Free The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

jock, captain of most of the girls teams, and could be a little intense, while Amy was very preppy and usually had a dress or blazer on, like she was going to work in an office instead of going to school,
    Tracy excitedly filled them in on the details of the Club. Morgan and Kara just stayed silent the entire time. I'm sure they were probably wondering what they'd gotten themselves into.
    "Watt!' Amy asked. "I thought you mentioned today in Art that you're going shopping for Homecoming dresses. Who are you going to Homecoming with?"
    "Were going with each other," I explained. "We figure it will be a lot more fun than going with guys who will ditch us to talk about whatever it is that guys talk about!'
    "Jock itch!' Tracy offered with a smirk.
    Both Amy and Jen looked at each other. Amy then looked at us and said, "that sounds cool to me . . . can I join?"
    "Amy!" Jen protested. "Are you seriously going to decide to not date for the next two years, just like that?"
    Amy flipped her long, wavy black hair. "Please, this is such an easy decision. I've had it with all these guys at school, especially after what Brian Reed did to me in seventh grade."
    Tracy and I exchanged confused looks.
    "What did Brian do?" I asked.
    Amy's eyes widened. "You mean you don't remember? '
    92
    I shook my head.
    She sighed. "Well, it was a while ago. But I always think about it because nothing has changed with guys since then. I mean, they're so juvenile."
    "What happened?" Kara rejoined the conversation.
    Amy sat up. "Well, Brian and I were dating -- and I use the term dating loosely. He'd walk me home from school every once in a while, and then on Friday nights we'd go to the arcade where I watched him play video games. One day, out of the blue, he walks up to me at lunch and in front of everybody, he says, 'Roses are red. Violets are blue. Garbage gets dumped, and now so have you.' All of the stupid jerks at the jock table just sat there and laughed."
    "Oh, watt, I do remember that," Diane said softly. "Brian can be such a jerk."
    "I was traumatized all year. All the dumb jocks threw trash at me when I walked by. I still to this day have no idea what I did to deserve that. And then the other day, Brian had the nerve to talk to me, as if he hadn't completely humiliated me and ruined my entire seventh grade."
    Jen rubbed Amy's shoulder. "I had no idea it still upset you so much."
    "I was twelve -- it totally traumatized me," Amy replied, "And believe me, I'm over it now. But that started my disastrous experiences with guys. the other stories aren't even worth repeating. I'm more than happy to banish these idiots from my memory."
    Jen looked at Amy in shock. "But..."
    93
    Amy put her hand up to silence Jen. "Please -- look at you! You've gotten screwed over more than I have."
    "No, I--"
    "Josh Fuller."
    At the sound of Josh's name, Jen sank down on the lawn.
    "Who's Josh Fuller?" Diane asked as she patted Jen's knee.
    Jen ran her hands through her short blond hair. "He's the guy who broke my heart. We both coached basketball at park and rec this summer, and he ., ."
    "He jerked her around," Amy finished. "He flirted with her constantly, led her on, even took her out on a date -- and then he just stopped. He continued with the flirting, but there never was a second date. instead, he would parade a different bimbo around the park every week, then tell Jen how hot she was. He just --"
    "Enough," Jen said. "they get the point." She shook her head. "It's so stupid, but I hadn't really met a guy who I really clicked with before, and it all seemed to be there with him. It was too good to be true."
    I nodded, knowing exactly how Jen felt.
    I started to feel a surge of energy, "Come on, Jen, join us," I said. "We don't need them, do we?"
    Jen smiled. "We sure as hell don't."
    "Nice!" Diane nodded in approval. "We are up to five members. Kara? Morgan?"
    Both Kara and Morgan had spent the last few minutes in silence.
    94
    "Um, I have a date to Homecoming .,."