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grabbed my hand and said, “We have to go to the bathroom
now
.”
    I had a spoonful of ice cream in my hand when she grabbed it and so it splattered onto the table. I looked back sadly at my melting sundae as Elena dragged me toward the women’s room.
    When we were inside, Elena checked the stalls to make sure we were alone, then she turned to me, her eyes wide.
    “What happened?” I asked.
    “Oh, Cassie, I can’t believe it,” she said quickly in one breath. She grabbed my hands, squeezing tight. “He likes me. Perry actually likes me!”
    I pulled my hands out of her death grip and grimaced. “Well, yeah,” I said. “That’s obvious.”
    “I couldn’t believe it until I heard it for myself.” Elena leaned back against a sink, hugging her arms to her chest. “He said he’s never met anyone as beautiful as I am and he can’t stop thinking about me. He’s just so …
amazing
. I can’t believe he would choose
me
.”
    Amazing? My brother? Not a word I would ever use to describe him.
    “Why wouldn’t he choose you?” I asked. “You
are
beautiful, and everyone at Troy loves you already.”
    Elena blushed, shaking her head. “Thank you for everything, Cassie. You’ve been a great friend. I worried I’d be all alone here at Troy, but you’ve helped me fit in so well. I can’t thank you enough.”
    I hadn’t done anything to help Elena gain status at Troy, but if she felt thankful toward me, I wasn’t about to stomp on it.
    “So,” I said, watching her as she practically danced around the bathroom, “does this mean you and Lucas have broken up?”
    Elena blinked at me, her smile faltering a bit. “What?”
    “You know, Lucas? The guy who’s been your boyfriend for the last three years.”
    “Oh.” Elena waved a hand, as if this wasn’t important. “We haven’t broken up
yet
, but we will.”
    My eyebrows shot upward. “You haven’t broken up with Lucas? But I thought you were so crazy over Perry?”
    “I am,” Elena said. “I’m going to break up with Lucas before I go out with Perry. I promise. Don’t worry, Cassie, I’ll treat your brother right.”
    It wasn’t
my
brother I was worried about.

 
    “YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS,” I SAID.
    Greg turned to look at me, rubbing at the blue face paint on his cheeks.
    “I feel ridiculous,” he said. “But everyone is wearing face paint to show their support and as class president, I can’t be the only nonpainted face in the crowd.”
    I looked around at the sea of blue-and-white faces in the bleachers. “You know, at Troy we just yell and wear Troy High T-shirts.”
    Greg grinned. “At Lacede, we like to go all-out.”
    “The game is about to start,” I said. “Do you think I should sit here or the visitors’ side?”
    I noticed the looks I got from a few Spartans and their supporters. Maybe it would be safer to try to blendin with the Southern Mills supporters on the other side of the field.
    “Sit here,” Greg said. “No one will mess with you, if you can deal with the glares.”
    “Okay,” I said. We found seats halfway up the bleachers, near a group of girls who gave me dark scowls.
    “We’ve got the spirit! We can succeed! We’ve got the moves! Go, go Lacede!” The Lacede cheerleaders leaped into the air, waving their pom-poms and shrieking at the top of their lungs as they urged the crowd on.
    The teams emerged from the locker rooms to loud cheers. Lucas and the Southern Mills team captain met on the fifty-yard line and shook hands before heading to their respective sides of the field.
    I wasn’t a huge fan of football, but the game stayed tense enough to keep my interest. The crowd around me roared whenever the Spartans scored or booed whenever the Southern Mills Wildcats did.
    At halftime, the teams were tied 14–14.
    All around me, people stood up to head down to the refreshment stands.
    “Want to share a hot dog?” Greg asked.
    “Okay,” I agreed. “But no onions on my half.”
    “Don’t blame me if the