Elizabeth Eulberg: The Lonely Hearts Club

"She was talking to me... "

"Seriously, Penny. Diane and I have already discussed this — "

"Wait a second, you and Diane have discussed this?"

"Pen, the guy only sang to you in front of the whole school. It's pretty much the only thing the Lonely Hearts Club talks about when you're not around."

Great, the Club knows . So people really were staring. I was so embarrassed. This couldn't have been happening.

"Plus, you and Ryan are Diane's closest friends. She wants you both to be happy!"

"Well, I should talk to her first.."

Tracy smiled. "She already left. She didn't want to make you more uncomfortable. She wanted me to tell you to call her tomorrow so you can plan your outfit for your date."

Diane had left. But… But…

Tracy just shook her head, "Sometimes I really wonder about you. Go for it, girl."

Before I could even catch my breath, Tracy yelled out, "Hey, Ryan, do you have a second?"

Oh. My. God. Not now, I can't do this right now.

Ryan excused himself and walked over, seeming a little confused.

"What's up, Tracy?"

Tracy just smiled and pulled Ryan over so he was standing directly in front of me, "I don't have enough room in my car — can you give Penny a ride home?"

"Of course," he said.

"Great! Especially since Penny needs to ask you something."

Tracy turned her back and started to walk away.

I was completely horrified.

"Oh, and one more thing." Tracy turned around and pointed above us. "You're standing under the mistletoe. Bye!"

Both Ryan and I looked up and saw mistletoe directly above us.

I looked back and saw Tracy scooting the few remaining people into the kitchen.

I was going to kill her.

I turned back and flinched as I found Ryan leaning in to kiss me.

He saw my reaction and stepped back. "Sorry, it's just… a holiday tradition." He pointed above our heads. "I guess I shouldn't have."

He stepped farther away.

"No, no, it's okay. I just... "

How was I supposed to do this?

"You had something you wanted to ask me?" He folded his arms, a look of amusement flickering across his face.

"Um, yes. See..."

I was hopeless.

"So, funny story..." Here goes, you can do this. "It seems that things have changed a bit for the Club."

"Did I miss something? Did they kick you out?"

"Ha, not yet." I took a deep breath. "Well, you know we couldn't, um… we didn't…"

Ryan straightened up and his smile faded a bit. "You can't have a boyfriend."

"Well, yeah. But we've decided that maybe that wasn't very fair for people... "

"I see. And now?"

I started to shift back and forth. Why would Tracy do this to me? I wasn't prepared for this at all.

"Now... I'd like to... try to... " I hadn't given guys enough credit all these years — this was torture.

"Penny, would you like to go on a date with me?"

Wow, that was easy.

Thankfully Ryan could take a hint.

"Yes, that would be great."

We smiled at each other, and he stepped forward and put his arm around my waist. Then I realized something.

"Wait! We can't go out on Saturday nights. Those nights are for the Club "

"No worries. There are six other days in the week."

He was making this way too easy. Maybe this dating thing wasn't going to be so hard after all.

"Oh! And I eat lunch with my friends, and if you want to do something, you have to give me advance notice because I will not change plans with any of my friends just because you come calling."

Ryan nodded. "Okay, anything else?"

"Umm, well, I'll have to look over the new rules. I just want to make sure — "

Ryan grabbed my hand and leaned in. "Penny, I'm not going to take you away from your friends. Do you think we can go on a few dates first before we start making too many rules for us?"

I blushed. I needed to take it down a notch before I started making decisions about our china pattern.

"We can do that."

"All right. Let's go say good-bye to everybody and I'll take you home!"

He started to head to the kitchen.

"Wait!" I called after him. I pointed at the mistletoe that was still over my head. "It would be wrong to break a holiday tradition."

Ryan smiled at me and walked over to where I stood. My heart was beating fast as he cradled my head with his hands. He leaned in, but instead of freezing or running away, I leaned in toward him as he kissed me.

We pulled our lips away and he hovered an inch from my face.

"I've been waiting all year to do that!" he told me.

"What took you so long?" I asked him.

"Do I really need to remind you?"

We both smiled. As we walked into the kitchen, the entire room went silent. It wasn't hard to figure out what they were talking about. As we said good-bye to everybody, Tracy came over to give me a hug.

"So..." She studied my face and I was sure she could tell what had happened.

Tracy bit her lip and tried to hide her smile. I started giggling. I was happy my friend was so supportive of me. Ryan walked over and held my coat open for me.

"Hey, Tracy, thanks for inviting me," he said to her. Tracy jumped up and gave Ryan a huge hug.

"Thank you!" As we walked out, she mouthed, "Call me."

Here Comes the sun

"Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter…"

THE WINTER AIR GAVE ME A shock as we left Amy's house. I started to shiver as we walked to Ryan's car and he put his arm around me.

I suddenly didn't feel cold anymore.

Ryan opened the door for me to get in. I sat down and put my seat belt on as Ryan got in the other side. He turned on his engine and his stereo started blaring. He started to blush.

"Nice CD," I commented.

"Thanks, I really like it"

"Me, too!" I said, no longer talking about the music.

I leaned back in the passenger seat and laid my head on the headrest. It had taken us a while, but we were finally here.

I reached over and turned up the volume and sang along to the last song on the CD I had made him.

Because even though it was the middle of the night, I could still sing "Here Comes the Sun" and mean every word, every emotion.

Especially the part about it being all right.

It was more than all right.

It was perfect.

There are numerous people to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude for their help with this book.

First and foremost, my brilliant editor, David Levithan, for his guidance, patience, and support. I am extremely lucky to have my book in such great hands. And I really didn't mean it about guys with names with D being the devil.

My wonderful agent, Jodi Reamer, who spent years getting me to this point. I am truly thankful for everything that you have done for me. You were right, you were right, you were right (and you now have that in writing to taunt me with).

Thanks to everybody at Scholastic who has worked so hard on this book. Special thanks to Karen Brooks for her copyedit expertise and Becky Terhune for the most adorbs cover and book design an author could hope for.

My dear friend Stephenie Meyer for being my biggest cheerleader, especially when I needed it the most. Your enthusiasm for this book has meant the world to me and I am so grateful for all your positive advice and support. I owe you one. Oh, wait...

I had wonderful readers throughout these many drafts who provided me with invaluable feedback: Anamika Bhatnagar, my first reader (I still cringe when I think back on that first draft — sorry about that); (the real) Jennifer Leonard; Heidi Shannon; Tina McIntyre; Natalie Thrasher; Genevieve Gagne-Hawes; and Bethany Strout.