Girls Acting Catty (16 page)

“I know I was right about Taylor,” Rachel said, and turned an ice-cold gaze on me. “What I didn't realize was that I was so wrong about you!”

“Wait a second.” I looked to Emma. “I swear I didn't talk about you like that. Taylor just twisted my words. When I said that thing about Joe, I was defending you.”

“But you told her about the jeans,” said Emma, in a soft, sad voice that made my heart splinter. “And you said we weren't serious. Why would you say something like that?”

“I didn't mean—”

“Forget it,” she said. “I've got to get to class.”

“I'm sorry.” I turned to Claire. “I don't know how this happened. I just—”

Claire shook her head. “Save it for someone who cares.”

I tried reasoning with Yumi. “This was all just a big misunderstanding.”

“Really?” she asked. “Well, don't misunderstand this!” She stormed out of the bathroom, and everyone else followed.

I leaned against the wall, stunned and alone. All this time, I'd been stressing over which crowd to hang out with, and now no one liked me.

I'd gone from having eight friends to having zero friends in the span of three minutes.

That's got to be some kind of record.

chapter eighteen
crushed pepper

I
hid out in the nurse's office for the entire afternoon. Some might call that wimping out, but I preferred to think of it as surviving.

I figured I'd take Pepper for a walk after school, because he usually cheered me up. But when I got home, I couldn't find my dog anywhere. It's because he was playing fetch with Jason in the backyard.

“Hey,” I said.

“Well, if it isn't Anna Banana.” Jason looked especially pirate-like in his blue bandana and hoop earrings.

“I was going to take Pepper for a walk.”

“Cool, but let me show you his new trick, first.”

“You taught him something else?” I asked.

Jason grinned, raised two fingers to his lips and whistled. Pepper bounded over, and sat at his feet, obediently.

“Hey, Pepper,” he called. “Let's go for a walk.”

Pepper's ears perked up. He looked at Jason and then darted around the corner, coming back a minute later with his leash in his mouth.

“Amazing,” I said. “Pepper, you're a genius!”

Jason laughed.

I bent down and called, “Good boy, Pepper. Come here, genius dog. Let's go for a walk.”

Usually just hearing the word
walk
made Pepper go crazy. But today, he acted like he didn't even hear me.

“Come on, Pep. Walk time. I'll take you to the park, if you want.”

It's like I wasn't even there. Pepper ignored me completely, because he was too busy gazing up at Jason.

This was too much. I used to be Pepper's favorite person in the house. I'm the one who trained him and I'm the one who took care of him. And now he liked Jason better?

All this time I'd thought Jason was this super-fantastic, amazingly cute guy who made my insides turn to mush. But all that changed in an instant. Now I saw Jason for who he really was: a no-good, sneaky, conniving dog-stealer.

“Want to see him leap through rings?” Jason held up a couple of Hula-Hoops.

“No!” I shouted, and trudged back into the house. Alone!

I tried calling Emma, but her mom said she couldn't come to the phone. When I called Rachel, Jackson picked up and said she wasn't there. I had this weird feeling he was covering for her, so I waited for a couple of minutes and then walked across the street and knocked on her door.

Jackson answered. “Um, can you say ‘stalker'?” he asked.

“Sorry, I thought Rachel might be back by now.”

“You just called five minutes ago.”

“I know. I just wanted to . . . never mind.” I tried peeking into the house, but Jackson blocked my view.

“Do you know when she'll be home?”

“Nope.” He slammed the door in my face.

After I crossed the street I looked over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of Rachel peeking out through the living room window.

I tried calling Yumi and then Claire. They either weren't home or— more likely—they were avoiding me as well. Not that I blamed them. Why would they ever forgive me?

I pretended I was sick so I could stay home from school on Friday. My mom was too busy getting ready for the wedding to notice I was faking. And I
did
feel lousy. With no dog and no friends, I was the loneliest loner in town.

There wasn't time to mope around on Saturday. Jason and I had to help out with a bunch of wedding junk—folding programs, moving all the patio furniture aside, and lining up chairs for the ceremony.

Once we were finished, the four of us stood back and surveyed the scene. The place looked amazing, with purple tulips lining the property wall, a dance floor where the patio furniture used to be, and little white lights sparkling in the trees.

“I can't believe that in less than twenty-four hours, you're going to be Ms. Jeanie Stevens,” said Dweeble, giving my mom a hug.

She laughed but Jason and I groaned.

“Oh, man, that's a bad joke, even for you,” said Jason.

(My mom has always been Ms. Stevens and she wasn't changing her name.)

“Thanks.” Dweeble checked his watch. “Almost time for dinner. Who wants to walk Pepper before we go out?”

“I will,” both Jason and I said at the same time. “Go ahead,” we said next.

He laughed and I started to, but then remembered I was still annoyed that he'd stolen my dog.

“It's cool, Anna Banana. Let me get him for you.”

“I'll get him,” I grumbled, not wanting him to do me any favors.

But Jason ignored me, raised his fingers to his lips and whistled.

Pepper bounded over.

“Want to make him get his leash?” Jason asked, and then lowered his voice to a whisper. “Just tell him you want to go for a walk.”

“It's okay,” I said.

“No, you should try it.”

I shook my head. “No way. It's not going to work.”

“Then tell him to do another trick,” said Jason. “Ask him to roll over.”

Everyone looked at me, so I had no choice but to try. I sighed and said, “Roll over, Pepper,” not expecting anything to happen. But the crazy thing is, Pepper listened to me. It made me happy for half a second but then I caught a glimpse of Jason's smug smile.

“Told you he'd do it,” he said.

“Yeah, just because you're here. You don't have to rub it in. Everyone knows my dog likes you better,” I said.

Jason blinked in surprise. “He does not.”

“Yeah, he does. It's so obvious. You taught him all these cool tricks and he follows you everywhere.”

Just then everyone cracked up.

“It's not funny!” I yelled. “How would you guys like getting ditched by your dog!”

“We're not laughing at you,” Dweeble said. “It's just, well, there's a reason that Pepper follows Jason everywhere.”

“I know— it's because he likes him better.”

“No, it's because he keeps dog biscuits in his pockets,” my mom said.

“What?” I turned to Jason, who grinned a sheepish grin. “You mean the only reason my dog has been following you is because you've been feeding him?”

“Of course. You should try it sometime. Works like a charm.”

“Actually, you shouldn't,” said Dweeble. “Jason, if you keep this up, Pepper could develop a serious weight problem. It's a good thing you're not going to be in town for much longer.”

“Um, thanks, Dad.”

Dweeble shrugged. “I call 'em like I see 'em.”

Meanwhile, I stared at Jason. I can't believe I wasted so many hours worrying about Pepper when, all this time, he'd been swayed by something so small.

I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a dog biscuit, came back and fed half to Pepper. Suddenly he was my best friend again. But what could I expect? He was a dog—a dog with a mind of his own. Yes, it was a fickle mind but he wasn't some object who could be stolen.

It got me thinking about boys.

I mean, it sounds silly and obvious, but it just occurred to me that they had minds of their own too. My friends and I were so mad at Jesse and her crowd for
stealing
Corn Dog Joe, when really, that wasn't possible. It's not like he had no say in the matter.

Too bad I couldn't run this theory by Emma, though. She, like the rest of my former friends, wouldn't return my calls.

But at least I had Pepper.

chapter nineteen
i now pronounce you . . . friendless?

I
woke up on the morning of the wedding feeling pretty jittery. Not about my mom and Dweeble, or even Jason. I just didn't know how I was going to face Rachel and Taylor.

What if Rachel tripped me as I made my way down the aisle? What if Taylor told me my dress looked dumb— unstylish or babyish? What if the Rachel-Taylor-Me combination turned out to be completely explosive and ruined the entire day?

Maybe they wouldn't even show up, on account of the fact that they hated me, and everything. But that was upsetting, too.

I tried not to think about either of them as I fastened a blue bow to Pepper's collar. He wasn't allowed outside during the wedding because my mom and Ted were worried he'd beg for food or dig up the flowers again, but they let me get him spiffed up, anyway. And that was just one of my jobs.

As the maid of honor I also had to make sure my mom had everything she needed, which turned out to be simple. Every time I ask her if she wanted a glass of water, or a snack, or help with her hair, she said, “All I need is to walk down that aisle and marry Ted Weeble.” She sounded so sincere; I wasn't even tempted to roll my eyes. Well, not very tempted.

As I looked at the two of us in the mirror, I couldn't believe this was it. My mom's dress was long and white and flowy. Her hair was swept up in a loose bun, and a few blond curls escaped to frame her face, which glowed. She looked radiant. And to be honest, I wasn't looking so bad myself. My shimmery blue dress fit perfectly. My bra underneath was fully concealed and the straps securely in place. My legs were silky smooth and they smelled like mango. I wore my hair down, with the ends curled up, and I even had on pink lip gloss and sparkly eye shadow.

I was surprised to find that I was excited about the whole wedding and not just that. The marriage would be okay, too. Last night, seeing my mom and Ted curled up on the couch together, making some last-minute changes to their wedding vows I realized something. This whole thing seemed not just good, but right—and not even that big of a deal. Dweeble, I mean Ted, had been in our lives for a long time now. So why not make it more official?

My mom and I grinned at each other. Then she grabbed my hand and gave it a little squeeze. “Okay, I'm ready,” she said. “Are you?”

I didn't have to give much thought to my answer. “Yeah, let's do this.”

We walked to the back of the house and lined up behind the rest of the wedding party.

Moments later we heard music from the backyard. The string quartet began to play one of those classic wedding songs and I found myself humming along. My insides felt all bubbly, like the champagne all the grown-ups had at dinner last night.

My uncle Jake, who was performing the ceremony, walked down the aisle first. Then Jason, and then Ted, until finally it was my turn. It sounds silly, but they'd had me practice walking so I wouldn't go too fast and for that, I was glad, because as nervous as I felt, at least I had something to focus on: counting steps and breathing.

One, two, breathe.

Three, four, breathe.

Five, six . . . Before I knew it, I was halfway there and looking straight ahead. Wow, it felt weird, being in the spotlight, knowing that all eyes were on me.

When I glanced around, everyone's features blended together. I couldn't make out any single person and I didn't try too hard, either, because all that mattered was right in front of me: my mom, the wedding, and our new family.