Warning: Contains Spoilers!!! This is a recap blog which means I read the book and tell you everything that happens so you don't have to read it yourself. Do NOT continue to read unless you want to know which girl acted like a bitch for 90% of the book this time.
Tag Line: Two boys are twice the fun....and twice the trouble. (Well, that's awful.)From the Back of the Book: Boys have feelings too. Jane Barrett is in real trouble - boy trouble. If Neal isn't sending her flowers from Boston, then Cary, a local student, is asking her for a date. Jane's friends can't believe Neal and Cary don't know about each other, but Jane can't find a way to tell them. Jane's roommates are no comfort at all. Andy, wrapped up in tryouts for the school musical, thinks Jane is being dishonest. Toby, busy with tennis lessons, doesn't realize there's a problem. But when Neal visits Canby Hall, Jane can no longer hide the truth. Will she lose both boys when they find out about each other?
This book was published in 1986. I don't know if I read it back in the day. I read most of them but occasionally didn't have the allowance saved up to buy one when it came out. The cover doesn't look familiar at all. Speaking of the cover.....that can't be Cary. Jane described him last book as having the longest hair she's ever seen on a boy. If that's the longest hair she's ever seen on a boy, she's led an extremely narrow existence. I'm guessing the cover artists have the same continuity disease that the ghost writers suffer from. Also, do the artists think that every person from Texas continually wears a cowboy hat? This is getting ridiculous.
The author
of this book was not credited on the copyright page. I googled until
my fingers fell off, but I couldn't find out which Ghostie wrote this
book. For some reason, this frustrated me to no end.
We begin with one of our three
protagonists – Toby Houston. She has the duty of reviewing
with us the events that happened in the first book and her life
before Canby Hall. In case you forgot: she's a cowgirl from Texas
who likes to be outside, the girls didn't get along at all at first,
they put on a big happy-roommate show for Andy's family, Toby tried
to run away and then everything was solved in about two paragraphs
and the girls are now the best of friends.
Toby also reminds us of Randy
Crowell who suffers from some kind of age disturbance. She tells
us that he's four years older which would make him 19 except he
clearly said he was 20 last book and three or four books ago he was
23. I wish I lived in this universe where I could be any age I chose
that day. She's headed out to his ranch to see him but when she gets
there, he's nowhere to be found and she's bitterly disappointed.
Now we hop over to our second
protagonist – Andy Cord. She's tasked with reviewing the
décor of the room. Needlepoint bedspread and Persian rug for Jane,
modern earth-tone stripes for Andy and army blanket for Toby. She
also mentions Toby's tea bag which still hasn't been explained.
Having caught us up on the room again, she changes into a leotard and
begins stretching while reading her English Lit assignment.
Jane Barrett comes in and the
two girls discuss the Toby/Randy situation for a bit. Toby has a
huge crush on Randy but Randy thinks she's too young for him. Maybe
she just needs some of his age morphing beef jerky and all will be
well.
Andy tells Jane that she's going to
audition for the holiday musical and Jane says she'll be there to
cheer Andy on. Andy can barely think of anything else. She hopes to
be a prima ballerina someday and she sees this as a first step to
achieving that dream. She's reaching a bit but I think it's exactly what a real teenager would think, so no snark from me.
Someone comes to their door to tell
them that their phone is apparently out of order and Jane has a phone
call downstairs. Jane's whole being lights up thinking it's Cary
but then she hears it's long distance which means that it's Neal
and she dims. Andy reviews Cary for us as well – long brown hair,
earring, punk clothes, leather jacket. You know.....EXACTLY like the
guy on the cover. {sarcasm}
We jump into Toby's head for a few
paragraphs. She's still hanging around Randy's ranch. She hears
hammering and realizes there's work being done on the new stables so
she decides to check that out. One of the workers recognizes her and
tells her that Randy has gone to play tennis with a friend. Toby
thinks it's pretty astounding that anyone would choose to play tennis
when they could be riding a horse but the worker tells her that
Randy's really good at it and he enjoys playing on the rare days that
he has a little free time. As she heads back to the dorms, she
thinks about taking up tennis so she and Randy can spend more time
together.
Back with Jane, she hangs up the phone
right as Dee and Maggie walk by. They are the
roommates from the next room over in case you don't remember them.
Dee asks if something is wrong and Jane replies that Neal was upset
that she didn't want to go home to Boston that weekend. Neal had
scored some concert tickets and he wanted Jane to go but she turned
him down. I don't know what reason she gave Neal, but everyone knows
she turned him down to go out with Cary instead. Everyone except
Neal anyway. Dee asks what Neal thinks of her dating Cary and Jane
acts shocked at the suggestion that Neal would know. When she tells
Dee that Cary is a secret that Neal would never understand, Dee gets
extremely judgmental and calls Jane a liar right to her face. Jane yells
that Dee doesn't know what she's talking about but Dee's 100% right.
Jane owes it to poor Neal.....and Cary....to straighten this out.
I hate cheaters and this school (and
series) is full of them.
Back in the room, Jane complains to
Andy about Dee poking her nose in everyone's business. Andy points
out that Jane isn't really being fair to anyone by keeping Cary a
secret. Jane replies that things are different in Boston. I guess I
should keep my ass out of that city. She says that everyone expects her to be Neal's girlfriend because everyone expects them to get married someday. She can't just break up with him because it will destroy so many lives. None
of this makes much sense to Andy....or me....because we live in America where arranged marriages are pretty much a thing of the past and people generally choose their own life-mate.
We briefly land in Toby's head where
she tells us that she's going to talk to the tennis coach at Canby
the next day about joining the tennis team. That was fast. This Randy must be all kinds of delicious since a few pages ago she couldn't even imagine wanting to play tennis over riding.
The next day, Toby skips out of study
hall to go talk to the tennis coach. She sees Dee playing and then
runs into Gigi (Jane's former roommate and awful-est girl at Canby
Hall). She describes Gigi as having big hips and wearing way too
much makeup. So she must be pure evil, yo. We all know big hips and
heavy eyeliner are signs of satan. Too late Toby realizes that PA (the
headmaster) is also at the courts and she's spotted before she can
retreat. PA knows she not in the class. Apparently she has class
schedules for hundreds and hundreds of students committed completely
to her formidable memory. Toby admits that she skipped class and PA
tells her to use proper channels and make an appointment to talk to
the coach so she isn't interrupting instruction time.
Andy, meanwhile, has a serious case of
butterflies thinking about the audition. She finally calls home to
talk to her parents. She says she doesn't have a chance at a lead
role because she'll be the only “black face in the place” which
makes me cringe a little. I wonder if all the ghost writers were
instructed to make Andy say all the borderline offensive things or if
they just do it naturally on their own. Her father soothes and
reassures her. He's a supportive parent and it's nice to read after
being stuck in Point Horror land for so long where parents regularly
leave their teenagers in strange houses to jet around Europe.
Later that evening, Toby and Andy are
both moping around the room when Jane gets back. She asks them
what's wrong and Toby goes first. The tennis coach is too busy
preparing her team for a fall tournament to take on beginner lessons.
Jane solves that problem by telling Toby that the rec center in
Greenleaf offers lessons and the coach is supposed to be really good.
Andy takes her turn and says she called her father at prime long
distance rates just because she needed a pep talk and now she feels
guilty and stupid about it. Jane waves that away too. She reminds
Andy that her parent's are over-invested in her and her dad was
probably super excited to pep talk her up no matter how much it cost.
Audition day comes and Andy does well.
She's called back for the second audition and she's elated. She
won't be happy with anything but the lead role (even though she told us a few pages ago that she knows she won't get it). She gets hella
miffed when Jane mentions that a second audition means Andy will at
least get to dance in the chorus. Doesn't Jane know that Andy is WAY
too good to ever dance in the chorus?
Jane has her own issues. Cary invites
her to the Harvest Moon dance at Oakley Prep on the same day as the
Fall Dance at Neal's school. She accepts Cary and turns down Neal
which pisses him off to no end. She tells Maggie about it and then
doesn't like the look on Maggie's face. Jane laments that no one is
even trying to see her side of the story. She can't just break up
with Neal when they've been a couple since birth. Their parents have
expectations and no one seems to understand that.
I could rant and rave about this and
that would probably be pretty entertaining for you guys, but I'm going to be
compassionate instead. Make no mistake, I can't abide a cheater.
It's disrespectful and selfish and cruel. But I can feel compassion
for a person who feels like she's trapped with no way out.
I believe that Jane believes what she's
saying about not being able to break things off with Neal because it
will crush not only Neal, but both sets of parents as well. It's sad
that she thinks she has to stay with someone she has no romantic
feelings for in order to please other people. She's setting herself
and Neal up for a pretty terrible life. It's an awful situation
she's created in her head but it doesn't justify what she's doing.
If she believes it that much, the right thing to do is break it off
with Cary. She's only going to end up hurting everyone involved and
I don't believe that's her intention at all. Which is why I can
muster up some compassion. Believe me, if I didn't think she felt
awful about all of this, I would have been VERY entertaining just
now.
The next morning Toby is up and gone
before the alarms go off. Jane gets right up but Andy just stays in
bed and whines for awhile about how nervous she is and how she can't
endure another day of auditions. Jane kind of ignores her or tries
to change the subject by talking about the weather and wondering
where Toby has gone so early. Andy snaps at her that all Jane cares
about is Jane and Jane retorts that she can say the same thing about
Andy. Jane stomps off to the dining hall and Andy manages to drag
herself to the showers.
Toby comes back to the room while Andy
is moping about having nothing to wear and not being able to borrow
anything from her roommates because they absolutely suck at fashion.
I'm slowly beginning to hate this girl. Toby asks if Jane is at
breakfast and Andy seethes that Jane is a terrible friend who only
cares about herself. Toby gently reminds Andy that Jane not only
listened to all their problems the day before but that she offered
solutions and comfort. She reminds Andy that Jane is not her mother
and therefore not required to solve Andy's every problem. Andy turns
on Toby then, telling her that she has enough teachers to lecture
her and she doesn't need Toby's opinions. I don't think Toby gives a
fuck. As Andy stomps out, her thoughts turn to tennis which is not
going well for her.
The next morning, Jane apologizes to
Andy for not being 100% about Andy. Andy says apologies don't fix
Jane being selfish and she wants Jane to care about her problems.
Jane bristles and says Andy doesn't care about her problems either.
Andy counters that it's impossible to care about Jane's problems
because Jane created them herself.
Wow. I'm starting to wonder why I
loved these books. These people are pretty hard to root for.
Jane is in the wrong here and her reasoning makes
zero sense to anyone except Jane, but the fact remains that
Jane believes she is doing the only thing she can do. She's
wrong. And headed down a road that's going to hurt a lot of people.
And I hate what she's doing but I can't imagine talking to a friend
the way Andy just talked to Jane. Even a cheater friend. To be honest, a lot of the
problems we as humans have are problems we have created ourselves.
It's part of that whole not being perfect thing. I try to remember
that most people are doing the best they can with the skills they
have at the time. Sometimes their best looks pretty damn bad to the
rest of us but that doesn't change the fact that it's their best.
Jane again says that no one is even
trying to understand her point of view. Andy snottily says she has
15 minutes so Jane might as well try to explain it again. Jane
repeats that her parents and Neal's parents have expectations and
it's just not easy to disappoint everyone all at once. But she's
afraid Neal might love her and she definitely doesn't love him so
everything is awful. Andy tells her that she's too worried about the
parents. Their expectations are not Jane's duty and Andy's right
here. Jane has to live her life for herself or she'll never be
happy. Andy suggests she write Neal a letter. She tells Jane not to
call because Neal will be too shocked to process things correctly.
If he has a letter, he can read it until it makes sense. This seems
completely backwards from any break-up procedure I've ever heard.
Usually people insist it has to be done in person or at least on the
phone and NOT in a letter.
Jane is attempting to write the Dear
Neal letter when Toby comes back from her lesson. Toby says she
sucks at tennis but she's not giving up. Jane realizes she hasn't
seen Toby study or do her homework for several days. Before she can
get back to her letter, a beautiful bouquet of flowers are delivered.
Neal sent them, of course, because he subliminally knows that Jane's
trying to write him a kiss off.
At the audition, the director announces
that they are going to do an exciting opera ballet written and
choreographed by some pretty prestigious people and that
representatives from the Boston press might even be there on opening
night. Andy immediately dreams of being the lead and getting
accepted into a prominent ballet academy. She dances through the
first set and is called on stage for the second. She thinks this
means that she's close to getting the starring role but then learns
that the second set was for the members of the chorus. The lead has
gone to a talented senior (Ari) who has participated in the musicals all four years she's been at
Canby.
Andy decides that talent and seniority
mean nothing. She knows she didn't get the part because she's black.
She watches Ari dance and admits
that she's flawless but still seethes. There were no black guys
auditioning and she's sure that the director didn't want to have a
black Sleeping Beauty dancing opposite a white Prince. She wonders
how to tell her father that the school they picked so carefully is
completely racist. She's sure he'll know that's the reason she
didn't get the lead role so hiding it from him will be useless.
For days following the audition, Andy
is overly-sensitive and easily-offended. Toby and Jane are walking
on eggshells around her but she's still snapping at them constantly.
Neal is sending Jane flowers every day and Andy never misses an
opportunity to bitch about the flowers taking up space and chastise Jane for not
breaking up with Neal.....or Cary. She tells them her theory about
the racist director and Jane and Toby are troubled by the idea. They
talk to Maggie who bluntly says it isn't the case. Ari has more stage presence and more experience on top of being just as
good if not better at ballet than Andy. She won the role fair and
square and there was no racism involved.
The fall season makes Toby miss her
father and the ranch even more. She thinks constantly about what she
would be doing if she were home and the memories get her down. She
thinks it's ironic that she started tennis lessons to see more of
Randy but she hasn't seen him at all because she's been practicing so
much. One evening she asks Jane to walk into town with her. She has
a lesson and doesn't want to go alone in the dark. Jane demurs at
first because she hasn't finished her homework yet, but the thought
of hanging out with Cary for an hour in the diner changes her mind.
Cary is happy to see her and asks her
to sit at the counter so he can talk to her between orders. She
enjoys watching him charm the customers. Sometimes they seem uneasy
initially with his long hair and earring (the horror!!!) but his smile wins them over
every single time. She thinks about how much she likes the smile but
how she likes it more when he's serious and broody. Me too, Jane.
Me too.
Between orders they talk about the
upcoming dance. Cary is excited for her to hear the “new sound”
Ambulance has been working up. He says it's a “departure” from
their usual brand of rock. I hope this doesn't mean the ghost writer
has been writing lyrics again.
The diner door opens and Gigi enters
with a gaggle of friends. She sees Jane at the counter and comes
over. Loudly she announces that they all had to leave Baker House
because Jane's boyfriend has sent so many flowers the entire building
smells like a funeral parlor. Cary gives Jane a surprised look that
quickly changes to anger. She wishes she could explain but she has
to wait for him to get another free moment.
Cary comes over and asks her why she
hasn't told him about this other guy. She says she didn't have the
chance but he calls her out on that lie. She's had plenty of chances
but just didn't do it. She tells him that it's Neal who she
described as an old friend in the last book. Cary asks if Neal knows
about him and she says again that she hasn't had the chance to tell
Neal. Cary is angry and she begs him to talk to her without the
audience they're gathering in the diner. He says he'll talk to her
again when she tells Neal about him. Which is fair. Jane pays for her drink and
leaves.
Maggie spends a few paragraphs singing
the praises of the old girls (Dana, Faith and Shelley).
She tells us what they're all doing now and how perfect and
successful they all are and how great their friendships are with
each other. Its super annoying. This series seems to have major hero worship for the old trio. It makes you wonder why they stopped writing for them and had them graduate. What's the use of having new girls when the old girls are mentioned ad nauseam in every. single. book?
Andrea is resentful and sullen during
rehearsals. She enjoys the dance but hates how the director is
always screaming at her to smile. You know, like it's her JOB to
look pleasant or something. Sheesh. It's not like she's playing a
character in a musical or anythi........oh yeah. Right.
Toby returns after practice to find a
note in her box requesting she come up to Alison's room for a talk.
Toby is nervous but when
Alison brings up Toby's tardiness, absences and falling grades, she
just shrugs. She tells Alison she's been busy practicing tennis but
she'll get caught up when winter comes and she can't use the courts
anymore. Alison tells Toby that she's in danger of not being asked
back to Canby after the semester ends and Toby promises to do better.
Alison suggests she cut tennis back to once or twice a week and Toby
agrees without intending to change her schedule at all. Tennis is
more important. She needs to make Randy like her somehow and she's
decided this is how.
Faulty logic at its finest. How will
she see Randy to play tennis with him if she gets kicked out of
school for bad grades?
In the end it doesn't matter because, despite her internal protests, Toby does cut tennis out to focus on school. I love how this book has character think one thing and do another thing entirely.
That evening, Jane's mom Gloria
calls the room. I thought the phone was broken? It was a few
chapters ago. I guess it got fixed. Gloria is pissed about Jane's
letter to Neal. Apparently Neal came and told her about it and then
his mother came over to talk about it. Everyone is extremely upset.
Gloria insists that she apologize to Neal and stop all this nonsense
about another boy. The Worthingtons and Barretts have been connected
for generations and Neal is one of them. There's no way this other
boy could possibly be one of them.
Except that he is. We already know he
belongs to an extremely rich, extremely important family in the
Boston area. I guess Jane didn't mention names in her letter.
Jane hangs up miserable and leaves the
room without a word.
Time passes. Toby tries to refocus on
schoolwork but it's hard because she hasn't been paying attention in
class. Andy is still being a bitch to everyone and refusing to see
her race had no bearing on her casting. Jane is still miserable.
Her misery deepens when Mrs Worthington calls one evening. She tells
Jane how much Neal has missed her and that he's decided to visit her
on Saturday. She hopes Jane will make time for her precious boy.
It's horrible. What mother does that? Neal is a teenage boy and
should be handling things himself. This is just disgusting.
Dee and Toby come in and Jane explains
what's going on to them. Dee tells her the solution is simple:
contact Neal and tell him not to come. Technically she has a date
with Cary that night for the dance even if she's not sure it's still
on. Jane hems and haws and says she can't really do that because
Neal isn't good at taking hints and their mothers will be mad. Dee
asks her if she just intends to drag this out forever and Jane gets
snippy with her. Dee tells Jane that she deserves to have both Cary
and Neal dump her and then she exits the room with a flourish.
Andy adds her two cents and tells Jane
that she should try being honest with everyone. Then she also exits
with a flourish to shower. When everyone is gone, Toby gently asks
Jane what she'd like to do. Jane says she wants Neal to visit. She
considers him to be one of her best friends and she's hoping to show
him that they'll be better off as friends. She also wants to talk to
Cary and explain things to him and try to make him understand why she
felt like she had to do what she did. Andy returns by this time and
tells Jane if Jane is going to do the right thing by both boys, Andy
is willing to help her in any way she can. Jane makes the comment
that maybe Neal can come to the Oakley Prep dance with her and Cary
and now I think we have a Brother Husband thing going on. C'mon,
Jane, this isn't THAT kind of book.
Toby, continues to make a huge effort to
turn things around with her schoolwork in the upcoming days. She apologizes to her
teachers for slacking off and asks them what she can do to catch back
up. Her teachers want her to succeed so they point out the things
she needs to concentrate on. She buckles down and spends a good hunk
of time in the library studying and getting caught up.
Toby's my favorite in this book. I
think I shall award a Queen of the Book (kind of like the King of the
Lab in Bones). I should finish this one before I hand out the title,
though. She could still do something dumb like try to get poor Randy
drunk or something.
Jane decides she needs to go talk to
Cary and the only way she knows how to do that is to go to the diner.
Toby offers to walk to town with her because it's dark and Jane
shouldn't be alone. While Jane goes to the diner, Toby goes to the
library so she can study. Jane tries to talk to Cary but he is cold
and distant and refuses. I'm not sure what she expected after how she treated him. He has every right to be angry that she turned him into the "other guy". She tries to wait him out, thinking he
might change his mind, but he doesn't. She confronts him and tells
him that he's not being fair which is just the dumbest thing she
could have said considering how unfairly she's treated him. He says
as much to her and she gets mad and leaves. I keep telling myself
she's 15 and I can't judge her by my maturity standards but it's
hard.
Toby is such a good friend that she's
furious at Cary for making Jane cry. She thinks he isn't worth all
this turmoil and I punch her right in the mouth in my imagination.
Toby, Toby, Toby, Cary is wonderful. He has an earring. He plays
guitar. What is wrong with you? Anyway, the next day she is heading
back to the dorm after classes when she hears someone call her name.
Cary steps out from behind a tree and grabs her arm to halt her. Not
a fan of the grabbing, Cary. And after I just defended you. Sheesh.
He calls Toby “Texas” and says he wants to talk to her because
he can't find Jane. Toby snaps that Jane was right in front of his
face the day before and he looks remorseful and says he isn't proud
of how he acted.
Toby says she'll tell Jane he's looking
for her but that's it. They step inside Baker House's lobby and Toby
uses the house phone to call up to the room. When Jane answers, Toby
tells her that Cary wants to talk to her but she doesn't have to come
down if she doesn't want to. Jane, however, says she'll be right
down which irritates Toby a little. She really wants to see Cary
punished for his sins and I can't even be mad at that because it's
such a best friend thing to do. However, when she sees the look of
relief on Cary's face when Jane walks in the room, her anger leaves
and she wishes them peace before she hightails it out of Dodge.
Cary apologizes for being a dick the
night before and asks her if they can talk in his car where it's more
private. When they're alone, he tells her how hurt and jealous he
is. She explains about Neal and their parents and how she really
does see Neal as a friend even if no one else has gotten that message
yet. Then she tells Cary that Neal is coming up that weekend and
he's understandably upset by this. He tells Jane that if she really
thinks of Neal only as a friend, then she can get him a date and they
can double to the dance. She's shocked by this and he takes it as a
sign that she doesn't want Neal dating anyone else. He tells her to
think about it and make up her mind. He has to go to work now and
can't talk about it anymore. She's stunned when he leaves and
royally pissed at him, but honestly, I think he handled it better
than most guys would. And I'm not just saying that because I'm Team
Cary.
When Jane gets back up to the room,
she tells them about Cary's suggestion of the double date. Both Toby
and Andy think it's brilliant and apparently Jane is willing to give
it a go to prove that she's Team Cary too. She asks Toby if she'd be
willing to be Neal's date. The thought sends Toby into a panic. I
think Jane is forgetting how very naive Toby is when it comes to
guys. She's never had a boyfriend and her very first crush happened
just a book ago. Plus she believes Neal is from an entirely
different social stratosphere than she is. She tells Jane that she
has way too much schoolwork so Jane turns and asks Andy to do it.
Andy immediately says Neal probably wouldn't want to go with her and
the undercurrent is that he wouldn't want to date a black girl. Jane
is hurt that they won't help her.
Toby is miserable for the rest of the
day, feeling like she's let her friend down. She hears that one of
the activities that Jane has planned to keep Neal in the friend zone
is doubles tennis and that Maggie making the fourth. So.....who is
the third? It's Jane and Neal against Maggie? That seems wrong. Or
the girls against Neal? This makes no sense, ghost writer. Learn to
count. Toby decides to volunteer to take Maggie's place because
Maggie doesn't even play tennis. She feels like it's the least she
can do to help her friend. Jane is touched and gives Toby a big hug.
Saturday arrives and everyone is pretty
much in a tizzy. Toby is nervous about playing tennis for the first
time against actual people. Jane is nervous about having Neal
around. Maggie is nervous because Faith is coming to visit the
campus and she wants to see her more than she wants to breathe. She
has to go paint backdrops for the play, and she's certain that Faith
will want to visit her old room, so she makes the girls promise that
they'll tell Faith not to leave campus until she sees Maggie.
Jane meets Neal at the train station.
He hugs her tightly and then suggests they go get breakfast. Jane
doesn't want to go to the diner because that would be all kinds of
awful. They head toward one of the inns and Neal tells her to relax.
Everything is going to be okay. The only thing that would not be
okay is if they damage their friendship. Um....what? Is this the same boy that wants her back so much that he asked his Mommy to call and set up this play date? The same guy that sends her flowers every single day? That guy didn't seem like the kind to be satisfied with a mere friendship. Did he undergo a personality transplant on the train? Or does this damn town just alter everything it touches?
Toby is practically peeing her pants at
the thought of the tennis match. It doesn't get any better when she
arrives at the court and realizes that the fourth person that I
thought didn't exist is actually Randy.
Again......What?
Jane doesn't even KNOW Randy. How on
earth did she come to ask him to play with them? THIS MAKES NO
SENSE. Did she even know Randy played tennis? I don't think Toby
told her but I might be wrong. Still, wouldn't Jane have asked one
of her preppy friends?
Toby is so rattled by Randy that she
plays terribly for the first game. Then Gigi shows up with some
friends and begins heckling Toby. Toby gets so mad that she forgets
all about Randy and she starts playing the game in earnest. When
they're done, Randy asks her why she never told him she played. Jane
tells him that Toby just learned and Neal is flabbergasted that she
developed a game that tight in just a few weeks.
The boys walk the girls back to the
dorm and Toby finds Neal surprisingly easy to talk to. Well, to be
fair, Neal just talks about himself a lot but to Toby, he's
incredibly proper and sophisticated. She's a little star-struck by
his manners and bearing. She thinks he's like a British movie. It's
only when Randy tells her goodbye at Baker House that she realizes
she forgot he was there entirely. Randy tells Neal they can go back
to the ranch so Neal can change clothes. Jane tells Toby how proud
she is of Toby's tennis ability and how thankful she is that Toby
took time away from her homework to help Jane out. It's a nice
moment but Toby's mind is fully on Neal.
Sigh.
Andy is alone in the room when someone
knocks on the door. She opens the door to find “the best
looking young black woman she'd seen since leaving Chicago”
standing there. It really says that. I can't make up stuff that
bad. Faith asks if Maggie is around and Andrea invites her into the
room. Faith looks around, saying that she promised Dana and Shelley
a full report of their old room and the new people in it. Andy
suggests that they head to the auditorium to meet Maggie and Faith is
happy for the company across campus. She asks how Andy is liking the
school and Andy says it's fine except for the racism. Faith is
alarmed and asks for an example. Andy tells her that she didn't get
the role of Sleeping Beauty because she's black and Faith flat out
tells her that she must be mistaken. Which she totally IS but Faith
really has no way to know that and should not make the assumption.
Faith launches into a huge speech about
how Canby Hall and everyone in it is color blind and it's so naive
and cringey. Faith tells her that what she's doing is dangerous.
That Ari must have simply been better and Andy needs to be
honest with herself about her abilities and limitations. Again, all
true, but Faith doesn't know that and needs to shut her fucking
mouth. She's the dangerous one. She wasn't there. She knows
nothing about the situation but she's just deciding that Andy is
wrong (which she IS) because things like that can't happen at Canby
Hall where people are apparently not human or something.
Time is shifty as usual at Canby Hall
where ages can change at the drop of a hat and weeks pass and then go
backwards again. All this Faith/Andy drama apparently happened while Jane
and Toby were playing tennis. So we went back in time and then
forward in time and I'm exhausted. Anyway, Toby announces to Jane
that she's changed her mind and she'd be happy to be Neal's date for
the dance.
Oh, Toby. Don't let the ghost writer
do this to you.
It turns out Toby has only one dress to
her name. A copper, flouncy affair that makes her look “two
inches around” as Andy puts it. Fuck you, ghost writer.
Andy tames Toby's curls and pins a flower in her hair. Jane is
stunned when she comes back in the room. She thinks Toby looks
beautiful. Toby is worried about not being able to dance but Jane
assures her that no one really dances to Cary's band. They just kind
of move their feet and jiggle a lot. That description is just the
best.
Cary leaves the stage when they come
into the dance so he can properly be introduced to Neal. It turns
out Cary has some friends that go to Neal's prep school so they make
awkward small talk for a couple of minutes. Cary returns to the
stage the dance starts. Toby can't dance so Neal ends up dancing
with Jane. By intermission, Cary is well and truly pissed, having
spend the entire first set watching the girl he likes in the arms of
another guy. Jane defends it by saying it isn't her fault Toby won't
dance. He ends up ignoring Jane for the rest of the evening. It's childish but he's 15 and it feels realistic to me.
Jane calls Alison and gets permission
to come home late. She needs to take Neal to the train station by
cab and then she'll come back to Baker House. Alison gives her
permission over the phone but says Jane will have to stop by and fill
out a formal permission slip when she gets home. Jane sees Neal off
and they agree to just be friends from now on.
Andy throws herself into the musical after
Faith's visit. She admits to herself that Ari IS a better dancer and actress and that there was no discrimination.
Her change in attitude makes a change in her dancing and soon she is
hearing applause from the lighting area after every solo. Do chorus dancers usually have solos? At first
she doesn't even wonder about it – she just basks in the glory of
the adoration. But one day she happens to look up there and she sees
an Oakley Prep boy named Matt smiling down at her.
Toby returns to the dorm to find a note
in her box asking her to call Randy. When she does, he invites her
out to dinner but not as a date. He wants to talk to her about
something. It turns out he wants her to try out for the tennis team.
He says she needs to be challenged by her peers in order to improve.
She probably won't make the team this year, but trying out will show
the coach and the other girls that she's serious about improving and
then they'll want to help her. Toby agrees to think about it.
The day of dress rehearsal arrives and
Andy is a wreck. A box of very expensive chocolates is delivered to
her room and she assumes it's from her family until she realizes that
the card is unsigned. When she gets to the theater she finds herself
bathed in golden light and sees Matt up high smiling down at her
again. She knows he's her secret admirer and the thought helps ease
her butterflies.
Jane is walking by herself to the
auditorium when Cary calls out to her. She doesn't stop and he
resorts to grabbing her arm. Still not cool with the grabbing, Cary.
Jane tells him to unhand her and then she resumes walking. Cary
keeps pace. He apologizes again and tells Jane that Neal was an
idiot not to fight for her but he isn't an idiot and he's going to do anything
he has to in order to make things right. He cares for her and never
meant to hurt her and he's sorry. Jane accepts his apology and they
go off to the dress rehearsal together.
The rehearsal goes well and Andy is amazing
of course. Matt comes up to her afterwards and she's happy to notice
that he's an attractive, dark-skinned, tall boy because that means she's okay to like him. If he had been white, the rules of the series would have demanded that she not be interested. He asks to walk her
home and she goes off with him. Which is dumb. She doesn't know
this boy at all. He could be a puppy-kicker or something. The end
up kissing in front of Baker House. Andy clearly doesn't mind
touching lips with a stranger.
The book ends with the girls on the
floor throwing Toby a birthday party and singing happy birthday to
friendship as if that makes any sense at all.
Queen of the Book Award: Toby. She was a good friend and made the mature decision to put school before tennis (after almost letting tennis get her ousted). She was loyal to Jane but let Jane make her own decisions.
The Bitch of Baker House Award: Honors are split between Andy and Dee who were pretty much awful through the entire book.
Final Thoughts: As with most
books I enjoyed in my childhood, I'm finding this series hard to
swallow as an adult. I think maybe I was more in love with the idea
of boarding school than I was with the actual characters back then.
Boarding school was a huge dream of mine. I was pretty disappointed
when I went to college and I found dorm life so horrendous. But back
to the book, I'm still Team Cary. I don't like his tendency to grab
people but I like him. I'm not even sure why. There's just
something about him. I like that he's rich but willing to work hard
for a living. I like that he admits when he's wrong and apologizes.
I like that he clearly likes Jane even though the bitch doesn't
deserve him. The hero worship of Dana, Faith and Shelley is heavy-handed and irritating. I think it only gets worse too.
Coming up next month: Alison is
getting married and the sainted old girls are headed to Canby Hall.
I'm sure that will go smoothly. {sarcasm}
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