told everybody the gory details, too. Dina had been avoiding Noah like the plague ever since.
âThat must have been awful,â Chloe murmured. âEspecially after you sent him that email with your class schedule so the two of you would never evenhave to be in the same hallway.â
âYou did?â said Madison from over by the oven.
âI have to go to the bathroom,â said Dina. She jumped up and hurried out of the room. I rolled my eyes. This was why you never told Chloe anything you didnât want broadcast to the rest of the world in boldface caps.
âAre you sure you didnât know he worked there?â I asked. Chloeâd been mad at Dina for going to lunch with the cheerleaders and not inviting her along. And since Chloe always knew everything, it wasnât hard to imagine she also knew where the guy whoâd broken Dinaâs heart worked.
âI swear. I had no idea.â Chloe looked seriously sorry. âIâll go talk to her.â
âNo, Iâll do it,â I said. With Chloeâs big mouth, sheâd probably do more harm than good.
âHey,â I called through the bathroom door. âDina, itâs okay. Weâll do pay-per-view tonight. Or we donât even need videos. Weâre supposed to be meeting people, not watching movies, right?â I heard sniffling, then the faucet. Dina opened the door. Her eyes were still red, but she didnât look so miserable. âDonât think about it for the rest of the night,â I told her. âAt least youâre here partying and heâs stuck at work.â
She smiled, nodded, and let me lead her back intothe kitchen. Jenna offered Dina her knife. âWanna help cut the cauliflower?â
Dina took the knife and started cutting neat little flowerettes while Violet smashed avocados, Madison kept an eye on her cookies, and Angela watched Chloe stir the chili.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang.
âOkay. This is it!â said Chloe. She whipped off her apron. âWhoever you talk to, remember as much as you can so you can report back afterward!â
Everybody showed up at once, it seemed like. All of a sudden my foyer was filled with girls we barely knew, all of them looking overdressed and nervous. Chloe raised her eyebrow at me as she took purses and overnight bags. She was enjoying it all way too much. Iâd just started to get claustrophobic when I saw a brown ponytail through the crowd. It was Kathryn, getting cornered by Angela with Twenty Questions.
I went over to rescue her.
âSorry about this,â I said as I helped stick a name tag onto her baby blue sweater. The sweater had a little pearl flower on the chest and looked like it came from a vintage shop. âSome people suck at remembering names.â
âThatâs okay.â Her eyes had little gold specks that flickered when she looked at me. âI could use some help, too.â
âListen up, please!â Chloe reappeared on the stairs, clinking a water glass with a knife. âThanks so much for coming tonight, everyone. Weâve got dinner and refreshments in the kitchen, if youâd like to follow me in there.â
We wound up standing around the table trying to ignore the rumbling in our stomachs. The chili on the stove smelled great, but nobody ate anything. I could see the rest of our friends sending ESP messages back and forth across the table: What do you think about this one? Is she good enough? Is she too good? Meanwhile, the new girls were talking over one another, trying too hard. Kathryn caught me watching and smiled.
Finally, Chloe made everybody go up to my room. We sat in a circle on the floor and passed the schnapps around, the new girls trying not to make faces as they took huge gulps. The alcohol did what it was supposed to do. Before long, people were talking, laughing, and dancing around the room to old Madonna songs.
I went downstairs to bring up the