The Lonely Hearts Club Read online

  Ryan was talking really fast for him, so it took me a second to comprehend what he was asking.

  He wasn't asking me on a date, was he?

  Of course he wasn't. that was stupid. He was dating that short, curly-haired thing.

  I was his friend. His Beatles-named friend, no less. it made sense for him to ask me out on a non-date to see a Beatles-ish band.

  "Hello? Penny?"

  Oops.

  "Um, sounds great,"

  I could still be friends with guys. Ryan and I had always been friends, and there was no way he would see me as anything else. What had he said at Paul's party? "I'd never do anything with her."

  "Awesome," he said now. "Diane told me your parents are against tribute bands or something, but she thought you might get a kick out of it."

  Diane knew! Why hadn't she given me a heads-up that Ryan was going to ask me .. on ... some sort of social outing.

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  I cleared my throat. "I think it'd be fun. thanks for thinking of me."

  "Of course! I think it'd be cool to go to a tribute band with none other than Penny Lane herself."

  Ugh.

  "So I guess we can figure out the details later, but I figure we can head into the city early and grab a bite before the show. Does that sound okay?"

  "that sounds great, Ryan. See you tomorrow."

  I hung up the phone and just stared at it.

  then it hit me, I had agreed to go to a Beatles tribute band concert with Ryan Bauer. Now I had to tell the one person who was going to absolutely hate this idea.

  "Oh, Penny Lane, no, no, no. I'm so disappointed in you. How could you?"

  This was going to be harder than I thought.

  I sat down at our table. "Come on, Mom, it's not that big of a deal."

  Mom set her coffee mug down and looked at me like I had a second head. "Penny Lane, I just thought your father and I raised you better than to go to some complete rip-off band. it's just.... Dave, help me out!"

  Dad stopped hiding behind his paper and set it down. "Now, Becky, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. At least she's interested in learning about her heritage. And I think we should trust Penny Lane to know that what she

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  will be hearing is nothing compared to the real thing. Remember how embarrassed she was with the massacre at Lucy's graduation?"

  Yes, I'd been mortified at Lucy's graduation, but unfortunately it was my parents who'd been the weapons of mass humiliation. Some poor graduate sang a not very flattering rendition of "Yesterday" and my parents almost walked out of the auditorium. they even refused to clap. it wouldn't have been so bad if the guys parents hadn't been sitting right next to us, recording the whole thing. I'm sure they appreciated watching the video with my parents' commentary track: "Ewww, all wrong. . . . Why do people feel it necessary to tamper with a . . .. there is only one Paul McCartney and you, child, are no Paul."

  "Ah, yeah, Dad, it was awful." t got up and started unloading the dishwasher. thought that maybe that would help get Mom in a better mood.

  "What do you say, Bees?" Dad reached across the table and squeezed my mothers hand.

  "Oh, okay . . ." Mom looked defeated.

  I tried not to laugh as I opened the top cabinet to put the glasses back in place.

  "Oh, cheer up. Remember, we have coming in a few weeks!" Dad tried to get Mom to smile.

  "that's right.' Penny Lane, we forgot to tell you -- we have some wonderful news. the Taylors are going to spend thanksgiving with us. isn't that --"

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  I tried to blink a few times to regain focus as I felt the glass slip from my hand. there was a crash on the floor. I looked up and saw a shocked look on my parents' faces.

  they hadn't just said . . .

  "Oh, Penny!" Mom got up and grabbed the broom and dustpan from the pantry. I just stood there while she started to clean up around me. "What has gotten into you?"

  I couldn't even begin to explain.

  this was a nightmare.

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  chapter twenty one

  I WAS STILL IN SHOCK THE following morning. I sat in a daze outside while I waited for Tracy to come pick me up. After the horrific news from the previous night, I needed my best friend more than ever.

  Tracy's car turned on Ashland, and I practically ran out into the street. The car didn't even make a complete stop as I opened the door and got in the passenger seat.

  "Wow, someone is excited to get to school," Tracy observed,

  "You're not going to believe what happened last night!" My voice was quivering, on the verge of a full-on breakdown.

  "Whoa, what on earth is going on, Pen? With everything that has happened the past couple of weeks, I'm sure it cant be that bad!'

  "Oh, really, really, really, I think you might want to pull over for this."

  Tracy pulled the car over and I told her the news. the words felt like they'd been festering inside of me for weeks instead of hours.

  "What?!!! How come you didn't call me?"

  "I left about fourteen messages."

  Tracy reached into her purse and started swearing as she turned on her phone.

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  I went on. "I just, I just. . . it's so awful. I don't want to see him again. What am I supposed to do?" tears were starting to form behind my eyes.

  "You mean besides kill him? What exactly did your parents say and did you tell them that that creep is not welcome in your house?"

  I shook my head. "Of course I didn't say that. You know my parents have no idea what happened this summer with Nate. Sometimes I swear that they're so clueless,"

  "Okay, give me the outline of what happened, and then I'm going to call an emergency meeting of the Lonely Hearts Club at lunch so we can come together and help you out."

  Not only was I having the worst morning of my life, but I was also going to flunk out of school.

  Luckily, Tyson had been assigned to be my lab partner for our fetal pig dissection, and he seemed to know biology as well as he knew punk rock. I must've been in a state, because even he picked up on my mood.

  "Hey is everything all right?" he asked, looking up from the syllabus.

  I nodded weakly.

  "So, do you think we should name it}"

  I had no idea what he was talking about, "What?"

  A smile crept on his face. I was surprised to find he had nice teeth. "You know, do you think we should name it?" He gestured down to the fetal pig resting in the dissection pan.

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  "Oh, sure."

  "Well." Tyson leaned over and started to examine the pig. "I was thinking of either Babe or Wilbur."

  I looked at him in surprise.

  "What? Do you think I would want to name him something like Slash or Killer?"

  I couldn't help but laugh. that was exactly what I was thinking.

  "I like Wilbur." I looked down at the poor pickled pig.

  "Wilbur, it is." Tyson took a marker and wrote the name on the pan.

  When the period ended, I immediately collected my books and practically ran out of the room, knocking over half the class. the hallway was a blur of people talking and lockers slamming as I ran down the corridor to the cafeteria.

  When I got there, I saw Jen and Tracy rearranging tables in the back corner.

  "I think were going to have a big showing today," Tracy said, pulling over a few chairs. We now had even more people at our table than the jock! cheerleader contingent.

  All the members started to file in quickly. Everyone gave me a smile or a hug before they sat down.

  After a few minutes, the table went silent, and I noticed everybody was looking at me with encouraging smiles,

  "Well, I guess I should start." I put down my sandwich and leaned in so everybody could hear me.

  "First off, thanks so much for being here for me. I really

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  need all the help I can get." I looked around at the faces of my friends -- old and new. I took a de
ep breath before giving the state of my disunion. "Um, I think some of you might remember Nate.... ?"

  Apparently they did remember, as I heard a lot of groaning from the tables and I caught the words pig, jackass, and jerk.

  "Well, last night my parents dropped the bomb that Nate is coming with his family to spend thanksgiving with us. Boom!"

  Hilary raised her hand.

  "Um . .. Hilary?"

  "Why don't you tell your parents what happened? they probably would completely understand and then uninvite the loser and his parents."

  "I thought of that, but Mr. Taylor is one of my dad's oldest friends. I don't want him to know that his friend's son is a complete and utter ass."

  Jackie Memmott raised her hand next.

  "Guys," I said, "we aren't in class. You don't have to raise your hands."

  Jackie's hand shot down as she looked really embarrassed.

  "Sorry Jackie -- you wanted to say something?"

  "You can spend thanksgiving with my family if yon want, Penny."

  A chorus of "me, too!" came out from the group. This was all the proof I needed that no matter what happened, I'd be fine.

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  "Thanks so much, all of you. I think I might be slightly overreacting. it probably will be good for me to see him -- I never really had closure with him. I basically fled anytime he was in the vicinity of our house!'

  "Hey, Pen!' Tracy said. "I'd be more than happy to help you with the closure. that is, if by closure yon mean kick his ass."

  I started to relax. Plus, maybe Tracy was onto something. I wouldn't be violent, but I wasn't going to pass on an opportunity to set things straight with him.

  "All right, enough about me! Anybody else have any issues -- boy-related or otherwise?"

  Jen shot up from her seat. "Actually, we do!" She gestured to Jessica and Diane.

  "As a lot of you may know, the girls' basketball team is in desperate need of new uniforms. And since it seems that the entire athletic fund always goes to the guys' sports, we need to do some sort of fund-raiser. We wanted to do something different this year instead of a car wash or the gross candy drive. So what do you all think of doing a karaoke night to raise money?"

  Erin Fitzgerald screamed, "I love that idea, Jen -- brilliant!"

  No one was surprised by Erin's reaction, since everybody in school knew that Erin had the best voice at McKinley and loved any chance she could get to show it off.

  "thanks, but do you think people would actually do it?" Jen asked. "Pay a cover charge and one dollar per song to sing in front of people?" Erin raised her hand. "People besides Erin?"

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  "Could we go in groups?" Amy asked.

  "I don't see why not." the crowd started to talk amongst themselves, and there was mostly nodding and excitement as people started discussing songs.

  Jen looked hopeful. "Okay, we're going to do it. Just promise me that you guys will help kick it off if people are chicken."

  Erin stood up. "I promise you I'll be the first person in line. I cant watt!"

  "So, Diane, how's practice going?" Amy asked.

  Diane smiled. "Well, people have been looking at me a little differently the last couple of days, because . . " She sighed as she got up and put her foot on the table.

  Tracy gasped. "Diane, are you wearing sneakers'?"

  "Yep! I'm officially in pain and unable to wear heels. I think it's hysterical that you guys didn't notice. I'm only about four inches shorter!"

  "I knew there was something different!" Tracy shouted.

  "Oh, that isn't the only thing." Diane got a mischievous look on her face as she opened her lunch bag and pulled out a large piece of bread. "I'm eating complex carbs!"

  "Holy crap!" Tracy's eyes were huge. "It's like you're an entirely different person."

  Diane threw a napkin at Tracy. "No, I'm just hungry from all the workouts. it's amazing guys -- I'm so excited."

  "She's totally going to get a spot on the team," Jen proclaimed. "Meg, you need to do a feature on our newest player."

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  Meg Ross smiled. "Well, I do have something I wanted to discuss with all of you on Saturday but I've got deadlines, so no time like the present. As some of you know, I'm the Life-Styles editor at the McKinley Monitor, and, well, I'd like to do an article on the Lonely Hearts Club."

  Ob, dear God, no. I wasn't sure I could handle any more drama in my life. the school paper?

  Meg continued, "Word about the Club is starting to spread and there are a lot of people out there who aren't truly understanding what this Club is all about I think its important for us to get our side of the story out. What do you guys think?"

  Meg looked directly at me when she asked the question, and I could tell that there could only be one answer. the Lonely Hearts Club was about to go public in a big way.

  "So, are your parents okay with the concert?" Ryan asked at the end of the day.

  "Well, as much as my parents can be okay." He smiled at me and I felt my heart sink. I really needed to get over whatever it was that was making me so nervous before our outing.

  "Hey, guys. Ryan, ready for our run?" Diane approached us with her workout gear.

  "Yep, I just have to drop off some student advisor stuff to Braddock," Ryan responded.

  "Okay, seriously, what is the deal with that?"

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  Ryan shrugged. "Hey, as soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know. We now have gone from talking football to talking about the upcoming basketball season. I'm starting to get annoyed that I'm losing out on study hall once a week."

  Diane rolled her eyes. "Oh, poor you."

  He grimaced at her before heading to the office.

  they seemed rather friendly . . . although I knew better than anybody that they were just friends.

  "At last, we're alone." Diane smiled at me. "So the jig is up!"

  I stopped dead in my tracks. "What are you even talking about?"

  "So when exactly were you going to mention to me that you and Ryan are going to a concert?"

  My heart stopped. "Oh, Diane, I'm so sorry. it's just everything with Nate happened and it sort of slipped my mind. I was planning on telling you and the Club, but I didn't want anybody to think it was a date or something. I mean, I was going to say no, but Ryan made it seem like it was almost your idea so I didn't think you would mind --"

  Diane just started to laugh. "Jeez, relax, will ya, Pen! I'm not upset. I was just watting for you to say something. Are you worried what the Club will think?"

  "Honestly? I haven't thought much about it. He called last night, and then before I knew it, my parents dropped the Nate bomb on me. So .. ." this was so awkward. "What exactly did Ryan tell you?"

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  Diane's smile just widened. "Not much. He asked me if I thought you'd be interested in going with him to the concert. He was afraid that he might offend you."

  "Why?"

  Diane curled a long, blond strand of hair with her finger. "He just thought that you'd be a true Beatle fan and not want to hear some cheesy tribute band. I know how your parents feel about it,"

  "Yes, my parents don't understand why people remake anything -- even movies. they are very traditional, although the term traditional is probably the last word people would use when thinking of my parents,"

  Diane smiled at me, "Well, I'm sure you guys will have a great time."

  "Diane, are you really okay that I'm going?"

  She nodded. "Of course. You two are the most important people in my life. Why would I be upset?"

  I paused for a moment, "No reason,"

  "Well, I'm going to warm up -- can you tell Ryan I'll meet him at the track?"

  "Sure." I instantly felt uncomfortable with the thought of having to deal with Ryan alone.

  He came back a few minutes later,

  "Diane said she'd meet you at the track."

  "Okay, thanks."

  I started to walk to Tracy's locker.

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br />   "Hey, Penny!' Ryan called after me.

  "Yeah."

  I turned around and saw him smiling at me. "I'm really glad you agreed to go with me to the concert. It will be nice to spend some time together outside of school."

  I just stared at him.

  "See you tomorrow," he said to me. As he jogged by, he reached out and gently squeezed my arm.

  There was no way this was going to end well.

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  chapter twenty two

  MEG SPENT THAT SATURDAY interviewing the Club members for her article. But she wanted to interview me, Tracy, and Diane separately.

  While I was one hundred percent behind the Club and couldn't have been happier about our success, the timing for this interview couldn't have been any worse. The looks we all had been getting from the male population at McKinley High and girl nonmembers had become more and more awkward. Todd, had stopped talking to me all together.

  "So do you consider yourself a feminist?" Meg asked after I'd given her the background.

  "Um, I guess?"

  Nice answer.

  I knew I had to start focusing on the interview. The Club was too important to me not to, and I really wanted it to be portrayed as something positive.

  "You better only be saying nice things about me," Tracy interrupted as she walked into the room. "is it my turn yet?"

  Meg shut off the tape recorder. "I just need to grab another tape. I'll be right back."

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  For over a week I'd been avoiding telling Tracy about the upcoming whatever-it-was with Ryan. With Meg out of the room, it seemed as good a time as any.

  After I was done, I asked, "So how do you feel about that?" "Sounds like fun, Pen, this isn't a date or anything, is it?" "Are you kidding me? No, Tracy. It's just a concert. No big deal."