DANI WALKED BACK to the restaurant table, cell phone in hand. Her shoulders drooped, and she sported the biggest frown Meredith had ever seen.
Oh, no. Syracuse turned her down.
Meredith held her breath. Even though the answer seemed obvious, she asked anyway, “What happened?”
Dani’s frown popped into a grin. “I got in! My mom didn’t want to open the envelope, but I made her. And, get this, the lacrosse coach sent me a note telling me to email her.”
Meredith couldn’t believe their luck. She had gotten into the art program, and Dani was going to play lacrosse at Syracuse. “Oh, my God, Dani. This is so exciting.”
Dani sat back down at the table next to Meredith. She turned toward Meredith’s father. “Thanks for dinner, Mr. Bedford.”
“No problem. Hey, anyone that can score five goals in one game deserves to be treated.”
Dani smiled. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure we were going to win that one. I mean, we were supposed to win, but we only had a one goal lead at the half.”
Meredith’s father took a sip of coffee. “Oh, I had no doubts. So Syracuse is recruiting you?”
“I guess so.” She shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t believe it herself. “Me and Meredith might even room together. Right, Meredith?”
Meredith looked up from wiping Mikey’s hands and smiled. “Oh, yeah. It’ll be great having a friend already built in. Somebody to take out the trash, clean the room, and—Hey! You don’t have to kick.”
“We’ll take turns taking out the trash.” Dani’s face looked stern, but Meredith saw the mirth dancing in those crystal blue eyes.
“Fine, fine, we’ll take turns.” Meredith looked at the old painted lady through the window. She had explicitly asked the hostess for a booth with a view of the house. The colored lights from the restaurant reflected off the house creating an eerie carnival look. Meredith smiled when she thought about the changes the house would go through once Esther and Millie got their rezoning permits. She smiled bigger when she thought about the changes her life would go through once she and Dani got to Syracuse.
Her father touched her arm from across the table. “Well, my little girl is going to be in good hands with her new roommate. That I can tell for sure.”
“Dad!” Meredith sighed. Her father always found new ways to embarrass her.
“Well, it’s true. Dani’s a good find. Keep her around, okay?”
Despite the mortification she felt from her father’s embarrassing statement, she couldn’t help the warm feeling that rushed through her. She tried to catch Dani’s eye in apology for her father’s comment, but Meredith’s father asked Dani another question about lacrosse, and the conversation turned. Dani loved to talk about lacrosse. That was more than obvious to Meredith, and she loved that about her. Dani was passionate about everything she did. Meredith couldn’t help wonder why she felt that warm sensation more and more lately. Dani had become a really close friend. That was it. Right? Just a close friend. But their closeness was starting to feel like something else. Something more...intimate. Maybe best friends were like this with each other, kind of like Esther and Millie. Meredith had never had a best friend before.
As they left the restaurant, Dani held the door open for her and smiled. This time Meredith’s knees got jittery, and the warm feeling lasted all the way home.
Chapter Twelve
Anything for a Sister
“DO YOU WANT to see it?” Meredith peeked at Dani from behind the canvas. She swirled her paintbrush in the water jar next to the painting.
Dani’s mouthed dropped open. “Really? It’s done?”
“Just about. I’ll probably work on the background more, but, yeah, it’s pretty much finished. Come look.” She grabbed her rag to wipe her hands and stepped back.
Dani stood up hesitantly. She looked scared for some reason.
Meredith laughed. “C’mon, chicken. Take a look.”
Dani took a deep breath and went around to the other side of the canvas. She didn’t say anything for so long that Meredith began to wonder if she hated it. Maybe Dani just didn’t know how to tell her how bad the portrait was. She saw Dani swallow hard, but before Meredith had a chance to get even more nervous, Dani said quietly, “You’re amazing. People don’t know how amazing you are.”
Meredith felt her face color, while that wonderful hot chocolate feeling radiated outward from somewhere in her middle.
“I feel so honored to be the subject of your painting. I mean, it’s almost like looking in a mirror, but...it’s better. You’ve made me look so, I don’t know, like majestic or something.” Dani’s voice was reverent. She shook her head slowly as if she couldn’t believe what she saw.
“No,” Meredith said simply. “That’s just you. That’s what I see when I look at you.”
And why does that sound so weird now that I’ve said it out loud?
Dani swallowed again. “This is how you see me?”
“Yeah,” she said barely above a whisper.
Dani stared at her. “I don’t know what to say, except, thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I should be the one thanking you. I need this painting for my portfolio, so…” Meredith turned away and put her palette in its case. She turned back to face her friend. “Dani, you’ve been such a good friend to me. Even when I tried to push you away, you were so persistent. I never thought having a friend could feel so good, so...so freeing. I almost feel like everything’s going my way now.”
Dani took a step closer. “I make you feel all that?”
Meredith knew she was blushing and knew that Dani could tell. She was embarrassed about admitting her feelings, but she wanted Dani to know. “Yeah. You forced me out of my shell. You forced me to stand up on my own two feet. And you’re amazing with Mikey. He’s so excited about being the lacrosse manager with Christopher. You have no idea what it means to him...and me.” Meredith cleared her throat to cover her embarrassment. “Mikey loves the lacrosse sweatshirt Coach Pratt gave him. He wears it all the time.” She looked away to turn off the extra lighting. “Remember what my Dad said at Fiesta Loca a couple of weeks ago? He said something like ‘Find a way to keep her.’ Well, I hope that you and me, well, I hope we can be friends for a long time.”
And why am I telling you all of this? You must think I’m really sappy or something.
Dani’s face took on a serious expression. Her voice was thick when she answered, “Me, too.”
“I think we’d better get our stuff together before we turn into a Hallmark card right here in Mrs. Levine’s room.” She’d said things to Dani that she hadn’t thought through completely, and her sudden openness scared her a little.
Dani laughed. “Yeah, yeah. You’re right. Phew, it’s getting way too serious in here. C’mon, let’s tell Mrs. Levine that the masterpiece is finished.”
MEREDITH AND DANI, and even Mikey, were giddy with excitement because spring break officially began that afternoon. The first portrait was finished, and Dani’s lacrosse team had won its game. Dani drove Mikey and Meredith home after the win, and Meredith’s mother insisted that Dani stay for supper, which she gladly did, after calling home to ask her parents.
After supper, Dani stood up to help clear the table. “Let me help you with that, Mrs. Bedford.”
Meredith’s mom smiled. “Thank you, Dani. But don’t worry about it. Mikey and I will finish up. Why don’t you two go celebrate your big win?”
Dani put her plate down. “Okay, thank you. The stew was great. I’m so full I don’t think I can move anyway.”
Meredith’s mother smiled. “You’re sweet. Now, go on, both of you, get out of the kitchen and leave the fun stuff to me and my son.” She turned to Mikey and said, “You want to use the sprayer?”
His eyes lit up, and he bolted out of his chair, almost knocking it over. “Brayer! C’mon, Mom.” He scraped his chair across the floor toward the sink. He and Dani almost looked like twins in their matching green and yellow lacrosse sweatshirts.
Meredith laughed and pulled on the sleeve of Dani’s sweatshirt. “C’mon, we’d better get out of here. This is gonna get messy.”
Dani laughed. “You don’t have to ask twice.”
As they made their way into the living room, Meredith debated for a split second, but then asked, “Hey, do you want to come to my room? I want to show you the pictures I chose for Esther and Millie’s portraits. I even started a sketch of Esther.”
“Yeah, sure. That’d be cool”
Meredith grabbed her book bag from the base of the stairwell and flung it over her shoulder. “I hope my room’s not too messy. I wasn’t expecting company today.” Or ever.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Dani said as they made their way up the stairs.
Meredith detected a puzzling hint of nervousness in Dani’s tone. Meredith hesitated a moment at the threshold and scanned her room quickly. Her desk was littered with books and colored pencils, but the rest of her room was fairly neat. Luckily, she had made her bed that morning, but she cringed when she saw the juvenile comforter with the overlarge roses. She’d had that comforter for as long as she could remember. She made a mental note to ask her mom for a new one before heading to Syracuse in the fall.
She walked in and gestured for Dani to sit on her desk chair. “Have a seat. Let me put my book bag away.” She put the book bag in her closet and closed the door. “Thank God I don’t have to take that out for a whole week.”
Dani spun the offered chair around, sat down, and rested her arms on the backrest. “Yeah, I could definitely use the break. Don’t our teachers know it’s the spring semester of our senior year, and we don’t want to do any more homework?” She sighed loudly.
“I know. I’m just glad I have two periods of art.” Meredith thought about all the times she had Dani to herself in Mrs. Levine’s workroom. That thought made her think about all the time they would have together at Syracuse. The hot chocolate feeling that had become so familiar, but surprised her every time, pulsed through her. She turned from Dani, slightly embarrassed, and quickly thought of something else to say. “Oh, I finished Mikey’s portrait, too.”
“You painted Mikey?”
“Yeah, that’s what I work on during my AP class. I should have shown you. It’s on the rack with my other AP stuff. I’ll show you when we get back to school after break.” Meredith reached behind Dani on the desk and pulled out the pictures of Esther and Millie she had decided to use for their portraits. She handed the photos to Dani. “I love this picture of Esther,” she said softly.
“Yeah,” Dani agreed. “She’s looking right at the camera. It looks like Thanksgiving dinner or something.”
Meredith leaned in closer to get a better look at the photograph. When her arm touched Dani’s she was pleasantly startled when that warm feeling welled up inside her again. She took a micro-step back when she realized their arms were still touching.
Dani handed Esther’s photo back. “Are you going to use the dining room as the background?”
Meredith looked at the photo again, still pleased with her selection. “No, I’ll probably paint her in front of a bookcase or something. Something dignified. She’ll be one of the founders of the Randall-Bradley House, after all.”
“It sounds so official when you say it like that.” Dani examined the photo of Millie. “Millie looks a little more serious in this picture. She’s usually laughing or joking around.”
“That’s why I like this one. It shows her serious side, I think.”
“Are you going to paint my serious side, too?” Dani looked up at her.
“Of course. I’ve got that sketch of you with the angry fire in your eyes. I’ll probably work on that during AP now that Mikey’s done. You don’t have to pose for that one.”
“How come?” Dani looked disappointed.
“Well, because I think I’ve had enough practice by now.” Not exactly a lie. “You have your own stuff to do in class, anyway.”
How can I tell her that I never ever want to be on the receiving end of her anger?
Dani groaned softly. “I have to figure out what my Whickett Days’ project is. Mrs. Levine said we have to start on Monday when we get back. How come all our teachers want some kind of Whickett Days’ project? They must have had a meeting or something to decide how to make our lives as busy as possible.”
“Oh, I know.” Meredith took Millie’s photo from Dani and put both photos back on her overflowing desk. She went over and sat on her bed and leaned back against the headboard. Dani was in her room, and it felt weird. Weird, but good. Dani had only been in her room once before, to look at the sketches Meredith had made of Dani at that senior class meeting. That was a long time ago, though, the day they had met Esther and Millie for the first time at Hudson Pines. Other than that, Meredith had never had a friend in her room before. She tried to act as if she had friends in her room all the time.
Meredith cleared her throat. “Mrs. Levine said she’d start taking slides of our AP work to send off to the College Board right after spring break. The slides are due the second week of May. Can you believe that’s only a month away?”
“Wow. April’s almost half over. Time’s flying.” Dani swiveled the chair back and forth. “Coach is making us practice over spring break, but she said she’d probably give us a day off. Do you and Mikey want to go bowling again?”
Meredith felt a flush of excitement at the prospect. “Yeah, that was fun. Mom has him scheduled up with a couple of play dates, so I’ll have to call you back on that. Sorry you have to practice.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, c’mon, it’s spring break.”
“That’s okay. I like lacrosse.”
“No! Really?” Meredith pretended to be shocked.
“Oh, shut up. God, I hope I make the team at Syracuse. I emailed the coach with my schedule and reminded her who I was. I even invited her to a game. My dad said I should put that part in there.”
“Which game?”
“I don’t know because I don’t know if she’s even coming. I know I’ll play like crap if she comes here.” Dani looked at the floor and exhaled forcefully. “If that coach actually comes here I think I’ll die.”
Meredith sat up and crossed her legs Indian style. “Well, I doubt you’ll die, but, yeah, I can see how that’d be distracting.”