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“No？”
“I mean…I can handle this。 I've got to handle it。”
She shook her head。 “Oh； girl。 I'm hurting for you here。”
I looked back at the stage。 The auction was happening so fast！ They'd be at Bryce in no time。
As the bidding continued； the battle in my head got
louder and fiercer。 What was I going to do？
Then suddenly the gym fell quiet。 You could have heard a pin drop。 And standing next to Mrs。
McClure looking pletely mortified was Jon
Trulock。 Mrs。 McClure was scouring the crowd with her eyes； looking very unfortable； too。
“What happened？” I whispered to Darla。
“No one's bidding；” she whispered back。
“Do I hear ten？” called Mrs。 McClure。 “e on； out there！ This lunch is delicious。
Strawberry tarts； roast beef and Muenster cheese sandwiches
…” “Oh； no！” I whispered to Darla。 “I can't believe I did this to him！”
“You？ What did you do？”
“I voted for him！”
“Well； you couldn't have been the only one…。”
“But why isn't anyone bidding on him？ He's … he's so nice。”
Darla nodded。 “Exactly。”
That's when I realized what I had to do。 My hand shot into the air and I called； “Ten！”
“Ten？” warbled Mrs。 McClure。 “Did I hear ten？”
I put my hand up higher and said to Darla； “Say twelve。”
“What？”
“Say twelve； I'll outbid you。”
“No way！”
“Darla！ He can't go for ten； c'mon！”
“Twelve！” Darla called； but her hand didn't go up very high。
“Fifteen！” I cried。
“Sixteen！” called Darla； and eyed me with a laugh。
I whispered； “Darla！ I've only got fifteen。”
Her eyes got enormous。
I laughed and called； “Eighteen！” then held her arm down and said； “But that really is all I've
got。”
There was a moment of silence and then； “Eighteen going once！ Eighteen going twice …
Sold！ for eighteen dollars。”
Darla laughed and said； “Whoa； girl！ What a rush！”
I nodded。 “Yes； it was！”
“Well； no dessert for you。 Looks like you got cleaned out by something a little more …uh…
nutritious。” She nodded toward the stage。 “You gonna
go up to the table like you're supposed to？ Or you gonna stick around and see the carnage？”
I almost didn't have a choice。 Before Mrs。 McClure could say two words about Bryce or his
basket； Shelly called； “Ten！” Then from the middle of
the gym came “Twenty！” It was Miranda Humes； with her hand way in the air。 They went
back and forth； back and forth； higher and higher； until Shelly
called； “Sixty…two！”
“I can't believe it；” I whispered to Darla。 “Sixty…two dollars！ C'mon； Miranda； e on。”
“I think she's out。 Shelly's got it。”
“Sixty…two dollars going once！” cried Mrs。 McClure； but before she could say； Going twice！ a
voice from the back of the gym called； “A hundred！”
Everyone gasped and turned around to see who had called the bid。 Darla whispered； “It's
Jenny。”
“Atkinson？” I asked。
Darla pointed。 “Right over there。”
She was easy to spot； standing tall above the others in the number…seven basketball jersey
she almost always wore。 “Wow；” I whispered； “I had
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no idea。”
“Maybe she'll slam…dunk him for you；” Darla said with a grin。
“Who cares？” I giggled。 “She slam…dunked Shelly！”
Mrs。 McClure was gushing into the microphone about the record…breaking bid when a big
motion broke out over by Miranda。 I spotted
Shelly's hair； and my first thought was that there was going to be a fight。 But instead； Shelly
and Miranda turned to face Mrs。 McClure and called；
“One…twenty…two fifty！”
I choked down a cry。 “What？”
“They're teamin' up；” Darla whispered。
“Oh； no…no…no！” I looked over Jenny's way。 “e on； Jenny！”
Darla shook her head and said； “She's through；” and she was。 Bryce went to Shelly and
Miranda for one hundred twenty…two dollars and fifty
cents。
It was a little strange； meeting up with Jon and walking over to the multi…purpose room for
lunch。 But he was just so nice； and I think grateful that I'd
bid； that by the time we got situated at our table； I wasn't feeling so awkward or silly。 It was
just lunch。
Things would have been easier if they hadn't seated me in direct view of Bryce and his little
harem； but I did my best to ignore them。 Jon told me
all about this radio…controlled airplane that he and his dad were building from scratch； and
how he'd been working on it for nearly three months； and
that over the weekend they were finally going to get to try it out。 He told me a funny story
about soldering the wires wrong and practically starting a
fire in their basement； and I asked him about how a radio…controlled airplane works because I
didn't really understand it。
So I'd relaxed a lot and was actually having a good time eating lunch with Jon。 And I was so
relieved that I hadn't bid on Bryce。 What a fool I would
have made of myself！ Watching Shelly and Miranda fawning all over him didn't bother me
nearly as much as I thought it would。 Really； they looked
ridiculous。
Jon asked about my family； so I was telling him about my brothers and their band when a
huge motion broke out over at Bryce's table。
Suddenly Shelly and Miranda were rolling on the floor like an enormous furball； smearing
each other with food。
Out of nowhere Bryce appeared at our table。 He grabbed my hand； pulled me a few feet
away； and whispered； “Do you like him？”
I was stunned。
He held my other hand and asked again； “Do you like him？”
“You mean Jon？”
“Yes！”
I can't remember what I said。 He was looking into my eyes； holding my hands tight； and then
he began pulling me toward him。 My heart was racing
and his eyes were closing and his face was ing toward mine…。 Right there； in front of all
the other basket boys and their dates and the adults；
he was going to kiss me。
To kiss me。
I panicked。 I'd been waiting all my life for that kiss； and now？
I yanked free and ran back to my table； and when I sat down Jon whispered； “Did he just try
to kiss you？”
I turned my chair away from Bryce and whispered； “Can we please talk about something else？
Anything else？”
People were whispering and looking my way； and when Shelly Stalls came back from
cleaning up in the washroom； everyone fell quiet。 Her hair
……… Page 89………
looked awful。 It was sort of oiled to her scalp and still had little chunks of food in it。 She
glared at me so hard it looked like she was trying to get laser
beams to shoot from her eyes。
A couple of adults steered her back to her seat； and then everyone started whispering
double…speed。 And Bryce didn't even seem to care！ He
kept trying to e over and talk to me； but either he'd get intercepted by a teacher or I'd
dash away from him before he had a chance to say
anything。
When the dismissal bell finally rang； I said a quick goodbye to Jon and bolted out the door。 I
couldn't reach my bike fast enough！ I was the first
one off campus； and I pedaled home so hard it felt as though my lungs would burst。
Mrs。 Stueby was out front watering her flower bed and she tried to say something to me； but I
just dropped my bike in the driveway and escaped
into the house。 I certainly didn't want to talk about roosters！
My mother heard me slamming doors and came to check on me in my room。 “Julianna！
What's wrong？”
I flipped over on my bed to face her and wailed； “I am so confused！ I don't know what to think
or feel or do…！”
She sat down beside me on the bed and stroked my hair。 “Tell me what happened；
sweetheart。”
I hesitated； then threw my hands up in the air。 “He tried to kiss me！”
My mother struggled not to let it show； but underneath her posed expression was a
growing smile。 She leaned in a little and asked； “Who
did？”
“Bryce！”
She hesitated。 “But you've always liked him…。”
The doorbell rang。 And rang again。 My mom started to get up； but I grabbed her arm and
said； “Don't get that！” The bell rang again； and almost
right after that there was a loud knocking at the door。 “Mom； please！ Don't get it。 That's
probably him！”
“But sweetheart …”
“I was over him！ pletely over him！”
“Since when？”
“Since last Friday。 After the dinner。 If he had vanished from the face of the earth after our
dinner at the Loskis'； I wouldn't have cared！”
“Why？ Did something happen at the dinner that I don't know about？”
I threw myself back onto my pillow and said； “It's too plicated； Mom！ I …I just can't talk
about it。”
“My；” she said after a moment。 “Don't you sound like a teenager。”
“I'm sorry；” I whimpered； because I knew I was hurting her feelings。 I sat up and said； “Mom；
all those years I liked him？ I never really knew him。 All
I knew was that he had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen and that his smile