Free Holly's Heart Collection Three by Beverly Lewis

on the toilet seat and looked out over the door. No one was around. A message in red lipstick danced across the mirror. Freshman Frenzy!
    I groaned and had to crawl out of the stall on my hands and knees. Quickly, I brushed myself off and washed my hands. Checking my hair, I realized that the perm was weakening a bit—getting more manageable every day. In fact, I was sure that by tomorrow I could wear my hair down instead of covering it with a baseball cap. Thank goodness for small miracles!
    I knew the bell for second hour was about to ring, so I hurried to get myself together emotionally. Could I manage my second-period class—choir—without breaking down again? I cleared my throat and tried to hum as I pushed the door open and raced to my locker. Who could sing at a time like this?
    I ran all the way up the stairs to the choir room, and just as I was rounding the corner, I spied Marcia Greene walking alongside Tina Frazer and her dog, Taffy.
    “Marcia, Tina . . . hey!” I called.
    “It’s Holly,” Tina said, smiling.
    “How’d you know?” I said.
    Tina laughed. “I depend on my hearing to identify people. That . . . and smells.”
    “Well, then, it’s a good thing I showered this morning,” I teased.
    Marcia seemed happy to see me. But Tina was the one doing the talking. “Are you headed for choir?” Tina asked.
    “Sure am.” Glancing at Marcia, I volunteered to take Tina to choir.
    Marcia smiled pleasantly. “That’d be great, Holly. Thanks.” I held my right arm out for Tina, the way I’d seen Marcia do. Tina wove her left arm into mine and we headed down the hall. “How’s school so far?” I asked.
    “Oh, it’s the best,” she said. “And I love choir.”
    “Me too. Especially four-part harmony,” I commented. “Just wait’ll we get into Christmas music.”
    “I can’t wait.” Tina’s face shone with joy. “May I sit with you?”
    “That’d be great.” I thought about the prospect of having a blind choral partner.
    “I promise not to sing off-key. I really do have a good ear.” She laughed softly, and I opened the door to the music room.
    The bell rang just as we found two seats together in the alto section. Two rows away, Andie was accompanied on either side by Paula and Kayla. It was obvious to me she didn’t want me to join them. Not a single chair in sight.
    I focused my attention on the director and the new a cappella madrigal in our folders. And on Tina Frazer—a girl with a spirit of peace. Blindness was not a hindrance to her well-being. I sensed it in the way she spoke to me. The way she carried herself. The way she sat tall in her choir chair. Confidence was her middle name.
    Once again, I felt ashamed.

    After school there were posters popping up everywhere. Zillions of them. The Andie’s a Dandy slogan showed up on bright red banners mounted high on the walls. Above the row of freshman lockers. High on the arched doors leading to the gymnasium. In the girls’ locker room downstairs. I’d even noticed one in the shower during seventh-hour PE.
    Andie and the Miller twins had probably posted them during lunch. I was sure they would use the excuse that I was nowhere to be found, which was true. Evidently they hadn’t waited for me.
    Feeling deserted, I’d run off to the Soda Straw three blocks away for a burger and a strawberry shake. A place to think, to get lost in the crowd. While there, I’d made a list of pros and cons, deciding whether or not I actually had time to be assigned to Tina. An intriguing person—and a magnetic personality. Even if I had wanted to resist, my curiosity drew me to her.
    Yet, interesting as Tina was, she made no demands on me. Which was perfectly refreshing in contrast to the way things were turning out between Andie and me. I couldn’t even do my homework—and refuse to answer the phone for once in my life—without Andie jumping to all sorts of conclusions. And the Miller-twin thing was really getting out of hand. Why, they