do they.”

  Sarah gazed longingly at Jake and sighed.

  “Aren’t you and Jake getting along?” Debbie asked.

  “No,” Sarah’s jaw tightened. “The only time he talks to me is when we have to discuss something for council. Even then, he’s cold and acts like he can’t wait to get away from me. I feel like the kid in a commercial who has bad breath.”

  Gina and Debbie exchanged glances. “It’s Melanie,” they both said at once.

  “Who’s Melanie?” Sarah asked.

  “Didn’t you know Melanie Barton? She was a senior at Carlton two years ago,” Gina said. “She was a red head like you.”

  Sarah shook her head. “I don’t remember her.”

  “I think I know who she is,” I said. “She moved away in the first semester of her senior year. The guys were sad. She flirted with all of them.“

  “Yeah, that’s her,” Gina said. “Jake was just a sophomore and he worshipped her. He thought he was in love with her and that she felt the same way about him.”

  “But she didn’t,” Debbie broke in. “She was dating a lot of other guys. When Jake found out he confronted her and she admitted it. She moved away right after that. He took it pretty hard.”

  Sarah looked thoughtful. “I’m glad you told me, but what does that have to do with me?”

  “He swore he’d never date another Carlie,” said Gina. “Especially a red head.”

  “But I didn’t do anything. I’m not a threat to him. He certainly isn’t dating me.”

  “Yeah, but he’d like to,” Gina said. “He talks to other Carlie’s. I think he’s ignoring you because he’s afraid of his feelings.” She fingered a lock of Sarah’s hair. “It doesn’t help that you have red hair, but don’t worry, he’ll come around.”

  Tanner tapped the microphone. “Hey, everyone, it’s taken us three minutes and forty seconds to get it fixed.” He and Jake bowed, then he motioned to Tim to pull a switch. The gym was filled with a clear rhythmic beat.

  The guys cheered and hoisted Jake and Tanner in the air.

  “It was pure luck,” the girls yelled back.

  Amidst the shouting, one of the chaperones opened the doors. A rush of fresh air filled the gym, and the noise died down.

  Sarah and I strolled back to the refreshment table and started to fill cups with punch.

  “I’m relieved to know what’s bothering Jake,” Sarah said. “But I don’t know what to do about it.”

  I grabbed a frosted brownie. “Just be yourself, and keep talking to him,” I said in between bites. “He’ll start trusting you once he sees how nice you are.”

  “I wish I could believe he likes me. I’d love to ask him to dance.”

  “I think you should.” I glanced around the room. Gradually, some students had filed in. They stood shyly against the back wall. The Westies stayed in their own groups, just like the Carlies. Once in a while they eyed each other. “But before you do that, we have to get this dance going.”

  Sarah surveyed the room. “It doesn’t look too good, does it?”

  I noticed Westie’s Kim Doran, and Lori Ames from Carlton, passed each other without saying hello. I had introduced them last week. They were two of the friendliest girls I knew. “No, it doesn’t. If Kim and Lori won’t talk to each other then we’re in trouble.”

  “What are we going to do?” Sarah asked.

  I recognized Sam by the side door, and hooked my arm in Sarah’s. “Let’s ask Sam to dance. Then maybe the other kids will follow.”

  We approached Sam and pulled him onto the dance floor. “Come on. We need to get this party started.” Without hesitating, he started to move to the beat.

  “This is like old times,” he said. “I’m dancing with two of the prettiest girls in the school.”

  Sarah chuckled. “You’re still the biggest flirt.”

  “A flirt with good taste,” I teased. It was like we were back at our old school. Sam was one of Carltons best dancers. He always knew the latest steps. It was a tradition for the three of us to dance together at least once.

  Sam laughed. “Can you believe we’re in Westview’s gym?”

  “I feel like a traitor admitting this,” Sarah said, “but this floor is easier to move on.”

  “Remember how the gym floor squeaked?” I yelled above the loud music.

  “Yeah, but I still miss the old place.” Sam glanced at the kids lining the walls. “This isn’t doing much good. Everyone is watching us but no one else has joined in.”

  The song was almost finished. “Let’s keep dancing,” I said. “They will.” The music played on. The chatter quieted while the kids observed every move we made. I wished I were a better dancer. Finally, the council moved onto the floor. One by one, the other kids followed. Lori and some other Carlies joined us for the next dance.

  Sam caught my hand and twirled me around. I was relieved the kids were dancing, although I noted the Carlies danced on our side of the gym. The Westies were on the other side.

  Tanner and Tiffany swayed back and forth in the center of the gym. He glared at me for a moment. As soon as the song ended he headed for our group.

  My hands grew damp. By the expression on his face I guessed he wanted to criticize me about something. He greeted everyone in our crowd then stopped in front of me.

  He cleared his throat. “He
llo, Ashlee.”

  I gazed at the floor, unsure of what to say to him. We hadn’t talked all night. It was awkward to see him socially.

  “Do you want to dance?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. If I danced with him I would cross some invisible boundary that scared me. I didn’t know why. “No, I mean, Tiffany wouldn’t...”

  He reached for my hand. “Tiffany doesn’t mind.”

  I wanted to pull my hand away but everyone was watching. I sensed he purposely asked me in front of them so I would have to agree. We wandered to the center of the room, then Tanner started moving to the music. “That wasn’t very nice of you to ask me in front of everyone. You knew I would have to say yes.”

  “I asked you in front of them because I wanted everyone to see that it was okay for a Westie and Carlie to dance together.” He pulled me close then spun me away from him. “If you weren’t so busy flirting with every guy in school, you would have noticed that no one is mixing.”

  “Of course I noticed.” I glared at him. “You have a lot of nerve calling me a flirt.”

  He shrugged. “That’s what you are. First it was Tim and now it’s Sam. And that’s just the guys that I know about.”

  “You’re being ridiculous. Tim and Sam are my friends. Besides, what business is it of yours?”

  He crossed his arms. His mouth was set in a thin line. “They’re nice guys and I hate to see them hurt, that’s all.”

  “I don’t believe that for a minute. You just like to criticize me. You always have.”

  He swallowed hard. A slow blush crept up his cheeks.

  “Ashlee, everyone is watching us.”

  “So what? They always do.”

  “Yeah, but we’re not dancing.”

  The dance floor had cleared. We were standing in the middle of it arguing. I closed my eyes for a second, wanting to block out the world.

  “Smile, and move your feet,” Tanner said. “Pretend like you’re having a good time. I don’t think they heard what we were saying. Just act like we stopped to talk.”

  “I’m too embarrassed.” I stepped back. “I want to leave.”