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  “I don’t want her to feel any pressure,” said Claudio.

  “She won’t. No pressure!” Pedro put up his hands. “Right, Ben?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “No magic,” Claudio added.

  “No magic,” I said solemnly.

  “OK, then. I really like her, though.”

  “You’ve liked her for a long time, haven’t you?” I asked, sensing something more in him than a mere crush.

  “Since she was a freshman,” said Claudio. “But I didn’t have the guts to ask her out then. I wasn’t a demi-head then , and I thought I was too old for her. But now—”

  “You’re just as much older now,” I pointed out.

  “But it doesn’t feel as much older,” said Claudio.

  Pedro looked at me. “He’s in love,” he said.

  “Yeah. Too bad for him.”

  “You know she’s going to hurt you, don’t you?” said Pedro.

  Claudio smiled and shook his head. “I trust her,” he said.

  I laughed at that. “There is nothing you could say that would more guarantee that you are going to be messed with,” I said.

  “Not her,” Claudio insisted.

  I could see that if I said anything else against her, he was going to stand up and try to punch me. I looked at Pedro. “Nothing for it, is there?”

  “Not when he’s got it like that,” said Pedro.

  “Make fun of me all you want. I know what true love is worth.”

  “Ooo. True love,” I said.

  Pedro echoed me: “True love,” he said, drawing out the word like a song.

  “Just because you two haven’t found it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” said Claudio defensively.

  “Right,” I said. “And just because no one has found the gold at the end of the rainbow doesn’t mean it’s not there, too, right?”

  Chapter 5: Bee

  Leanata kept away from me for the rest of the week, but on Friday afternoon, before I left the school, she caught me.

  “Are you coming to the dance tonight?” she asked.

  It was a stag dance, so I couldn’t just tell her I didn’t have a date. “If I get my homework done,” I tried.

  “You? Homework?” she said. “I thought you were supposed to be smart.”

  “And the way I stay smart is by doing my homework.” Did she think that it was just an accident that I got good grades?

  I wanted to go to a good university when I graduated next year. I know, most Heros don’t go to college, and if they do, it’s to see and be seen, to join the Hero sororities or fraternities and hook up, maybe take some classes on design or fashion or modeling. But I want to do something revolutionary, something that really changes the world. And not just by being beautiful enough to launch ships or make movies or something like that.

  “I want you to come to the dance tonight,” said Leanata.

  “Why?” She had never told me to go to a dance before.

  “You can’t hide forever. You’re one of the older girls. You need to set an example. And I have some guys I want to introduce you to, anyway.”

  “What guys?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Ones who can do favors for the clan,” she said.

  Or for her? “I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I said.

  She raised her eyebrows. I hated it when she did that. “I didn’t ask for your opinion, Beatrice. I am telling you what I expect of you. As a Hero clan member. Do you want me to talk to your parents about this?”

  “No,” I said quickly. That was the last thing I wanted.

  “Then you’ll be there tonight?”

  “If I can remember the date and time. Maybe you should call me and remind me. You know how thick my head is,” I said.

  She rolled her eyes at my joke. “Just come and keep quiet. And make sure you do the spell before so you get noticed.”

  Yeah. Getting noticed was what I cared most about. Because then you really know that a guy wants you for yourself instead of showing you off to other people.

  “Margaret and Ursula will be there, too. You’re friends with them, aren’t you?”

  “Uh—yeah,” I said.

  “And Sarah. Do you know her?”

  A face flashed into my mind. Very round with red cheeks, tiny ears and button nose. Yeah, I knew her. She was one of the few Heros I didn’t think overdid it with the spell. She still looked like an individual, and not a stamped figurine. We weren’t close, since she was younger, but what I knew of her, I liked.

  “Good,” said Leanata after I nodded. “I want you to stay close to her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve heard a rumor and want to make sure that she understands the rules.”

  “The rules?”

  “About dating within your class,” said Leanata.

  “Since when did we have a rule about that?” I asked.

  “There has always been a rule about that. It just hasn’t always been enforced, but I think it’s time to start cracking down on offenders. It isn’t fair if the seniors are all dating younger girls. What does that leave for us?”

  Older guys? Or possibly no one, like you deserve? That’s what I think, but not what I say. “I don’t see how you can make guys like someone they don’t,” I said.

  “Well, I can certainly steer them in the right direction,” said Leanata.

  “So you want me to tell her she can’t date anyone?” I asked.

  “Just not the seniors,” said Leanata.

  “And what do I say to them if they want to date her?” I asked.

  “You tell them to come to me if they have a problem,” said Leanata.

  Right. They’d be so happy to do that.

  “Fine,” I said. “Can I go now?”

  “As long as you promise to be at the dance,” said Leanata.

  “I’ll be there,” I said. It wasn’t like she was giving me a choice.

  I went straight home and called Ursula and Margaret to ask them what they knew about Sarah, or if they’d heard these rumors about one of the senior guys being interested in her.

  Ursula said she’d heard something about it, but she wasn’t sure which guy it was. “Why do you care, anyway? I thought you hated dances almost as much as you hated guys.”

  “I do,” I said. “I mean, it’s like watching the Olympics. I don’t want to do any of those sports myself, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy watching other people hurt themselves.”

  “You’re a sadist,” said Ursula. “And it’s no wonder you haven’t had a date in a year.”

  In fact, I hadn’t had a date since the beginning of my sophomore year, right about the same age Sarah was now. I thought about how badly that date had gone. He was all hands. And a senior guy, so I was afraid to tell him no. I let him kiss me at the end of it, and then he told me I kissed like a cow. As if he had been the greatest kisser in the world.

  “And how many cows have you kissed?” I asked him.

  He stared at me like he didn’t get the joke. “You have a smart mouth,” he said.

  “I have a smart whole head,” I pointed out. For some reason, he was still not amused.

  I thought it was just the one bad date thing, that I would laugh about later. But the other two dates I had in the next month weren’t any better. That was when I swore off dating. Maybe that was a mistake. If I had kept dating idiots, I wouldn’t have made the mistake of falling in love with the worst idiot of all, Pedro Arragon. After an experience like that, you don’t get back on the horse again, if you know what I mean.

  “Leanata doesn’t want Sarah to date any of the senior guys. Do you know why? Which one does she want so badly for herself she thinks she has to scare off the competition?” I asked Ursula. I wasn’t sure which of them I felt sorrier for, her or him.

  “Pedro Arragon, I think,” said Ursula. “She thinks that he’s the top dog after that assembly, and she figures since she’s demi-head of Heros around here, he should be hers
.”

  And to me, that meant I was going to do my best to make sure that he fell head over heels for Sarah. I didn’t want Sarah hurt, so I couldn’t wish for her to fall in love back. On the other hand, I could coach her on how to string him along until the worst possible moment to dump him.

  “I think it’s Benedick Padua,” said Margaret when I called and told the story to her.

  I felt a surprising surge of hot stickiness in my throat. I swallowed it down a couple of times before I said, “You’re not sure?”

  “The word is that he likes them younger.”

  “And gullible?” I asked.

  “Well, more easily led, shall we say,” said Margaret. “That way he can use his truth spell easily.”

  “There is no way that I will let him use his truth spell on Sarah,” I said. My teeth ground so close together I was surprised I could breathe.

  “I can tell you’re still upset about last year, Bee, but the truth spell wouldn’t be that bad for everyone.”

  “And you know that how?” I asked. My hands were trembling around the phone and it was so slick I was afraid I would drop it.

  “I just don’t think I would care,” said Margaret.

  “Everyone has secrets.” I didn’t know what hers were, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have something hiding that she wouldn’t want everyone to know.

  “Well, maybe they shouldn’t,” she said. “Maybe we’d all be better off if we told the whole truth, all the time.”

  She had no idea what she was talking about. “Are you saying that you’re on his side about this?” I asked. “His” being Benedick’s.

  “I’m saying that it was a good thing that you came out with the truth about Pedro. After all, if not for Benedick’s spell, you would probably still be in love with Pedro right now. And you two were so wrong for each other.”

  I was glad I wasn’t in love with Pedro anymore, but I wasn’t giving Benedick Padua any credit for that.

  “I think you need to spend your senior year finding someone else.”

  “I don’t want to find someone else,” I said. “I’m done with guys. Forever. I’m never going to find love. I’m never going to depend on anyone else for happiness. I’m going to be my own person, Margaret. I don’t need a guy to be fulfilled. I’m complete on my own.”

  There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

  “Margaret?” I said.

  “Oh. Are you done, now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And it’s my turn to talk?”

  I sighed. “Sure.”

  “I’m just saying maybe seventeen is a little young to swear off guys forever. Last year you were practically planning your wedding with Pedro, and now this. Don’t you think you swing a little to extremes, Bee?”

  “Maybe,” I said, trying to be fair.

  “So let it play out with Ben and Sarah. It might work for her, you know. And if it doesn’t, then people learn and go on with their lives. You know? It doesn’t have to be the end of the world.”

  “I didn’t say it was the end of the world for me.”

  “No, you didn’t say it. You just act like no guys exist at all anymore. Like they all died.”

  Maybe it would have been better for everyone if they had, I thought.

  “And I, for one, like guys and would like to date them without having to defend the idea around you all the time.”

  “Fine,” I said.

  “Can you be polite to Ben for my sake tonight?” asked Margaret. “He’s not all bad, you know.”

  Not all bad? I suppose I could just say he was approaching the limit of all bad very, very quickly. If he knew anything about math, that is.

  Chapter 6: Ben

  I know that Heros are supposed to be the vain ones, but I swear, there is no Hero who can take longer to get ready for a social event than Pedro Arragon. Put him with Claudio Florentine, and you’re lucky if you ever leave the room.

  The three of us met an hour before the dance was supposed to start at Claudio’s. Pedro came dressed to the nines already, in black wool trousers, a maroon dress shirt and a silver tie with a black leather jacket. He brought with him a suitcase full of clothes and other stuff with him. One of his suitcases from our trip to Europe! One of the big ones.

  I went over to lift it, thinking that it must not be as heavy as it looked. Well, it was heavier than it looked. It must have weighed more than a hundred pounds. Claudio carried the suitcase upstairs using one hand, without any hard breathing. I’m sure I was helpful, walking right behind him, ready to tumble down the stairs with him and break his fall.

  “What is in here, anyway?” I asked, when we got to the stop.

  “Everything,” said Pedro. “Well, everything I thought we’d need to get ready for a school dance. Luckily it’s not too formal.”

  You’d think I’d have gotten used to this in Europe, but I didn’t. “You’re not even a Hero,” I pointed out. I always thought that it was the Hero clan who had the corner of the vanity market.

  Pedro looked me up and down. “The Heros don’t have to work at beauty. They get it with their magic. The rest of us have to compensate for that in other ways.”

  “Or not,” I said, looking down at myself. I was wearing a pair of jeans that I got at the local superstore. They fit me well and were nicely faded by now. I had on a T-shirt with the words “Every time you use the truth spell, an angel gets his wings.” Yeah, it’s a lame shirt, but I thought it was funny just for that reason. I’d combed my hair that morning, but I hadn’t done anything else.

  “I’ll get to you after Claudio,” said Pedro, wrinkling his nose at me.

  “I don’t need any help. Really, I’m fine.”

  “And that’s what the problem is with you, Ben. You think you’re fine when you look like that.”

  Gee, thanks. Pedro sure knows how to build up an ego.

  Claudio looked like he had been tearing out his hair all afternoon. It was standing on end and he tried to press it down while looking in the mirror, which made it even worse.

  “I’ll fix it, don’t worry,” said Pedro, and he opened up the suitcase. In addition to about ten pairs of shoes, various clothing items, four hats, and about a hundred bottles of cologne, he had gel, mousse, and a hairdryer.

  “Hair last,” he said to Claudio. He started stacking shirts up on Claudio’s bed until he came to one that was a fine, silky green.

  He held it up to Claudio’s face, stepped back, squinted, then shook his head. “Wrong shade.”

  He tossed it aside, then at the last minute, picked it back up and held it up to me. “Hmm, a possibility,” he said. “Later.”

  In a few minutes, Claudio was dressed in tight black jeans and a white shirt with a faint vertical yellow stripe. The collar was up and Pedro had decided against a scarf. “That should do.”

  I looked at my watch. Maybe we wouldn’t be late, after all.

  In another ten minutes, Claudio’s hair was finished and I have to say, he did look impressive. Not that I’m the one you’d ask about something like that. But I think that he would be attractive to Sarah Hero, once she saw him out there.

  “So we’re almost done,” I said hopefully.

  Pedro turned around and looked at me. “That was the easy part,” he said. “Now we have to work on you.”

  “But I don’t matter,” I protested. “I’m sure I’ll be fine in whatever.”

  “If you look sloppy, it will change her opinion of Claudio here. And we don’t want that,” said Pedro.

  “But it will make him look better by comparison,” I argued. “Won’t it?”

  “Not if we never get to the comparison,” said Pedro. He held out the green shirt and a pair of black trousers with a neat crease down the front of each leg.

  “Seriously?” I said. “I’ll look like I’m trying to be a movie star.”

  “You could use a little more trying,” said Pedro.

  So I put on the trousers and the shirt. I hated th
em both. The fabrics were silky and they slipped all over my skin. I looked at myself in the mirror and shook my head. “I’m not wearing these,” I said, and started taking them off.

  “Give them a chance. Let me do your hair,” said Pedro. “You might get used to them.”

  That was what I was afraid of. I took them off.

  “Fine,” said Pedro. In the end, he found me a pair of dark wash, boot cut jeans and a plain black T-shirt with a tweed jacket.

  I rolled the sleeves of the jacket up to the elbow, and that was our compromise. I checked my watch and realized that with all the changes and arguing, I had taken twice as long to get dressed as Claudio had. My hair still wasn’t done and we were going to be late.

  “It will look like we’re too eager if we get there on time,” Pedro said. “We have to have the confidence to go late, and assume people will be waiting for us.”

  So I drummed my fingers against the jeans while Pedro fiddled with my hair. It made me want to cut it all off. I usually just combed through it, and what was wrong with that? Pedro put mousse on it and then fluffed it up. When I looked at it, I thought I might as well have gone to bed on it. “Is that the way it’s supposed to be?” I asked.

  “Casual,” said Pedro. “And a little wild. I think that’s right for you, Ben.”

  “Can we go now?” I got out my keys.

  “Wait a minute,” said Pedro. “I want to see you two dance. To make sure you don’t embarrass me. Or any girl who is in a ten foot circle around you.”

  “You’ve seen us dance before,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

  “Yeah, but this time Claudio’s love life is on the line. Right, Claudio?” Pedro asked.

  “Please, Ben. It’s important,” said Claudio.

  I stared at him, and then at Pedro. Was there something going on here that I didn’t know about? I sighed. “Fine. Turn on some music.”

  Claudio got out his i-pod and chose a playlist. It was about right for a school dance. Pop-ish songs instead of anything interesting, and really annoying lyrics about sappy love and people doing stupid stuff for it.