What a Doll! (5 page)

CHAPTER 5

Emmy handed the woman her four dollars and thirty-two cents, stuffed the doll in her backpack, and then stood awkwardly. She knew she should just say thank you and turn to go, but she suddenly felt attached to this woman and this place. It was like a warm cozy little cave, one she wanted to curl up in.

“Well, thanks,” Emmy said to the woman, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

“You're welcome, Emmy,” the woman said. “Come back again, will you?”

“Sure,” said Emmy. It was nice to be invited back, even if the woman just wanted to sell Emmy stuff. “And by the way, I really like the way it smells in here,” she added. “What is it?”

The woman smiled knowingly. “It's lavender,” she said, pointing to the burning candle.

“Cool.” Emmy nodded. “Do you have some for sale? Maybe I'll come back another day and buy some.”

“Certainly,” the woman said. “It's a dollar a candle. And I have many different scents. Sandalwood, sage, cedar, juniper . . .”

“No, I love this one. Lavender,” Emmy said.

“Lavender is calming,” the woman said. “An excellent tonic for the nerves. And I see you could use such a thing.”

Emmy was embarrassed. A tonic for the nerves. Was it that obvious what a mess she was? Apparently, yes.

The woman reached under the counter and pulled out a candle. “For you, Emmy,” she said. “No charge. But you must light this yourself in order for its calming properties to take effect.”

“Wow, thank you,” Emmy said as she reached out and took the candle. What a sweet thing for the woman to do. If, on a scale of one to ten, today had been a two, the woman had just turned it into a three. “Thank you very much.”

“You're very welcome,” the woman said.

Emmy liked being in the little room but realized she couldn't stay there forever. It was time to say good-bye to the woman and go home. “Well, thanks,” she said again.

“You're very welcome,” the woman repeated.

Emmy turned to go, and as she approached the door, the woman said loudly and sharply, “Emmy!”

Emmy spun around, startled. Something had really changed in the woman's voice.

“Close the door behind you,” the woman said evenly.

“No problem,” Emmy said, still a little shaken. She closed the door behind her and was suddenly back in Zim Zam, with all its playful, plastic stuff. The total opposite of what was in the other room.

Emmy crossed the store, thinking that she'd ask Christine about the little room, and how long it had been there, and why she had never seen this little store within the store before. But Christine was busy with a customer and Emmy headed out, the door jangling behind her. Zoom, seeming freaked out, stared at her as she left.

Even though she'd spent plenty of time at Zim Zam and in the newly discovered back room, Emmy still had a couple of hours to finish her homework before dinner. She sat at her desk and unpacked her backpack, taking out her books and notebooks, the doll, and the candle. She spread them all on her desk.

Maybe I'll do something nice for myself,
she thought,
and light the candle. A tonic to calm my nerves after my horrible day.
She loved the sound of that:
A tonic to calm my nerves.
It sounded like magic. But she didn't have a little holder or plate for it, and she didn't want to get wax all over her desk. She went into Sam's room without knocking. He didn't seem to care.

“Do you have a little plate or container?” she asked her brother. “I need something to put this on.” She showed him the candle.

“What?” Sam asked. He was deeply involved in putting the finishing touches on a model dinosaur in a corner of his room.

“A little plate or container,” Emmy said.

“Um, sure. There's a little ceramic tile I made, over there.” He pointed to his nightstand.

“That'll do,” Emmy said. “Thanks.” She grabbed the hand-painted tile and went back into her room. But Sam followed her. Emmy spun around as Sam entered.

“What do you want?” she asked him, a bit impatiently. She wanted to get started with the candle.

“I was just wondering if I could light the candle,” he said. “Mom and Dad let me light candles on your birthday cake now because I know how to be safe with matches.”

“Sorry,” Emmy said. “I have to light it myself. That's the whole idea. It's a magic candle. But you could go downstairs and get the matches for me, though. Would you?” Sam seemed happy to be given this task and left the room. When he came back up, he handed her the matches.

“Thanks,” Emmy said to her brother. “You can stay here while I light it if you want.”

“Okay,” Sam said, pleased.

Emmy struck a match carefully and held it to the wick. Right away, the candle began filling the room with the now-familiar lavender scent. She and Sam stared at it for a minute, mesmerized by its steady glow, until Emmy broke the silence and told Sam that she had to start her homework.

Emmy breathed deeply as she started her Spanish homework. The class was studying food words, and the assignment was to make up a menu for her own restaurant. As she thought about the foods she'd serve at her restaurant, Casa de Emmy, she absentmindedly twirled the doll on the desk. It felt very satisfying to spin it around and around.

Hamburguesas,
she wrote on her menu.
Papas fritas.
Yum, hamburgers and fries. She was hungry for dinner already. Just then, her mom knocked on her half-open door.

“Hi, honey. What's that smell?” her mom asked. “I could smell it from downstairs.”

“Guess.” Emmy smiled, looking at the candle.

“First, it's nice to see you smile,” her mom said. “I haven't seen that in a few days. Second, hmm, I don't know exactly what the scent is. Something floral.”

“You're on the right track,” Emmy said. Her mom closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Lavender?” she guessed.

“Bingo!” Emmy said and gestured to the candle. “It's supposed to be a tonic for my nerves.”

“It's pretty,” her mom said. “But from now on, I'm going to have to insist that you only burn candles downstairs, when your father or I are around. I'm not comfortable with you burning candles up here alone.”

Emmy nodded and blew out the candle. She understood her mother's point.

Her mother continued. “Where'd you get it?” she asked.

“Zim Zam,” Emmy said.

“They sell candles there?” her mom asked. “I didn't realize that. I thought it was more like just toys.”

“They opened this new section of the store,” Emmy said.

“What do you mean?” her mom asked, raising her eyebrows.

“There's, like, this little back room where there's other stuff,” Emmy explained vaguely.

“Hmm,” her mom said. “I never noticed that. What else did you get? This little doll?” Her mom pointed.

“Yeah,” Emmy said. “It cost four dollars and thirty two cents, and that's exactly how much I had. So it was meant to be.”

“Then how did you buy the candle?” her mom asked.

“Oh, the lady there was really nice, and she gave it to me.”

“She gave it to you?” her mom asked, looking surprised. Emmy hoped her mother wasn't going to make her give it back. She realized that it was kind of odd to take a gift from a stranger, and that her mom probably wouldn't like it. But her mom let the matter drop, and picked up the doll and examined it. “Well, the doll's interesting,” she said. “Pretty.” She placed it back on the desk.

“Thanks,” Emmy said. She twirled it around again on the desk. It spun easily, like a toy top. Just like the candle, it felt kind of soothing.

Another day with short hair,
Emmy thought as she woke the next morning. She had to admit she was feeling slightly better than she had during the previous days. Maybe she was getting used to the haircut. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. And it would grow back. Eventually.
This too shall pass,
her dad liked to say.

Her bedroom still smelled slightly of lavender from yesterday.
Maybe it's working,
Emmy thought.
Maybe it
is
a tonic for my nerves.
She went downstairs in her pajamas and for the first time wasn't shocked by her own reflection when she passed herself in the mirror.

Walking to school, though, she felt the familiar pangs of sadness. She and Lizzy used to walk together every morning, and now she walked alone. She looked around for Lizzy. For the past few months, they'd been walking to school separately, but if they ran into each other, they would join up and walk together. But there was no sign of her today.

Lunchtime came quickly enough. On her way to lunch, she picked up her pace so she could get in line early for the hot lunch, before it got too long. The sooner she got in line, she figured, the sooner she'd be eating lunch. She wasn't exactly running, but walking as fast as one could without breaking into a run. As she cruised down the hall, two boys stood at their lockers, watching her.

“You better hurry up!” one of them said sarcastically. “It might be all gone by the time you get there!”

Ugh. Emmy had forgotten it so wasn't cool to rush through the halls . . . especially for the school lunch.

There was a silver lining, though. She did get in line early. And today was pizza day, and the pizza was extra cheesy and delicious. She smiled at Hannah as she sat down. As she took her second bite, she realized she hadn't even looked over at the table where Lizzy usually sat with Cadence and Sophie. Maybe she really was starting to adjust to the new reality of life without her best friend. She used to get a stomachache every time she entered the lunchroom, and now she was eating somewhat happily and forgetting to notice Lizzy's table.

But she did look over eventually, of course, and saw Cadence and Sophie, but no Lizzy. Once she'd finished her pizza, she said good-bye to Hannah and walked slowly past the table holding her empty tray. She strained to listen to their conversation.

“Gross!” Cadence was saying.

“I know, right?” Sophie responded.

“Poor Liz,” Cadence said.

Emmy couldn't help herself. She turned to them. “What's the matter with Lizzy, I mean Liz?” she asked.

Cadence and Sophie looked up. They seemed irritated by the interruption.

“Liz was up all night kissing the porcelain god,” Cadence said with a straight face.

Emmy had no idea what she was talking about. Cadence and Sophie began to giggle.

Sophie chimed in. “Liz was up all night tossing her cookies,” she added. Emmy was more confused than before.

Sophie and Cadence seemed to think it was quite funny that Emmy wasn't following the conversation. They laughed harder.

“She lost her lunch,” Sophie added. “And dinner!”

“Oh,” Emmy said. She felt so stupid as she realized Lizzy had been throwing up. At first she felt bad for Lizzy. Throwing up was the worst! Then she felt a small twinge of pleasure. Throwing up
was
the worst, and didn't Lizzy deserve to feel
terrible
for a little while?