My Life as the Ugly Stepsister

“We will if we have to. I’ll crawl through the woods with you if it comes to that.” Please, God, I prayed. Don’t let it come to that.

Caroline called on my cell soon after. It was the first time she’d ever called me.

“Hey,” I said, plopping down on my bed beside Mojo.

“I’m so sorry I missed you, Ally. But I know you’re glad your mom is back.”

“Yeah. I did miss her.”

“So now I don’t have to babysit Mojo while you go to the lock-in? Because Liam asked me out for pizza after the game.”

“Oh, right. Yeah. I guess you don’t need to worry. I probably shouldn’t go to the lock in anyway with my mother just getting home.”

“You cannot miss it, Ally. It’s your chance to spend some time with Jonathan.”

“I know, but there will be other chances. Mom wants to go see a movie.”

“Did you even tell her?”

“No.” She’d had a hard week.

“You should tell her.”

“Thanks, Caroline. I appreciate it and all, but I really think it would hurt her feelings.”

“I think she should know.”

Mom walked in so I lowered my voice. “Thanks for calling, Caroline. And again, I’m sorry I’m missing you cheer tomorrow.”

She growled, but said, “Talk to you later, Ally.”

Mom has a pensive expression. “Do you want to go to her football game, honey? It’s okay if you do.”

“No. I’ll catch her next week. It’s not like it’s something that only happens once a year or something.” Like the lock in.

Mom came to watch soccer practice on Friday. I thought it was really going above and beyond. I mean, our practices were pretty dull.

MC and Madison were disappointed about the lock-in.

“You guys can still go.”

MC shook her head. “Not if you won’t be there.”

“Plus, we don’t even know if Dave or Colin will come.” Madison had a point.

Mom let me jump in the shower, and then we headed out to dinner. We were almost to Chili’s when she got a call.

A strange call.

“Hello,” my mother answered.

Then, she said, “Oh, hi. Uh huh.”

After a few minutes of listening, she said, “Yes, dear. Okay, thank you for calling.”

“What’s up?” I asked after she disconnected.

“I’m not really in the mood for Chili’s after all. How about we just run through a Subway?”

Mom was always in the mood for Chili’s. “Are you sick or something?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“You aren’t leaving me again, are you? Was that Donald apologizing for the freaky jewelry?”

“No. You are safe. I promise. Now let’s grab some Subway.”

I was chewing my sandwich when she said, “I don’t think I really want to see a movie. Let’s just order something on Pay-per-view.”

I nearly choked trying to swallow a half-chewed bite. “Mother, what is wrong with you? Who called? I know something’s wrong!”

“Nothing is wrong!” She rolled her eyes. “I wanted to wait until we got home to tell you this, but if you’re going to push me…There’s been a change of plans for tonight. I’m watching a sappy movie on Pay-per-view, and you are going to that lock-in.”

My jaw dropped. “You know about the lock-in? Who called? Madison? Or MC?”

“Actually, it was your stepsister.”

“Caroline!” I didn’t think Mom had ever spoken to her before. “She called you.”

“She was very nice and polite. She just said she thought you shouldn’t miss out and she didn’t think I’d want you to if I knew what was going on.”

I clenched my fist. “I told her—”

“She’s right, Ally. I don’t want you to miss it. You had these plans, and you should go. I promise, I’ll make you my slave tomorrow night. You’ll have to let me choose everything we do.”

I relented. “If you’re sure…”

“Now about this lock-in. I want to talk to someone at the door and verify the number of chaperones.”

That sounded more like my mother. “No problem,” I said. “It’s a church, Mother. They aren’t going to host an orgy.”

“Allison Margaret Wright!”

“What? I got an A on my report on ancient Greece in sixth grade.”

I tried calling Jonathan when I got back home, but he didn’t answer. He probably had already left for the lock-in. MC and Madison didn’t answer either. I called Caroline.

“You have to go with me now,” I informed her. “I’m not going alone!”

“Can’t, Ally,” she said. “But I’m glad you aren’t mad at me. Besides you aren’t going alone. You’re going with Jonathan.”

“I can’t get him to answer. He doesn’t even know I’m coming.”

I could almost see her shrug through the phone. “So, you’ll find him when you get there.”

“Thanks for nothing,” I said.

“Love you too,” Caroline said.

I disconnected and found Mom. She had pulled an old sleeping bag out of the closet. “There was a Barbie one in there too, but I figured you didn’t want that one.”

“Uh, no!”

Mom grinned. “This one should work.”

I toted the navy blue, nondescript sleeping bag to the car along with a backpack.

“What’s in there?” Mom asked.

“Cell phone, iPod, book for when I’m totally ignored.”

“You should probably take some change for soft drinks.”

“Good idea,” I said. Then I spent the next hour trying on everything I owned.

“How’s this?” I asked Mom after I threw on my new sweater and jeans.

“You look great. But aren’t you going to be in a hot gym? You don’t want to sweat all night.”

I was already pulling off my sweater. She was so right.

Finally, I settled on jeans and a cute little top. The bright blue brought out the green in my eyes, and the cut flattered my figure. Well, as much as anything could.

“Perfect,” Mom said when I came into the living room.

Mom dropped me at the door of the church’s gym. A guy with a clipboard took her name, my name, and an emergency phone number. Then he checked my backpack.

He pointed to the iPod and cell. “These are all

owed. Just so you know, they’ll probably get stolen.”

“It’s worth the risk,” I said.

Then, he said to my mother, “We don’t let them out for any reason. If she gets sick, we’ll need you to come get her. You’ll have to bring photo ID. Otherwise, she can be picked up in the morning at ten.”

Mom nodded. Then, she said to me, “Have fun.”

I stalled for a second, tempted to jump back in the car.

The guy waved his clipboard toward the door. “Go on in. There might be some pizza left.”

“Thanks,” I said. Then I walked into the building, bracing myself.

Chapter Fourteen

Sometimes you have to take chances, even if you’d rather go play in traffic.

–Ally’s Brutal Teen Truths

There was a hall outside the gym with various rooms. The noise from the gym indicated that it was the place to be. I peeked in, feeling like a total loser and wishing I knew somebody. A bunch of guys were running up and down the court playing b-ball. I didn’t let myself look long enough to determine if Jonathan was there. Instead, I went back out and found a pile of sleeping bags along the wall. I ditched mine with the others, immediately feeling less conspicuous. I walked down the hall and found a kitchen and a game room, both fairly crowded. I didn’t recognize a soul.

I found the girls’ bathroom and checked out the facilities.

Having stalled as long as possible, I went back to the gym. I entered through the door by the bleachers and sat as quickly as I could. There were a half dozen groups of people scattered around the bleachers. Most of the groups were girls, but there were some guys. A few guys were sitting out but had obviously been playing and were waiting for their turn. Jonathan, who I’d finally located, was among the group of guys running up and down the court. He passed the ball to another guy on the red team and they scored.

It sounded like a herd of elephants with ten guys running at full speed to the other end of the court. Apparently, I should have added ear-plugs to my backpack.

I didn’t want to look like some dork drooling over the players, so I started checking out the groups of people. Maybe I’d get lucky and find someone I knew. The only person I spotted was Haley. She was hanging all over some guy, still wearing her cheerleading uniform. A movie with my mother was sounding better and better.