A Hard Day's Night: A Lonely Hearts Club Short Story by Elizabeth Eulberg

8/11/2019 A Hard Day's Night: A Lonely Hearts Club Short Story by Elizabeth Eulberg

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B Y E L I Z A B E T H E U L B E R G

A H a r d D a y s N i g h t : A L o n e l y H e a r

t s Cl u b

Sh o r t S t o r y

Point


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Authors Note TH I S H A L L O W E E N S H O RT S T O RY takes place alongside theevents inThe Lonely Hearts Club. While this story stands onits own, for those interested, Halloween would fall before

Chapter 27. The only reminder needed is that at this point,members of The Lonely Hearts Club arent allowed to date.Because boys are stupid and such.


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ALSO BY ELIZABETH EULBERG

The Lonely Hearts Club

Prom & Prejudice Take a Bow

Revenge of the Girl with the Great PersonalityBetter Off Friends


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Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth Eulberg Published by Point, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.,Publisherssince 1920 . scholastic , point , and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks ofScholastic Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverseengineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in anyform or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, withoutthe express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to

Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. e-ISBN 978-0-545-79970-6 First edition, October 2014 Book design by Elizabeth B. Parisi


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I, Penny Lane Bloom, hate Halloween.

Okay, maybe hate is a strong word.

I know most people love Halloween,

especially kids. Its all about dressing

up like an animal, a firefighter, a

superhero, or whatever you want. Plus,

the candy! All the candy!

But heres the thing: Halloween isnt

about fun costumes and candy in the

Bloom household.

Nope.Ive never been allowed to dress

up in whatever costume I wanted.

No way. I have to wear what fits my

parents theme. That theme, without

fail, is always the Beatles. Granted,they mix things up, and one year

well be Early Beatles and the next

Psychedelic Beatles. Everybody in our

neighborhood loves it. The four of us

open up the door and greet everybody


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with Goo goo gjoob! Were a freak

show you cant look away from. Fitting,

given the holiday.And I can never have all the candy I

want, either. When your fathers a

dentist, there isnt a huge amount of

sweets allowed in the house. That

doesnt stop us from giving candy

away Dad needs to keep his

clientele up but mixed in with the

normal sugary stuff are tiny toothpaste

samples, sugar-free lollipops, and little

rolls of minty floss. Lame.

Despite my reluctance every year

when October 31 comes around, I

cant help but feel excited about this

year. This year I have The Lonely Hearts

Club. And anything we do as a group

is a blast. Maybe they can turn me intoa Halloween believer.

Crazier things have happened.


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A Hard Days Night You know I feel alright . . .


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G H O S T S . W I T C H E S . Z O M B I E S . Mass murderers.Those creatures were childs play compared to the monster

stewing in the hallway of our house.

We cant do this, Mom protested angrily. We lookridiculous!

Mom wasnt referring to the fact that she, Dad, and I werea rainbow of satin Day-Glo blue, green, and orange military cos-tumes from the cover ofSgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album.Nope, it was because there were only three of us, not four.

Rita has some nerve, Mom (I mean, Sir Paul McCartney)sulked as she adjusted the silver shoulder tassels on her cos-tume. Rita couldnt make the trip because she had an exam tostudy for at Northwestern.

Howdare she put higher education before the Beatles.This was the first year there wouldnt be four of us. Even

though were a family of five, we were never allowed to openthe door as five people. Lucy and Rita used to rotate who gotto sit out each year, since I loved it when I was little and alwaysinsisted on being George Harrison. Until one year I wanted tobe Belle fromBeauty and the Beast , which, to put it mildly, didnot go over well. (Mom suggested that I dress up as BenedictArnold instead.)


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Dad, who was always the John to her Paul, adjusted his fakemustache. Now, Becky, remember when the Beatles rehearsed

for their first Ed Sullivan Showappearance? George had the flu.They had to go on without him.This isnt a rehearsal. Plus Mom pointed at me in my

orange costume weve got our George.That isnt the point. He nudged her playfully. It will

still be great. In a couple of years, Penny wont be here and

well have to do with just the two of us. He twirled heraround while serenading her to Two of Us.

I quickly snuck a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup into my mouthwhile they were distracted.

The doorbell rang to the familiar tune of Love Me Do asMom ordered us to get to our places. I adjusted my orange hat

with a green feather on top of my head and glanced longinglyat the clock. I only had to serve time for two hours, and thenId be free to hang out with my friends.

Showtime! Mom said as she opened up the door to achorus of Trick or treat!

Goo goo gjoob!

For two hours we had a steady stream of trick-or-treaters, noneof whom commented on the fact there were only three Beatleshanding out candy. But honestly, we couldve been dressed upas the Manson family and people wouldnt care.Free candy.

In my room, I donned my second costume and then care-fully covered it up with my Sgt. Peppers outfit. Even though I


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was done with my obligations to my parents, they would notbe happy if they knew I was going out dressed up as anything

but a Beatle.The Lonely Hearts Club was meeting up at the diner inour costumes before stopping by a haunted house the StudentCouncil was doing for a fund-raiser. Wed decided that theClub would have a theme, but it wasnt Beatles related. It wasmuch, much better.

Fabulous females.Besides a lack of my own costumes or good candy, another

thing that drove me crazy about Halloween was how some girlsused it as an excuse to dress up in as little clothing as possible.Sexy Nurse, Sexy Teacher, Sexy Nun notice a theme? Arethey really dressing up in a bra and hot pants for themselves?

Of course not! It was always for a guy. Or to get attentionfrom a guy.

We were so above that.Our costumes would be positive role models for girls.See you later! I called out to my parents as I dashed

down the stairs and opened the front door. I waved at Tracy

in her waiting car, but lost my balance as I slid on somethingand fell flat on my butt.

Are you okay? Dad rushed over to me.My hands and shiny pants were covered in pumpkin guts.

Our pumpkins, which had been intact all during trick-or-treating, were smashed and smeared across the front stoop.

Not the Abbey Road one! Mom knelt down to examine


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the damage done to the pumpkin with the outline from the Abbey Road cover.

Dont worry, Mom, your baby daughter is okay. I scowledat her as I hauled myself back up onto my feet.That was super graceful, Pen. Tracy walked up the

driveway.Tracy! Mom exclaimed upon seeing my best friend. I

cant believe I didnt think of this before. We shouldve asked

you to be the fourth!Shesstill on this? Mom, I warned her as we went inside to the kitchen so I

could clean up the mess.Oh, no! Mom tugged at my pants. They ripped.There was a two-inch tear on my right side where I landed.

Wait a second. Mom dug her finger into the hole. Whatare you wearing underneath?

Busted.Ah, its cold out, so I thought Id wear jeans. I gripped my

bag tighter, not wanting my contraband to be discovered.Mom studied Tracys outfit: green cargo pants, black hooded

jacket, and hair pulled back in a fancy braid. Who are youdressed as?

Katniss Everdeen, Tracy said as she turned around andstruck a pose. My bow and arrows are in my car.

Great. What the world needs is for Tracy Larson to be armed with deadly weapon.

Thats nice, Mom said, although it was clear that shed


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been living under a Beatles-sized rock and had no idea whatTracy was talking about.

Yeah, Tracy continued, were all dressing up as strong,awesome women. Although is there any other kind of woman?Boys, on the other hand, are all stupid and silly. No offense,Dr. Bloom.

None taken, Dad chuckled as he headed outside with abroom.

What do you mean youreall dressing up as strongwomen? Mom asked.

Armed or not, Tracy was going to pay for this.Mom. I held my bag even tighter. The Club is waiting

for us. We cant be late.Whats in your bag? Mom eyed me suspiciously.

Nothing, just homework, I lied.Penny Lane. She held out her hand.There was no avoiding it.Fine. I pulled down my pants and took my jacket off.

I was wearing a dark blue button-down shirt tucked into amatching pair of jeans that were cuffed, paired with black

hiking boots. I took a red handkerchief with white dots out ofmy bag and tied it around my head. I then held up the bluesign with We Can Do It! in white lettering above my headas I flexed my right arm. Im going as Rosie the Riveter.

Rosie the Riveter was most likely going to go over the headsof most of my fellow McKinley High School students, but shewas a cultural symbol during World War II, representing all


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It had only been two months since I came up with the idea for

The Lonely Hearts Club. Originally it was just something Idid for myself, a way to get over Nate Taylor, my former child-hood crush and boyfriend who decided that dating me wasntenough. I caught him cheating on me. I felt used. I was devas-tated. My heart was broken. My solution? Put my friends andmyself first. Oh, and stop dating boys entirely while in high

school because they are so not worth the trouble. Never did Ithink that anybody would want to join me.

Then Diane Monroe came along.Diane used to be my best friend. We wentway back. Like,

we were in diapers when we became friends. Yep, youd thinkthat kind of friendship could withstand anything. But not

when it came to guys. As soon as Diane started dating RyanBauer in eighth grade, she became that girl who gave up herfriends when she had a boyfriend. So it didnt really surpriseme that much when she wanted to rekindle our friendshipafter they broke up this summer. Of course she wanted meback; she didnt have a boyfriend anymore. But I was hurt

from the horrific summer Id had, and Tracy (who had a caseof the boy-crazies herself) refused to understand why I wouldchoose to not date. So I let Diane in. And Tracy finally caved.

From there, the Club steadily grew. A few new membershere, a sophomore or a girl from Spanish class there. A coupleof weeks ago, our school paper, theMcKinley Monitor , featuredan article on the front page about the Club. A revolution had


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started and now every Saturday, the Club meetings have gottenbigger and bigger.

Sure, there were some people who thought we were crazy(mostly the guys at school, especially Todd Chesney). Butwhat did we care? They were silly, little boys, and we werewomen forging real relationships: friendships.

A smile spread across my face when I opened the door tothe diner to see twenty girls who have quickly become a sec-

ond family.Its our fearless leader! Morgan, dressed as punk legend

Patti Smith, called out to me.Yes, it is I, I said with a dramatic rolling of my eyes. I

always felt uncomfortable being pegged the leader of thegroup, even if Iwas the one who had formed the Club.

Diane got up from her seat to give me a hug. She looked asgorgeous as ever, even with a baseball hat covering the pin curlsI knew had taken hours. The entire basketball team decided todress as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball Leagueplayers from the 1940s. I ordered you cheese fries.

You rock, you Rockford Peach. Even though we basically

hadnt spoken for four years, Diane still knew the way to myheart (which is always through my stomach).

Tracy. Kara, her hair teased beyond recognition, pointedher wand at Tracy. I believe we need to do a duel of the youngadult book characters.

Tracy placed her hands on her hips. Yeah, Hermione,because your wand is a match for my arrow. Lets do this thing.


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Erin, dressed up as Eighties Madonna, and Kara bothgasped and stood up quickly. Their jaws were almost on the

floor.Guys, dont worry, theyre not going to actually fight. Atleast I hoped not. Tracy wasnt one to back down from chal-lenges, even ones made in jest.

Oh my God! Erins gaze was over my shoulder. Areyou okay?

I turned around to see what the fuss was about.It was Amy, covered head to toe in shaving cream and

dressed in what used to be a Harriet the Spy costume.My outfit! she cried as we all got up to help her. I shouldve

used my flashlight to bash those little punks heads in.What happened? I asked as I wiped clumps of cream off

her raincoat. At least that was coming off easily. Her hair wasgoing to be a different matter.

I was walking down the street and saw a group of middle-school boys coming toward me. A little voice in my head saidto cross the street, but thats ridiculous. Why should I be wor-ried about a bunch of kids? Her voice wavered. Then as

soon as I went to go around them, they circled me and startedlaughing while they doused me with shaving cream.

Im so sorry. I patted her back.Yeah, but there is a bright side, Amy said, looking

directly at Erin. Your brother was one of the kids.That little punk. Erins eyes narrowed. How dare he

attack one of my friends! Oh, he is going to pay for this.


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What are you going to do? Morgan asked, her fiststightly clenched.

May I make a suggestion? Tracys lips were curled intoher troublemaking smirk. As a connoisseur in the art ofrevenge, I think its a dish best served en masse.

While we had official rules for The Lonely Hearts Club,there was one that didnt need to be written down. It wasunderstood.

You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.

The high school parking lot was full of cars and people incostumes on their way to the haunted house.

Isnt this great? Diane remarked. Student Council was oneof the many school organizations Diane took part in. She was

just the insider we needed to pull this off.We got out of Tracys car and waited for the other mem-

bers to arrive.Well, well, well . . . a voice called out from a few cars

away. Let me guess, youre dressed up as . . . a lesbian?I didnt need to turn around to know that it was Todd.

Wait, no, he recanted. A mechanic . . . whos also alesbian.

Todd believed that every girl in the Club had to be a les-bian because he couldnt fathom why any girl would choose tobe single when he was available. It was honestly shocking thathe hadnt turned any of us off to the male species altogether.


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Wow, Todd, I said with forced sweetness, how original.I see you dressed up as an imbecile.

He scoffed and gestured down to his Chicago Bears sweat-shirt and jeans. I dont have a costume on.Exactly.He furrowed his eyebrows trying to figure out what I

mustve meant, but quickly gave up and went back to talkingto his standard group: Brian and Don, with their respective

girlfriends, Pam and Audrey. The word respective was onlyin reference to which girl dated which guy, since, by their out-fits, there was absolutely no respect going on. Pam was dressedas a referee in black hot pants and a black-and-white shirtthat was buttoned so far down you could see her black bra. Iwasnt entirely sure what Audrey was dressed as, since she had

cropped jean shorts and a red-and-black plaid shirt tied upso her midriff was exposed. And its the end of October. InIllinois.

Stay classy, ladies.Lets wait inside, Diane suggested as we made our way

past the cars.

I wouldnt bother, Todd called out. Its lame.Tracy kept walking, but Diane stopped short for a second.

As with everything she did, Diane put in a lot of work design-ing and decorating the haunted house. She spent hours allweek after school and was only able to meet us for dinner thatnight because she needed a break.


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I turned back around and approached Todd, who was sit-ting on the bumper of his truck.

You know, Todd I crossed my arms while I nor-mally would take your word for it since youre an expert in allthings lame, I I became distracted by something stickingout of the bed of Todds truck: a baseball bat that had pump-kin seeds stuck to it. I grabbed it to examine it closer.

Hey! Todd jumped up and reached his hand out.

Thats mine!Funny, I said as I began to twirl the bat around, I

think something just like this bashed in the pumpkins at myhouse.

There was snickering from the peanut gallery (aka Toddsfriends). I maneuvered around Todd to face them all. They

started to spread out.Come on, guys, Don said with a smirk on his face. What

is she going to do with a bat? Seriously?What? I taunted him by pretending to line up for a

pitch. You dont think I know how to use this thing?Yeah, right, Todd scoffed. He held his hands up and pre-

tended to quiver. Imso scared of a girl.They all began to laugh as I moved to the front of Todds

truck. The headlights were illuminating my profile as I bentmy knees and starting taking small practice swings. You know,Todd, you should never underestimate a girl, especially onewho grew up in a household where her dad didnt have anysons to play baseball with.


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In truth, my father wasnt really into sports. Unless mara-thon viewing of Beatles movies counted as a sporting event.

But Todd didnt know that (among many, many other things).I moved nearer to Todds headlight and swung the batcloser and closer.

Come on, Penny, we were just fooling around, he said,desperation seeping into his voice.

Gee, thats exactly what Im doing. I planted my feet,

held the bat above my shoulders, and shifted my weight as Iswung the baseball bat hard toward Todds right headlight.

No! Todd shrieked, his voice high.I stopped the bat mere centimeters away from the light,

and then let it drop to the pavement. I guess the differencebetween us is that whenI fool around, I dont hurt anybody or

their property. Lets go, guys.Tracy, Diane, and I walked away from a distraught Todd

and headed inside the school.One down, four to go.

Hey, Ryan! Diane greeted her ex-boyfriend, who was man-

ning the ticket counter. I was still amazed at how theyd beenable to remain friends after they broke up. They both genu-inely wished the other well.

The only thing I hoped for Nate Taylor was a slow andpainful death.

What up, Bauer? Tracy gave him a small nod. Are youdressed up as a monk?


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Ryan wore a cream-colored long-sleeve tunic and pants. Hereached down and pulled out a lightsaber. Luke Skywalker.

Katie wanted to be Princess Leia complete with the sidebuns. He smiled broadly and I had to look away. It waspretty adorable. Katie was Ryans eight-year-old stepsister. Itwas pretty adorable.

Of course, I couldnt have said any of that. Things withRyan and me were . . . tense. We went on a something or other

on Thursday. It wasnt a date, since I wasnt allowed to go on adate, but Ive been uncomfortable around him ever since. Insteadof responding, I decided to pretend to be interested in all thecostumes that passed us.

Fortunately, the other members started trickling in aftersuccessfully completing their given tasks. I took a few steps

away from Hilary and her moving duffel bag. Amy was thelast to arrive, her face in zombie makeup, the rest of her outfitslightly disheveled.

Ready? Diane asked us.Um, is there something I should know? Ryan asked warily.Nothing you need to worry about, Diane explained.

Weve got something to sort out. Actually, we could use yourhelp with one thing. Diane leaned down and whispered intoRyans ear. I was waiting for him to protest, but he wrote downhis instructions and gave Diane a resolute nod.

And with that we were off.There were four young punks in need of a lesson on how to

treat a lady.


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The haunted house was set up in the gym. It consisted of dif-

ferent rooms spread throughout the floor. Each room featureda specific spooky creature or theme: a cemetery, mazes wherecreatures would jump out, chainsaw sounds, and the like.

However, Erins brother and his friends would be getting aprivate tour of another room exclusively set up for them: thegirls locker room.

Diane glanced at her phone. That was Ryan. Theyre here.We all got into our places. It was up to Jen, who was also

in Student Council, to guide them from the cemetery to thelocker room. We waited patiently for the door to open.

This is so stupid, a voice came from outside the door.Oh, okay, the girls room. Scaaary!

The door opened. Jen (who was covered up with a blackrobe and skeleton mask) stretched an arm out, and four boysstepped inside.

It was pitch-black in the locker room, save for the flicker-ing of an overhead light in the corner.

Nobody moved for a couple of minutes. The guys began

shifting back and forth on their heels, waiting for somethingto happen.

This was the part of scary movies that always unnerved me,the quiet before something jumped out of the dark. It was theanticipation that was the worst part.

We should go, one of them said, but when he reached forthe door, it wouldnt open. He yanked harder on it. Its locked.


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fact that Hilary had kept secret, as I was positive most of uswouldve wisely refused to come over to her house.)

At that cue, the rest of us started rhythmically banging onthe benches on the other side of the lockers, which were par-tially hidden from view.

Prepare for the sacrifice, Erins disguised voice boomed.Another cloaked figure (Tracy) held up Mr. Bubbles,

Dannys stuffed monkey. He still slept with the toy, but only

Erin and their parents (and now the Club) knew that.What? How did you get that? Danny protested. Hey!

Youre not supposed to touch us! he shrieked as Kara andHilary grabbed the boys by their arms and pulled them far-ther into the locker room.

The banging of the benches, and now lockers, continued to

echo around the room, further unnerving our captives. Tracyheld out a (fake) knife and placed the stuffed monkey on thefloor.

What the hell is that? one of Dannys friends asked. Helaughed at the end, but it was one of those forced laughs thatrevealed how nervous he really was.

Tracy dramatically lifted the knife in the air above themonkey.

What are you doing? Dannys voice was at a near panic.What do you want? Do you want candy? Money? He ner-vously began emptying his pockets. Ive got . . . like, five dollars.You cant do this. Please. If you hurt him, Im going to tell !


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Tracy raised her arm higher and started to bring the knifedown, when a different voice from the modulator called out,

NO! It was a voice, low, near a whisper, that personified evil.Leave him to me. I turned on a flashlight to illuminate Amys back. She

began to shuffle toward them like an extra onThe Walking Dead .You know what you did to this poor girl, Erins original scary

voice growled out.And now you will pay.

Dannys eyes darted to Amy. I dont know what youretalking about. We didnt do anything. We didnt It was asif a lightbulb went on in Dannys head. Oh God, Im sorry. Imso sorry, okay? I didnt want to do it, it . . . it was Barrys idea!

Hey! The kid who I assumed was Barry began back-ing away.

ENOUGH! the voice snapped.Get down on your knees. Allof you.

The four looked at one another with a combined mix ofterror and denial. Danny quickly got on his knees and urged theothers to follow. Nothing can happen to Mr. Bubbles, okay?

Mr. Bubbles? One of his friends snickered.NOW! The others quickly followed suit and got on the floor.ONE . . . TWO . . . All four had their shoulders pressed up

to their ears.THREE! The lights went on. Erin was standing in front of her brother.

Youre going to be in so much trouble when we get home.


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Wait, what? Her brother looked around in a daze as hequickly found himself surrounded by The Lonely Hearts Club.

You attacked one of my friends and you didnt think I wasgoing to do something about it?Amy gave a wave. Remember me?But first, payback. Erin smiled as she, Amy, Kara, and Jen

smashed a raw egg on the head of each boy. Thats what youget for being jerks.

Danny tried to protest, but Erin yanked him up by thearm, yolk oozing down his forehead. Save it for Dad. Im tak-ing you all home and having a little chat with your parents.

The four boys reluctantly followed her out, to the cheersfrom the group.

Mission accomplished! Diane said with a little too much

enthusiasm for someone who was always bound by the rules.But since we werent complete rule breakers, we did stay to

help clean up the locker room, and Diane roped most of usinto helping the Student Council dismantle the haunted houseat the end of the night. We enjoyed reminiscing about theshocked looks on the boys faces and their high-pitched shrieks

of terror.Come on, Pen. Tracy looked at me with a satisfied smirk

as we made our way back to her car. Even youve got to admitthat Halloween was pretty fun this year.

Yes, I conceded without an ounce of reluctance. I neverthought so, but you guys made a believer out of me.


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Um, yeah. Tracy bumped my hip. The Lonely HeartsClub makes everything better.

Tracy was right.Rosie the Riveter was right, too: Wecan do it. And we did.We could accomplish anything if we were together.Especially putting silly boys in their place.


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Keep reading for a special sneak peek of

We Can Work It Out , a return to the characters ofThe Lonely Hearts Club from romantic comedy

superstar Elizabeth Eulberg!


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One IT WA S A M A Z I N G H OW Q U I C K LY T H I N G S could change.

It was only six months ago that I thought I was in love withone of my closest friends since birth.

Five months since I had my heart trounced on by the lying,cheating dirtbag.

Four months since I started The Lonely Hearts Club as itssole member.

Which means four months since everything changed.I went from someone with a small handful of close friends

to a person with nearly thirty girls who would have my back ifI ever needed them (which I often did). There were some peo-ple who looked up to me because I stood up for my friendsand myself. And, of course, that also meant I was openly ridi-culed by other people for going against the grain.

It was all worth it.

And now it had been one month since Id started datingRyan. Well, technically, twenty-two days since our first date not like I was counting or anything. (Okay, I kind of was.)

While I knew that no two relationships were ever the same,I hadnt realized, at first, how different Ryan was from everyother guy Id dated. Although in hindsight, what I had withthose guys (more like immature little boys) couldnt really be


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called relationships . There were trips to the movies and pizzaseaten, but that was about it. It was more about having some-

one to walk down the hallways with, someone to eat lunchwith, someone to kill time with after school. Insecurity blan-kets. None of it ever felt real.

Being with Ryan was different. I wanted to be with Ryanbecause of who he was, not because he was a boyfriend. AndRyan wanted to be with me for me, not because there was a

vacancy for the role of Ryan Bauers Girlfriend. We likedspending time with each other. It was mutual.

Well, maybe noteverything was entirely mutual . . .

Come on, Penny, its not a big deal. Ryan reached out hishand impatiently. All couples do it.

While I didnt have as much experience being in a relation-ship as Ryan, I knew I wasnt overreacting.

Ryan was wrong.This was a big step.One that I wasnt sure I was ready for.Maybe other couples did it all the time, but I wasnt pre-

pared to make such a commitment so soon. Wed only beengoing out for a few weeks. I didnt want to rush into anything.

There were certain things you couldnt take back.A smile slowly crept over his face, his blue eyes sparkling

with mischief. Okay, I know how to convince you.He stepped a few inches away from me as if he needed lots

of space for whatever he was preparing to do. He cleared his


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throat, gave me one more crooked grin before he started clap-ping rhythmically.Clap, clap. Clap. Clap, clap. Clap.

Then in front of the entire food court at the mall, Ryanbegan singing at the top of his lungs, Oh yeah, Ill tell you some-thing, I think youll understand . . . People began to look over towhere we were standing, but Ryan was undeterred. He con-tinued to sing even though he had proven on more than oneoccasion that he couldnt carry a tune. Sure he was everything

a girl could want in a guy but he was also apparently inca-pable of being embarrassed.

I, on the other hand, wanted to hide behind the mall direc-tory so no one could see my flaming-red face. I knew therewas only one way to get him to stop.

Fine! I relented. I grabbed his hand and entwined our

fingers. Happy?He was grinning ear to ear. Yes, very happy. Oh, how I

love the Beatles.Yeah, theyd be so proud. I began to drag him away from

the scene of the musical crime. There was no point in tellinghim that the Beatles hadnt gotten him his way it was my

fear of causing a scene that made me cave. It wasnt that Ididnt want to hold Ryans hand . . . but being out in the openas a couple felt too exposed.

Only a few short weeks ago, Id been the one telling girlsnot to date, that all guys were lying, cheating scum of theearth. And while some of them were (hello, dirtbag NateTaylor), Ryan was wonderful. Public embarrassments aside.


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The Lonely Hearts Club had caused such a ruckus atMcKinley High that I didnt want it to appear that I was

backing down by being with Ryan. The Club was the bestthing that had happened to me in high school, and I didntwant anything to mess that up. And I was well aware of howmuch a guy could mess things up.

We turned the corner to head up the escalators to the movietheater, when I spotted a few of my fellow Lonely Hearts Club

members coming down.Pen! Tracy waved at us, and Jen and Morgan perked up

behind her.I instinctively let go of Ryans hand as they made their way

over to us.Hey. Tracy hugged me, and her dirty-blond ponytail

lightly brushed my cheek. She then turned to Ryan. Bauer,she said solemnly.

Howre you doing, Tracy? he said cheerfully, clearlywanting to get in good with my best friend. He already hadher approval she was partially responsible for us finallygetting together but with Tracy you wanted to get as far

on her good side as possible.Tracy made a show of looking him up and down. Im

doing great,obvs . Got my girls, saw a movie, not dealing withthe man. What could possibly be better?

Ah . . . Ryan had no idea what to say next.I interceded. What are you guys up to now? Ryan and I were

just . . . um, I saw him I stopped myself, not quite believing


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that Id been about to make up a story of why Ryan and I weretogether. I didnt know why I felt like I had to watch what I was

saying. These girls were practically my family, and Id knownRyan for years. I shouldve been comfortable having us all betogether, but I wasnt used to being The Girl Who Now Dates,especially with the girls Id spent nearly every Saturday lastsemester with, comparing notes on the evil things guys could do.

Ill tell you what were up to. Jen patted her stomach.

Food. Lots of food.Tracy could sense I was uncomfortable. She tilted her head

slightly. Well, we should get going theres a cinnamon bunwith my name on it somewhere in the vicinity. Have fun . . .but not too much fun.

Oh, we wont, I promised her. Ryan poked my side in

protest. How could anybody have fun without you around?Exactly! Tracy replied. See, Pen, you get me. You. Get.

Me. She pounded her first lightly against her chest. The groupstarted walking away, but Tracy stood her ground. Remember,Bauer. She held up two fingers to her eyes, then turned themon Ryan. Ive got my eyes on you. She laughed maniacally

while linking arms with Jen and Morgan as the three of themwalked away.

You know shes only teasing, I reminded Ryan.He ran his fingers through his dark wavy hair. Yeah, I

know. Usually, guys have to worry about making a goodimpression on their girlfriends parents, but Ive also got to getthe blessing of over twenty girls. No pressure.


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He used the word girlfriend with such ease, as though it wascompletely clear what we were doing.

It wasnt quite as clear to me. But at the same time, I likedthat he used the word without hesitation, unafraid to com-mit to me.

I grabbed his hand again as we got on the escalator. Comeon, the Club loves you, I assured him. You know how happythey were when we started dating.

Yeah, I do, he replied with a gentle squeeze of my hand.And for your information, my moms thrilled were togetherbecause it means she has an automatic babysitter on Saturday.

One of the rules of the Club was that we had to have ourmeetings on Saturday nights, which wasnt really a big deal.Ryan and I would go out on Fridays and sometimes we

spent Sundays together if the Club wasnt up to anything.Neither of us minded.

Tracys laugh echoed up the escalators. I looked back andsaw them all giggling at something.

Ryan studied my face as I watched my friends go off with-out me.

Do you want to go hang out with them? he asked.No, its fine. Although I had to admit I felt a slight sting

that I hadnt been included in their girls day out.He wrapped his arm around me as we stepped off the esca-

lator. Youre a horrible liar.I am? I leaned into him. Hey, Ryan?Yes, Miss Penny Lane?


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I exaggeratedly batted my eyelashes at him. Youre a reallygood singer.

He tickled my stomach, which caused me to respond with aloud shriek. A couple walking in front of us turned around.Before I could protest further, Ryan pulled me in tight andkissed me on the forehead.

Instead of pulling away like I had before, I leaned in evencloser. Despite my pangs of jealousy, I knew that I needed to

focus more on the here and now. And right there and then, Iknew there was nowhere else I wanted to be, and no one elseI wanted to spend my Sunday with.


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E L I Z A B E T H E U L B E R G is the author ofThe Lonely Hearts Club,Prom & Prejudice , Take a Bow , Revenge of the Girl with the GreatPersonality, andBetter Off Friends . You can find her on the web at

www.elizabetheulberg.com


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SMART and FUNNY novels youll love from ELIZABETH EULBERG

A Hard Day's Night: A Lonely Hearts Club Short Story by Elizabeth Eulberg

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