Free Love is a Four-Letter Word by Vikki VanSickle Page B

Mattie.”
    Benji looks like he’s about to bolt but I don’t think I could sit here and talk to Michael all by myself, so I do the only thing I can think of to get him to stay put. “So, Benji was telling me about rehearsals. Did you know he’s playing the Cowardly Lion in
The Wizard of Oz
?”
    “For real? Like, singing and dancing and everything?” Michael asks.
    Benji nods, blushing with pleasure. “I think it’s going to be really good,” he gushes. “Just wait till you see ourDorothy.” He launches into one of his many Charity stories, which I know practically by heart, but this time it doesn’t bother me so much.
    Michael is genuinely interested. “When is it?” he asks.
    “At the end of May,” Benji says casually, as if he hasn’t been crossing off the days on his calendar every night.
    “Cool. Do I get tickets from you?”
    Benji is elated. “Sure! Or you can call the box office or else buy them in person at Flowers Plus — that’s where the assistant director works during the week.”
    “When are you going, Clarissa?”
    Benji and I exchange glances. In all the Wizard talk, this is one thing we haven’t discussed yet. “Probably opening night, but maybe closing. Or both. I haven’t decided.”
    “Well, when you decide, let me know. I’ll come that night, too.”
    “Sure,” I say. Is this a date? Is Michael asking me out on a date? Does it count as a date if the boy suggests it but you have to call him and tell him when and where?
    “Mattie will probably be there, too,” I say. “That is if she’s speaking to me at that point.”
    “That’s cool, maybe we can all sit together. We’ll be your own personal fan club, Benji.”
    Benji smiles. “Cool,” he repeats. We lapse into silence, Benji looking all dopey and starry-eyed, probably contemplating what it will feel like to have groupies; Michael helping himself to a half-eaten slice of birthday cake that someone left at the table; and me wondering whether or not I’ve just agreed to go on a date with Michael Greenblat.

Solo
    Apparently Mattie wasn’t going to let the whole Josh Simmons thing blow over, because at lunch on Monday, she sat with Amanda and Min instead of at our usual table with Benji.
    “You still haven’t apologized?” Benji asks.
    “Not really,” I admit.
    “You should go over there and do it before it gets worse.”
    “And give Min and Amanda the satisfaction of seeing me grovel? Never.”
    “You don’t have to do it in front of them.”
    “I don’t think I should have to apologize at all.”
    “But Mattie does.”
    “Fine.” I down the rest of my juice box and stomp over to the table where Min, Amanda, and Mattie are sitting. Min and Amanda stop talking and Mattie refuses to look up at me.
    “Hey,” I say. All three of them give me the silent treatment. “I said
hey
,” I repeat. Still nothing. “Mattie, can I talk to you for a second?”
    Mattie straightens up but still refuses to look me in the eye. “About what?”
    “You know about what. Can you just please come back to the table for a second?”
    Mattie sniffs. “Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of Min and Amanda.”
    I grit my teeth and tell myself to remain calm. “Look, I know you’re still mad at me, but believe me when I say I don’t like Josh and I would never do anything to stop you from dating him, if that’s what you really want.”
    “So you admit you knew that I liked Josh all along?” Mattie asks.
    “Yes, obviously.”
    “And you admit that what you said was hurtful and uncalled for?”
    “Now wait a minute, you’re the one who took it the wrong way. You’re the one who overreacted!”
    Amanda gasps and Min shakes her head. Mattie looks right at me, her cheeks turning pink with anger. She is madder than I’ve ever seen her before. “Overreacted?”
    “Yes, overreacted,” I repeat. “I said I was sorry, can’t we just get over this?”
    “Actually, I don’t recall you using the word