Ann Martin - Logan Likes Mary Anne !

"Because you're different from other girls. More . . . something."

"More what?" I asked, puzzled. I really wanted to know.

"More serious. Not serious like some old professor, but serious about people. You listen to them and understand them and take them seriously. People like to be taken seriously. It makes them feel worthwhile. But you have a sense of humor, too, which is nice. The only thing is, sometimes you're too sensitive. I really wasn't sure things would work out between

us."

"I've always been too sensitive," I told him.

"AUGHH! AUGHH! HELP!"

The room was slowly darkening and everyone was screaming.

"Oh, would you guys grow up," said Sta-cey's impatient voice as the lights brightened

again. "I was dimming the lights. I just wanted to make things more romantic."

I smiled at Logan and we looked around. While we'd been talking, the boys and girls had started to mingle. Claudia and Austin and some other kids were dancing. Alan was torturing Emily with his Little Orphan Annie eyes. Most of the food was gone.

"I'm sending Dad out for pizza now," Sta-cey informed me.

Mr. McGill returned later with three pizzas (which he wasn't allowed to bring into the rec room) and they were eaten in no time. After Logan and I finished our slices, we sat on the couch again.

For the second time that night, the lights began to dim. Only this time, they went all the way out and nobody screamed. In the darkness, I heard only some muffled whispering and sensed that someone was coming down the steps.

Suddenly the lights were turned on full force, and everyone began singing "Happy Birthday."

I felt totally confused. What was happening? Stacey hadn't said this was a birthday party. Not until the kids sang, "Happy birthday, dear Mary Anne," did I understand. Then I saw that Stacey was at the bottom of the stairs

carrying a big birthday cake that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY ANNE in pink frosting and glittered with lighted candles. Behind her were Kristy and Dawn, each holding a stack of gifts.

Stacey set the cake on a table next to Logan and me. Kristy and Dawn piled the presents on the floor near my feet. Logan held out a small box wrapped in silver paper and tied with a silver bow.

Silence had fallen over the rec room. The song was finished. Austin had paused in his pretzel-throwing. Alan was staring at me with his blind M&M eyes. Pete had stopped in the middle of a dunk, and the soggy potato chip had fallen into his Coke. Claudia, Dori, and Emily were standing in an expectant bunch, a safe distance from Alan, their eyes on me. All the guests were waiting for me to react, to blow out the candles, to cry, or something.

It was a nightmare. It was like one of those dreams in which you go to school naked, or study and study for an important test and then sleep through your alarm clock and miss it.

I had only one thought: I had to get out of there.

So I did.

I ran up the stairs, out the McGills' front door, and all the way home, leaving my nightmare behind.

Chapter 14.

"Mary Anne," my father exclaimed as I barged into our house. "What are you doing home so early? I thought you were going to call me for a ride when the party was over."

"Sorry," I replied. I slowed down and caught my breath. I didn't want my father to know anything was wrong. I just couldn't explain this to him.

"Everything okay?" asked Dad.

"Oh, sure. The, urn, party broke up early."

Dad looked suspicious. "Were Mr. and Mrs. McGill there?" he asked.

"Oh, yes. Stacey wouldn't let them go into the rec room, but they were right in the kitchen the whole time. Honest. It just wasn't a very good party. No one was having fun. So it kind of ended."

"I'm sorry," said Dad, and he really did look sorry.

"Me, too," I replied. "Well, I'm tired. I guess I'll go to bed."

I went slowly up to my room and stretched out on my bed, but I had no intention of going to sleep. I hadn't even taken my party clothes off. How dare Stacey have done that to me? I thought. She knows how I feel about parties and people and surprises and being the center of attention. My other friends know, too. Especially Kristy and Dawn and Logan. But they had all let it happen.

I was beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Everyone had known about the cake except me. I must have been the only one who was told to arrive at six-thirty. The others had probably come at six, as originally planned, so I wouldn't see them arrive with gifts. That's why Claudia hadn't wanted to go to the party with me.

I lay there, and the memory of the lights coming on flooded back: everyone singing, Stacey with the cake, Kristy and Dawn with the presents. I recalled that Logan had been grinning at me like a Halloween mask. How could he? Hadn't we just been talking about how I was shy and quiet? I took people seriously, but no one took me seriously.

I felt tears streaming down my cheeks, but I didn't bother to dry them. I had run away.

I had humiliated myself. As mad as I was at Stacey and my friends, I realized that they had wanted to do something nice for me, and I hadn't let them. I'd spoiled everything.

But still . . . how could they?

I looked at my watch. I'd only left the party fifteen minutes earlier. Any moment now, Lo-gan or Stacey would call. The thought cheered me. They would apologize for embarrassing me, and invite me back, and say they didn't know what they could have been thinking.

I tiptoed to my door and set it ajar so I'd be sure to hear the phone when it rang. Then I lay on my bed again.

When another ten minutes had gone by, I realized that Stacey (or Logan) was probably going to come over instead, to give things the personal touch. Of course. That was just like them.

I opened my window a crack so I'd hear them when they got to the front door. I hoped Dad had left the porch light on. I peeked outside. He had.

When an hour had gone by and my room was chilly with the night air, I knew that no one was going to call or come over. My stomach felt like I'd swallowed a brick. I'd really blown it this time. I should have seen it coming. My friends had finally had enough of my

behavior. I'd gone one step too far. No one likes a party-spoiler, no matter how well he tries to understand that person. And Logan had surely decided that I wasn't right for him after all. I really was just plain too shy.

Well, I was sorry I was different. I couldn't help it. But it was their fault for doing something they knew I wouldn't enjoy.

My anger was no comfort, though. All I could think was that I'd lost my friends. I tried to cheer myself with the thought that the last time that had happened I'd been forced to make a new friend — and I'd found Dawn. But the thought wasn't all that cheery. I didn't want any new friends now. I only wanted Kristy and Dawn and Stacey and Claudia and Logan.

Tomorrow might be a good time to ask my dad for a cat.

I fell asleep with my clothes on and awoke to a beautiful Saturday morning. But it felt bleak to me. As soon as I saw my famous-cities skirt, the awful evening rushed back. I realized that the brick was still in my stomach.

It was nine o'clock. Dad had let me sleep late. I felt as if I hadn't slept at all, though. I staggered to my feet, washed up, and changed

my clothes. I found my father in the living room, drinking coffee and reading some papers for work.

"Morning," he greeted me.

"Can we get a cat?" I replied.

Dad raised an eyebrow. "What brought this on? . . . Oh, your birthday, right? I didn't forget, Mary Anne. We'll do something special on the big day. I was thinking of dinner at a restaurant in Stamford. Wouldn't that be fun? I've got some presents, too." Dad grinned. "And I had a little help picking them out, so I know you'll like them."