Free She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott Page A

had actually gone back and forth over whether or not to come. I hadn’t been to a party on this side of town since I was in Brownies, and I’d been worried that Annie’s friends wouldn’t want me here. But so far, no one had given me a second glance. Unlike the two Crestie parties I’d attended where I’d been just about as welcome as the Orchard Hill police.
    “Well, the Cresties don’t exactly want me around anymore—”
    “Oh, so you’re just here by default,” Annie said, an edge to her joking tone.
    “No! It’s not that. I’m just saying . . .”
    I looked around at the couple of dozen people milling around the basement. A few girls had whipped out an old Mouse Trap board game and were attempting to put it together. A couple of guys in the corner were firing up the ancient Xbox on the even more ancient TV. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and I felt relaxed. The way you’re supposed to feel at a party. Even though my old friends probably would have either laughed or heaved if they could see what constituted a party on this side of town.
    “I’m having fun,” I said finally. “This is way better than any Crestie thing I’ve been to.”
    Annie grinned. “Way better.”
    “Oh, but come on!” David said sarcastically. “They have bars and pools and bathrooms with two sinks!”
    “Ah, but the company here is of a much higher quality,” I said with a smile. “Norms are far cooler than Cresties.”
    “I’ll drink to that,” Annie said, raising her plastic cup.
    “I would too, but I don’t have anything to drink,” David added.
    Annie and I laughed and clicked our cups together. “So, Ally, since you’re such a Norm now, do you want to come over tomorrow and help me and David with the Fall Festival? I’m in serious need of volunteers.”
    Annie had mentioned the Fall Fest before. It was a fund-raiser she organized every year to raise money for the underfunded arts programs at school. Apparently most of our extracurricular cash went to the athletic teams.
    “You should totally come,” David said. “She promised me free pizza.”
    “Oh, well, if there’s free pizza, I’m in,” I said.
    “There’s the most beautiful girl in the room!” Logan Pincus, the burly, curly-haired drummer from David’s band, came loping over and threw his arms around Annie, lifting her off the ground in a sideways bear hug. She rolled her eyes, and her whole body stiffened. David pressed his lips together as if to keep from laughing.
    “Logan? Remember our chat about personal space?” Annie said.
    He replaced her on the ground. “Right. Sorry.”
    Annie took a step back as Logan shoved his huge hands under his arms. “So? What do you think? We rocked, right? Didn’t we rock?”
    “Come on, Annie. You’ve gotta admit we rocked,” David said, rubbing his hands together.
    The two guys exchanged a conspiratorial look, and I got the distinct feeling there was something going on here that I didn’t know about.
    “I don’t know. I think we should ask Ally,” Annie said, looking at me pleadingly. “Ally? Do you think they rocked?”
    I stared back at her. Clearly there was a right answer to this question, but I had no idea what it was. The two guys watched me expectantly. What was I going to say? That they didn’t rock their first gig?
    “Um, yeah. They totally rocked,” I said.
    Annie groaned, leaning backward. David and Logan bounced up and down so boisterously the bookshelves along the walls started to shake.
    “We’re going to the Harvest Ba- all !” Logan sang, grabbing Annie and dancing her around. “We’re going to the Harvest Ba- all !”
    “Thanks a lot!” Annie said to me, her head lolling around as Logan manhandled her.
    “What just happened?” I asked David with a laugh.
    “Logan’s been asking Annie to every dance for the past two years, and she always says no, but last week they made a deal that if we rocked our first gig, she’d go with him,” David explained.