Chapter One

Page 3

The place went deathly silent as Jane Grady, the news anchor, faced the camera. “It’s a story of slashed budgets and broken hearts, a story that may reach its conclusion this very evening,” Jane said seriously. “It was announced in January that, due to budget cuts, the state had decided to close the doors of Corinth High School in Corinth, Pennsylvania, for good this coming fall. But the question remained, where would the students of Corinth High wind up?”


“Not at our school!” Clay shouted, earning a round of cheers.

Tamara glared at him and rolled her eyes, but Drew held his breath.


“It was believed that one of three local schools would absorb Corinth’s students. Either Jefferson High, Plainsboro High, or Washingtonville High. Well, tonight the school boards of Washingtonville and Corinth are meeting to decide whether their two schools would make a good fit. There has been no official decision as of yet, but we will be keeping an eye on the story and let you know as soon as anything new develops.”


Groans abounded, and Drew and his friends headed back outside to reclaim their table.

“How could they even think about combining us with Corinth?” Marisa Wise whined, shaking her black curls back from her face. Marisa was a cheerleader and daughter of one of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ assistant coaches, which basically made her one of the richest girls in the already wealthy suburb of Washingtonville. And the most popular. “We’re too different. We’d never coalesce.”

“It’s never gonna happen,” Drew said confidently, even though he felt anything but confident on the inside.

“Uh, I hate to break it to you guys, but if the state decides that Corinth is going to Washingtonville, there’s nothing our school board can do to preclude that event,” Jason said. “My mom and dad were up all night talking about it.”


Jason’s mother was president of the school board, and Jason had, therefore, been the students’ eyes and ears ever since this whole noisome mess had begun.

“Our school board will find a way to circumvent the system,” Drew said testily. “Let those losers go to Plainsboro. They’d fit in better over there anyway, and everyone knows it.”


The guys muttered their assent as they pulled out their chairs.


“Oh, why? Because they’re not as affluent as we are? Because they don’t all live in ostentatious houses and get their own cars for their sixteenth birthdays?” Tamara griped. “You guys can really be so obnoxious.”


“Whose house is ostentatious?” Marisa asked defensively, knowing full well that her own McMansion on the outskirts of town was one of the showiest homes around.


“Look, all I know is, if they come to our school, our senior year is gonna be a calamity,” Drew said. “They’re gonna want to take over everything. Our clubs, our student government—”


“Our starting positions,” Jason mumbled.


Drew felt a dart of pain through his heart. This was, of course, what he was really worried about. Everyone knew that Corinth High’s Samson Hill was one of the best quarterbacks in the state. He’d been starting since he was a sophomore and had led his team all the way to the state semifinals the year before. If he came to Washingtonville, it would mean that Drew’s dreams would be over before he even had a chance to realize them.


“Well, I think it could be beneficial,” Tamara said, sipping her iced coffee. “You guys could use a little mind opening, if you ask me.”


“Yeah, you won’t be saying that when they swoop in here and take half the spots on your precious dance team,” Clay snapped. “You could be bilked right out of your spot, and you were one of the people who founded the damn thing.”


Tamara’s blue eyes widened for a split second, but then she remembered herself and scoffed. “I can hold my own.”


I hope I can, too, Drew thought, his fists clenching under the table.

Just then, a black Jeep Wrangler came zooming around the corner and careened to a stop right in front of the cafe. Jackson Lyle, the editor of the school paper, put it in park and jumped out. He ran through the door and stopped just inside, all out of breath and blotchy. Drew’s stomach clenched.


“Jackson? Are you okay?” Tamara asked.


“They voted yes,” Jackson said. “We’re absorbing Corinth.”


Everyone gasped in shock. Drew felt as if his chair had just been yanked out from under him. “No way.”


“It’s a ruse,” Marisa said, forcing a laugh. “One of your lame-o jokes, right Jackson?”


“Sorry, guys. It’s true. I was covering the meeting for the paper,” Jackson said, pushing his glasses up for a second to rub his eyes. “It’s over. It’s done. Our school is no longer our own.”