She pauses to blot her lips on a napkin and says, “So, Lowell and Derek.”
“Yes?” I prod, wanting to see where she goes with this.
“Rumor has it they’ve both quit the basketball team.”
My heart jumps. “Shut up. No way!”
“According to the girl who sits in front of me in chemistry, there was a last-minute scheduled mandatory drug test, and this time they actually made everyone on the team leave the stall door open so they couldn’t dupe anyone. Four guys walked off the team instead of doing the test—including Lowell and Derek.”
Oh, my God. The plan worked? The plan worked. I have no idea how Ms. Kinsey worked her magic and talked the administration into that; all she’d told me was that she would express my concerns anonymously and try to make it happen. I really need to send her some kind of fruit basket. Or maybe bring her a plate of Dex’s special-recipe brownies.
“What a shame,” I say, doing my best to keep a straight face.
“You can drop the innocent act, Andy told me all about your plan,” she says. “For the record, I approve.” Asha rubs more gloss on her lips. “Do you think they’ll figure out it was you?”
I grin. “They can’t prove shit.”
I kind of doubt they have that much combined brainpower between them, but it’s possible. If it is, and they try to get me back…I’ll deal with it then. I’m not worried. They don’t hold that power over me anymore.
I’m feeling amazing, lighter and more free than I have in weeks, as Asha and I descend the stairs to get our jackets and leave for Rosie’s. I’m blocked from the door by Dad, who is armed with a digital camera. The flash blinds me as he snaps a picture.
“Daaaaaaaaad.” I roll my eyes at him.
“Indulge me,” he says.
“It’s our official duty to embarrass you at every given opportunity,” Mom adds from behind him.
They’re both thrilled that I’m talking again. I sat down at dinner Friday and spilled everything over tofurkey sandwiches (yes, we’ve upgraded again, to my combined delight and dismay): the fact that I’d broken the vow, my job at Rosie’s, my friendship with Asha and Sam, visiting Noah in the hospital, my plans to attend Winter Formal. I figured if I threw enough curveballs at them, they wouldn’t be able to freak out about each individual one.