"Seriously, Penny, how big of a loser do you think I am?"

I didn't think Tyson was a loser. Actually, I thought he was a good guy. Yes, a good guy — I thought that was an oxymoron, but maybe I was wrong... about Tyson.

Tyson wasn't Nate.

Tyson wasn't Ryan.

I had a gut feeling that he'd be good to Morgan. And Morgan deserved to have a good guy.

I looked at him. "You should ask Morgan out."

"What?"

I leaned in. "I think you should ask Morgan out."

"But… I thought... "

"Forget about the Lonely Hearts Club. I'll take care of it."

There was a look of pure panic on his face. "But how do I know if she'll even say yes?"

"Because she likes you. She has for a very, very long time."

Tyson smiled so widely it looked as if he was about to burst.

"Okay, I will. But after auditions. I'm nervous enough already."

"Great!"

I figured at least one member of the Lonely Hearts Club should get what she wanted.


"Hey, so I think I may have done something bad," I confessed to Tracy after lunch.

"Did you kiss Ryan?" she asked, practically jumping up and down.

"No — what? This has nothing to do with Ryan."

I told Tracy all about Morgan and Tyson, and she nodded as she processed everything I was telling her.

"I don't see what the big deal would be if Morgan went on a date with him," I said. "As long as she attends the meetings on Saturday night and still eats lunch with us, what's the big deal? The second she starts to lose her identity, we can bring her back."

"You do realize that this is going to change things with the Club?"

I nodded. "I know, but there's no harm in talking about it on Saturday."

I started to pace, contemplating for the first time in my high school existence that skipping class probably was the best option. So far, I had been able to avoid Ryan, but that wasn't going to last. When I turned the corner into World History, I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I immediately went up to Jackie Memmott, who sat two rows behind us, and started to make small talk about the Club. I pretended to be in deep conversation, but I could see that Ryan was leaning over to the right side of his desk, near where I sat.

"Miss Bloom, can I start class?" Ms. Barnes asked, tapping her chalk impatiently at the side of her desk.

Okay, maybe I wasn't being very stealth about it. I got to my desk and gave Ryan a weak smile as I sat down. I was going to focus on the class and take notes and buckle down and study. I was not going to let him distract me. I saw him writing in his notebook. It looked like he wasn't having any problems concentrating. There was a tap on my left hand, and I nearly jumped out of my seat. Ryan moved his notebook so I could see what he had written. I tried to ignore him, but he pushed his notebook so far off his desk that it was practically in my lap.

Is everything okay?

I just looked straight ahead and nodded.

He started to write in his notebook again as Ms. Barnes droned on and on about the financial ramifications of World War II.

Ryan tapped my hand again. I looked over.

Had a lot of fun last night.

A smile crept over my face thinking about how much fun I'd had.

Ryan lit up and sat back in his desk, clearly satisfied with my response.

Why did I have to smile, and why was he making this so hard on me? Putting Ryan Bauer out of my mind was going to be a lot harder than I thought.

When the bell rang, I jumped out of my seat and headed to the door as fast as possible. I felt a tug and my body slammed against the cold, hard tile floor. I tried to make sense of what had happened as a small crowd gathered around me. I got to my feet and unraveled my messenger bag strap, which was caught on a chair.

"Whoa, Penny, are you okay?" Ryan asked, hurrying over.

"I'm fine." The words came out harsher than I intended, but maybe that was a good thing. He tried to help me up off the floor, but I pushed his arm out of the way. "I'm fine. I'm sort of in a rush..."

"Yeah, I gathered that." His tone surprised me; he was no longer amused by the situation. We both looked at each other in silence, until we heard an announcement over the intercom.

"Penny Bloom, please come to the Principals office. Penny Bloom."

I finished collecting my things as Todd started making an "ooh" noise. "Looks like little Miss Thang is in trouble."

"Shut up, Todd!' Ryan and I said in unison.

Ryan gave me one last hurtful look before he walked out of the door.

I headed to the principals office as I tried to think about what I could've possibly done wrong. I saw my parents waiting there, looking concerned. I ran the rest of the way.

Chapter Twenty-six

"WHAT'S WRONG?" I SAID THE SECOND I got inside the office.

"You tell us," Mom replied. "Mr. Braddock called us in and said that it's important. Your father had to cancel a few appointments to make this."

I was confused. I stared at my parents and could tell they were mad. "I don't know."

I hadn't cheated. I hadn't been late to class. My grades, which had always been good, had been getting even better this year. 

The door to the Principals office opened and Principal Braddock stepped out and motioned for us to come in.

Braddock was a big, stocky bald man, who looked like a nice guy until he opened his mouth. As we walked into his faux-wood-paneled office covered in photos and trophies from his glory days at McKinley thirty-plus years ago, I felt my pulse start to race.

"My apologies for calling you both in on such short notice." He motioned to my parents. "But we're having a problem with Penny that's starting to get out of hand. I'm not sure if you're aware of this little club that Penny has started."

WHAT?

"Of course we are" Dad said. "They meet at our house every Saturday night. Great bunch of girls."

Principal Braddock shifted in his seat. "Well, it's causing some problems at school."

It is?

"It is?" Mom asked. "What kind of problems?"

Principal Braddock straightened his tie, "Dr. and Mrs. Bloom, the problem is that Penny is using her unfortunate experiences to turn the rest of the female population against the males at this school."

I was dumbfounded

"The Club isn't about that!"

Principal Braddock put his hand up to silence me.

"Now, I'm sorry that Penny can't find a boyfriend — "

"Excuse me!" Mom protested.

Principal Braddock held up his hands again. "My apologies. I meant to say that I don't really think it's appropriate for Penny to be pushing her ideals on the rest of the female student body, especially the impressionable freshman class."

"Hold on," Mom started. "Penny Lane has created an amazing group of friends. There is no hidden agenda except to spend time with her friends without the pressures of dating. Mr. Braddock, you know how messy high school romances can get, I'm surprised you aren't encouraging this."

I looked at my mom and saw that her cheeks were flushed. This was going to be good.

"Mrs. Bloom, I am not going to sit here and allow one girl to start running the school. Penny is getting way too much power at this school. Her influence with the female population is getting a little out of control."

Mom started to tap her foot impatiently. "And I suppose you don't have a problem with the fact that, just because some jock can throw a ball far, the entire male population worships him? Let me ask you a question, Mr. Braddock. Have any of the Club members gotten in trouble for anything?"

"Well, technically no. But her little club is unsanctioned by the school, therefore — "

"Therefore," Mom cut him off, "it really isn't any of your business."

Principal Braddock cleared his throat. "Therefore, you can understand the problem, that something not authorized by the school should not be encouraged by the school. I cannot allow this to continue."

Mom crossed her legs. "Excuse me, Mr. Braddock, but have Penny Lane's grades slipped at all?"

"No..."

"In fact, her grades have actually improved last semester, haven't they?"

He started to flip through my thin file. "I guess."

"So, Penny Lane has done nothing wrong, the Club is not affecting her grades, and the Club is meeting off school grounds. Am I correct?"

"Technically — "

"Well, then I don't see what the problem is."

"The problem is, Mrs. Bloom" — Principal Braddock's face was explosive — "that after that article came out in the Monitor, a lot of the males at this school have been complaining. Not only that, but I've received some troubling reports from my Student Advisory Committee."

Wait, Ryan wouldn't...

"Nothing has happened yet, but that doesn't mean that it won't. This spells trouble — T-R-O-U-B-L-E."

Mom got up, "Well, I don't really give an S-H — "

"Becky." Dad finally spoke. He got up and put his hand on her shoulder.

Mr. Braddock relaxed considerably, probably hoping that my dad would agree with him. "Thank you, Dr. Bloom."

"Penny Lane," Dad said, "we're leaving, lets go. And, Mr. Braddock, I'm sure you won't argue that we're going to take Penny with us, as I really don't think it's fair for her to have to stay here today after the way you insulted her."

Dad grabbed his coat. I just stared at him.