Between Us (4 page)

“She was lost, and I was telling her how to get home,” Bailey explained.

“I can see that,” Penelope said. “That's why you were doing all the pointing, and why she looked so upset.”

“Right,” Bailey answered.

“Good effort. Who's next?” Ms. Healy asked.

“Thanks, Bailey,” Hannah whispered. “You saved me up there!”

Bailey smiled. “What are cousins for?” she answered.

1.
    
Choose a theme.

2.
    
Make a guest list.

3.
    
Send invitations.

4.
    
Plan food that matches theme.

5.
    
Plan a few activities, but leave time in between.

6.
    
Buy supplies a few days in advance (including cleaning supplies).

7.
    
Clean.

8.
    
Ask parents for permission (should probably be #1).

9.
    
Decorate the day before.

10.
  
Choose music.

11.
  
Ask for help if you need it.

12.
  
Make sure no one ends up standing alone by themselves (especially Hannah).

13.
  
Make sure to say good-bye to people when they leave.

“How'd Hannah do in school today?” Bailey's mom asked when the family sat down for dinner that night.

Before Bailey could answer, the kitchen door opened and Gus came barging in. “We're having fish. And they still have their eyeballs in their heads. I need to eat here. It's that or starve.” He flopped down in the empty chair at the table.

Bailey and Gus had worked out the perfect way of getting out of eating dinners they didn't like, by going to each other's houses anytime fish (Gus) or eggplant (Bailey) was being served.

“Well, we don't want to be arrested for aiding in child famishment,” Bailey's father answered. He stood up and got an extra plate and silverware. As soon as he set them down, Gus served himself a pile of spaghetti and two pieces of garlic bread. Bailey's mom added some salad to his plate.

“So, Mom, Dad, I think I need to have a party,” Bailey announced.

“Need?” Her father raised an eyebrow, but he was smiling.

“Yes, need,” Bailey answered. “Mom, you were asking how Hannah did at school today.” She looked over at Gus. “Hannah, in case you forgot to listen when
I talk, like you do half the time, is my cousin who just moved to town.”

“Hannah, yeah.” Gus used his fingers to pop a meatball into his mouth, then closed his eyes and gave a dreamy smile. He loved meatballs.

“Hannah honestly didn't do that great today,” Bailey continued. “She practically had a panic attack in drama. She only took it because she wanted to be in the same class with me. I asked Tess, and Vivi, and Olivia how she was in the classes she was in with them, and they all said she seemed kind of nervous. She needs to get to know more people, so she'll feel more at home. So . . . party!”

Her parents looked at each other. They could have whole conversations without even opening their mouths. “I think that's a great idea,” her mom said. Her dad nodded. “When?”

“As soon as possible,” Bailey answered. “I'm thinking this Saturday. It doesn't give people a lot of notice, but I can call everybody tonight, then start working on a theme.”

“While doing your homework,” her father said.

“Of course!” Bailey promised. “Gus, you have to come,” she ordered. “And you have to bring a couple boys from your school.”

“Boys?” her mom asked. “Since when do you have boys at your party?”

“I'm not in elementary school anymore,” Bailey answered. “Gus, you've got your assignment, right?”

“Drag boys to your party,” he answered.

“Invite,” Bailey corrected. “Invite boys to my incredible party for Hannah.”

“Thanks for all your help, Dad. It looks awesome, don't you think?” Bailey asked on Saturday evening. The basement glowed with neon colors under the two black lights her father had put up. Bailey had used glow chalk and a stencil to draw designs on the cement floor, and she'd hung neon posters on the walls.

“Totally awesome, dudette,” her father answered in a voice he thought sounded like an LA surfer dude.

Bailey had thought about going with a simple “Welcome Hannah” theme for her party, but had decided on a glow party instead. It just sounded more fun, and it was easier to plan food and games around “glow” than “welcome.”

The doorbell rang. “Somebody's here!”

“I hope so,” she heard her father say as she raced up the basement stairs. She was almost to the top when she remembered she'd forgotten to turn on the music.
She spun around and almost slammed into her dad.

“See, I remembered I was banned from the basement as soon as anyone gets here—unless I hear things getting out of control,” he said.

“Good. Thanks. Will you go turn my iPod on? It's already connected to the minispeaker. Please!” Bailey turned around again and hurried up the stairs. “Then come back up again,” she called over her shoulder.

She flung open the front door, expecting to see Olivia. She'd promised to come over a little early, so nobody would feel weird about being first. Instead, it was Hannah on the porch. “You're here! Great!” Bailey exclaimed. The whole point of the party was Hannah!

Bailey had begged until her parents agreed to let her invite twenty people. Even though they hadn't had much notice, almost everyone she'd invited had said yes. She'd phoned, texted, and made a personal visit to Gus to remind him to bring himself and other boys. Tonight was going to be so fun.

“I thought I'd get here a little early in case you needed help,” Hannah said.

“Thanks. That's great. I like to be extraprepared, and you can assist.” Bailey told her. “I think I have everything pretty much ready to go. In—” She checked her watch. “In ten minutes, it will be time to start bringing food
down. You could help with that.”

“Sure,” Hannah answered. “Oh, look. I got new sneaks. Do you like them?”

“Absolutely,” Bailey answered, smiling when she saw they were the same as the sneakers she had on, but in a different color. Her cousin continued to be her style twin. Except Hannah always added a personal touch. Like with the sneakers, she'd added a curlicue of rhinestones on both toes. She was really creative.

“You might want to take them off before you go downstairs, if you want to keep them paint-free,” Bailey said. She'd told everyone to wear only clothes they didn't mind getting paint on.

“Right.” Hannah slipped them off.

The doorbell rang. This time it was Olivia. “Oh, hi . . . both of you.” She was clearly surprised to see Hannah there early. “I thought my assignment was to be here before anyone else.” Her eyes flicked to Hannah, then back to Bailey.

“I wanted to be here if Bailey needed help,” Hannah answered. “You've got to be extraprepared for a party.”

“Exactly!” Bailey exclaimed. “See, Hannah knows.” Olivia had said she thought every second of the party didn't need to be planned in advance, but Bailey liked planning, and clearly Hannah did too.

“She sounds exactly like you,” Olivia observed.

“I know!” Bailey wrapped an arm around Hannah, then checked her watch again. “It's getting close to go time,” she announced. “Oh, you go down to the basement, okay? Get people started on their T-shirts when they come down.” Bailey had gotten big white T-shirts that everyone could paint in neon colors. It would look so cool under the black lights. And it was a great icebreaker activity.

“Got it. Do you want to come, Hannah?” Olivia asked.

“I'll stay and help Bailey,” Hannah answered.

Olivia raised her eyebrows, and Bailey thought she gave Hannah a weird look.

“Okay, I'll be getting the party started downstairs,” Olivia said with a grin, and Bailey decided she was wrong about the weirdness.

A second later, the doorbell rang again. “I'll start bringing down the food,” Hannah said. She started to scurry towards the kitchen, but Bailey caught her by the arm.

“Stay with me. I want you to meet everyone,” Bailey said. She opened the door.
Yes!
It was Gus, and he had two friends with him. Boy-type friends. “Hannah, this is my next-door neighbor Gus.” She stared at Gus until
he remembered he should introduce her and Hannah to his friends.

“This is Bryce.” He jerked his thumb towards a tall, dark-haired boy. “That's Steven.” He jerked his thumb towards a freckled blond boy.

“I'm glad you could come,” Bailey told them. “Gus will take you downstairs. That's where we're having the party. My friend Olivia is already down there.” She got an idea just as they headed off.

“Wait, Gus.” He came back. “Will you bring food down? Hannah said she'd help.” She turned to Hannah. “Gus is more like an honorary brother than a neighbor, so I get to put him to work.”

Hannah gave him a shy smile. “I guess if you're Bailey's kind-of-brother, that means you're my cousin too.”

“I guess so,” he told her. He smiled back. He was a good guy.

Bailey squinted at the clock. It was hard to see the numbers with the black light. Almost six. She opened her bag of supplies and pulled out the glow necklaces she'd strung together. She was going to stretch the illuminated rope across the room so they could play volleyball with glow-in-the-dark balloons.

She looked around for Olivia and grinned. Oh and a bunch of other girls were doing model struts up and down the basement, showing off the T-shirts they'd designed with the neon paint. They were all trying to outdo one another with snappy turns, extreme poses, and exaggerated pouts or haughty stares. A couple of the guys had even joined in, and everybody else was yelling encouragement to their favorites.

But where was Hannah? She wasn't doing the model thing, and she wasn't part of the group cheering them on. She wasn't over by the snack table or the drinks. Bailey hoped she hadn't slipped upstairs. Her cousin wasn't very comfortable in crowds.

She should probably go check. Bailey took a few steps towards the stairs, then saw Hannah and Gus sitting on the bottom step, heads close together. Excellent. She'd hoped having them bring down the food together would help them get to know each other a little, and it had worked! Gus could be a pain, but he could also be a good friend. He always showed up when Bailey needed him. Like tonight. It would be great for Hannah to have him for a friend too. She turned around. “Hey, Olivia!” Bailey called. “Come help me hang this up.”

Olivia didn't answer. She kept on working the catwalk. It was probably too noisy for her to hear Bailey.

“I got it!” Hannah rushed over.

“Thanks,” Bailey said.

“I want to use this to make a volleyball net.” She held up the linked necklaces. “I put hooks up yesterday. Can you do this side while I go attach the other one?”

“On it.”

As soon as they got the net in place, Bailey got a couple glow-in-the-dark balloons out of the laundry bag where she'd stashed them, then crossed over to the minispeaker and turned down the music a little. “Time for volleyball.” She batted one of the balloons into the air. “We're playing hands-free. You can use your hands when you serve, but otherwise it's just feet and head.”

“Who wants to be on Team Epic with me and Hannah?” Gus called as he headed over.

Bailey smiled at him. He was really coming through. She'd have to use her mom's recipe to make him as many meatballs as he could eat. Although that could take days.

Olivia stepped next to Bailey. “Do you feel like you're playing Simon Says? I mean Bailey Says?” Olivia said into Bailey's ear.

“What do you mean?” Bailey asked, half her attention on the volleyball game.

“It feels like Hannah's imitating you sometimes, what you wear, what you think is funny,” Olivia explained. “Who you're friends with. Like tonight, she's been hanging with Gus almost the whole time. Doesn't it kind of bother you?”

“We just have the same kind of style,” Bailey protested. “And I wanted Gus to—” Out of the corner of her eye, Bailey saw a glowing orange balloon coming towards her. She automatically bounced it off her knee, joining in the game.

When they'd played three times, people started heading to the drink table. Bailey headed over too.

“Why'd Olivia have to leave early?” Vivi asked as Bailey did a check on how much ice was left.

“She didn't. She's around somewhere,” Bailey answered. Olivia had promised to get to the party early and stay until the very end.

“She left right when we were starting the volleyball game,” Vivi answered.

Bailey looked around, then scanned the room more carefully. Vivi was right. Olivia was gone.

1.
    
Do fun things together.

2.
    
Pay attention to what's going on in your friend's life.

3.
    
Stay in touch—even when you get busy.

4.
    
If you're upset with your friend, talk about it. (Talk, not yell!)

5.
    
Be supportive when your friend is going through something hard.

6.
    
Don't keep secrets from your friend.

7.
    
Let your friend know you appreciate them.

Wr o wr is Oh?

Bailey hit send. It was the fourth text she'd sent Olivia since the party ended last night. So far, Olivia hadn't answered any of them. What was going on with her?

“What color should the dragonfly be?” her grandfather asked her and Hannah. He was painting a mural on the wall of Hannah's bedroom, with Hannah and Bailey's help. Bailey had told him once that she'd love a mural of a meadow, and he'd promised he would paint one on all four walls, so she'd be surrounded by flowers every time she slept over, but he hadn't gotten to it. Until now.

He'd offered to paint anything Hannah wanted, but when Hannah had heard Bailey had wanted a meadow, she said she couldn't think of anything better than that.

“What color do you think, Bailey?” Hannah asked.

“Turquoise,” she answered. She hadn't needed to think about it at all. She'd pictured the meadow a million times. “But you should have what you want, Hannah,” she added quickly, reminding herself that this wasn't her room anymore.

“Perfect!” Hannah exclaimed. “Do you have any silver, Granddad?”

“Silver?” Bailey asked. She hadn't imagined any silver in the mural.

“I, um, thought the veins of the dragonfly's wings might look cool in silver, just thin lines,” Hannah explained.

“That would be beautiful,” Bailey answered truthfully.

“You have the eye of an artist,” Bailey's grandfather—make that Bailey
and
Hannah's grandfather—told Hannah. “Turquoise and silver it is,” he said. He opened a small can of turquoise paint.

Bailey felt a little pang when he began filling in the dragonfly he'd sketched on the wall. She carefully closed the can of fuchsia she'd been using to fill in a giant tulip. “I'm thirsty. I'm going to go get something to drink.”

“I'll come too,” Hannah volunteered.

“That's okay. I'll bring something up for all of us,” Bailey answered.

She wanted a few minutes by herself. She was being silly about the mural. It was great that her grandfather was doing it for Hannah. Hannah needed something special. Yeah, Bailey had just thrown a party for her, but it was great her granddad was doing something to make her feel at home here too. Just the way her grandmother had. She'd taken Hannah out shopping for a new comforter and matching curtains.

Bailey went to the kitchen and took three sodas out of the fridge. She didn't feel like going back to her—Hannah's—room yet.

She checked her phone, just to make sure she hadn't noticed Olivia texting her back. But there was no message.

Finally!
Baily thought the next morning when she checked her phone and saw there was a text from Olivia. She eagerly opened it.

cnt walk 2 skool 2day. c u there.

Bailey sighed. It felt like it had been forever. They'd hardly hung out at the party. Bailey had been too busy keeping up with the food and organizing the games, and then Olivia had taken off early. Bailey still didn't know why. Well, they'd be able to talk before English.

But Olivia didn't get to class until about thirty seconds before the bell rang. They didn't have time to do more than exchange hi's. Bailey thought about passing her a note, but Mrs. Hahn, their teacher, was kind of strict. If she got caught, she'd be in trouble. She'd have to wait until after class.

“Where were you yesterday?” Bailey burst out as soon as they stepped out into the hall after English ended. “And why'd you leave my party early?”

“I had to run some errands with my mom after church,” Olivia answered. She ignored the question about the party.

“You missed helping my granddad work on a meadow mural in Hannah's room,” Bailey told her. They both liked helping Bailey's grandfather paint. One year they'd painted a bunch of birdhouses with him, which had gotten put up all over Frank Liske Park.

“He did a meadow mural for Hannah?” Olivia asked.

“She thought it sounded cool,” Bailey answered.

“Of course she did.” Olivia's eyes narrowed. “She knew it was your idea, right?”

“Yeah, and she thought it would be perfect for the room,” Bailey said.

“But
you
loved the meadow idea,” Olivia said. “Couldn't your grandfather have done it in your room and done something different in Hannah's?”

“None of us thought of it,” Bailey said. She wished she had, but it was too late. It didn't matter. She could come up with another idea—although she'd made a list of fifty-two possibilities before she'd decided a meadow would make the very best mural. She felt a little pang again, like the one she'd had when she saw her grandfather working on the dragonfly. She pushed the feeling away.

“You should have seen how happy Hannah was. She—”

Olivia didn't let her finish. “I have to go. I have gym.
See you!” She strode off before Bailey could even say bye.

Okay, today Olivia and I will finally get to hang out,
Bailey thought a week later. She and Oh had joined the Spanish club, and they were going to the first meeting that day at lunch.

It seemed like it had been a billion years since Bailey had gotten a chance to really talk to Olivia. Since she'd gotten to town, Hannah had been with them practically every second they were together. It wasn't that Hannah wasn't nice. But Bailey missed having some best-friend time without her cousin around. She and Olivia didn't have the same kind of convos when Hannah was with them.

They'd texted some, but that wasn't the same. And it seemed like Olivia was always saying she had to study or help take care of her little sister. Bailey knew something was bugging Olivia, and now she'd finally have the chance to find out what.

“¡Hola, chiquita!”
Bailey called when she reached Olivia's locker, where they'd agreed to meet up so they could go to the meeting together.

“I was afraid you were going to say a certain peelable
fruit after chiquita,” Olivia said, sounding more like the regular Olivia than she had in a while.

“I wouldn't do that to you. I know how you feel about the yellow fruit that shall remain unnamed,” Bailey answered.

“Wow, it feels like a billion years since I've talked to you,” Olivia commented as they started down the hall. “I know we've talked, but it's just, I don't know, different with Hannah.”

“Exactly.” It was so great to have a friend who practically shared a brain with you. Someone who knew everything there was to know about what you liked and hated and dreamed about. “So what's up with you? Because I know there's something.”

Olivia looked surprised. “You could tell?”

“Of course I could tell,” Bailey answered. “I'm your best friend.”

“I hope Hannah couldn't,” Olivia said.

“Hannah? What's Hannah got to do with anything?” Bailey asked.

“I thought you could tell!” Olivia exclaimed.

“I could tell something was wrong, but I didn't know what. So tell me,” Bailey urged.

“It's just . . . I know at the party you said you didn't
think it was weird that Hannah imitates you,” Olivia began.

“Because I don't think she is,” Bailey said.

“Yeah, she is, and it's weird, Bails,” Olivia told her.

“We just ended up liking a lot of the same things,” Bailey protested.

“It's more than that. Do you want a Bailey-style list that proves it?” Olivia asked, and Bailey nodded. Olivia held up a finger. “One. She got herself put in almost all your classes.”

“But—”

Olivia kept going. She held up a second finger. “Two. She copied your signature style. She wears polka dots every day! And she got the same identical sneakers.”

“They were a different color, and—” Bailey started to explain.

Olivia kept right on going, putting up a third finger. “Three. The only friends she has are your friends. Me, Tess, Vivi, and since the party, Gus. Has she ever even talked to anyone you don't know?”

“She must have—”

Olivia charged on, holding up another finger. “Four. She repeats things you say all the time. And whatever you say you like, she says she likes.”

“You make it sound so serious,” Bailey said.

Olivia pulled in a deep breath, then answered. “I think it might be serious. Maybe she does it because she's so upset about her parents' divorce or because she isn't feeling settled here yet. Maybe it feels, I don't know, safer or easier just to do what you do and hang out with just the people who are already your friends. But whatever reason she's doing it, it's just weird, Bails.”

“I think you're making it into more of a big thing than it is,” Bailey said. “Like the polka dots. She told us she was into polka dots that day at the mall when she bought the scarf. She liked them before she met me.”

“But we don't know that's true,” Olivia said slowly. “It's not like you know if she came to town with all those polka-dotted clothes—because she has more than the scarf. She could have gotten them all after she found out you wear polka dots all the time. Was she wearing anything polka-dotted before we went to the mall? Did she have her nails painted with dots, the way she has every day since then? What about the first day she got here?”

Bailey tried to think. She pictured the kitten at Kitty City kneading Hannah's shirt. Bailey was pretty sure the shirt was pale green with little flowers. She didn't think
anything else Hannah had been wearing that day had dots either. She closed her eyes, trying to remember more. She could almost see Hannah's hands holding the kitten. She thought she remembered light pink nails with shimmery silver tips.

Slowly Bailey opened her eyes. “She wasn't, was she?” Olivia asked, caramel-colored eyes filled with concern.

“I don't think so, but I'm not positive,” Bailey admitted. “But even I don't wear polka dots
every
day. Only almost every day. And I think it was her mom who decided Hannah would like to be in classes with me, not Hannah. And anyway, it's not like we like
all
the same things.”

“What about the school pizza? After you said you liked it, Hannah was all ‘It's better than the pizza at any of my schools.' But she didn't even eat all of the little piece Tess gave her, so clearly she didn't like it.” Olivia began speaking faster. “And there's the thing with Mr. Moya's jokes. When she thought you thought they were funny, Hannah did too. Then you said they were corny, and she backed off and said whatever joke you were talking about wasn't that funny.
Then
you said the jokes were funny because they were corny, and she
agreed, like she hadn't just said she didn't think they were funny. And she stayed with Gus—your practically brother—almost every second at your party. And, and! She's having your grandfather paint a meadow mural for her, and that's an idea you came up with.”

That stung a little. “I sort of wish she wasn't getting that mural,” Bailey admitted.

“She might be imitating you because she's feeling insecure or something,” Olivia said. “And I get that. She's going through a lot. But if I were you, it would be making me crazy. It makes me a little crazy just watching. It's like she's taking over your life.”

Bailey felt her stomach trying to twist itself into a pretzel. Was Olivia right? She shook her head. “She's not taking over anything. It's just that we like a lot of the same things, including people,” Bailey mumbled, knowing she was repeating herself but feeling like she had to defend her cousin. Her phone buzzed almost the instant the words were out of her mouth.

where r u? i'm at our table.

“It's from Hannah,” Bailey told Olivia.

Olivia opened her mouth to answer, then shut it.

“She wants to know where I am. She says she's already at our table,” Bailey said. “I forgot to tell her
about the club meeting.” She quickly shot a text back.

going 2 spanish club. see u in track.

“Maybe Hannah will find a club of her own to join,” Bailey said as they walked down the hall towards the room where Spanish Club was meeting. “Then she could make some new friends.”

“That would be great,” Olivia said as they stepped inside and found seats. “But I'm not sure she wants new friends. I think she's happy with yours.”

“That's kinda harsh,” Bailey said.

“Maybe a little,” Olivia admitted.

There wasn't more time to talk, because Señora McAllister had stepped up to the front of the room. “Welcome! It's great to see so many of you here. I know we're going to come up with some great events where we can learn more about the cultures of Mexico and Spain and, of course, have fun!”

One of the boys let out a whoop.

“The first thing you need to do is elect your officers,” Señora McAllister told them. “I'll take nominations for—”

The door burst open. Bailey felt her eyes widen when Hannah rushed in. “Sorry I'm late,” Hannah told the teacher, her face pink with embarrassment.
She headed directly over to Bailey. “Would you mind moving to that desk so I can sit with my cousin?” she asked Olivia in a low voice.

Olivia looked over at Bailey. There were some questions it was almost impossible to say no to without being rude. Bailey gave a helpless little shrug. Olivia stood up without a word, moved to the empty desk, and sat down.