And like that, the conversation was over. I had nothing to worry about. it was just going to be an evening with two classmates catching a concert. Nothing more.

Diane looked like she was going to be sick.

"Everything is going to be okay," I did my best to reassure her.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God." She paced the hallway, her hands rolled up in tight fists.

Tracy and I exchanged worried looks.

Diane slouched down on the floor. "What was I thinking?"

I sat down next to her. Tracy moved a few feet away with Jen to give us privacy.

"Diane." I put my arm around her, "I can't get over how much you've changed the past few weeks -- you should be proud. No matter what happens."

We looked up to see Coach Ramsey open the gymnasium doors and slowly walk toward the bulletin board. A group of girls opened up a narrow passage for her and quickly closed up once she'd posted a single sheet of paper.

"Do you want me to look?" I asked.

Diane looked up as several girls started jumping up and down, cheering. Tracy walked over and scanned the list. Coach Ramsey walked past us on her way back to the gym, paused, and turned around.

"Welcome to the team, Monroe."

Diane's eyes widened. "You mean . .."

"Of course you made the team.'" Tracy could no longer contain herself. "You made the flippin' varsity squad, Diane!

Diane jumped up and rushed over to the bulletin board and studied the team list.

"I... I..." She turned back toward us. "I did it! Holy crap, I did it!" She rushed over and engulfed me in a giant hug.

"Congratulations, we all knew you could do it!" I was practically screaming, I was so excited for her. "All right, guys, you can come over now!"

A screaming mob with "Congratulations, Diane" signs came rushing from around the corner.

"What's going on?" Diane said in shock.

"You didn't want there to be a big scene in case you didn't make the team, but of course everybody wanted to be here for you."

Laura proudly displayed her "Way to Go, Diane" sign and quickly flipped it over to reveal another option: "Screw 'em, they don't know what they're missing." Laura winked at Diane, "Hey, a girl's gotta be prepared!"

Diane was swarmed by well-wishers, including the rest of her team members.

Tracy put her arm around me. "Our little baby is all grown up! Did you ever imagine this could've happened?" Tracy asked.

I shook my head.

Not even in my wildest dreams.

"Extra! Extra! Read all about us!" Meg greeted me at my locker between classes on Monday and handed me a copy of the McKinley Monitor.

I grabbed the paper, and my eyes went straight to the headline about the Club and a picture of us that was on the front page.

"Oh, I didn't realize it was so big," I remarked as I tried to not have a panic attack.

I raced to the girls' bathroom, checked the stalls to make sure I was alone, and sat down. it was all pretty much the standard story that I fell was already getting pretty old . . . until we got to the end.

Rumors about the Club have been swirling the last few weeks, especially among the males at McKinley.

"All that estrogen in one place can't be good, "said junior Todd, Chesney. "I just think all this no-dating stuff is a bunch of crap."

"I really haven't seen too much of a change in the chicks at school, except that they are a little too busy to hang," adds senior Derek Simpson.

Despite some concerns of the male population at McKinley, the Lonely Hearts Club doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

"I'm really excited to see what happens next, "said Bloom. "there really doesn't seem to be an end in sight."

One thing is for sure. this reporter looks forward to her standing date every Saturday night, thanks to Penny Bloom and her lonely heart.

I just stared at the last words:

Penny Bloom and her lonely heart.

My stomach tightened as the realization sank in that the entire school was going to read this. the entire school

What were people going to think of me after this got around?

Chapter twenty three

I FELT LIKE I'D BEEN CUT open. I was exposed. So I guess it was fitting to be in Bio class dissecting our pig, when my quiet punk-rock lab partner Tyson said, "Um , . . Penny. There's something, urn, I wanted to talk to you about." He leaned back on the chair and stared at his hands. "Um, I read about that club of yours in the paper. is it true that you can't date anybody if you're in it?"

"Well, yes, but there's more to the Club than that," I replied.

For the first time ever, Tyson looked me directly in the eyes. "You know, not every guy in this school is a jerk."

I was taken aback, "I don't think ..."

He tucked his hair behind his ears, "Maybe some of us deserve a chance."

I began to nod slowly.

"You know, it's really hard for a guy to get up the courage to ask a girl out."

I looked down at the table, not sure what to say next.

"I was finally going to do it -- and then I read the article. Now it's useless, because Morgan can't even go on a date."

My jaw dropped open, and I turned around to where Morgan and her lab partner were reading from the syllabus.

"Don't look!" Tyson said sharply, sinking down in his seat.

Oh. My, God.