Hell's Belles by Megan Sparks Page B

chin. “He’s walking right toward us. I mean . . . you!”
    Annie’s stomach flipped.
    Why would Tyler be heading toward her? And why had she chosen this moment to experiment with visual comedy by taking a glutton-sized chomp of her pizza?
    She stopped chewing and looked up to see Tyler standing beside her.
    â€œHi, Annie,” he said.
    If she opened her mouth, an avalanche of half-chewed pizza would have spilled out. So she gave him a closed-lip smile and nodded. Lexie and Lauren looked torn between feeling sorry for her and bursting out laughing.
    â€œListen,” he began with that winning smile. “I should have asked you this the other day when we were talking about costumes and all. I really hope someone hasn’t beaten me to it.”
    Since Annie still couldn’t speak without sputtering globs of cheese and pepperoni all over the place, she raised her eyebrows and inclined her head in a curious gesture.
    â€œWould you like to go to the Halloween dance with me?” he asked.
    It was all Annie could do to keep from jumping out of her chair and throwing her arms around him. Between the giant mouthful of pizza-flavored mush and the shock of being asked out by Tyler, she was lucky she didn’t choke to death!
    The answer, of course, was a resounding yes. She only wished she could say it!
    What to do?
    Nod? No, way too impersonal.
    She considered picking up a napkin and spitting the offending mouthful into it, but what could possibly be more disgusting than that?
    Annie could feel her face turning pink as Tyler looked down at her expectantly.
    Luckily, she was spared, because at that moment, one of Tyler’s buddies appeared at his side.
    â€œDude, let’s jet,” he said, throwing a friendly punch to Tyler’s shoulder. “We’ve got class on the other side of the building. One more tardy and we both get detention and miss the game.”
    Tyler gave Annie an adorable shrug. “Gotta motor. Let’s catch up later and we can talk about it then.”
    When he was gone, Lauren hastily handed Annie a napkin and Annie spit the horrible wad of half-chewed pizza into it.
    â€œWell, that was romantic, wasn’t it?” Lexie teased.
    Annie groaned and dropped her head onto the table. “Tell me that really didn’t happen.”
    â€œOh, it happened,” said Lauren. “And judging from the way Kelsey is staring daggers at you from the cool lunch table, there are witnesses who can testify to it.”
    Annie lifted her head and sneaked a glance at Kelsey. Lauren was right. Kelsey had seen Tyler talking to Annie, and she obviously had a good idea of what he was asking her. She looked furious.
    â€œCall me crazy, but I would call that an upside,” said Lexie.
    Annie had to admit, she did feel a tiny thrill of victory at being chosen over the head cheerleader. Especially by Tyler.
    But truthfully, that was the least of it. She genuinely liked him. And he liked her! At least enough to want to take her to the dance.
    A dazed and happy look must have come over Annie’s face because Lauren giggled and Lexie rolled her eyes.
    â€œI don’t know if you can hear me over the violins playing in your head,” Lexie teased, reaching across the table toward Annie’s plate. “But something tells me I might as well finish your pizza.”
    Pizza?
    What pizza?
    She was going to the Halloween dance with Tyler!

    Dodgeball. Without a doubt the stupidest American sport ever invented.
    In fact, in Annie’s opinion, it shouldn’t even qualify as a sport. As far as she was concerned, it was mean-spirited and aggressive, with no redeeming athletic qualities whatsoever.
    She mentioned this to Lexie for the fifteenth time as they stood with the rest of their team on one side of the gymnasium.
    â€œI find it hard to believe that the same school that sent home a six-page letter about its zero tolerance policy on bullying actually allows