Page 22 of Save the Last Dance (Take the Backroads #1)

In front of them, two guys who were friends with Ethan turned around.

“Dude, they’ll pick her design either way because she’s a Finley,” one of them said as he lifted up his sunglasses to look at Ethan.

Then, his eyes cut to Ally. “No offense or anything, Ally, but isn’t your father practically running the Harvest Fest? ”

“Not this year, he isn’t.” Embarrassed, Ally wished she could slink down between the grandstand seats while they waited for the committee’s decision. The conversations around them grew louder as the class grew restless.

“But it’s still your family that’s organizing it, right?” the other boy chimed in, glancing up from his phone.

“I guess.” Regretting ever entering the contest, she hoped now she didn’t win since her class would think the committee chose her because she was a Finley. “I know they’re helping out with some stuff.”

The two boys exchanged a look.

“Hey. It doesn’t matter.” Ethan slid an arm around her shoulders while their math teacher, Mr. Cummings, headed to the grandstand stage. “We all know Ally’s design was the coolest. It’s got turrets.”

He smiled at her, somehow making everything right with the world in spite of his friends and in spite of the fact that Rachel Wagoner sat three rows down in all her beautiful blond glory.

She hadn’t so much as given Ally a funny look since that day in the salon, but it was hard not to worry about her when she could spill Ally’s secret at any time.

For now though, Ally could only focus on the feeling of Ethan’s fingers splayed along her back. Her heart beat faster.

“You know where I got the idea for the turrets?” She wished she had Ethan all to herself again for a few hours. Hanging out with him last weekend had been perfect, but the other parts of her life always seemed to interfere.

She was more certain every day that she wanted to leave town with him, even though her counselor kept talking about her “plans” after school. She felt a little guilty when she thought about how much time she’d spent on early college applications. But she could always go to college later.

“Um…video games?” Ethan guessed.

Just then Mr. Cummings finished up his conversation with a woman near the stage. Their teacher strode back toward the class.

A ripple of excitement went through the fifty kids on the old wooden bleachers as kids shouted out things like “Who won?” and “Just tell us!”

“No, not video games.” Ally’s stomach knotted just knowing that Mr. Cummings was about to say the winner’s name.

“I thought of the turrets after we saw those apple-picking contraptions on the farm with the corn maze. It’s too bad you don’t have those apple pickers around the peach trees.

It’d be a lot faster to get all the branches picked. ”

The farmers had designed a picker with elaborate wooden stairs and platforms on big rolling carts so that whole families could climb up to high trees and pick their own apples. The pickers had been stained and varnished, with little round roofs over the highest levels.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “So I can be the next Tennessee farmer filling bushel baskets for fun on the weekends.”

His hand slid down her back and off, but she wasn’t sure if it was because he hadn’t appreciated the comment about picking peaches or if it was simply because Mr. Cummings had reached the foot of the bleachers where the students were clamoring for news.

“Attention please!” the math teacher shouted, holding a hand up in the air and waiting for the class to quiet. “I’ve got an update for you on the first-ever Straw Maze Match Challenge.”

The teacher had devised the competition two weeks ago for an extra credit project, but he’d had so many entries he’d opened it up to multiple sections that he taught.

Today’s mini field trip included students from four different math sections.

Mr. Cummings had submitted their designs electronically to the committee a few days ago and the students had spent the day at the fairgrounds walking around the site where the winning maze would be built and painting the outline of the exterior walls, which were the only real design constant.

“Good luck,” Ethan whispered in her ear, making her hopeful he wasn’t mad at her after all.

“The committee has chosen an unorthodox winning entry,” Mr. Cummings explained, waving an envelope back and forth. “I think you’ll all agree with the choice.”

Someone whistled. Mr. Cummings grinned.

“And the winner is…” He opened the envelope and withdrew a paper while a few kids imitated drum rolls. “Rachel Wagoner…”

He stared at the paper while cheers erupted and Rachel hugged the girl sitting next to her, her perfect sheet of golden blond hair spilling down her back in a shiny layer.

Relief swept through Ally even as Ethan’s hand went to the small of her back.

“I can’t believe it,” Ethan grumbled. “There’s no way hers is better than yours. ”

“And,” Mr. Cummings continued, holding up his arm again in the universal kindergarten teacher signal for quiet. “In an unusual request, there is a second winner. Ally Finley.”

Ally’s heart stilled. The whole grandstand seemed to go quiet. Her gaze went to Rachel, whose face fell as she looked up at Ally. Her stomach knotted.

“I don’t understand.” Ally shook her head, wishing everyone would stop staring at her. Rachel made a much better class representative than she did. Raising her voice, she shouted over a slowly growing hum of whispers, “How can we build two designs?”

“That’s the thing.” Mr. Cummings cleared his throat and straightened a lopsided bow tie in the school colors. “You won’t. The committee liked elements of both designs and have asked you to work together to bring some of each to the final maze.”

Seriously?

Ally knew better than to say anything aloud. But how had the competition turned into a group project? And with, of all people…Rachel? Her stomach twisted. Her fingers twitched with the need to scratch. And scratch.

“That’s so cool,” Ethan started, until he saw her face. “Hey. You okay? Ally?”

His friends turned around, staring at her as if they knew she could turn crazy at any second. Which was silly since no one here knew her secret. Except for Rachel. Her new partner for the straw maze.

“I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “It sounds fun.”

“Didn’t I say she’d win?” the boy playing a game on his phone groused. “It was totally fixed, man.”

“Oh, shut up, Barry.” Ethan gave the kid a light shove on the shoulder. “You’re just jealous you didn’t add a turret to that piece of crap you handed in.”

Barry laughed. “You know it, dude. Hey Ally, you think you can put in a good word for me with Rachel?”

Ally swallowed hard, twice, struggling to hold back a hysterical laugh.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she mumbled, trying to smile but all the while thinking it was a damn good thing she was seeing that counselor this week.

Because the stress of working with the girl who knew her worst secret was going to punt her over the edge.