April 29, 20xx

Dear Diary,

I am SO EXCITED!! The absolute hottest guy in the junior class came up to me today and said that I looked great at the Homecoming Dance, which was so cool, b/c I couldn't stand my date. Someone shoot me if I ever go anywhere in public w/ Kerry Schroeder EVER AGAIN!! I hate him!!

Anyway, let me tell you about the dance. It was at the nicest hotel in town, in the ballroom. Omg, it was so pretty. They actually hired professional decorators and the whole thing was catered. I mean, the food was SO fattening, but who can resist baked potato skins? I'm gonna need about forty extra minutes on the Stairmaster to get rid of that junk. But anyway…the theme was 'Rhapsody in Blue' and everyone who walked in got blue tulips. They are SO PRETTY!! My date held mine for me almost the whole night…but that was the least he could do, since he made me late. I don't know how I ended up on such a losing streak with guys lately. But speak of the devil…Stacy actually had the nerve to go to the dance w/Upchuck. I couldn't believe she really did it! I knew forever ago that she wanted to go with him, but she couldn't…blah blah blah, FC member, lose popularity, on and on. But I finally got her to see that if she could bluff her way out of the club for a couple of days she could go w/him and then get back into the club once the H.D. was over. And then she hugged me so hard that I couldn't breathe and told me that if I'd help her, she'd be so grateful. And of course then I had to say yes.

When she first came to me and told me all about her crazy crush on grody ol' Upchuck, I didn't even laugh at her. I'm so serious, Diary. Normally I would've picked on her 'til she cried. But her eyes were shining when she told me and her cheeks were all pink and she looked so nervous and I just couldn't do anything but promise to help her. And when she made her entrance last night, on HIS arm…you talk about every guy in the room taking notice. Even MY stupid date turned and stared like an idiot and wanted to know if I knew who THAT girl was…geez, what crap timing! And I could barely even recognize Upchuck. He had his hair cut short and he was growing a goatee. I guess I can sort of see why Stacy thought he was sort of cute. I mean, he's not gonna be threatening Skyler's position as class stud by any means, but still he was looking pretty good in a tux that actually fit him. I was so surprised, I thought he was gonna embarrass her by being a complete dork. But he paid attention to her all night and got her food for her and held the door for her and was so super romantic, I could hardly keep from grinning at her. But I didn't get a chance to get her alone all night long, so we had to settle for a phone call afterwards. I asked her if she had liked her date, and she was just gushing over him, how he had picked her up in a convertible and how they had slipped out of the hotel for about half an hour and walked on the beach and tried to count the stars but they got dizzy from looking up for so long. I mean, HELLLOOO!! The girl is clearly in love. But when I asked her if they were gonna get serious and go steady, she laughed at me and told me it was just one date and that I should lighten up a little. I guess she's right, I do take real dating very seriously. I guess Stacy's just different, though I've known that for some time. It makes me wonder if the FC's gonna change when she comes back, or if she's coming back at all. It's all over school how's she starting to study and do homework, and that'd be kind of weird if she were to come back and be sort of a brain. I don't think that she'd turn into that weird gloomy chick in the army jacket, but maybe she'd be kind of like Jodi. I guess that wouldn't be too bad, b/c Jodi's kind of cool, even if she's real smart. But I think she'll be back , and we can all play this game for a little bit longer. I mean, we're all gonna graduate in just two more years, and then we prolly won't even go to the same colleges, so we won't even see each other again.

But I'm really glad that she had so much fun on her date. And I'm even more glad that she came to me, of all people, to help her out. No one ever has to know that she deliberately quit FC just so she could go to a dance with a geeky guy that she liked. And I told her that I'd help her again, if she ever wanted to go with him again. I think that I make a good secret keeper.

She looked over the entry and dotted just one more i, before locking up the diary and hiding it securely in a box labeled "Salvation Army". No one else in the Fashion Club would dare touch such a thing, and her mother was kind enough to give her some privacy when it came to her room. Satisfied with her hard day's…no, hard week's worth of work (after all, maintaining such a complex deception for five whole days was draining!), Sandi Griffin plopped into her bed and flipped off the lights.