Britta ran out of the suite, slamming the door. Holly sank her head into her hands. She felt guilty, confused…. She had tried so hard to do the right thing. To help Britta. But now Britta was so unhappy…. Maybe Holly was wrong. She should have stayed out of it. Never gotten involved. If Britta wanted to be Mrs. Ed Whatever-his-name-was, maybe Holly should have let her. It was Britta's life, after all.
“It's nine o'clock,” Holly said. “Where is she?”
Holly, Lina, Mads, and Piper had spent the past hour dressing for the party. Piper immediately vetoed what the younger girls had brought to wear and let them borrow her clothes and makeup. It would have been fun, normally, but Holly couldn't enjoy it. She'd walked all over the campus looking for Britta, but there was no sign of her. Britta had been gone for four hours now. This was getting serious.
“Holly, you're such a prig,” Piper said. “Let's go down to the party. I'll bet she's down there already and she's forgotten all about your stupid fight.”
Holly stuck her head out the window and looked down into the quad. Music from two competing stereos blasted from windows somewhere in the dorms. Japanese lanterns rimmed the square, the band was setting up on the platform, and people were pouring in through the entrance gate. It was filling up quickly. She couldn't see Britta, but it was dark out there.
Piper put an arm around her. “Stop worrying. This is college. People come and go, they don't tell anyone, they do what they want, they get caught up in a party or a game or something…. I mean, what could have happened to her?” It hit Holly like a thunderbolt. Britta wasn't interested in games and parties. She was interested in one thing: Ed. “I know what happened to her,” Holly said. “She ran off to find Ed. She's going to try to elope again!”
Blond Brushcut
To: mad4u
From: your daily horoscope
HERE IS TODAY'S HOROSCOPE: VIRGO: Feeling lightheaded and dizzy? Hate to break it to you, but it's not love. It's not even a crush. It's your diet.
M
ads and Lina held hands and pogoed up and down while the band covered a B-52's song. The quad was mobbed with people dancing under the moon and the Japanese lanterns. Lina kept scanning the crowd.
“Do you see him yet?” Mads asked. She knew Lina was hoping Walker would come to the party. “No,” Lina said.
“What about Holly?” Mads asked.
Lina and Mads jumped up together, calling, “Holly!” At the peak of their jump, in the split-second when they could almost see over the heads of the crowd, Mads tried to glimpse Holly or Walker. Too quick. They tried it again. “Holly!”
This time she saw a flash of blond and a hand waving. In a second Holly was at their side. “Dance with us,” Mads said.
The song ended and the crowd cheered. “Thank you. We're the Crash,” the lead singer announced. “Here comes another B-52's classic, ‘Rock Lobster.’”
The three girls danced together, making up their own versions of the shimmy-shake and the frug. Mads could see that Holly's heart wasn't in it, though. She was convinced that Britta had really eloped, and it was all her fault.
Tw o boys insinuated themselves between the girls until they were a dancing circle of five. One of them, a short guy with a blond brushcut, definitely had his eye on Mads. By the time the next song started, he'd managed to corral her off to himself. His friend, a preppy/slacker type with chin-length red hair and pale eyes, smiled at Lina and Holly. Holly grabbed Lina and shouted into her ear, “I'm going to check the room and see if Britta called or anything.” She disappeared.
Lina danced with the red-haired guy for a few songs. Then Mads saw her pull her pulsating cell phone out of her pocket. Lina rolled her eyes. “I'd better take this,” she shouted to Mads. “Or Sylvia will send a SWAT team.”
She went off to find a quieter spot to talk, and the red-haired guy disappeared in the crowd. Mads and Blond Brushcut danced to new wave classics until sweat soaked their shirts. The band took a break, and Mads and her dance buddy grabbed some water.
“Are you a freshman?” he asked.
Mads shook her head. “I'm visiting for the weekend. Do you know Piper Anderson?”
“Yeah,” he said. “She's in my Psych I section. Did you go to high school with her?”
“Sort of,” Mads said. “I'm friends with her sister.”
Blond Brushcut assessed her. “What are you, sixteen?”
“Fifteen,” Mads admitted.
“I thought you looked kind of young, even for a freshman,” the boy said. “What's your name?”
“Madison.”
“I'm Owen. You're a funky dancer.”
“Thanks.”
“The band won't be back up for a while,” Owen said. “Want to take a walk?”
“Sure.”
He led her out of Sterling Quad, down a lamplit path. They found themselves in a plaza with a big fountain. “This is the Claw,” Owen said.
“Why is it called the Claw?” Mads asked.
“I don't know,” Owen said. “I've only been here for seven months.”
“Where are the ducks?” Mads asked. “When I walked past here yesterday there were ducks.”
“I guess they go somewhere else to sleep,” Owen said. “All the partying students keep them up at night.”
They perched on the edge of the fountain. The water splashed behind them. Mads looked up at the sky, saw the moon and the stars, and shivered happily.
I'm at a college, sitting with a college boy. It's late and I can stay out all night if I feel like it!
There was something romantic about it, and exciting. Mads looked at Owen. He was pretty cute. He danced like a hyperactive robot, though. Hmm … what would it be like to have a college boyfriend?
“The moonlight looks pretty on your hair,” Owen said. “Kind of—kind of like an oil slick.”
“An oil slick? Thanks,” Mads said.
“No—I mean it's pretty,” Owen said.
“You think oil slicks are pretty?”
“Sure. They have those rainbows in them when the light shines on them—that's like your hair.”
“You sure wriggled out of that one,” Mads said.
Owen laughed. “I really do think it's pretty.”
“I believe you,” Mads said.
He stretched on arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. She felt nervous—this was a college boy! What was he going to do?
He kissed her. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. She leaned backward a little too far … and fell into the fountain, pulling Owen in with her.
She came up for air, soaking wet and laughing. The shock of the water, the shock of the kiss … Owen laughed, too, and splashed water in her face. She splashed him back. Then he grabbed her and kissed her again.
“You're cute,” he said.
“You're cute, too,” Mads said. A breeze kicked up and she felt chilly. All of a sudden she was flooded with guilt. What was she doing? Why was she kissing this guy? And liking it?
She stood up and Owen helped her out of the fountain. They were soaked. Mads smiled at him to keep him from knowing that anything was wrong, but her mind was racing. What about Stephen? And Sean?
“You want to go back to my room and dry off?” Owen asked. “You could take a nice hot shower there—”
“I'd better get back to my friends,” Mads said. “It's getting late.” She wondered whether Britta had come back yet. And something told her a hot shower at Owen's dorm was probably not a smart idea.
“That's cool,” Owen said. He took her hands. “I had a nice time dancing with you. And swimming.”
“Me, too,” Mads said.
“If you come up for another visit, let me know,” Owen said.
“I will,” Mads said.
He leaned forward and kissed her again. Mads couldn't believe it. Why was she doing this? Why did it feel so good? Shouldn't her lips have gotten an electric shock or something?
“Owen,” she said as she pulled away. “I should tell you something. Um, I have a boyfriend.”
Owen nodded. “That's cool. I've got a girlfriend, too. Back home in Seattle. And I've kind of got another one here, but she split for the weekend.”
“Oh.”
Huh,
Mads thought.
I guess this is no big deal.
“Can we kiss some more?” Owen asked.
“I'd like to, I really would,” Mads said. “But I've got to go.” She started back to Sterling. “See you around.”
“See you.”
As she squished down the path in her wet shoes, she turned all these new things over in her mind. She kissed another boy. Should she confess to Stephen?
What good would it do? It would only upset him. But what if someone saw her kissing Owen—and decided to tell Stephen? Then what?
She thought about Jane. Maybe it was just as well she'd never gotten through to Sean. How could Mads know what was really going on between Jane and Damien, or Jane and Sean? These love situations were turning out to be more complicated than they seemed.
The Jane and Sean thing is none of my business,
she thought.
I'd better stay out of it.
Now that that was settled, she felt better.
She thought about Owen, how he had a girlfriend, or maybe two. She couldn't help laughing. Could true love survive high school? Mads was learning how hard that was. But if this weekend's sneak peek was any indication, it looked as if true love would have an even tougher time surviving college.
Found
To: hollygolitely
From: your daily horoscope
HERE IS TODAY'S HOROSCOPE: CAPRICORN: Stop checking your horoscope. You have more important things to do!
P
iper's suite was empty, and Britta hadn't called. Holly sat on the couch for a few minutes, seething with frustration. What should she do? Should she call the police, or the Fowlers—and risk making Britta angrier than ever? But what else could she do? She couldn't just let Britta disappear.
Holly went back to the party to find Mads and Lina. She didn't want to make this decision alone. She needed her friends' advice.
The party was louder and more crowded than ever. Holly bumped into Mads, who was all wet for some reason.
“What happened to you?” Holly asked.
“I fell into a fountain,” Mads said. “Did you find Britta?”
Holly shook her head. “Let's get Lina and go back to the room.”
They wormed their way through the writhing, sweaty mob of dancers. Holly found Lina dancing with the red-haired guy and tapped her on the shoulder. “We're going back to the room,” Holly shouted over the music. “Want to come?”
Lina nodded, smiled at the redhead, gave him a little wave, and grabbed Holly's sleeve so she wouldn't lose her in the crowd. They worked their way through the quad. Then Holly tripped over something—someone's big, sneaker-clad foot.
“Ow! Watch it!” a girl snapped. “You stepped on my foot.”
Holly looked up. The girl turned around.
“I don't believe it!” Holly cried. “Britta!”
“Holly! Hey, why aren't you dancing?”
This question was not what Holly expected to hear from Britta. She was so stunned she could only stare at her. She seemed to be with a group of five or six college kids, guys and girls, all dancing together.
“Britta, where have you been?” Lina asked.
Holly regained her senses. “What the hell are you doing?” she shouted over the music. “Get over here!” She grabbed Britta by the arm and dragged her through the crowd. Lina and Mads followed.
“Holly—wait!” Britta said. “I really like that song—” She waved to the kids she was with and called, “I had fun! Maybe I'll see you later!”
Holly didn't stop until they reached Piper's suite. She practically threw Britta onto the couch. “Sit down!” she cried.
Lina and Mads stood beside her. All three crossed their arms, waiting for Britta's explanation. “Britta, we've been looking for you for five hours!” Holly said.
“I'm sorry,” Britta said. “Were you worried?”
“Yes, we were worried!” Holly said. “Where were you?”
“I had the greatest time!” Britta said. “After I left here—I was pretty mad at you, I guess, but that wore off—I met this girl named Gwen. She was carrying this biology book—the same one I read last summer—and we started talking, and she said she and her friends were going for a sunset hike in the Foothills and asked me if I wanted to go. They showed me all the different trees they have there, and birds, and flowers … and when it got dark we went to their dining hall and ate dinner, and then we hung out in their dorm for a while, and then I remembered the party, so we came back here and started dancing. It's been great! I love college!”
Holly, Lina, and Mads just stared at her. “You've been on campus all this time?” Holly finally said. “Hanging out with some girl named Gwen?”
“Well, not just Gwen. There was Jonathan, and Danielle, and Jason—” She paused and looked at Holly. “What did you think I was doing?”
Holly felt uncomfortable. Hadn't Britta practically threatened to run off with Ed just a few hours before? Or had she imagined it? “Um, I'd rather not say.”
“Duh! We thought you ran away to find Ed,” Mads said. “It was all you ever talked about. You made it sound like you couldn't have fun without him.”
Britta looked thoughtful. “I guess I did. I kind of thought that was true. But now I know better.” She perked up and added, “Anyway, I figured you knew I was around somewhere, since I left my overnight bag here.”
She reached down and lifted her bag off the floor for proof.
Mads laughed. “It was here the whole time?”
Holly slapped her forehead. It had never occurred to her to check and see if Britta's bag was gone.
“I've been such an idiot,” Holly said. “Britta, come with me. I need to talk to you. Alone.” She helped Britta to her feet and pulled her into Piper's empty room. Holly shut the door.
“I'm sorry, Holly,” Britta said. “I'm sorry I got so angry with you before. Because you were right. College is fantastic! I'd really regret it if I missed it. And I realize now that I shouldn't sacrifice everything for Ed—especially not something that is so important to me.”
“Welcome back to the land of the sane,” Holly said. “I just wish you'd called my cell and let me know where you were. I was going crazy! I thought you used this trip as another chance to run away.”
“You don't have to worry about that anymore,” Britta said. “I've changed my mind about all that. I'm not going to get married right now. I still love Ed, but from now on I'm going to slow things down with him. I can't wait to go to college! And who knows, maybe I will go to college in England.”