Revenge Of A Band Geek Gone Bad Read Online Free Page B

her family moved in across the street from mine.  But that's about all we have in common.  While I've always been quiet and studious, Lana's more outgoing.  She's not afraid to go up to guys at the diner and tell them she thinks they're cute or to do something funny like dance on top of a table at a party.  When we were younger, my parents loved it when she'd come to our holiday dinners (since she's Jewish, we always have her over for Christmas) because while I preferred to watch all of the action, she'd chat with all of their grown-up friends.  "Why can't you be more like Lana?" my mom would ask me after everyone else had gone home and we were cleaning up the dishes.  "All you have to do is talk to people like she does and they'll like you."
    My parents don't understand that some people are just born friendly, like Lana.  She has this way of making everyone notice her, whereas I always seem to say the wrong thing or even worse, can't think of anything to say at all.  This is why everyone likes her and I’m basically invisible.  Sometimes I worry that the only thing that keeps us friends is the proximity of our houses, but so far, she hasn't ditched me for the cooler crowd.
    Lana's green eyes flashed as she waited for an explanation about Josh.  "You know, I was so worried about you, Mel," she said, shaking her head.  "I heard about your um, situation."  She nodded toward my pants.  "I was all set to give you a sweater or something to wrap around your waist."
    "That's okay, Josh gave me his jacket.”  Her eyes widened.  "Oh, come on, it wasn't like that ."
    She crossed her arms over her chest.  "Then what did he want?  I didn't even know you guys knew each other."
    "Now we do," I said.  I quickly filled her in on the whole Kathy situation and my messed-up audition.
    "God, Kathy Meadows is so annoying," Lana said, making a face.  "You know, maybe Josh is right.  Maybe she really did screw with your flute."
    "You think?"  I still wasn't so sure that she'd done anything to it, but now two people thought so.
    "Yeah, I wouldn't put it past her.  Remember how everyone was claiming that she put itching powder into Dani Silver's dress during Homecoming last year?"  Dani's the head cheerleader and used to date Kathy's current boyfriend, Adam Lerner.  Needless to say, they're not exactly close pals.
    "That was never proven," I said, as Lana laughed at the memory.
    "My point is , you can't trust that witch.  Besides, Josh is a junior -- and he's adorable , Mel!  His eyes are gorgeous."
    Oh, man, I could tell by the way Lana was gushing that she was about to develop a new crush.  I didn't need for things to become even more complicated with Josh; it was already pretty weird how he'd just come up to me like he had.
    "Look, I don't know if I can trust Josh, either," I admitted.  "What if he has me do something illegal?  I don't want to get expelled."
    Lana smiled.  "You know what?  You need some excitement in your life.  Maybe getting into trouble will do you some good."
    ###
    Lana followed me into my house and plopped down at the kitchen table, while I got us sna cks.  Neither of my parents was home yet; my dad was still at the hospital, where he's the chief-of-staff and my mom probably went straight from her rehearsal to visit my grandfather.  Last year, my grandpa had a stroke and was placed in a nursing home.  Now he can barely move and has forgotten a lot of things.  I've visited him a few times, but it's very unsettling to see him like that.  My mom, on the other hand, stops by almost every day.
    I dug through the freezer and pulled out a carton of low-fat strawberry frozen yogurt.  "Want some?"  I asked, holding it up.
    Lana nodded.  "You mean , your parents are actually keeping some good food in here?"  Ever since I've started gaining weight, my mom's been cleaning all of the "bad" food out of the house so we no longer have chips, pretzels, pizza ... or anything else that she thinks I might