My New Best Friend (11 page)

I start moving, too. So does Randi. Back and up. Forth and down. We are cut from different paper. Trust me.

"Meeka, extend your legs!" Miss Woo calls out. "Brooke, point your toes! Jenna, pull in your bum!"

Bum
is the ballet word for butt.

"Hey, Ida," Randi says. "How's this?" She extends her leg and points her high-top. Then she kicks Jenna right in the bum. Jenna whips around and I see fireworks.

"Watch it!" she snaps at Randi.

"I was," Randi says, grinning. "And then I kicked it."

Tom Sanders is dancing in front of me, so I try to copy him, even though he is a boy. Before long, I'm only one knee bend and two pointed toes behind. Tom looks over his shoulder at me. "Fun, huh?" he says.

I smile a little and nod because, actually, it's not so bad.

After class, Tom and some of the other dancers get their stuff and go. Rachel crawls out of the box and picks up her lightning bolt. Stacey, Brooke, Meeka, and Jolene are already wearing
their nymph costumes—white leotards, white tights, and one rhinestone tiara.

I pull up my white hoodie and put on my box. Randi pulls a bedsheet out of her backpack. It's covered with spaceships and green aliens. She wraps it on. Jenna rolls her eyes.

"Here, Ida," Jenna says, handing me a piece of paper. "Memorize this while I put on my costume."

"Huh?" I say, looking at all the writing on the paper.

"You're the first one on stage, so it makes sense for you to introduce our dance to the audience."

"But mountains can't talk so wouldn't it make more sense if—"

"I'll decide what mountains can and can't do," Jenna says, walking off.

Just then, Miss Woo walks up to us with a clipboard. "I need to know how many guests will be here for the program," she says. "I want to be sure I have enough chairs set up and crowns made."

"Crowns?" Brooke says.

"I told Mr. Crow I would make traditional Greek olive branch crowns for all the guests," Miss Woo explains.

"I'm allergic to olives," Brooke says.

Miss Woo smiles. "They won't be real olive branches," she says.

"In that case, sign my family up for three," Brooke says. "Mom, Dad, and Jade. I already have a crown." She adjusts her tiara.

We all start giving Miss Woo numbers and she writes them on her clipboard.

"Just my mom and grandma," Stacey says when it's her turn.

"Not your father?" Miss Woo replies.

"No ... um ... he's busy that night. Actually, he's on a trip. With my brother. They won't be back in time for the program."

Miss Woo nods and makes another mark on her clipboard. "I'll get the rest of the numbers from Mr. Crow," she says.

Jenna reappears wearing her vines. Miss Woo turns to her. "Shall I start your music?" Jenna gives her a nod and Miss Woo walks away.

I walk over to Stacey. "I thought you had to go to your dad's this weekend," I whisper.

"I do," she whispers back.

"How can you, if he's on a trip?"

"He's not. I just said that because I know he won't be here."

"Why not?"

"Because I told him the program got canceled."

"
What?
"

Stacey pulls me away from the other girls. "I told my dad that Mr. Crow has been sick lately, so he canceled the program. Now I don't have to worry about inviting Tanya. All I have to do is make sure he drives me to Kelli's early on Sunday. Then I'll have time to hide Kelli's camera so she can't send pictures of the program to my dad. That way, he'll never know there really
was
a program and—"

"Stacey—stop!" I suddenly say. "You can't hide the program from your dad and take your mom's camera and—"

"Relax, Ida," Stacey says. "The mermaid will take care of—"

Before Stacey can say another word, I grab the bottom of my box and throw it off. It tumbles across the floor.

"Whoa!" Randi shouts, jumping back, "Volcanic!"

The other girls jump back, too.

I plant my feet and zero in on Stacey. "You can't keep saying the mermaid makes stuff happen!"
I shout. "It's only true because we decided it's true!
We
make stuff happen by lying and sneaking around!"

Greek music starts playing through the speakers, but nobody starts dancing. We're all too busy watching Stacey grab her stuff and run out the door.

I think about calling Stacey when I get home from Miss Woo's, but after avoiding her at school and then blowing up at her at dance, I'm afraid she will hang up on me.

I tromp around the house, looking for my mom so I can tell her I stood up to Stacey, just like she said I should. Only I wish she would have told me the part about how standing up to your best friend actually makes you feel about as tall as a bug when she turns and runs away. And when you hear the door slam behind her, all your bug-sized brain can think about is how she will probably just keep running and running and running until she runs into a better best friend.

I go upstairs, but before I can find my mom, I find the attic door. I go up the narrow steps and
walk over to the mermaid. "Stacey said you'd make things better," I tell her. "But, the truth is, things were already pretty great before you came along. I had a new best friend. Most of the other kids were being nice to me. I got that one run in kickball. But now things are going bad and it's all your fault."

I wait for the mermaid to give me an
I'm sorry
look. But all she gives me is her same plastic smile.

I trudge down the attic steps and into my room. I fall onto my bed and hug George tight.

The next morning when I get to school, I wait around outside until the bell rings. I disappear into the crowded hallway and count floor tiles all the way to my classroom so I won't accidentally look up and see Stacey scowling at me. But when I get to my classroom, I walk right into a purple backpack that is still attached to someone.

I glance up and see dark, curly hair. Then I see Stacey's face whip a look back at me and it doesn't look one bit happy.

"Oh ... I-Ida. It's ... um ... you," she says, like she's already mostly forgotten who I am.

"Um ... yeah," I say back. Then I hurry past her and toss my stuff onto a coat hook and go to my desk and duck behind its lid.

When Mr. Crow makes me put my desk top down, I study the New Jersey scar on the back of Zane's head and wish that I could fly there. And no matter how hard I try to keep my eyes glued to the math problems Mr. Crow is writing on the chalkboard, they keep slipping to the side and stealing looks at Stacey's stone-still face.

I spend recess in the fourth stall of the girls' bathroom because I know I won't run into Stacey there. When I see her in the hall I walk the other way. I eat lunch with the boys.

When Mr. Crow asks us to write a paragraph using three of our spelling words, I write something else instead.

Stacey,

I'm sorry I've been avoiding you lately. And I'm sorry I yelled at you.

Please don't be mad forever because that's a really Long time.

I.

I read what I wrote and then glance at Stacey.

She stiffens up, so I know she sees me glancing.

She doesn't glance back.

I stuff the note inside my pocket.

When it's time to go home, I grab my backpack and hurry to the bus. I find an empty seat near the back and slump in. I look out the window and see Stacey walking to the corner. She stands there, looking down the street, waiting for her dad to come and take her away for the weekend.

Two green braids plop into the seat in front of me. They are attached to the back of Jenna Drews's head. I glance at Stacey again. Then I look at Jenna.

I lean over the back of her seat. "Look," I say. "I'm sorry about the other day. I didn't plan to sneak away from your house. And I really would have liked to help paint the box even if I'm not that crazy about wearing it. And I wasn't trying to be mean when I called you Henna Jenna. Okay, maybe I was. A little. But I didn't mean for other kids to start teasing you, too."

Red spots appear on Jenna's neck. They spread up to her cheeks. And ears.

I glance out the window again. I see Stacey wave at a car that's driving down the street. It pulls up to the curb and Stacey hurries toward it.

I turn back to Jenna. "I need you to do something for me," I say.

Jenna turns toward me and squints. "What?"

I pull the note out of my pocket. "Give this to Stacey for me? Please? Before she leaves?"

I look out the window. So does Jenna. Stacey tosses her school stuff into the back of her dad's car. Then she opens the front door and climbs in.

I gulp and turn back to Jenna. "I'll pay you back," I say quickly. "Anything you want. I promise."

Jenna huffs. "You can't pay me back," she says. "Good deeds don't work that way."

She grabs the note and barges off the bus.

I wake up early the next morning, even though it's Saturday. I'm still thinking about what happened after school yesterday. Stacey's car pulling away from the curb. Jenna running down the sidewalk, waving and yelling. The car's brake lights coming on and Jenna shoving the note through the open window. The car driving away and Jenna running back to the bus. Red face. Green braids flying.

I'm thinking about the sticky note Rachel pressed into my hand when we got off the bus. This time, there weren't any pretend words scribbled on it. Instead it had a drawing of a stick-dad and a stick-mom with capital O mouths and shout lines coming out of them.

It was just a little drawing, but it felt big in my hand and made me wonder if Rachel could use a
break from all those sticky notes. And if maybe Jenna could, too.

And then I started thinking about what Jenna said. About not being able to pay back a good deed. And that's why it takes me half the day to ask my parents if I can call Jenna and invite her to sleep over. I have to be sure I'm not doing it to pay her back.

Dad turns off the garden hose. Mom looks up from her hedge trimmers.

"You want Jenna to sleep over?" Mom asks.

I nod. "And Rachel, too, if she wants."

Mom glances at Dad. He glances back. "Well, of course, you can invite them," Mom says. "I'm just a little surprised. I didn't think Jenna was one of your best friends."

"She's not," I say. "But you don't have to be best friends to sleep over."

My mom gives me half a smile.

So does my dad.

I head for the phone.

An hour later the doorbell rings. There stands Jenna and Rachel with their backpacks and sleeping bags. Mrs. Drews is standing with them.

"Hello, Ida," Mrs. Drews says. "Long time no see."

"Actually, I saw you a couple weeks ago at Brooke's birthday party. Only you might not have seen me. I was wearing an outhouse."

"Ah, yes," Mrs. Drews replies. "That was only two weeks ago? It seems longer." Her voice trails off.

"Hi, Paula," Mom says, walking up behind me.

"Hello, Abby," Mrs. Drews replies. "Thanks for inviting the girls. I've been so busy lately, it will be nice for Paul and me to have a little down time."

"No need to thank me, Paula," Mom says. "It was Ida's idea."

Mrs. Drews looks at me. "Well, then. Thank you, Ida."

"You're welcome," I say back.

Mom convinces Mrs. Drews to stay for a cup of coffee. I lead Jenna and Rachel upstairs to my room. "What do you want to do?" I ask.

"Let's play princess!" Rachel says. She opens up her backpack and pulls out an alligator hand puppet, glittery crown, plastic dagger, and about a mile of purple netting. She drapes the netting over
my desk. "This can be our castle," she says. Then she sticks George into the alligator's mouth and shoves him halfway under my bed. "And that's the dragon's lair." She puts on the crown and picks up the dagger. "Ready?" she asks.

I glance at Jenna. She glances back. "Okay," we say at the same time.

After we help Rachel rescue George from the dragon, three poisonous pencils, and a monkey-eating shoe, we go downstairs. Mrs. Drews is gone and a pan of brownies is cooling on the cupboard. We give my mom a hand eating half of them.

"You can take some home tomorrow for a treat," Mom says to Jenna and Rachel. "Your mom mentioned how busy things have been lately, so I'll put together a spinach lasagna, too."

Even though spinach lasagna doesn't sound like much of a treat to me, it must be better than whatever Mr. Drews has been bringing home from the bait shop because Jenna and Rachel give my mom a couple of big smiles.

Later, Rachel is snoring softly in a sleeping bag by my bed when me and Jenna trudge upstairs
from watching a movie. I take out my barrettes and climb into bed while Jenna sits down on her sleeping bag and unbraids her hair. It's all wavy, like it was for Brooke's party. It makes her head look different. In fact, all of her looks different. Maybe it's her Tinker Bell pajamas, or her fluffy sleeping bag, or the purple glow from my desk lamp that's draped with princess netting. Whatever it is, some of Jenna's hard edges look rubbed off.

"What are you looking at?" Jenna asks.

"Oh ... um ... nothing," I reply. "You just look ... different."

Jenna sets down her hair bands and gives me a squint. "Different?"

"Yeah," I say. "I think it's ... um ... your hair. It's not so green anymore."

Jenna lifts a strand of her hair and studies it for a moment. "Really?" she says.

"Really," I say back. "I think it's fading."

Jenna studies another strand. And another. Then she gives me half a smile. "I think you're right."

I give Jenna half a smile back, partly because
that's the polite thing to do and partly because this is the first time Jenna Drews has ever said I was right about anything.

Jenna crawls inside her sleeping bag. We both stare up at the ceiling for a while.

"Ida?" Jenna says. "Can you keep a secret?"

I think about the secrets I've been keeping lately. Evil mermaid spells. Stacey skipping a weekend with her dad. Sneaking around in my attic. "Usually," I say.

Jenna rolls over onto her side and looks up at me. "My dad isn't taking time off from work. He lost his job. So my mom had to get one. Two, actually. She keeps telling me not to worry. That it's just a little bump in the road and that things will be back to normal soon. Then, at night, I hear them arguing, like things are a lot bumpier than they're telling me."