Inside Girl (19 page)

I was glad she thought so. And it was pretty much the most perfect evening. Except for one still-missing invitee.

“This is a really great party,” Bennett said. We'd gone outside to get a moment to ourselves before he had to go. He ran his hand through his hair self-consciously. “I really hate that I'm going to have to go soon. But like I said, my brother's getting home from college for the weekend, and—”

“Say no more,” I told him. “I totally understand.”

“Yeah, well, you'll have to tell me how the Clue game turns out. I still think Professor Plum was involved somehow.”

I laughed. “I'll tell you all about it in school on Monday.”

“Actually, would you like to get together before then? Tomorrow night, maybe? There's this movie playing at the Angelika—”

“Bennett Keating, are you asking me out on a date?”

“Yeah, I guess I am.” He rubbed one toe into the step, and I thought about how it made him even cuter that he was so shy. “I mean, if you'd rather not—”

I took his hand. “No. I would absolutely love to.”

“Great!” Bennett smiled. I was liking his dimples more all the time. “I'll come by around seven to pick you up.”

“Maybe my parents'll actually be around this time. I'm sure they'd like to meet you. They are real, I swear.”

“I believe it.” Bennett looked at his watch. “Okay, now I really do have to go.”

“Sure.”

Bennett reached out like he was just going to give me a hug, and I stepped forward to hug him back. But then, at the last second before he let go, he turned his face toward mine—and we kissed. It wasn't on the ear—it wasn't a part of spin-the-bottle—it was a nice, normal kiss, like real couples share, and it was absolutely wonderful. Bennett let go and we stood there for a minute, grinning at each other like idiots.

Then Sara-Beth Benny leapt out from the bushes and totally ruined the moment.

“Oh my God, Flan, is this him?” she shrieked in a stage whisper behind her hand. “The ear man? I'm so glad to see things worked out—finally!”

Bennett turned beet-red, and I think I did too. But at that point, Sara-Beth could've said anything and I wouldn't have gotten mad, I was so glad to see her. Before she could move an inch, I wrapped her in a big hug.

“Sara-Beth! I'm so glad you're here.”

She hugged me back and gave me a big smile. “I couldn't stay mad at you for long, Flan. When Philippa told me you wanted me here, I couldn't say no.”

“I just feel so bad about what happened. You have no idea.”

“If anyone should feel bad, it's me—showing up here looking like this. Ew! I'm a mess!”

Sara-Beth was wearing this little pleated Prada skirt and top, but she had leaves stuck to her back and dirt on her knees. As she started brushing herself off, I wondered how long she'd been hiding there—and why.

“I was about to come in to see your lovely party,” she went on, as if answering my question, “when you two came out and I dove into the bushes. That was one thing I learned from the jujitsu course—reflexes!”

“I'm sorry, I don't think we've met,” said Bennett, finally bouncing back from his embarrassment. I was glad to see that he was smiling again—it
was
sort
of a funny situation if you looked at it right. “I'm Bennett.”

“And I'm Sara-Beth Benny,” she said, offering her hand like she expected him to kiss it or something.

“Wait a second. I thought you looked familiar, but …
the
Sara-Beth Benny?”

“The one and only,” I said, and Sara-Beth tossed her hair like the movie star she was.

“Well, it was great to meet you, Sara-Beth,” said Bennett. “But I've got to get going. See you tomorrow, Flan.” He gave me a long, soulful look in the eyes, like he could barely stand to leave, and squeezed my hand. Then took off down the front steps. He waved just before disappearing down the sidewalk, back toward his apartment building.

“You have no idea how glad I am you're here,” I said to Sara-Beth. “You have to believe me—I didn't write those mean things about you.”

“Oh, in my heart, I knew that all along. You don't have that kind of meanness in you, Flan. Besides, the handwriting didn't match.”

“Match what?”

“Your diary,” she said matter-of-factly. “I found it in the desk drawer the first day I was staying with you, when I was looking for the clothespins.”

I sighed and shook my head. A few weeks ago, I
would've been mad, or at least freaked out—but now I knew there was nothing written in there that I wouldn't have told her anyway. She might be a little nuts, but I was quickly realizing that she was also my best friend. “Listen, where've you been? I've been trying to call you all day. For a few days, actually. It was like you fell off the face of the earth or something.”

“I'd say I was a little closer than that—I was moving into my new house, silly!”

“New house?”

Sara-Beth smacked me playfully, like I should know already. But before I could ask her what in the world she was talking about, she was opening the door and going into my party.

Jules, Eric, Meredith, and Judith were all still playing Clue together, and I heard dice hit the table in a clatter as they all turned in unison to stare at the movie star who'd just burst through the door. Sara-Beth removed her sunglasses with a flourish.

“Sara-Beth Benny,” she said to the room. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Meredith and Judith looked at each other and screamed,
“Sara-Beth Benny?”

“I'm so sorry I'm late.” Sara-Beth glided across the room. She suddenly seemed so easygoing and
social that even I couldn't imagine her crouching behind the sofa, clutching an air horn and wearing my pajama pants. “Do you mind if I jump into the game?” She perched on the arm of Eric's chair, and he stared up at her without blinking, like she was an angel or a vision or something. “How do you play?”

Meanwhile, Meredith and Judith were completely speechless. If they'd been thrilled to meet my brother, they were ecstatic now. With their mouths open and their eyes bugged out, they might as well have been a pair of goldfish.

“How do you know Flan?” asked Jules, the only one in the room—other than me, of course—who wasn't in immediate danger of swooning.

“Oh, we've been friends for ages,” said Sara-Beth. “But now, I guess you could say we're neighbors.”

“Neighbors?” I asked. I wondered if she was still planning to hide out in one of my closets.

“I just finished moving into the town house right across the street. Isn't that fabulous? It'll be just like you said: we'll have a little bit of space, but we'll still get to spend oodles of time together! In fact, I plan to be over here every afternoon after school. Won't it be wonderful, Flan? You'll do your homework—I'll learn my lines. We'll be bona fide best friends!”

Meredith and Judith both let out delighted little gasps, but I just shook my head and laughed. My life was doomed to be crazy—I knew that now. But it was okay, because I also knew that was just the way I liked it.

The Insiders
Pass it on
Take it off
Break Every Rule
Hold on Tight
Girls we Love

Flan Flood finally has her life in order. Her new, normal friends from school get along with her celebrity starlet friends, and she couldn't be happier being Just Flan.

But as life is settling down, Flan's friends Judith and Meredith fall for the same guy: hot quarterback Adam, whose smile is as winning as his throwing arm. And when Flan's BFF, teen-starlet Sara-Beth Benny, decides to throw a Halloween party, both of Flan's friends vow to kiss their football prince by midnight at the big bash.

Suddenly, Flan finds herself in the middle of an all-out battle for Adam's attention. Can Flan convince Meredith and Judith that girlfriends are way more important than any guy, or will Flan find herself dangerously stuck in the middle?

“I wish I'd known Flan Flood in high school—and not just because she has a hot older brother with hot older friends (although that totally helps). Don't let the name fool you—this is one girl you must get to know, now.”

—Lisi Harrison, author of
The Clique

www.bloomsburyteens.com

“The Insiders are
the
guys to watch. But if you fall
in love with them, get in line, right behind ME!”
—Zoey Dean, author of
The A-List

www.bloomsburyteens.com

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