Free Ditched by Robin Mellom Page B

suddenly looking for Ian? Of al the guys she could go for, why him ?
    He’d turned her down. It was over! Wel , maybe he didn’t reject her, but it’s not like he pursued her. That’s practical y the same thing! What was she doing?! I quickly weighed the consequences of running up behind her and dragging her out of there by her ridiculous fake ponytail.
    The consequences didn’t real y seem al that awful, so I 83

    trailed behind her on her way out to the pool. But just as I reached out for her hair, my cruise-ship-size foot got caught on the hem of my dress. I tripped and landed in a bed of pansies. Looking up, I saw Al yson stil charging ahead—
    headed right for Ian. She didn’t even notice me on the ground in a pitiful heap.
    “Dude, what the—?” Other Mike helped me up off the ground. Then Mike swooped in on the other side and guided me by my elbow. “No more walking solo for you, Sweetness.
    These are dangerous times, and you need shelter.” He was so obscure. But total y helpful.
    As soon as I made my way out of the pansy bed, I turned to the Mikes. “Thanks, guys. I can walk a straight line now.
    My coordination is back. I’ll be sure to, you know, seek shelter.”
    “Solid.” The Mikes gave each other a high five, like they were proud of their duo rescue effort. And that’s when two girls came running outside toward us.
    “Ladies!” Mike twirled, showing off his surprisingly good balance. The girls squealed and hugged them. It was cute.
    But they weren’t Huntington High girls—they were Ledbetter girls. Both of them were wearing black-and-white dresses, almost matching but not quite, each with different animal prints. Cheetah? Snow leopard? And both of their gowns were backless. Completely backless. One wrong move and someone could have a viral video on the Internet.
    They both looked me over—they were up-and-down 84

    not-so-friendly looks. So when the Mikes started kissing them with lots of tongue action, I quickly moved on.
    The pool was the shape of a kidney, and beautiful people were wrapped around its edge. I turned and sucked in my bel y, squeezing past wel -dressed bodies, maneuvering my way out to the hot tub area, al the while fantasizing about pushing Al yson into that kidney pool. But I decided there would be a higher probability of me going in rather than her, so I decided against it. For the time being.
    Hailey was on the far side of the pool with Dan getting warm by an outdoor heater, so I walked on by myself and scoped out the hot tub. I wanted to get a good feeling for where I might stand when I planted it on him. Facing the house? The back fence?
    As I moved around, I spotted Ian. He was on the far side of the pool talking to Al yson next to a potted palm. Talking to Al yson? Next to a potted palm? I was not about to walk over to that side of the pool and engage in Moment of Lip Lock Bliss next to a potted palm .
    Al yson was waving her arms around, talking in a frenzy, and Ian was inching away from her little by little. I could tell he was trying to get out of the conversation, but he was also the nicest guy on the planet. If someone wanted to talk to him, he was al ears.
    Surely there was nothing more to this than basic peer interaction. I mean, he was entitled to talk to other girls. I didn’t own him.
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    My stomach growled at me.
    That’s what this was about—low blood sugar. I was just being irrational because I was snack-deprived.
    I took in a deep breath, let it out, and gave my growling stomach a pep talk about being patient, then got back to planning for The Moment of Lip Lock Bliss.
    I paced back and forth, and when I found the right spot, I realized I was able to see everyone—Ian, Al yson, Hailey, (not Dan—he must’ve wandered off ), and that meant they could al see me . This private spot was not going to al ow for a private kiss with Ian.
    But maybe I wanted it to be a little public. Maybe when Al yson saw me plant one on Ian, she’d go tel her stupid