I almost didn’t have a choice. Before Mrs. McClure could say two words about Bryce or his basket, Shelly called, “Ten!” Then from the middle of the gym came “Twenty!” It was Miranda Humes, with her hand way in the air. They went back and forth, back and forth, higher and higher, until Shelly called, “Sixty-two!”

“I can’t believe it,” I whispered to Darla. “Sixty-two dollars! C’mon, Miranda, come on.”

“I think she’s out. Shelly’s got it.”

“Sixty-two dollars going once!” cried Mrs. McClure, but before she could say, Going twice! a voice from the back of the gym called, “A hundred!”

Everyone gasped and turned around to see who had called the bid. Darla whispered, “It’s Jenny.”

“Atkinson?” I asked.

Darla pointed. “Right over there.”

She was easy to spot, standing tall above the others in the number-seven basketball jersey she almost always wore. “Wow,” I whispered, “I had no idea.”

“Maybe she’ll slam-dunk him for you,” Darla said with a grin.

“Who cares?” I giggled. “She slam-dunked Shelly!”

Mrs. McClure was gushing into the microphone about the record-breaking bid when a big commotion broke out over by Miranda. I spotted Shelly’s hair, and my first thought was that there was going to be a fight. But instead, Shelly and Miranda turned to face Mrs. McClure and called, “One-twenty-two fifty!”

I choked down a cry. “What?”

“They’re teamin’ up,” Darla whispered.

“Oh, no-no-no!” I looked over Jenny’s way. “Come on, Jenny!”

Darla shook her head and said, “She’s through,” and she was. Bryce went to Shelly and Miranda for one hundred twenty-two dollars and fifty cents.

It was a little strange, meeting up with Jon and walking over to the multi-purpose room for lunch. But he was just so nice, and I think grateful that I’d bid, that by the time we got situated at our table, I wasn’t feeling so awkward or silly. It was just lunch.

Things would have been easier if they hadn’t seated me in direct view of Bryce and his little harem, but I did my best to ignore them. Jon told me all about this radio-controlled airplane that he and his dad were building from scratch, and how he’d been working on it for nearly three months, and that over the weekend they were finally going to get to try it out. He told me a funny story about soldering the wires wrong and practically starting a fire in their basement, and I asked him about how a radio-controlled airplane works because I didn’t really understand it.

So I’d relaxed a lot and was actually having a good time eating lunch with Jon. And I was so relieved that I hadn’t bid on Bryce. What a fool I would have made of myself! Watching Shelly and Miranda fawning all over him didn’t bother me nearly as much as I thought it would. Really, they looked ridiculous.

Jon asked about my family, so I was telling him about my brothers and their band when a huge commotion broke out over at Bryce’s table. Suddenly Shelly and Miranda were rolling on the floor like an enormous furball, smearing each other with food.

Out of nowhere Bryce appeared at our table. He grabbed my hand, pulled me a few feet away, and whispered, “Do you like him?”

I was stunned.

He held my other hand and asked again, “Do you like him?”

“You mean Jon?”

“Yes!”

I can’t remember what I said. He was looking into my eyes, holding my hands tight, and then he began pulling me toward him. My heart was racing and his eyes were closing and his face was coming toward mine…. Right there, in front of all the other basket boys and their dates and the adults, he was going to kiss me.

To kiss me.