Elizabeth Eulberg - The Lonely Hearts Club

I wanted to get even better grades this semester, just to prove Principal Braddock wrong. And, of course, I wanted everybody in the Club to ace their exams. When Jen had gone to the office that morning to give Braddock the money, he'd just grunted while he counted the bills.

Could anything make that man happy?

IT WAS WEIRD, BECAUSE EVEN though I was a believer in Club secrecy, I wanted someone to let Ryan know the new rules. And at the same time, I still wasn't sure I was ready to date again, to take the risk that it wouldn't work out. It was so unfair: the more I liked Ryan, the more I knew he could break my heart.

I decided a study session was a safe non-date. So I invited Ryan over to review World History. He seemed a little surprised by the invitation, but didn't hesitate to say yes.

"So exactly how do you know all this inside information?" Ryan asked me, as we went over notes in my basement.

"Oh, I've got my resources." I took out a map of Nazioccupied Europe during World War II.

During Saturday's meeting, I'd found out that Ms. Barnes had asked a lot about World War II last year. I knew teachers didn't use the same exams, but it was good to get the scoop on what they had done before.

Plus, I didn't consider it cheating, as we weren't given any answers, just information on what happened the past year. I took anything I could get.

"Oh, hello, Ryan," Mom said, coming downstairs. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Ryan looked at me and I shrugged. "That would be great. Thanks, Mrs. Bloom."

Mom looked at both of us with a big smile on her face. It wasn't like we were up to anything — there were textbooks spread across the floor, and Ryan and I were at least a few feet apart. I kept looking at her, waiting for her to say something, but she was just staring at us.

"Mom..!"

"Oh, sorry!' She headed back upstairs.

Could that woman, for once in her life, just try, try to not embarrass me?

Although I was pretty impressed with myself, both Ryan and I had been able to be friends for nearly two weeks without any drama. That seemed to be our agreement. I did sometimes think about him in non-appropriate friend ways, but I was only human.

"Any big plans during the break?" Ryan got up and stretched. I looked at the clock, surprised that we had been studying for two hours straight.

"Wedding dress shopping." I unfolded my legs and tried to get feeling back in my left foot.

"So who's the lucky guy?" He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Not for me, for Lucy. She's coming home for Christmas and she, Rita, and I are going to look for bridesmaid dresses." Rita had made it very clear to Lucy that we needed to be involved because she refused to look "like a pink taffeta nightmare."

I lay down on the floor and stared up at the ceiling. "I cannot wait for them both to be home. I just wish finals were over already!"

"Just one more day," he reminded me as he sat back down. "Hey, I'm really looking forward to Amy's party tomorrow night."

I jerked my head up so fast that I felt a little faint. "What? You're going?"

Ryan's eyes widened. "Yes, is that a bad thing?"

"No, no, I just didn't know that Amy invited you."

He shook his head. "Well, I obviously wasn't going to get an invitation from you." He threw his folder at me.

"Oh, sorry..."

Why hadn't I invited Ryan?

"But Amy wasn't the one who invited me."

Of course, Diane. How stupid of me to have thought that she wouldn't have invited him.

"Tracy asked me out."

Tracy? My Tracy?

Asked him out?

I tried to comprehend that not only had Tracy invited Ryan to the party, but that she hadn't told me. She usually told me everything.

I was the one who kept secrets.

My stomach tightened up. Oh my God. I knew exactly what this meant, Ryan had finally made it onto Tracy's list.

That was ridiculous. Tracy had never once expressed an interest in him before. Maybe this was why she didn't mention seeing us near our lockers that one time. But hadn't she said earlier in the year that he and I would've made a good couple?

Of course, the last thing I'd said about the issue was when I was proclaiming that I'd never go out with Ryan in a million years. And it wasn't like I'd told Tracy what I was feeling. No.

I looked across and saw Ryan copying down some notes.

I couldn't really blame her.

I'd had weeks — months! — to ask him out.

But I had stayed silent.

And Tracy's hadn't.

Tracy wanted Ryan.

And I wanted to curl up in a ball and die.

I HAD BEEN DREADING THE PARTY since I'd discovered that Tracy had asked Ryan out. I'd been waiting for her to bring it up, but she hadn't said a word. And I wasn't about to bring it up. Not even now, as we were getting ready.

I took the cap off of some shimmer and started applying it to my face, "Don't forget your chest," Diane said as she pointed to my maroon V-necked tank. I paired the top with a new pair of dark blue jeans, a sparkly silver belt, and high-heel boots. I took a step back to look in the mirror, satisfied with the results.

"Oh, let me try!" Tracy said as she grabbed the shimmer from me and started applying it. Tracy was wearing a black lace fitted top with black pinstripe flare pants. She looked so beautiful tonight with her hair down — she usually wore it up in a ponytail. It was obvious she was pulling out all the stops for Ryan.

"All right, I think we're ready," Diane said as we all gave one another a once-over in my bathroom mirror. Diane, as always, looked perfect. She was wearing a black A-line skirt and an aqua-blue sheer turtleneck with matching tank underneath.

We walked into my bedroom to grab our coats, but Diane sat down on my bed and opened her matching aqua purse, "I have something for the two of you," she said as she removed two small boxes wrapped in silver paper with a red ribbon and handed them to me and Tracy. "I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate everything you did for me this year."

"Diane, you didn't have to," I protested.

She simply shook her head and nodded toward the package.

I pulled off the red ribbon and tried to be careful to not tear the delicate silver paper. I gasped when I saw a blue Tiffany's box.

"Diane!" I could hardly believe it. I looked over to make sure Tracy wasn't ahead of me. She gave me a nod and we both opened our boxes.

Inside the box was a matching blue bag. I opened it to find a silver chain bracelet with a heart at the clasp.

"It's beautiful," both Tracy and I said in unison.

"Read the inscription," Diane said as she walked over to me and held up the heart. One side read LHC while the other said my name. She reached over and put the bracelet on my wrist.

"Diane, it's too much. You shouldn't have," I said.

"Yeah, Diane — I mean, Tiffany's." Tracy fiddled with the clasp.

Diane walked over to help Tracy. "You guys have done so much for me this year and this is just a small way to say thank you. Plus... " Diane held up her left arm and pulled her sleeve up to show that she was wearing a matching bracelet. "You don't think it's too corny, do you?"

I couldn't take my eyes off the bracelet. It was the nicest thing anybody had ever given to me.

"No, it's not at all." Both Tracy and I embraced Diane in a group hug.

"And there's one other thing I wanted to tell you guys." Diane looked nervous. "I know things are changing with the Club and that you guys will probably start dating soon... and I just wanted you to know" — she looked up at me — "that I'll support you, whoever it is you date."

She knew.

Diane knew about Tracy.

Tracy rubbed her back. "Thank you, Diane. You know we'll always be there for you as well."

They started walking out of the room. "Tonight is going to be so much fun!' Tracy said.

Yeah, right.

It seemed that we were nearly the last people to arrive at Amy's.

We had to park around the block.

The three of us linked arms as we rang the doorbell. We heard the noise die down from inside as Amy opened the door wearing a beautiful red knee-length dress.

"Welcome." She stepped aside so we could see everybody gathered inside the living room and spilling into the adjacent kitchen.

"Happy Holidays!" everybody said at once and started applauding.

"Wow, you guys must be sick of that by now," Tracy said.

It took the three of us a while to figure out that this was for us. All of the members of the Club were on their feet cheering for us. I spotted Ryan, Tyson, and Tracy's brother over in the corner doing the same thing.

"What's going on?" Diane asked Amy.

"We just wanted to give you three the welcome you deserve." She ushered us in and took our coats.

The cheering died down, but we realized that everybody was looking in our direction with smiles on their faces. I looked over at Jen and Morgan to see if I could get a hint from them. Both of them just smiled at me.

"So," Amy said to the crowd, "we all just wanted to let the three of you know how much you have meant to all of us."

Tracy grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I guess she was right after all. The three of us had really created something here.

Something positive, something worth doing. Regardless of what any of the other guys in school, or Braddock, thought.

"We just wanted to give you something to say thanks." Amy grabbed three presents from under the Christmas tree by the bay window.

"Jen and I were reminiscing about the first time we joined the Club and everything we were talking about. Little did we know back then that under the tree in front of school, something this big was starting." Amy gestured toward the packed room.

Diane, Tracy, and I unwrapped our presents, but I was starting to get nervous as I heard giggling in the room. I fumbled with the wrapping, so Tracy was the first person to open her box.

"It's brilliant!" she exclaimed. I looked over and saw her hold up a white T-shirt with pink three-quarter-length sleeves. She showed me the shirt and on the front it said LHC and on the back LARSON.

I started laughing as Amy continued. "Well, we all figured it was time we finally got T-shirts." Everybody in the room held up matching T-shirts. "Now, what do you think Principal Braddock would do if we all walked into school the first day back wearing them?"

"Hey, I don't want to be responsible for putting a man in the hospital." Tracy went over to the table that had the drinks on it, grabbed three glasses of apple cider, and handed one each to Diane and me.

"Penny, I think we should do a toast," she said to me.

I raised my glass. "To the Lonely Hearts Club!"

Everybody in the room raised their glasses. "The Lonely Hearts Club!"

"And," Tracy continued, "to all of the people who have supported us," She motioned to the corner in the room that held her brother, Tyson, and Ryan, and then looked back at me. She grabbed my hand. "Come on, let's socialize."

We made the rounds and said thanks and Happy Holidays to everybody. All of the members were in high spirits and looked amazing. I couldn't have imagined my life without them.

"Hey, let's go over there." Tracy started dragging me over to the corner where Ryan was talking to Mike and Michelle.

Please, I didn't want to be the conduit for the two of them. I'd rather not be there to witness it. I didn't think my heart could take it.

"Happy Holidays!' Tracy said. She pushed me so hard I accidentally fell into Ryan.

"Whoa there, what's in your glass?" He nodded toward my apple cider.

I blushed, suddenly full of all this nervous energy inside me. It was probably from the all the excitement of the evening. Or the twelve pieces of fudge I ate.

"So we did it. We survived." Ryan clinked his glass against mine.

I smiled. I didn't say anything, waiting for Tracy to jump right in and start working her charm on Ryan. I turned to Tracy and noticed she was gone. Michael and Michelle were gone, too. It was just me and Ryan.

"Hey, there." He put his hand on the small of my back. "Everything okay? Did your brain implode from all the exams?" He started to play with my hair.