Speed Dating Read Free

and caught it in his mouth. He was lanky and handsome, his black hair poking
     off his head in short, stiff spikes.
    Lina, medium-tall, slim, and athletic, had straight, shiny black hair and a pretty oval face. “How could anyone figure it
     out?” she said. “I changed our names. Maybe I should have said you have sisters instead of brothers, to throw people off a
     little. But, still—I don’t think anyone will guess.”
    “It’s just a little embarrassing,” Walker said. “All that neck-licking and all. It’s personal.”
    “I don’t mean to make it so personal,” Lina said. “I’m just trying to write about the state of mind of everyone at school.
     You know, the zeitgeist. I’m thinking of submitting these columns for the
Crier’s
summer internship.” The
Carlton Bay Crier
was a local newspaper. “They only take one high school student a year, so it’s pretty competitive. But I think I can show
     how well I can write and cover student concerns if I publish a regular column on the Dating Game.”
    “Why don’t you just use your clips from the school paper?” Walker asked.
    “Sports? Badminton Smackdown? I don’t know. Somehow it doesn’t seem substantial enough.”
    “And describing our dates is?”
    “That’s not
all
I’m going to write about,” Lina said.“You’ll see. Anyway, Autumn is applying for the internship too, and she’s using
her
blog for clips.” Autumn Nelson was a fellow tenth grader whose blog, Nuclear Autumn, was a school must-read. “I’m afraid
     my sports stories will seem bland next to her, um, colorful self-expression.”
    “You mean, totally self-indulgent whining sprinkled with mean-spirited gossip?” Walker said. “Come on, Lina.”
    “Well,” Lina said, “the
Crier
only has one spot for a high school student, and writers from other schools are applying, too. It’s a tough world out there.
     I’m going to do whatever it takes.”
    “Okay,” Walker said. “As long as I can pretend I don’t know anything about it.”
    “Be my guest,” Lina said.
    “So who are Tess and Peter?” Autumn asked. She and her friend Rebecca Hulse uncharacteristically descended upon Lina, Holly,
     and Mads at lunchtime that afternoon. To Lina’s surprise, Mood Swing was the buzz of the school. “Anyone we know? Obviously
     we must know them, if you know them and they go to this school.”
    “What difference does it make?” Lina said. “The important thing is the point I was trying to get across, the message I was
     trying to send to the boys—”
    “I’ve got to find out who Peter is,” Rebecca said. “Iwant a boy who licks cotton candy off my neck. Whoever that Tess is, she’d better look out. I’m going to swipe that boy of
     hers away.”
    Lina blanched, then recovered. Her identity was still safe. For now. Mads and Holly were in on the secret, but besides Walker,
     that was it. “You know, I might have exaggerated that whole thing, just a little. And how do you know Tess wasn’t exaggerating
     when she told me? Maybe the truth was he saw a little sticky stuff on her neck and wiped it off. End of story. No need for
     people to go around swiping other people’s boyfriends.” Rebecca—slim, blond, and glamorous—made Lina nervous. No one would
     want Rebecca to zero in on her boyfriend. She’d be a formidable rival.
    “Well, you said it yourself,” Rebecca said. “This place is a desert.” She was on the outs with her boyfriend, David Kim. “No
     water for miles around, and I’m thirsty!”
    “I know how to fix that,” Mads said. “Come to the Speed Dating party.”
    “Oh, yeah, I saw that on your blog,” Autumn said. “Do you really think you can learn enough about a guy in six minutes to
     decide if you want to go out with him or not?”
    “We’ll find out,” Holly said. “It’s an experiment. And I don’t mind being a guinea pig.”
    “Everybody knows
you’re
up for anything, Holly,”Rebecca said. “The question is, is it