STUDYING BOYS
Jax Abbott

There was no pizza.

As soon as I walked into the living room of my friend Blue Waller and saw her sitting on the couch with our other two friends, Natalie Page and Allie Morrison, and no pizza, I knew something was up.

You don't invite your friend to your house for pizza, and not have pizza without something being up.

Not that I'd let them see I was surprised. I have a solid reputation going of being serious, together and always on top of things. It's taken a lot of work to build that reputation, and I wasn't going to start revealing other things now, like the fact that I kinda wanted to turn around and run out the door. You'd want to bolt too if you'd seen the look on Allie's face.

It was her "we're going to talk about boys" look.

Trust me, you didn't want to talk about boys with Allie. She's the queen when it comes to boys.

And I'm not.

I'm like your major under-achiever.

"Come on in, Frances." Blue smiled and patted the couch beside her.

"Where's the pizza?" I decided to hold firm in the doorway. Couldn't give up my avenue of escape.

"Oh, it'll be here eventually," Allie said vaguely.

Yeah, right.

This was not "Pizza Night." Something else was going on. Something that all three of them knew about and I didn't.

A clear indication I wasn't going to like it.

"Frances. Sit." An order from Allie. What was up with that? We never order each other around.

"Why?" I folded my arms across my chest and tried to project my I'm-not-worried persona. It's Friday night. None of my friends ever do homework on a Friday night, so this definitely wasn't a study period. I, however, always get my homework done on Fridays. What if the house burned down over the weekend and I hadn't done my homework? I'd go to school unprepared, the teachers would flip, I'd lose my scholarship, then my parents would disown me and I'd have to turn to crime to support myself, and then I'd end up in prison and my entire career success would defined by me walking down the side of the highway in a bright orange vest picking up trash with the rest of my prison work squad.

It sounds like a sucky way to live, so I get my homework done. And it's not because I'm a loser or anything like that. So what if I don't have a single guy friend, let alone boyfriend? So what if I have no social skills? It's not like I care.

Okay, maybe I care a little bit. Doesn't mean I'm going to sacrifice my entire future for some fun.

Blue stood up. "Frances, we're having an intervention."

"A what?"

"An intervention," Allie said. "Sit down."

I narrowed my eyes. "What's an intervention?" I was quite certain I didn't like the sound of it.

"It's what friends and family do for someone who has a problem and is in denial. We did it for my dad to get him to stop drinking," Allie said.

"But your dad took off after that and divorced your mom." Not that I wanted to make Allie feel bad, but it wasn't exactly a rousing endorsement of interventions.

"Ah, yes, well, we're pretty confident you won't divorce us," Allie said.

"Yes," Natalie chimed in. "You love us."

"For the moment, I love you." Not so sure how I'll feel after this intervention thing. "I don't drink, so what's my 'problem?'"

"Oh, for heavens sake, Frances. Stop looking so worried."

Worried? I never look worried. I am way too together for that.

Blue slung her arm around my shoulder and practically forced me down into the chair next to the couch. Yeesh. I felt like I was about to be interrogated for murder or something. My heart was actually racing. Racing! Was that a sign of weakness or what?

Blue returned to the couch next to Allie, while Natalie perched on the edge of her chair.

They all looked at me.

"What?" Oops. Sounded a little hostile and snappy. Must stay calm.

They glanced at each other, as if trying to decide who was going first, then finally Blue nodded. Apparently, she was in charge. She turned to me. "Frances. It's about Theo."

"Theo! Omigod! Is he okay? Did something happen? Did he get in a car accident?" Theo is Blue's older brother. He's a senior, and a total hottie. Of course, I've known him since I was three, and he only thinks of me as Blue's friend, but still. He's a stud. And now my heart was pounding so hard that I wouldn't have been surprised to see it burst out of my chest and race around the room screaming. "What happened to Theo???"

Blue looked a little smug. "Nothing. He's fine."

"Oh." Whew. Time to relax.

"But we need to discuss your crush on him."

"My what?"

"Your crush." Blue grinned. "Proven by you freaking out when you thought something had happened to him."

I was totally busted. I had no response.

Allie leaned forward. "Frances, we all love Theo, because we knew him when he was six and busted up his jaw crashing his bike. But now that he's a senior? He's a jerk when it comes to girls. You're way too sweet and nice for him."

"Theo isn't a jerk."

They all gave me the look.

"Okay, fine. So maybe he is a little bit." So what if he had ditched like eight girls in the past month alone? So what if he took them out for a drive and a little hanky panky and then never called them again? Maybe those girls just weren't right for him. Or maybe they were evil creatures from another planet trying to assassinate him, so he was picking them off one by one...

Okay, so maybe I had a few issues when it came to Theo.

Maybe.

"Anyway," Blue continued. "We've decided that there's only one remedy to your obsession with Theo."

"I'm not obsessed with him." Obsessed was a little strong. So I thought he was cute. Big deal.

"Other boys," Allie announced.

I eyed her suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

"The only way to effectively forget about Theo is to get some other interests in your life."

She raised her voice over my protest. "And homework doesn't count."

"Why not?"

"Because homework sucks," Allie said. "Boys rock. No comparison."

Well, that was Allie for you. The world revolved around boys.

"So, we're giving you one week to get a new boyfriend, or to get involved in a co-ed activity, or else we're going to sit down with Theo and tell him that you like him. We'll make you sound like a stalker, so he'll feel awkward and uncomfortable around you. Then he'll avoid you all the time and you won't ever see him and it'll be impossible to continue to have your obsession with him if you never ever see him."

I swallowed. "You're going to tell Theo?"

Natalie shook her head. "Only if you don't get involved with a co-ed activity in seven days. One with boys."

"I know what co-ed means," I snapped. This was so unfair. Since when did they have the right to interfere in my life? Just because they'd been my best friends for my whole life didn't mean they had permission to destroy me! "But I go to an all girls school. How am I supposed to find a co-ed activity?" Ha. Got 'em there.

Allie, who goes to school with me, shot me a smug little grin. Then she handed me a sheet of paper. "These are all the co-ed activities that our school does with Field School. You can pick one of these and get signed up, and then we won't talk to Theo. If you miss a meeting or drop out, then we'll tell Theo."

"Blackmail."

"Of course it is," Blue said. "That's what friends are for."

"I hate all of you."

Natalie's eyes widened. "Why do you hate us? We're just looking out for you. You take things way too seriously and we're worried you're missing out on all the fun of high school. You're halfway through your freshman year, and all you've done is study."

"So? I have good grades. I'm proud of them."

Allie rolled her eyes. "I've kissed twenty-two boys. I'm more proud of that."

"You're insane. You're all insane."

"I resent that," Blue said. Well, of course Blue could resent that. She had this super awesome senior boyfriend now. Life was perfect for her.

Natalie pointed to the list. "You have one week. Next Friday night, you have to bring us proof you've joined one of these clubs, or we're taking control of the situation."

"What about my parents?" Allie might not have parents who cared what she did, but Natalie and Blue would understand. "They'll never let me do anything that would take time away from my studies."

"Parents can be dealt with," Blue said. "You know that."

Said by the girl who had reasonable parents. Eccentric, but reasonable. "Mine don't think like normal people."

Natalie grinned. "There are four of us and only two of them. They have no chance."

And apparently, neither did I.