Part 6 (2/2)

*That can't be the same thing,' Caroline said. *I mean, your Uncle Jay and Harmony are grown-ups and kiss for real.'

*Why would Cheyenne even want to kiss Patrick?' I wondered aloud. *Considering he picks his nose and eats it.'

All three of the other girls made noises like they were going to throw up, and Sophie said, *Thanks, Allie! I had eggs for breakfast!'

*Well,' I said in my own defence, *I sit in the same row as he does. Do you think I don't observe these things?'

*Maybe if you told Cheyenne,' Caroline suggested.

*No,' Erica cried, *you can't! I'm sure he doesn't mean to!'

*How can you pick your own nose and eat it by accident?' Sophie wanted to know.

*Come on,' Erica said. *He's not that bad.'

*Erica,' Caroline said, *remember in second grade when hea”'

*h.e.l.lo, girls.'

We all stopped talking as we realized Cheyenne had strolled up behind us, Dominique and Marianne, her human shadows, on either side of her. She stood with her arms folded across her chest, staring at us, a little smile on her lips.

*So I hear you had a little sleepover of your own on Sat.u.r.day night,' she said.

*Yeah,' I said, *we did. And we had a really fun time. We did Dance Party America and staircase surfing, and made microwave brownie soup and a cake, and played bicycle-light hide-and-seek, and told ghost stories anda”'

Cheyenne started laughing. Really. She threw back her bunny-ear-m.u.f.fed head and laughed.

*You guys are such big babies!' she cried. *That's the kind of stuff we did at sleepovers back in Grade Three. Right, M and D?'

M and D a” which I guess were Marianne's and Dominique's new nicknames a” both nodded and laughed. I didn't actually know them in the third grade a” what people from Canada called Grade Three a” but I was pretty sure they'd never had microwave brownie soup before. That's an invention only my Uncle Jay had come up with. So M and D were pretty much liars as far as I was concerned. As was Cheyenne.

*But anyway,' she said before I could accuse her of being what she was. A big liar. *That's not what I came over to talk to you guys about. I came over to see if you'd heard the news.'

*If you mean the news about you and Patrick Day,' Caroline said, *we've heard. And you have our condolences.'

Even though she claims to be so mature and all, I don't know if Cheyenne knew what condolences meant. She wasn't the second runner-up district spelling champ, like Caroline was.

*Thanks,' Cheyenne said. She obviously didn't know what condolences meant. *He really likes me. It was just a matter of time before we started going together.'

*But that's what I don't understand,' Erica said. *Where are you going?'

Cheyenne looked at Erica in a surprised sort of way. Then she started laughing. Behind her, Marianne and Dominique started laughing too.

*Oh, E,' Cheyenne said. *You're so cute! You don't go anywhere when you're going with a boy. You're just going together. It's a figure of speech.'

*It is?' Erica threw the rest of us a puzzled look. I don't know about Sophie or Caroline, but I didn't understand it any better than Erica.

*Yes,' Cheyenne said. *All it means is that Patrick and I are an exclusive couple, and he can't go with anyone else while he's with me.'

Erica threw us another look, which very clearly stated, Who else would Patrick go with?

But again, none of us had an answer.

*That's what I wanted to talk to you all about,' Cheyenne said conversationally. *Sophie, I know for a fact that you like Peter Jacobs. He really is cute. The truth of the matter is, if you don't s.n.a.t.c.h him up, some other girl is going to. So you better ask him to go with you soon, or you'll lose him.'

I whipped my head around to stare at Sophie. I was just in time to see all the blood drain from her face. It was pretty cold out, so seeing her go from having such rosy cheeks to suddenly being white as paper was really quite dramatic.

*But,' Sophie said, her voice sounding faint, *I don't want to go with Peter.'

*Don't be ridiculous,' Cheyenne said. *Of course you do. Just go up to him and ask him. That's what I did with Patrick. Well, I did it over the phone. But it's the same thing, really.'

*I . . . I . . .' Sophie looked as if someone had just told her she'd contracted a flesh-eating virus. *I don't want to.'

*That doesn't matter,' Cheyenne said. *You have to.'

*She doesn't have to do anything,' Caroline said, taking a step forward. *You can't tell her what to do.'

*Uh,' Cheyenne said, flicking a bored glance over at Caroline, *yes, I can, actually. Because if she doesn't ask Peter to go with her, I'll tell him that Sophie likes him.'

Sophie gasped.

It was the gasp of a girl who had just found out there were even worse things than flesh-eating viruses.

Even Caroline looked confused.

*I don't understand,' she said. *So what if Cheyenne tells him you like him? If you ask him to go with you, he'll know you like hima”'

*No, he won't,' Cheyenne said, looking scornful. *He'll just know you want to go with him. But if you don't ask him and I tell him you like him, then he'll know for sure.'

This was so confusing, it was giving me a little bit of a headache, like when I ate ice cream down at the Dairy Queen too fast.

*Why would you do that?' Caroline demanded. *Why would you do something so mean?'

Cheyenne looked genuinely puzzled.

*Because I'm trying to help. Help you guys not be so immature.' To Sophie she said, *You have until morning recess to decide what you want to do. Come, M and D.'

Then she and her posse took off, Cheyenne's high-heeled boots crunching in the snow.

*Well, I don't care what she says,' Caroline said when they were gone. *You're not going to do it, are you, Sophie?'

But when we looked at Sophie, we all knew.

She was going to do it.

*Of course I am,' she said miserably. *I have to. Because the worst thing that can happen is for your secret crush to know your secret, and for it not to be a secret any more.'

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