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Bye!”
    She pulled out of the driveway. “Where to?” Lina asked. “I don’t feel like going home yet.”
    “Me neither,” Holly said. “The Markowitz Mansion?”
    “Perfect.”
    “I don’t get it, Lina,” Mads said. She sat cross-legged on her Indian-print bedspread. “What, he wasn’t cute?”
    “He was cute,” Holly said.
    “He was cute,” Lina repeated. “So what? Captain Meow-Meow is cute, too, but you don’t make out with him.” She picked up Mads’ persnickety Siamese cat and gave him a squeeze. He jumped out of her arms and ran away.
    “Don’t take it personally,” Mads said. “Mom says Captain Meow-Meow’s been having boundary issues ever since we adopted Boris.”
    Boris was the Markowitzes’ new boxer puppy. He was downstairs in the living room being trained by M.C., whose idea of pet discipline involved a lot of candles and chanting. Audrey and Russell were playing a video game together. All this at eleven o’clock at night, when Lina’s house would have been dark and quiet, just a light on in her room and one in her parents’, where they would be in bed reading. This was why Lina loved Mads’ house—24-hour chaos.
    “What about Holly?” Lina said to Mads. “Why don’t you pick on her for a while?”
    “Hey, I tried,” Holly said. “Jake didn’t come through.”
    “Maybe he wants to take things slowly,” Mads said. “He must really like you if he doesn’t want to rush things.”
    “I don’t know,” Holly said. “What if he just didn’t like me? What if he thinks I’m hideous? What if he thought I had bad breath? Maybe he hates the taste of chowder.”
    “He had chowder, too,” Lina reminded her. “He probably couldn’t even taste it on you.”
    “And you’re beautiful, so how could he think you’re hideous?” Mads added. “Don’t panic. Wait and see if he calls you. I think he’s just not a player. Which is a good thing.”
    “I hope you’re right,” Holly said. “But that’s not the vibe I’m getting.”
    Mads looked from Holly to Lina and back again. One liked her guy, but he was acting weird. The other didn’t like her guy, even though he clearly liked her. Was love always this way?
    “Well, at least it sounds like Walker likes you, Lina,” Mads said. “All that talk about your shiny, good-smelling hair.”
    “He does like her,” Holly said. “And he seems really cool. Lina just wouldn’t give him a chance.”
    “That’s not true,” Lina protested. “I like him okay. There’s nothing wrong with him or anything. We just didn’t click, that’s all.”
    “Is it because of Dan?” Mads asked. “If it is, you’re a moron.”
    “No,” Lina lied. “It’s not Dan.”
    She was too embarrassed to admit the truth. She didn’t just
like
Dan. She was crazy about him! She thought about him constantly. She could never like another guy, ever. Ever. How could a high school guy compare? They were so boring. And silly. All that talk of sports and shiny hair. Where was the poetry? The passion?
    Holly and Mads would never understand. They liked regular boys. That was fine with Lina. If they could be satisfied with subhumans, good for them.

8
    The Social Goddesses
    To:     hollygolitely
    From: Your daily horoscope
    HERE IS TODAY’S HOROSCOPE: CAPRICORN: Your popularity is soaring! Enjoy it before your carriage turns back into a pumpkin.
    Class: Interpersonal Human Development
    Teacher: Dan Shulman
    The Dating Game: Progress report: Week 1
    By Holly Anderson, Madison Markowitz, and Lina Ozu
    The Dating Game Web site received an enthusiastic response from the data pool—that is, the students at RSAGE. At the time of this report, out of 816 students, 207, or more than one-quarter, have filled out the questionnaire. Of the respondents, about 65 percent are female and 35 percent are male.
    As for our thesis (who’s more sex-crazed, boys or girls?), results so far indicate a tie. However, our statistical pool is lopsided. We need more answers