Rumors (18 page)

“WHAT?”

“Don't get mad! You promised you wouldn't get mad!”

“What do you mean, you wrote them?” I screamed at her.

And then Laurel-Ann started crying and talking at the same time. The story rushed out so fast I felt like we were both flying out of control down Sliding Rock one last time.

“When I did it, I thought it was Katherine's book! I didn't know it was Brittany's! I never wanted to do anything to Brittany. Or Erin. It was just Katherine. Because we hate each other! And you were being nice to her. I wanted to be friends with you, but then
Katherine was trying to steal you away, and I knew she'd tell you all kinds of lies about me! And that's just the kind of mean thing she would do. I could just see her writing comments like that about all of us. I wanted to show everyone how mean Katherine really was. We were supposed to get back at Katherine!”

I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. “I can't believe this! Why didn't you stop us?”

“I tried!” she wailed. “I've been trying all day to talk Ashlin out of it. That's why I wanted to tear the pages out! I just wanted to take it all back and act like it had never happened!” Laurel-Ann was shaking with sobs.

Across the yard, we heard Jerry's booming voice. “Hey, where's my charcoal?”

I grabbed the bag off the shelf. “Stay here. I'll be right back.” As I raced across the yard, I tried to think straight.

Now what? What were we going to do?

We could get the book back, but what would Ashlin and Natasha think when nothing happened? And what was I supposed to do with the book? Sneak it back into Brittany's backpack with all that stuff written in there? Or throw it on the grill and let it burst into flames?

I ran over and handed Jerry the charcoal, then walked slowly back to the shed where Laurel-Ann was waiting. As soon as she saw me she wailed, “You won't tell Ashlin and Natasha, will you? They'll hate me!”

I shook my head in frustration. “I don't know! Maybe we have to tell them now!”

“Kayla, please don't tell them! Please! I knew I could tell you because you're my friend. And a friend will stick by you, even in bad times. Right?”

I sighed. “Well, this is definitely a bad time!”

“Are you going to help me get the book back?” she asked in a tiny voice.

“Why don't you do it?” I snapped at her. “You got yourself into this. You can get yourself out!”

“I can't do it alone! I might get caught,” she whimpered.

“I could get caught too!” I reminded her. “Or don't you care about that?”

Laurel-Ann covered her face with both hands and cried even harder. “I knew it! You hate me now!”

“Calm down,” I told her. “I don't hate you. Stop crying and then go inside and wash your face. I have to think about what to do.”

I left Laurel-Ann alone and went back to join the
others. Everyone was sitting around in lawn chairs, laughing and talking, while Jerry flipped burgers.

“Where's Laurel-Ann?” asked Natasha when I found a seat.

“Uh, she went inside to the bathroom,” I said.

What if I told them right now? How would Natasha and Ashlin react? They'd be furious with Laurel-Ann. And they'd probably tell Erin and Brittany the whole story and show them the book. Then everyone would turn against her.

“All right. I've got hot dogs ready for whoever wants one. Paper plates are on the table,” said Jerry.

Everyone else got up and headed for the picnic table, which was set up with napkins, buns, and plates, but I sank deeper into my lawn chair.

I had to help her, didn't I? She was my friend. And she'd been there for me when I was so upset about—

Wait a second. She'd comforted me when I was so upset about the comments that
she
had written! It was Laurel-Ann all along who'd said those things about me. Not Katherine. Not Brittany or Erin.

She wouldn't have written those comments if she didn't think there was some truth to them. Snobby rich girl? So unfriendly? Maybe that really was what she thought of me.

Suddenly I could see Katherine's face before me with that warning look.
You never know when she might turn on you, too
.

“Aren't you hungry?” asked Rachel, coming over to pat my shoulder.

“I guess so,” I said, even though the last thing on my mind right now was food.

Laurel-Ann came out of the cabin, and since it was getting darker by the minute, no one seemed to notice that she'd been crying. Since everyone was around now, there was no way we could talk. All she could do was give me a worried look as we filled our plates.

I was quiet as I took my plate back to my lawn chair and sat down, but my mind was racing. I watched Laurel-Ann nibbling silently on her hot dog. We only had a few hours before we'd all go to bed. And then Jerry would find the book.

How would he react? He'd just laugh about it. Maybe he wouldn't even say anything about it because he wouldn't want to embarrass them. So it might be okay.

But then maybe not. Maybe he'd come down the stairs laughing and waving the book around. “Hey, I've got my own fan club!”

As soon as Brittany saw it, she'd recognize it. And then the whole story would come out.

My face felt hot when I thought about how we'd taken an innocent little book with a bunch of funny drawings in it and destroyed it. I tried to take a bite of hamburger, but I honestly felt like I was going to gag.

Natasha and Ashlin scooted their lawn chairs closer to mine. “Hey, what's up? You're being so quiet tonight,” said Ashlin.

“I'm just tired. All that sliding wore me out,” I said.

“Want some watermelon?” asked Natasha.

“No thanks. I'm stuffed.” So they got up to get some slices for themselves.

What if when they came back, I told them I was having second thoughts? I really had wondered if we should go through with it, even before Laurel-Ann made that unbelievable confession.

She was still sitting there all by herself, picking at her food. I knew how miserable she was right now.

I knew how miserable I'd been and how much it had helped to have someone there to comfort me. But did it count when your friend was comforting you about a pain that she had caused?

But that wasn't the only time she'd been a good friend to me. She'd been there for me when I needed to talk to someone about the move. For the first time
all summer, I was actually starting to feel better about moving. Thanks to Laurel-Ann.

Jerry had turned on a lantern and put it on the picnic table, and now Lori was organizing a watermelon-seed-spitting contest. She'd lined the others up, and they were all laughing and shouting as they took turns to see who could spit seeds the farthest. Neither Laurel-Ann nor I had moved from our chairs.

“Hey, has anyone seen my book?” asked Brittany. She'd just come back from the cabin. “It was in my backpack, but now I can't seem to find it.”

I noticed Laurel-Ann's expression. She looked like her dog had just died. Everyone was asking Brittany about the book. What did it look like? When had she seen it last?

“I wanted everyone to sign it,” said Brittany. “So I'll have something to remember you all by.”

Ashlin walked over to my chair. “Oh, that's okay,” she whispered as she bent over me. “We signed it already.” Then she spit a seed across the lawn and almost hit Jerry in the back of the leg.

“You can look for it in the morning,” said Rachel. “It's hard to find anything in the dark.”

Brittany sat down in a lawn chair, but from the
worried look on her face I could tell she was bothered that her book was missing.

There was no easy way out of this, was there? Anything I did or didn't do would cause a problem. But why was it even my responsibility?

I didn't write those nasty comments about the four of us. I didn't create the Jerry's Fan Club book. And I didn't leave it on his bed.

Maybe the best thing for me to do was to just stay out of it. Let whatever was going to happen, happen. If Laurel-Ann wanted the book back, she could get it herself.

Now everyone was throwing away their trash and watermelon rinds and cleaning up all the dinner things.

Rachel started singing a Pine Haven song. The last thing I felt like doing right now was singing. Everyone else joined in with a lot of energy, but I just mumbled the words.

And then after we'd sung about three or four songs, Rachel said, “Okay, now let's sing my favorite song. In three parts. Make new friends, but keep the old—”

“No, no, stop!” shouted Lori. “Why do you always want to sing rounds? That's not even really a song!”

“I know, right?” said Ashlin. “Why do you like to sing that all the time?”

Rachel just smiled at us. “Because it's short and sweet. And yet so profound.”

Jerry laughed out loud when he heard that. “Yeah, just like you, Hoffstedder!”

Everyone burst out laughing over that comment, and then Rachel started singing again. She made us do it in three parts, with everyone coming in at different times.

“Make new friends, but keep the old—one is silver and the other gold. Make new friends, but keep the old—one is silver and the other gold. Make new friends, but keep the old—one is silver and the other gold.”

Make new friends? It was my new friends who'd gotten me into this mess in the first place. It had been a mistake for me to ever get friendly with any of these girls. It had only led to trouble. I would've been better off just keeping to myself and going to activities alone. And they could sing all they wanted about keeping old friends, but I could tell them from experience: It wasn't all that easy.

I was really starting to hate that song.

Laurel-Ann had quietly pulled her lawn chair right next to mine. When I looked at her, she mouthed the words, “I'm sorry.”

I just looked away.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, and then Laurel-Ann stood up. I could see that tears were running down her cheeks. She walked away from our little circle of chairs and headed toward the cabin.

“Hey, where are you going?” asked Rachel.

“Bathroom,” she said over her shoulder.

I waited for a few seconds and stood up. “I need to go too.”

As I walked away I heard Jerry comment, “You ladies always go in pairs.”

I followed Laurel-Ann inside, and as soon as the door was closed behind us, she completely lost it. “You hate me now!” she sobbed. “You really hate me!” Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she could hardly catch her breath, she was crying so hard.

“Laurel-Ann, I don't hate you. But yeah, I'm upset about this! I can't believe you did that! And blamed it all on Katherine.” I let out a deep sigh. “And you know what else really bothers me? Maybe you really think those mean things you wrote about me. Is that how you really feel about me?”

Laurel-Ann shook her head so hard her braids were bouncing. But no sound was coming out of her mouth. I had to wait for her to stop crying enough so that she could say something. I remembered how she'd patted
my back when I was crying. She could probably use a hug right now. But that was the last thing I felt like giving her.

“Don't you remember those things about me in that book? About how I never shut up and I'm such a loser who has no friends? That's what I really think about myself! I know people don't like me. I know I talk too much. I get nervous and I can't seem to stop myself. You're the first good friend I've ever had at Pine Haven.” She burst out crying again. “I consider you my best friend. All summer, I've wanted to be friends with you. And then it finally happened. But now I've lost you, too!”

I stood there with my arms crossed. “You haven't lost me. I'm standing right here in front of you. Look, let's go get that book, right now. You and me.”

I headed up the narrow staircase, taking the steps two at a time. Laurel-Ann was still standing by the front door, looking unsure about what to do. “Stay there and keep an eye out,” I hissed.

My heart raced as I tiptoed into Jerry's room, feeling like a cat burglar. I grabbed the book, stuffed it in my shirt, and dashed out of there so fast I almost crashed into the wall as I rounded the corner. Then I bounded down the steps.

I stood panting in front of Laurel-Ann. “What are we going to do with it now?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I don't know! Should we put it back in Brittany's backpack?”

“No. She's looking for it. And she'll see all that stuff we wrote in there.”

Laurel-Ann bit her lip. “Maybe we should just get rid of it. Throw it away in the woods or something.”

I was starting to feel panicked. Any second now, someone could walk in and find us. “Here—you take it.” I pulled the book out of my shirt and shoved it into her hands. “Hide it in your backpack. I don't want anything to do with it. You could put it in there on our way out,” I said.

And then I walked out the door.

Whether I liked it or not, Laurel-Ann and I were now in this together.