Page 111 of Between the Lines

But if nudging the guys toward inviting him allows us to hangout in public—because I have a roommate now, and I don’t want her asking questions, but I still want to see theguy I’m casually doing something with—I’ll do it. I’ll lie and sneak around. I just wonder what it will cost me in the end.

When Thursday comes we’re all pretty ready for a teachers’ night out—even if wedohave to report for duty in the morning.

“That new Jansen kid is giving me a run for my money,” Penelope says, already halfway through her beer. “This one’s for him.”

She tips her bottle back and takes another swig. I thank my lucky stars I’m no longer subbing in eighth grade as she tells a few stories about a brand new troublemaker.

Our waitress approaches the table. “Are you ready to order?”

“Would you mind circling back around? We’re just waiting on a few people,” Aaron says.

“Who else is coming?” Penelope asks.

“We invited Nate,” Sam replies.

“Like, Harding?” I ask.Stupid, desperate girl. Might as well hang a sign around your neck that says, “Hey!! We’re fucking!!!”

Aaron nods. “And we invited Tony! He should be here soon. He was working on a project or something.”

“Finishing a garage with his dad,” Sam supplies.

The ladies all blink in confusion.

“Excuse you idiots—who the fuck is Tony? Why is he building garages?” Penelope asks, pointing her glass between them.

“He’s a coach. We met him at the conference,” Sam says.

“He went straight from the conference on Saturday to help his dad finish building a garage. His dad owns a construction company, and he helps out sometimes.”

“And he gets an invite to our sacred circle after seventy-two hours of playing baseball coach?”

“He’scool,” Sam adds.

“Oh. I’msosorry. I didn’t realize he wascool.”

Penelope rolls her eyes and the girls and I all giggle.

“Hey, how’s the job hunt going, Claire?” Lucy asks.

“Okay. I applied for a few internships to get my clinical hours. Now we just wait and see.”

“Are they in the area?” Juliet asks.

I nod.

“I love this for you,” Lucy says. She offers me a warm smile and a squeeze on my shoulder, and my heart tingles. It’s nice to have support. It’s nice to have people on my side. I’m about to ask Lucy if she knows of any other schools in the area who are in need of a social worker when I hear three things in order: A male voice saying,Penny Lane; fancy meeting you here;the shattering of glass; and a steam engine manifesting out of Penelope Barker’s ears.

Penelope’s beer bottle has slipped from her grip and shattered, and while there isn’t actual steam coming from her ears, her face is about as red as a fire engine.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Tony!” Aaron—sweet, oblivious Aaron—chimes in.

“Tony?” Penelope snarks with disgust. “Since when are youTony?”

“Since I decided I was too old to be calledAnt,” he replies, matching her snark for snark. Which I honestly didn’t think was possible.

“Not too old to be a bug up my ass.” She shoots him a deadly grin. I wonder if the waitress can bring us popcorn for the show. “There is absolutely no way on planet Earth that you’ve matured into a Tony.”

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