One Boy Too Many (Book 19) by "Emily Chase"

**This blog contains adult language.**

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}

Making Friends (Book 18) by "Emily Chase"

**This blog contains adult language.**

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 cheated on her devoted boyfriend under some hay this week.

Tag Line: There are three new roommates in Room 407.

From the Back of the Book:  Opposites don't always attract.  Jane Barrett, a proper Bostonian, likes classical music, conservative clothes and - most of all - privacy.  She wasn't expecting to share a room this year.  Now she's got two roommates!  Andy Cord, a black girl from Chicago, is from a big, loving family and is used to having lots of people around.  Toby Houston has seldom been outside the Texas ranch where she grew up, and is happier with animals than people.  Three girls couldn't be more different if they tried!  There are bound to be big problems in Room 407 this year.  Will friendship ever be possible?

This book was published in 1986 and I absolutely read it right after it came out. I feel like I got it at a school book fair or something similar. I was immediately hooked. I couldn't wait for each new book to come out. These books made me want to go to boarding school so bad. I'm so excited to be reading them all again. I hope I don't end up hating them. Although, let's face it, I probably will.

I should mention that Emily Chase doesn't really exist. “Emily Chase” is the name given to a rather large group of ghostwriters who wrote the Canby Hall series. I didn't know that as a child but it does explain the weird continuity errors that would pop up from time to time. The copyright page says that this book was written by Carol Stanley. A quick Goodreads search tells me that she wrote a few Wildfires (teen romance series) and at least one book in the Cheerleaders series but I've never read them.

Also worth noting, this book was written way before political correctness was even a thing. It's a tad stereotypical and traditional as books in this time period tended to be. We're all just going to have to wear our big girl panties and vow not to be offended. I'm going to use the terms “black” and “white” because those are the terms used in the book. Don't roast me for it. It was 1986, y'all.

To catch you up on books 1-17, three roommates named Dana, Faith and Shelley lived in room 407 Baker House at Canby Hall. They went through a gazillion boyfriends and had a gazillion fights. There was a kidnapping, a movie shoot and a case of meningitis or something and then they all graduated!! Do you feel caught up? Good. Starting with book 18 we meet the new set of girls moving into Room 407 Baker House.

And finally the recap can start. Whew. That was the biggest intro ever.  I'm exhausted.  Maybe I'll take a nap before diving in.

We begin with Toby. Her full name is October Houston and she lives on a ranch in Texas with her dad and her horse Max. She spent her last night at the ranch sleeping outside under the stars. She's headed east to boarding school and she's not thrilled at all. She thinks Massachusetts is tiny and claustrophobic and she wishes she didn't have to go, but her dad won't change his mind. He worries that she'll grow up wild if she continues to live on the ranch without a female influence. It took me a minute, but I realized he's worried she'll grow up without knowing how to be a “lady”, not that she'll start knocking off liquor stores and setting fire to cacti. Toby is the redhead on the cover. I'm sure you couldn't guess that by the cowboy hat, so I thought I'd help you out. I'm a full-service recapper.

Next we meet Andrea Cord. She's riding to Massachusetts on a train from Chicago and she's a little apprehensive. Andy is black and from a predominantly black neighborhood but she knows that Canby Hall is predominantly white and she's worried she won't fit it. It was her idea to go to school at Canby. Her family is large and loving and a little suffocating and she just wants to see who she is apart from them.

Our last roommate is Jane Barrett. She's already in room 407 trying to cover up the black walls with blue paint. Don't ask me why Dana, Faith and Shelley painted it black. They thought it was cool. I can't believe the school let them do it. In my dorm we had a choice of cream or green. Anything else led to a hefty fine. Anyway, Jane has big plans for the room which involve an antique cross stitch quilt, ivory curtains, a gray persian rug and a pale rose velvet sofa. After a hellish roommate experience her freshman year, Jane is under the impression that she'll be living in room 407 alone and her bubble is about to be burst. Bursted? Hmmmm. Popped. Her bubble is about to be popped.

The bubble popper takes the form of Andy who shows up with her luggage at Jane's door. She introduces herself and offers to help clean up the tarps and brushes. Jane is flabbergasted. She can't figure out what this girl in a cheerleader's jacket is doing in her room. Andy produces a printout with her room assignment and Jane's gast gets even more flabbered when she sees a third name listed. She tells Andy there's been some horrible mistake and then she stomps out of the room in search of the housemother.

The housemother's name is Alison Cavanaugh and she's the earthy type. Lots of denim and hemp and bare feet. She lives on the top floor of Baker House in a room decorated with tons of floor pillows and neon colors. Jane introduces herself and tells Alison the problem. Alison recognizes the name immediately. Jane's grandfather donated an entire building to Canby Hall {delicate sniff} and it's named after him. Alison looks through the room assignments and notices that there's a note from the headmistress on room 407. Patrice Allardyce (PA) has noted that enrollment is at an all-time high and the dorms are overcrowded. There will be no single rooms this semester.

Jane is livid. She says that she's going to go see PA herself. If her grandfather can give the school an entire building {delicate sniff}, than the school should be able to give her one fucking room. Alison warns her that she won't be successful, but Jane doesn't listen. PA isn't in her office, so Jane is forced to go back to her room. Andy asks her what the verdict is and Jane tells her that nothing has been settled but she wouldn't get too comfortable because she's sure it will all be cleared up soon and Andy will be moving elsewhere. Andy isn't too concerned with this and decides to unpack anyway.

Jane takes one look at Andy's earth-toned bedspread in her pastel haven and bursts into tears. Later that night, they are fighting a battle of the stereos (Andy is playing Tina Turner and Jane is playing Beethoven) when Toby finally arrives. She doesn't introduce herself. She doesn't say a word. She unrolls a green army blanket on top of her bare mattress and goes to sleep with her clothes on.

The next morning Jane and Andy attend the mandatory orientation in various states of misery but Toby skips it altogether. She needs to get outside in nature immediately. She finds a quiet, isolated place and just sits, listening to the birds and the wind. It's pretty there. Not as wild and open as Texas, but pretty. When she first hears the hoofbeats, she thinks she's imagining things. A beautiful white horse appears out of nowhere being pursued by a man on a Palomino. She admires the way he looks in the saddle, judging him to be older than she is with longer hair. She can tell that there's no way he's going to catch the horse and she makes a hasty decision to help.

Fearlessly she jumps on the white horse's back and eventually manages to bring her to a halt after a few tense moments. The man is grateful and introduces himself as Randy Crowell. Randy is actually no stranger to this series. He appeared periodically in books 1-17. In fact, he dated Dana off and on (and Shelley once, I think). Dana pretty much ground his poor cowboy heart into dust. I remember liking Randy from the earlier books.

Toby hasn't had much experience with men and someone as attractive as Randy makes her pretty nervous. They chat for a bit about horses and Toby's ranch experience and then Randy asks her if she'd like to help out at his ranch. Toby reveals that she's only 15 and going to Canby Hall and Randy instantly becomes more distant. He's 20 at this point (although I'm pretty sure he was 23 a couple of books ago which makes him magic or something) and really not interested in getting close to anyone from that school ever again but he's still a nice guy and he tells Toby she can stop by and hang out with the horses anytime. Before he leaves, he asks her if she wants to name the white horse since it's brand new and hasn't been named yet. She decides on Maxine after her horse Max at home which is truly an awful name for a horse. Maxine, not Max. Max is fine but Maxine is the least horsey name a horse has ever been given in the whole history of horses.

We switch back to Jane who is waiting outside the auditorium for PA after the orientation. While she waits, she thinks about how awful her roommates are. Andy is frightfully cheerful and never really stops talking. Toby, on the other hand, never says a word. On top of that, after breakfast, Toby taped a tea bag to the ceiling over her bed with absolutely no explanation whatsoever.

The tea bag!!! I remember it so well. In fact, that tea bag is the reason this blog exists. I never got to read the end of this series and I never found out what the tea bag meant. All these years later, I decided to reread to find out. And I'm making you all find out with me!! Because I'm evil like that!!

Anyway, Jane talks to PA about the room mix up and PA tells her there's nothing to be done. The new computer program goofed and over-enrolled the school. All the rooms are doubled or tripled up and one room even has four girls in it. Jane smugly plays the trump card of her last name. {delicate sniff} PA considers it for a minute and then tells Jane that the Barretts have always been excessively generous with the school. Because of that, she knows that Jane will be just as generous and if another student arrives in the next few days, PA will be sure to put her right in generous-Jane's room.

Game, set and match to PA.

Andy morosely returns back to Baker House. She isn't sure how she's going to get through the year with two roommates who won't talk to her. She's lost in her own thoughts when suddenly she finds herself knocked flat on her back. Diedre Adams, a blonde with a great tan, helps her to her feet and apologizes for knocking her over. She invites Andy back to her room (409) where Andy meets Dee's roommate Maggie Morrison. Maggie is the infamous Dana's younger sister.

Andy mentions that she's having roommate problems and the three of them discuss Jane and Toby for a bit. It's a little on the catty side but not too hateful. Maggie tells Andy that her sister had issues initially with her roommates too but they ended up the best of friends. Andy thinks that Dana, Faith and Shelley couldn't possibly be more different than she, Jane and Toby. Which is hilarious because they're pretty much the EXACT SAME PEOPLE. Dana was rich, stylish and a bit snobby (Jane), Faith was a black girl from a big city (Andy) and Shelley was a small town farm girl (Toby). It's like the series got tired of the first three but didn't want to confuse the poor ghostwriting team by creating three entirely different people, so they just recreated the ones they'd had before and gave them different names.

Somehow it's suddenly Monday morning. Time moves differently in Massachusetts I guess. Dee is all ready to start her first day as doughnut maker for the cafeteria. She's made a few practice doughnuts and they aren't perfect but nobody has died yet. The first person through the line is Toby. Dee makes the doughnut and then picks up what she thinks is the powdered sugar shaker. It's not until the entire doughnut is covered with black powder that she realizes she picked up the pepper instead. Right then her boss comes over and just when it looks like Dee might get fired or something, Toby pipes up and says that she asked for a peppered doughnut because that's how they eat them in Texas. She then takes a big bite to convince the dietitian that all is well.

Dee comes over to thank her later and tries to make small talk but Toby is pretty silent. Dee gives up and leaves and Toby feels bad that her shyness chased away a perfectly nice girl. She returns to the dorm to find Andy on the phone with her family. Andy's family isn't taking the separation well at all and phone calls with them are pretty dramatic. Toby can't really relate and her social awkwardness makes it impossible for her to reply when Andy tries to talk to her.

Toby leaves and Andy is on her way out when she realizes Jane is still asleep and class starts in 12 minutes. She wakes Jane up who is frazzled and grumpy when she realizes she overslept. She panics about finding her clothes and Andy makes a joke about teaching Jane what a drawer is so she can actually put things away where they belong. Jane takes it completely wrong. She thinks Andy is making fun of her and she snaps and snarls a bit. Later she realizes she was a bitch but it's too late to say anything.

Jane goes to creative writing class. Her instructor Lily MacArthur encourages them all to try something new and exotic and then write about it. Jane's former roommate Gigi is also in the class and the two girls get into a snark fest after class. Gigi thinks Jane should come to a dance at Oakley Prep (the boys' school) to hear a new punk band called Ambulance. It's not proper-Jane's scene and they both know it. {delicate sniff} After Gigi leaves, Lily Mac encourages Jane to go as her assignment.

That evening Jane calls her boyfriend Cornelius Worthington III to tell him about the concert assignment. Neal thinks the very idea of proper-Jane {delicate sniff} going to see a punk band is hilarious. She asks him to come along but he tells her he'll be racing his sailboat that day and she's on her own. Neal and Jane have been a couple since grade school. She thinks they'll be together forever. Which pretty much means one of them will be seeing someone else by the end of the book. Canby Hall girls tend to have problems with fidelity. Books 1-17 included a lot of stepping out on boyfriends. Just ask poor Randy.

So....we seem to have entered a time blip here. Maybe Jane called Neal from the TARDIS or something. The book clearly tells us that Jane called him “that night” but then the next chapter picks up right after classes that day. No, it's not a new day because Jane apologizes to Andy for snapping at her that morning. So I feel like Canby Hall is set in an alternate universe where time does not flow linearly and that explains SO MUCH.

Anyway, back in time, Jane and Andy end up in the dorm room after class and Jane apologizes to Andy. Andy is still pretty miffed but a tearful phone call from her overly-attached family snaps her out of it. As soon as she hangs up, a huge care package is pushed into 407 by a girl from another floor. Andy is immediately apprehensive about it. She knows it's from her family and she's worried that it might contain something hideously embarrassing. Jane finds all this fascinating and begs her to open it.

Andy pulls out footie pajamas and rolls of toilet paper. There's an entire box of barbecue sauce which mystifies Jane. Andy explains that her family owns a barbecue restaurant and makes the comment that she wishes she could make ribs in the room. Jane gets angry at the thought of her sanctuary being turned into a rib joint and her haughtiness returns. She tells Andy she's never had ribs, thankyouverymuch, unless it was PRIME rib. {delicate sniff} Andy teases her about being so stuck up and Jane is butthurt. Andy realizes she's being “smugly black” in response to Jane being “smugly upper class”. I'm not exactly sure what the hell “smugly black” is, but whatever.

To change the subject and dispel some of the awkwardness, Andy asks Jane what she thinks is up with that teabag. Jane says maybe it's a Hickville talisman to ward off the evil coyote. Andy counters with “killer tumbleweed”. Toby is, of course, behind them and overhears them making fun of her. She gets into bed and pulls the covers over her head. They try to apologize but she ignores them.

Jane decides to grab her bikini and head outside to work on her tan. Andy gets all butthurt because Jane doesn't invite her along. Although I'm not sure why she'd think Jane would. They aren't friends.  They're barely on speaking terms.  Anyway Jane makes a tense situation worse when she replies that she didn't think black people sunbathed.

The next morning, Toby wakes at dawn and heads outside. She wanders around a bit and then ends up at the Crowell ranch. Randy comes outside to meet her and she's struck again by how handsome he is. She notices that Maxine seems anxious to stretch her legs and Randy tells her that no one has been brave enough to try to ride her yet. She's just too wild. Toby wants to ride her and he says he'll go get a saddle and bridle. She tells him she wants to ride bareback and he says it's too dangerous for a “young girl”.

That get's Toby's dander up and she launches into a huge page of dialogue about how she's the best rider under the sun and there's not a horse alive that she can't handle. Randy calmly lets her ramble and then says she can ride without the saddle if she wants but he wants to put a bridle on because the horse needs to get used to wearing one. She concedes the point.

Randy gets his palomino and they take off for a ride. After galloping hard for a bit, they slow down to walk through the woods. Toby tells him how much she likes being outside and how much she hates being stuck inside for classes. She makes it sound like this is the first time it's ever happened but surely she went to school for the last ten years. And surely her school had a roof and walls. She laments that the only class she gets to move around in is aerobics and then it's only jumping around like a bunch of idiots. Randy asks her why she took the class if she hates it so much and she blushes when she replies that she thought it had to do with flying planes.

Randy talks briefly about Dana and his resolve to stay away from prep school girls. Toby doesn't take it personally because she doesn't consider herself a prep school girl. She thinks the age gap between them isn't too big at all and something could maybe happen between them someday. Um, Toby.....you're 15 and he's 20/23. What you're thinking about is illegal in most states and would have poor, nice Randy registering. The gap between 15 and 20/23 is not about the actual math. It's about the maturity and there's an ENORMOUS difference in that.

They arrive back at the ranch to find that Toby is already 5 minutes late to class and it's a 20 minute walk back to campus. Randy pulls her up behind him on the horse and they gallop away. Holding on to him puts Toby all aflutter and she's never ever felt that way before. Randy delivers her safely to her building and then rides off into the.....well sun, I guess.

The week passes and the girls of 407 settle into a silent routine. Mostly they spend all their time away from the room, only returning to sleep. If they happen to be in the room together, they just ignore each other. Toby spends most her time outside, Andy lives in the ballet studio and Jane hangs out with her friends from the previous year. Only Maggie and Dee venture to visit the room, being friends with both Andy and Toby.

Friday night arrives and Andy is excited to go to the Oakley Prep dance. She loves to dance and just wants to get out on the floor and boogie. She impulsively invites Jane and Toby to go with her. Jane replies that she's thinking of going for the “cultural experience” {delicate sniff} and Andy is aghast that Jane has never been to a dance that didn't involve the country club and a string quartet.

Jane and Andy make it to the dance and Andy thinks Ambulance is really good while Jane just pronounces them to be loud. Andy is mortified when Jane takes out a little notebook and starts to jot down her impressions of everything. Of course, Andy has no way of knowing that Jane is there as an assignment for creative writing class because Jane never bothered to tell her that. Andy decides to ask a boy to dance which stuns Jane. She still thinks a girl has to wait for a boy to ask. She tells Andy that she's going to watch and takes notes on the process which is kind of cute and endearing for a character that makes me want to choke her most of the time.

Andy is, of course, the best dancer on the floor because our protagonists are always just the best. Toby is the best rider and Andy is the best dancer and Jane is the best.....well, Jane exists.

Jane gets tired of taking notes on dancers and decides to move closer to take notes on the band. The musicians are an eclectic bunch. The drummer is chubby and clad in beach wear. The keyboardist is a beanpole in a pink tuxedo jacket. The bassist is “normal” which to Jane means he's wearing khaki's and a polo shirt...which isn't really normal for a punk band, Jane. The lead guitar player/singer is the anti-bassist. He has long hair – much longer than sheltered Jane has ever seen on a boy before (which means it's just above his shoulders). He is wearing horn-rim sunglasses, black pants, a leather vest and black boots with pointy, upturned toes. And....prepare yourself for this.....HE HAS AN EARRING. I need the smelling salts, y'all. I have just developed the vapors. {delicate sniff} There is jewelry in this boy's ears. Call the press. Call the principal. Call the paramedics because proper-Jane is about to go into shock.

By the way, the guitarist?....sexy as hell and I LOVE him. I mean, I did in 1986. And that's notable because as everyone knows, I'm usually all about the drummer. They have amazing hands.

The guitarist notices she's writing in her little notebook and on the next break in lyrics he leans down and asks her if she's writing his biography. She's hideously embarrassed and retreats to the back of the room where she can watch him from afar. She decides he's one of those scruffy, self-obsessed musician types and decidedly NOT on Neal's level. {delicate sniff} The band takes a break but Andy is immersed in a crowd on the dance floor teaching a bunch of people some dance. Jane decides to head to the girls' bathroom. She figures she can hang out at the mirrors and eavesdrop on everyone so she can get some actual quotes for her paper.

Not that that's CREEPY OR ANYTHING, JANE. Sheesh.

On her way, the guitarist catches up with her and asks what she was writing. She tells him it's a paper about a strange and exotic experience and he's a little surprised that a school dance is a strange and exotic experience for her. She decides he's being rude.....he really isn't....and keeps walking toward the bathroom. In her mind he's a conceited rock god and she's not going to give him a chance to prove otherwise. Rock god senses her irritation with him and he apologizes. He tells her that most people he knows wouldn't view a dance as exotic and asks her what places aren't exotic to her. Jane snottily replies museums and libraries are more her speed {delicate sniff} and he grins and says he's aware of their existence and has even ventured inside a time or two so they really have more in common than she thinks.

She starts to dismiss him with extreme prejudice but he surprises her by mentioning they were in a ballroom dance class together when they were much younger. He introduces himself as Cary Slade and now Jane's completely confused. All her instincts are to treat him like a filthy, leather-wearing, ear-holed, dirt monger but he's one of the elite in disguise. It short-circuits her simple little class-based brain and before she can pick her jaw up off the gym floor (ew.....you should wash that....boy sweat and sneakers and ick....) some rando girl comes up to spirit the rock god away.

Jane is mortified. She figures he thinks she's just some stuck-up, proper Boston princess {ahem...moment of extreme self-awareness}. She isn't supposed to care but, for some reason, she does. She begins to cry and runs out of the building. Which seems like a bizarre reaction. As she walks home alone (which is totally against the rules) she reminds herself how lucky she is to already have a steady boyfriend because you never have to worry that someone you like might not like you.

Hmmmm. That really doesn't bode well for yacht boy.

It's Saturday now and Jane is waiting for Neal to arrive on the train. I thought he had some kind of yacht thing going on, but whatever. She's anxious to see him after being parted for an entire week. She's having trouble remembering his face in her mind because every time she tries, she sees Cary's face instead. When he finally gets off the train, Jane thinks he isn't as happy to see her as she imagined he would be. He gives her a quick hug and then asks if they can get coffee.

Jane leads him to the Greaf Diner (it used to be Greenleaf Diner but most of the letters burned out). She's stunned when they go inside because Cary is working behind the counter. He gives her a grin when he sees her with Neal (he's wearing a tweed jacket, creased jeans, a button-down shirt and a rumpled tie on a Saturday morning) and she just knows he's judging her for being with such a preppy boy. She tries to play like she doesn't know Cary but he ruins it for her when he asks if she got what she needed for her story.

Jane breezes through the awkward moment with a lie about Cary giving her background information on the history of rock and roll. Neal buys it and Cary doesn't call her on it. He leaves to go put their orders in. Neal launches into a hugely boring story about the race the evening before. Do they really do yacht races in the evening during the fall? Wouldn't it get dark? I'm so confused by this whole yacht-racing concept being that the closest thing to a yacht I've ever been on is an inflatable pool raft. When the check comes, Jane sees that there's something written on the back. She grabs it before Neal can see and takes it to the register. Cary has written a little note saying he'd like to get to know her better and, despite the fact she's in a steady relationship with a boy she intends to marry someday, she nods her agreement to him.

I think there's something in the water at Canby Hall that makes girls cheat on their boyfriends.

Jane and Neal spend the day together and she notices that her feelings for him are more friendly than romantic. She wonders how long that's been the case. She spends the entire day thinking about Cary and hating it. When she gets back to the room after Neal leaves she can immediately tell something is wrong. Andy is upset and Toby is trying to comfort her with hot cocoa. Jane wonders what she's walked into.

Andy explains that her family doesn't believe that everything is going well at Canby. They think she's sad and they plan to visit the next weekend to check things out with their own eyes. If they find that things aren't hunky dory they are going to pack Andy right up and take her home. Jane proposes that they put on the greatest act ever and just act like they're the best of friends for the weekend. Then Andy's family will be fooled into thinking everything's okay and Andy will be able to stay.

Sunday night Dee throws a surfing party in the bathroom. She has lamps all over to simulate sun. The inside of the shower room is covered with thick mats from the gym on both the floor and the walls. They put some detergent on the mats and turn on the water and have an instant slip and slide situation going. Andy attends enthusiastically. Toby attends reluctantly (not wanting to insult Dee who is her only friend). Jane skips it entirely. {delicate sniff}

While Jane is in her room working on her paper, the phone rings. It's Cary asking her out for pizza. She declines and then about ten minutes later she hears music coming from outside her window. Cary is standing on the front lawn serenading her. Not only does time work differently at Canby Hall but so does architecture. At the beginning of the book the room faced the back of the building and the trees. Now, Jane can see Cary on the front lawn which either means their dorm room is HUGE and takes up an entire floor, or Ms Ghost Writer can't remember what she wrote 100 pages ago.

The serenading is an incredibly romantic thing in theory. Unfortunately the writer can't write song lyrics and she has poor Cary singing this:

“Hey, Jane, Jane, Jane,

Can you come out and play?

Can you let down your hair?

Or will you just stay up there in your tower?

Hey Jane, Jane, Jane,

What's this game we're playin'?

How come you're not sayin'

What you really mean?”

Poor Cary. The things this writer is making him suffer through.

Jane is embarrassed and can only think of how foolish she must look to everyone who is looking out of their window right now. Cary shouts up that he's got more verses or she could just come down and get pizza with him. She agrees to the pizza to shut him up, but she changes into something super cute before she goes downstairs which says a lot. When she reaches Cary's car he tells her that he's not into kidnapping so she doesn't really have to come along if she doesn't want to. But she clearly DOES want to. She tells him she'll go if he'll take off his sunglasses. His eyes are blue and she likes them.

Cary ends up being charming and sweet and not at all conceited like she expected. When he asks her about Neal she lies and tells him that she and Neal are just friends. Cary deserves better, y'all.

Over the next week, the roommates work on their “we're the best of friends” act for Andy's family. By the time they arrive, the girls think they have the matter well in hand. They've redecorated the room to make it look more homey and tacked pictures of Andy's hometown up everywhere. There's a “conversation nook” in one corner that basically consists of floor pillows. Jane lays it on thick when she tells them that they have a nightly “sharing hour” where they talk about their joys and frustrations. They even lie about the horrible food in the cafeteria saying that lobster tails are usually served on Friday nights.

By Saturday night, Andy's mom calls their bluff. Andy admits that the perfect show they are putting on is fake and things have been a little rough. Her mom tells her to hang in there because obviously Jane and Toby are good people to want to help Andy out like this. She thinks there is real friendship under the fake veneer. Sunday they all leave and Andy's future at Canby Hall is safe again. Things seem to be going well and then this comes out of her mouth:

“I mean, so what if I think you're a little bit of a slob and a snob, Jane? And so what if Jane thinks you're from Hicksville, Toby?”

She was intending it to be a statement about how they're all different but they can still be friends. Instead, both Toby and Jane are deeply insulted and they walk off in separate directions leaving Andy standing in the parking lot alone.

Jane ends up in the broom closet scrawling a letter home to her sister. She asks for advice about her roommates but most of the letter is about Cary. Andy goes to the dance studio to dance off her frustration. Toby runs to Randy's ranch. She finds him up in a hayloft pitching hay down into the stalls. Before he can say much, she bursts into tears. He doesn't say anything. He wraps an arm around her and sits with her on a hay bale. From time to time he brushes away her tears with his calloused hand.

These books write the guys so much better than the girls.

Toby eventually spills out the entire story and he tells her that Andy is probably feeling pretty stupid right now. He says he thinks they'll get over this if they can all stop being so over-sensitive and build some trust. Toby calms down and then invites him to go to a movie with her. Randy declines. He tries to tell her it's not that he doesn't care for her, because he does....as a friend....he just doesn't think it's a good idea for them to get involved because he's so much older. She runs off again.

When Dee gets back to her room after skateboarding, Maggie tells her that Toby left a note on her desk. The note asks if Dee wants to come see the best ocean with her and Dee is sure Toby can't be talking about the Atlantic because no one would call that the best. She goes to room 407 where Jane is cleaning up and asks if Jane's seen Toby. Jane says that she was taking a walk with Cary in the woods earlier and they saw Toby cross the path, but she didn't speak to them. Dee notices that Toby's tea bag is gone and she's sure Toby has run away.

Later that evening Jane and Andy are sitting in 407 in silence. Andy is nervous and Jane is hurt. Toby is missing. Dee comes running to tell them that Toby called her from town and she's planning on catching a train west. Almost immediately the phone rings and it's Cary telling Jane that Toby is sitting in the diner with a train ticket. At first Jane and Andy don't want to do anything about it. They think it's Toby's life and they have no right to interfere. Dee screams at them that Toby is basically calling for help and they're awful people for not even trying to help her.

Jane and Andy realize she's right but there are problems. Curfew is at 9:30 and it's already almost 9:00. They ask Dee and Maggie to hide in the downstairs laundry room so they can open the window when the time comes. Jane asks Cary to stall Toby as long as possible and then she calls Randy to tell him the situation. Then she and Andy take off for town. Proper-Jane is a a little excited to be doing something so naughty and it's endearing all over again.

When they get to the diner, the place is closed and Cary's mopping the floor. Andy is surprised to see him doing menial labor because he's even richer than Jane, but Jane explains that Cary just wants to be a regular person and not let his life be dictated by his wallet. They knock on the window and Cary tells them that he did his best but Toby has headed for the train station and the train is due any moment.

Jane and Andy run to the platform where the find Toby waiting. She's surprised to see them. The girls have a full-fledged Full-House-gentle-music-moment where they tell Toby how much she means to them and how they're all going to work really hard to be good roommates from now on. They hug it out and agree to make things work back in 407.

Randy arrives as the train leaves. Cary runs up to join them and see how it turned out. Randy offers to smuggle them all back onto campus. Only....Cary should be cleared to be out, right? Since he has a job? I sincerely doubt he's sneaking in and out all the time to work.  And wouldn't he have taken his car into work earlier?  Especially since he knew he'd be working late?  This makes zero sense, Ms Ghost Writer. 

Randy orders them to all get in the back of his truck and cover themselves with the hay. Sounds....rustic.  And itchy.  While under the hay, Jane and Cary have their first....and second....and fifteenth kiss. Jane realizes it might be time to decide what to do about the Cary/Neal situation. Seems like she maybe should have done that BEFORE making out with Cary under the hay while her roommates are a foot away.

Randy lets the girls off on campus. They signal Dee and Maggie with a flashlight and crawl through the laundry room window. Before they can sneak back to their rooms, Alison finds them. She decides to look the other way this once and all the girls head to bed. They decide that they are going to be very best of friends just like Dana, Faith and Shelley and the book ends.

Final Thoughts:  The head-hopping makes this book a challenge to recap. Not gonna lie.  In a single chapter you might be in three or four heads.  It feels a little excessive.  The characters are all a little cartoonish and exaggerated and the plot relies heavily on misunderstandings and over-sensitivity.  But there's a campy kind of fun in there too and it sucked me at age 11 and age 41.  I actually can't wait to read the next one, but I promised my manager that I wouldn't neglect the other blog in favor of this one, so it's going to have to wait until April.  I hope you'll come back to join me.