“Sounds soâ¦I dunno,” I said. “I could never live like that, disconnected from everything.” I could have told her about the Cool Code of Conduct. But that was something between Selena and Josie and me.
“I guess it goes back to when my grandparents lived in a cabin on a creek with no running water, maybe,” said Cleo.
How very
Little House on the Prairie
!
But Cleo's family story was fascinating, the way she told it. Her grandmother had been a potter. Her grandfather, a Vietnam War draft dodger. They had lived on a mountain, “off the grid.” According to Cleo, this meant no running water or electricity, let alone phones or
TV
. Talk about disconnected! They grew all their own stuff. Self-sufficiency, Cleo called it. They passed their values on to Cleo's mother.
The way she told it, her family lived the kind of life I thought had died out about the time of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
My phone alarm buzzed. I grabbed Cleo's arm. “What's the time?”
“What's the panic?”
“The kids I babysit.” I took off running. “I have to be there when they get home.”
Cleo was right beside me as I raced toward the intersection, past the library, through the park and across the street against the light.
When a driver pounded his horn and yelled “Stupid kids!” out the window, I just ran faster.
My breath was raw in my throat by the time we got to the house. A gray minivan idled at the sidewalk.
Caden pushed his way through the kids who were jammed in among coats and lunch boxes. “Where were you? We've been here for ages.”
Emmy emerged holding a piece of poster board. “You're late.” She pushed it into my hands. “I have to do a science project.”
Today's driver was a thin woman with a gray-white sheet of hair. “I have an appointment, you know.” She looked at her watch. “They will charge me if I don't make it in time.”
“Sorry to hold you up,” I said.
The woman was too busy nagging everyone to buckle up to answer. She slammed the doors, hurried around to the driver's side and drove off.
“Jacob's mom said lots of rude words when you weren't here,” Emmy said as I groped for the key.
“Lots and lots,” agreed Caden.
Cleo followed as I shepherded the kids inside. “Do you know anything about science projects?” I asked her.
She hung up her jacket and placed her shoes against the wall. But she didn't take off her hat. “Sure. I won my school science fair.”
How come I'm not surprised, I thought.
“Three times,” she added as she followed us into the kitchen.
The kids didn't find anything odd about a total stranger opening cupboard doors and peering into the fridge.
After a snack, Caden whined that he wanted to do a science project of his own. Cleo distracted him by asking about his LEGO, and he happily trotted out of the room.
That was close,
I texted Josie.
Late
for work.
U tk a babysitting course?
she asked.
1st aid.
Not the same thing.
Im the 1 wth the job.
Though it might be hard to tell right now, with Cleo taking charge.
She had stuck a sheet of paper on the fridge with four flower magnets. “All you need to do is answer the five Ws and one H,” she told Emmy as she scrawled a big W across the paper.
Gotta go. Big science project,
I texted Josie. If I wasn't careful, Cleo might ask me to split my pay with her.
U tkg science this semestr?
Explain later,
I told her.
Call me.
Emerson munched her cookie as Cleo continued. “What? Who? Where? When? Why? And How? First decide your topic,” she told Emmy. “Then figure out your questions. Answer them, and you'll be done.” I could hear footsteps and rattling toys overhead. Caden would be busy for a while.
I was ready to explain Cleo's research methods to Josie, but it wasn't her on the phone when it rang. “Where are you?” said Mom. No
Hello. How
was your day?
“Babysitting. It's Tuesday.”
“Cynthia was worried. She called the house.”
“When?”
“Just after two forty-five. No one answered.”
“I was only a couple of minutes late.”
“Only a couple of minutes?” My mother's voice was chilly.
“The car pool had just got here when we arrived.” Trust her to make a big deal out of it.
“We? Is it okay to have people over when you're babysitting?”
“Cynthia never said.”
“Who is there with you?”
“Cleo.”
Cleo looked up when she heard her name.
“And who is Cleo?” Mom asked.
“You met her, remember? She knits.”
Cleo tapped her hat and grinned.
“Why didn't Cynthia call again herself?” I asked Mom.
“She had to go into a meeting. I was to get her out of there if there was still no answer.”
I could hear Caden yelling upstairs. “Look, I've got to go. I'll see you later.”
“I'll tell Cynthia that everything's okay,” said Mom. I could hear the smile in her voice when she added, “It's nice to know you've made a friend.”
I hung up without saying goodbye. One minute, she's on my case because I'm two minutes late. Now, everything is forgiven because I have a friend!
“You going to help, or what?” asked Cleo. “Caden's calling you.”
“He'll be fine for a minute,” I said as I checked my messages.
Im in the festivl!!! Jazz & tap!!!
Selena had texted.
Deets ltr?
I answered.
Im @ wrk!!!
“Cleo is going to show me how to make a tin-can phone,” said Emmy. “Have we got any cans?”
I pushed the blue box toward them with my foot. “Isn't Emmy too young to get addicted to phones?” I said to Cleo.
“Idiot!” Cleo said as she dug in the box for some cans.
When my phone rang, she leaned across and grabbed it. She peered at the screen. “One of your buddies, looks like. Leave it, can't you? We've got a science project to do.”
By the time I called her back after I got home, Josie had left one message and Selena two.
“That's great about the festival,” I told Selena as she picked up.
She cut me off. “Yeah. It is. But that not why I called.”
“Bet you're pleased though. I know you were ticked about the bronzeâ”
She interrupted, talking fast. “Look, Daria. It's about our trip. There's been a change of plans. It turns out Dad's car needsâ¦well, something real expensive. And see, there's only room for three in the back of Mom's Kia.”
“We've done it before. Lots of times.”
“Yeah. But not as far as Quebec. With all our stuff.”
“So?”
I could hear her swallow.
“What?” I asked.
“It's not like it's the only chance we'll have. Next year, I'll make sure⦔
“Selena, what are you telling me?”
Her words came out in a rush. “There won't be room for you. Not this time. Not with me and Justine and Josie.”
“Justine?” I pulled my pillow into my lap. I hugged it. “Justine Marcus is going with you?”
“You know her mom knows my mom? They were talking and before I knew it⦔
“Justine?”
“Stop saying it like that. Like I said, there's only room for three of us. Mom and Dad in the front⦔
“I know how many seats there are in your mom's damn car. I've been in it often enough.” The three of us in the back. Sharing magazines. Doing our nails. Playing Scrabble. “We've been planning this for ages,” I said. “You, me and Josie. Like always. Now you want to take Justine instead?”
“Not really. But when her mom⦔
“Right. Of course. It's not your fault. It's her mom's. Your mom's. You know what?” I held the phone away at arm's length. I took a deep breath, then put it back to my ear. “Sure. Go ahead,” I said. “Fine. You and Josie have a good time with Justine. I have better things to do with my hard-earned money than spend it all on a holiday with youâ¦you jerks.” I hung up before she could say another word.
I swiped at the tears and leaned back against the wall. I stared at the screen, willing Selena to call back, to text me. While I waited, I ran through all the mean and awful things I would say to her.
The phone did not ring. The screen stayed blank.
I shoved my pillow back under my head and jammed the phone underneath.
When Mom called me for supper, I yelled that I didn't want any. When she knocked on my door later, I pressed my face into the pillow so she wouldn't hear me crying.
I pulled out my phone and punched in a whole bunch of texts to Josie.
That cow Selena!
Remember the CCC? #3? Stick
together?
U kno that gry skirt? I do hav it. It's
perfect wth the blu shirt!
I hate this. Call me.
BFF my ass.
Dont u dare try 2 make xcuses.
I deleted them all.
I turned my phone off and threw it across the room. When it fell behind my chair, I didn't bother to check it was okay.
I crawled into bed, pulled the covers up to my head.
Mom and Dad knocked during the evening. When I didn't answer, they whispered to each other and then went away.
Next morning, my phone worked. But there was nothing from Selena. Or Josie.
All the way to school, I worked on what I would say to them. If we ever spoke again.
By lunch, they had still not called or texted me. “Want to see a movie on the weekend?” I asked Cleo at lunch.
“Sure you've got time for me between keeping in touch with old friends and babysitting?” She peered inside her wrap, then rolled it back up.
“You said you liked movies.”
“I thought you were saving all your pay for your trip to Calgary?”
“I'm not going.”
“How come?” Cleo asked.
“Josie and Selena are taking this dumb girl they hardly know. Justine,” I sneered. “Justine Marcus. It's not like she's a friend or anything. She just stands next to them in the choir.” I would have told Cleo that used to be my spot, but I didn't want to start crying again.
“So did you have a big bust-up when they told you?”
“Kind of. I guess so.” I never wanted to speak to Selena again. Josie neither. She could have voted Justine out of the trip and insisted I came along. She should have. But she didn't.
Cleo eyed my fries. “I had this friend in Westbank, Lauren, since kindergarten. In grade seven she came with us on a road trip into the Rockies. In exchange, I was supposed to go to Disneyland with her family. Somewhere my parents would never go.”
“You haven't been to Disneyland?” I asked her.
Cleo flapped a hand as if that wasn't what mattered. “The point is, when they finally went, they said they wanted a family trip. So they took a cousin Lauren had never even met.”
“Ouch.”
Cleo flipped her hat strings. “When they got back, they were buddies. The cousin was in, and I was out.” She grabbed a fry. “Your friends are dumb if they don't invite you to go with them.”
“Well⦔ I wanted to defend Josie and Selena. Rule number three in the Cool Code was Stick Together.
Though why should I care? I'd been gone less than two months, and I'd already been replaced.
“It's like little kids on a playground,” said Cleo. “I can't be friends with you because you are friends with someone I'm not friends with,” she went on in a singsong voice. “Like there's not enough friendship to go around.” When she flung her arms out, a guy carrying a loaded tray nearly dumped it on the giggling girls at the next table. “There's enough love in the world for everyone,” Cleo announced.
Was it them she was talking about? Or me?
I got busy plucking sprouts out of my sandwich.
Cleo laughed. “That's how my parents talk.” She grabbed a fry from my plate. “You don't have to worry about that lot and their fancy holiday in
la belle
Quebec. You've got me!”
I took a long drink of pop. “You want the rest of these?” I shoved my plate toward her.
As we headed out of the cafeteria, Cleo asked, “How's Emmy doing with her science project?”
“She wants me to help her decorate the tin cans tonight.”
“One of my collages hung in the hallway at Westbank Central for a whole term.”
Of course it did. As soon as I caught the mean thought, I said, “So, Van Gogh. You want to come over and help?”
She grinned and put her arm through mine. “Sure.”
“Great. Do you need to let your mom know you won't be home right away?”
“Shoot.” Cleo slapped her forehead dramatically. “I have to help her assemble her new loom. Tomorrow, though? I've got loads of cool craft stuff at my house I can bring over.”
“Okay.”
“What about that movie?” she asked. “Shall I check the papers to see what's on?”
I thought we would download something to watch at my place. I could impress her with our new huge flatscreen. But she'd probably just tell me about growing up watching magic lantern shows, or whatever they use on
Little
House on the Prairie
. “Tell you what,” I said. “Let's talk tonight, and we can figure out what to do.”
“Sounds good,” said Cleo. “Give the kids a hug from me. Especially that sweetie pie Cade.”
My phone kept getting buried under Emmy's craft stuff spread across the kitchen table.
“Will you come and play with my space station?” Caden asked me. A milk mustache was smeared across his face.
“In a bit,” I told him. I picked up my phone. Maybe if I logged on to the movie listings, Josie or Selena would call.