Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great (12 page)

   
Since I have been planning everything so carefully I got really sore at Libby this morning when she told Mom, "I'm going to invite Maryann Markman to sleep over Saturday night."

   
"Oh no!" I said. "You know I'm having a slumber party.

   
"So?" Libby asked. "Who wants to get in your way?"

   
"That's not fair!" I said to Mom. "Can't I do something just once without her butting in?"

   
"There's plenty of room, Sheila," Mom said. "If Libby wants Maryann to spend the night, there's no reason why she can't. It has nothing to do with you."

   
"They'll try to boss us around," I cried. "Just like always."

   
"Ha!" Libby said.

   
"Nobody's going to spoil your party," Mom told me. "I promise."

   
"I don't see why
she
can't spend the night at Maryann's house instead," I said.

   
"Because Maryann's parents are going out and her mother doesn't want us to stay alone," Libby said. "Otherwise I would. . . in a second!"

   
I just know they will ruin everything!

   
On Saturday Maryann ate supper with us so she was already there when my friends rang the bell. But she and my sister were locked up in Libby's room listening to records and I hoped that's where they would stay for the rest of the night.

   
After Mouse, Sondra, and Jane said hello to Daddy and Mom I took them up to my room and we spread out their sleeping bags. Sondra's and Jane's are the same. There is a picture of Snoopy on the front, zippers down the sides, and red flannel linings. Mouse brought a regular sleeping bag. The kind you use when you go camping. She said the last time she slept outside she woke up with a frog inside her bag. But since she likes frogs she didn't mind. I would much rather sleep in a sleeping bag indoors than out.

   
We arranged the sleeping bags on the floor next to my bed, with Mouse between Sondra and Jane. Then we showed each other our pajamas and discussed the kind of toothpaste we use. Sondra and Jane didn't bring matching pajamas, so me and Mouse turned out to be twins by ourselves.

   
Next, we got undressed and ready for bed, even though we didn't plan to go to sleep for hours and hours and maybe not even all night. Sondra changed her clothes in my closet. I think she is getting fatter. But I wouldn't say that to her face. She is very sensitive and would start to cry. She should go on a diet. I can't understand how such a fat person can swim. Why doesn't she sink to the bottom of the pool? Some day I will ask Marty about that.

   
Sondra and Jane threw their clothes in a pile on the floor but Mouse folded. everything and packed it away in her overnight case. Then she took out a small notebook and said, "Let's make a Slam Book."

   
"What's that?" Jane said.

   
I was glad she asked because I didn't know either. I figured I would tell Mouse that the reason I didn't know about Slam Books is that I haven't made one in years because where I live that is just for babies.

   
Mouse told us, "Slam Books are great fun. You'll see." She was busy writing something down in her notebook. We sat in a circle around her and waited.

   
In a minute she held up a piece of paper and said, "This is a sample list. All of us fill it in about each other. It's the only way to find out what your friends really think of you!"

   
I looked at the sample list. It said: Name, Hair, Face, Body, Brain, Best thing, Worst thing, and In general.

   
"You see," Mouse explained, "we'd never be brave enough to just sit around and tell each other the truth about ourselves. That would be too embarrassing. But since everybody wants to know what other people really think of them, this is an easy way to find out. You can start with me if you want. I'll go stand in the hall and you fill in the list. Later, when we've all had our chance, we get to read about ourselves in private." Mouse walked to my bedroom door. "Remember," she told us, "you've got to be honest or it won't do any of us any good." She opened the door and stepped out into the hall.

   
"Well," I said, "who wants to go first?"

   
"You start, Sheila," Jane said. "It's your party."

   
"Okay, give me the book."

   
Before I had a chance to begin, my bedroom door opened and Mouse poked her head in. "I forgot to tell you . . . when you're done filling it in, you fold the page over so nobody can see what you wrote."

   
"Okay . . . okay . . ." I said.

   
"I just thought you should know," Mouse told me, closing the door again.

   
I filled in the list one-two-three. I wrote:

   
Name. . . . . . . .Mouse Ellis

   
Hair. . . . . . . . .needs washing

   
Face. . . . . . . . only a mother could love it

   
Body. . . . . . . .too many scabs

   
Brain. . . . . . . .pretty good

   
Best thing. . . . can do everything!

   
Worst thing. . .knows it!!!!!

   
In general. . . .my best friend and lots of fun

   
I folded my part of the page over so the others couldn't see it and passed it to Sondra. When she was done she passed it to Jane, and then we called Mouse back into the room and Sondra went out.

   
While Sondra was in the hall Mom came upstairs to tell us she and Daddy were going into town to pick up some pizza for our snack. "We'll be back in less than an hour," Mom said. "Libby and Maryann are home in case you need anything."

 
  
"Okay . . . we'll be fine," I said, anxious to get back to the Slam Book.

   
When we were done writing about Sondra it was my turn to leave the room. I knew I didn't have to worry about what my friends think of me, because I am careful to keep my bad points to myself. Sometimes I think I am really two people. I am the only one who knows sheila tubman. Everyone else knows only
SHEILA THE GREAT
.

   
Jane was the last one to stand out in the hail, and when we were through writing about her she came back into my room. Then Mouse tore out a page for each of us to read privately. She said we should sit by ourselves and face the wall in case we didn't want anyone to see our expression.

   
We all laughed at that but did it anyway. I sat on my bed with my back to the others. I unfolded my paper so I could see all three opinions of me at once.

   
Name
   
Sheila Tubman
    
Sheila Tubman
          
Sheila Tubman

   
Hair
     
parted crooked
     
should grow longer
   
much too long

   
Face
    
ugly but lovable
   
weird eyebrows
         
gruesome!

   
Body
   
skin & bones
        
ugly feet
                    
abnormal!!!

   
Brain
   
thinks it knows
     
a mental
                    
OVERUSED!!

                
it all
   

   
Best
     
picks neat
            
gives parties
               
????????????

   
Thing
  
friends

   
Worst
  
CHICKEN
           
bossy
                          
acts real tuff!

   
thing

   
In
         
an intersting
        
not that bad
               
 
there’s hope

   
general person

   
Who did they think they were? Why did I ever bother to invite them to my house? They didn't deserve it! I read about myself six times, but I didn't turn away from the wall.

   
After a little while I noticed that the room was very quiet. I wondered what the others were thinking. That's when Sondra started to cry. I knew it was her even though I was facing the wall. First she cried low, but when I turned around to look at her she took her hands away from her mouth and started bawling so loud you could probably hear it a mile away.

   
"I hate you!" she yelled. "Every single one of you. You all think I'm a big, fat slob! Even my own sister thinks I'm a fat slob!"

   
"Well, you are!" Jane said. "And you should do something about it. Anyway, somebody said some pretty bad things about me too. Like I can't keep secrets and my brain is turned off most of the time!"

   
"So?" Mouse said. "I don't think it was fair of you to make fun of my scabs!"

   
"I didn't make fun of your scabs!" Jane hollered.

   
"Somebody did!"

   
"Well, it wasn't me!" Jane yelled.

   
I didn't say anything because I was the one who wrote that about Mouse's scabs. But I never thought it would bother her so much.

   
"And another thing," Mouse said, "I don't think any of you have the right to tell me that my hair needs washing!"

   
"What's so bad about that?" Sondra asked. "How do you think I feel that two of you wrote I'm a crybaby!"

   
"You are a crybaby!" Mouse told her. "And I don't see what business is it of yours that my belly button sticks out."

   
"I didn't write that!" Sondra said. "I wrote about your ears."

   
"Well, that's just as dumb!"

   
"I'm the one who wrote about your belly button," Jane said. "And it does stick out! So there!"

   
"Just shut up, Jane!" Mouse hollered.

   
Jane was standing near my dresser and when Mouse said that Jane picked up one of Bobby Egran's model airplanes and threw it across the room at her. "Who's going to make me?" she asked.

   
"You cut that out!" I told her. "They're not mjne."

   
"So?" Jane said, throwing a plane at me.

   
"I told you to cut that out!" I shouted. "And I want to know which one of you wrote that my body is abnormal! My body is as normal as any of yours. Even more normal because I don't have to hide in any closet when I get undressed. And who says I have ugly feet? Your feet are just as ugly!"

   
"I wrote about your feet," Sondra said. "Because your big toes are funny-looking. I think there's something wrong with them!"

   
"How dare you say that about my feet!" I yelled. "You big, fat, crybaby!"