“Hugh’s cuter than Jeff,” Delilah groaned. “That’s so unfair that you get Hugh and I get Jeff.”
Who did I get? Anyone? I drummed a pencil on the desk and tried to get noticed. I cleared my throat extra loudly. “So, are you guys going to fill me in? Who are all these guys?”
They stopped talking and stared at me, like they’d forgotten I was there. It was Erin who recovered first. “Lily! You need a date for the semi-formal, too! You have to come on Saturday to the pool party. I’m sure Keith could find another friend so there would be four guys there.”
“Really? You could get me a date?” My bad mood faded as I sat up in excitement. My first real date! How awesome would that be?
Delilah’s head bobbed in agreement. “We definitely could. We’ll go to the semi as a foursome.”
Val flicked an unseen speck of dirt off her manicured nails. Not neon green, but a sparkly orange. Close enough. “We should move fast though. The semi’s only three weeks away. I bet a lot of the cute guys will be snatched up soon.”
“That’s okay,” Erin said, waving her hand dismissively. “Lily will take anyone. It’s all good.”
Oooh, I didn’t like the sound of that. I frowned. “I’m not going with a loser.” I mean, yeah, maybe I didn’t come with a full stable of hot guys to pick from, but I did have standards.
“Well, no, that’s not what I meant,” Erin said, patting my arm. “It’s just that you never meet anyone because you’re always practicing, so it’s not like you’ll find someone on your own. Any guy will be better than no guy, right?”
My scowl deepened. “It’s not like I have no life. I met lots of great people on my tour this summer.” Yeah, okay, so none of the Mueller-Fordham students I’d toured with had exactly become my best friends, and none of the guys had been dating material, but it wasn’t as if I was a loser. Yet.
But if I ended up in NESM secondary school program for winter term, then they’d be absolutely right. My life would be over. After three months away, I was already sliding out of the group. I could feel my friends slipping out of my grasp, moving beyond me.
“Oh, come on, Lily.” Delilah rolled her eyes. “What hot guys did you meet this summer? Some gray-haired mayor of a tiny town in western Mass?”
“Or, I know,” Val chimed in. “A geek who plays the violin and drools whenever he has to talk to the opposite sex.”
“What about that really skinny guy who plays the flute? He was on tour with you, wasn’t he? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind leaving the argyle sweater at home for the dance,” Erin giggled. “Can you imagine if you went with him? I love you, but I so wouldn’t be able to associate with you in public.”
Dismay washed over me as my friends made fun of me and my life. “Howard’s not that bad...”
“Oh, wait, you guys.” Erin sat up. “You two have to come to Lily’s next recital at Mueller-Fordham. You won’t believe the losers who play music. I mean, if you threw a football at one of them, they’d probably run away screaming. Even Jeff looks like a Greek god in comparison to those geeks.”
I scowled, my throat tightening up. I thought Erin had come to my recitals to support me, not to laugh at the other kids and make fun of my life. “So, you’re saying I’m a geek?”
“Not at all.” Erin put her arm around me as she laughed. “But you’re the only non-geek at the place, you have to admit.”
I sighed. Except for Rafe, they were right, and I doubted Rafe or anyone in Mass Attack was actually a student there. They probably got Miss Jespersen to arrange cheap practice space since she was Rafe’s aunt. “So, you think I’m cool, then?” Gah, that sounded a little pathetic, didn’t it?
But then I felt pathetic as well, when Erin’s smile slipped and something like pity flickered in her eyes. “Of course you’re cool, but, it’s not like you really do much besides play the piano, you know?”
I stared at her, grim horror welling up inside me. Erin did think I was a loser. She was my friend, yes, but somewhere along the line, she’d decided I didn’t measure up. “I do other things,” I protested.
She raised a brow. “What else do you do?”
“I...” Crud. I couldn’t think of a single thing. “I eat.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Val said. “We’ll get you a date for the dance.” She fingered my hair. “Maybe you should get some highlights, though. Did you get out in the sun at all this summer? Maybe try some spray tan before the party because you look like you’ve been sick or something.”