11 Birthdays (13 page)

He continues, prodding us forward. “But no joke, eh? You two seem pretty real to me.”

“What do you mean you got a missing-kid call?” Leo asks. “Who knows we’re missing?”

“Everyone, I expect,” he says.

The door marked
SECURITY
looms ahead. I still can’t figure this out. Did I forget something when we made this plan? Did my dad forget to cancel my doctor’s appointment and Mrs. Grayson came over to get me?

Before I can ask the security guard for more information, we hear screaming. “There they are!” Four very anxious parents run up to us. Mom must have left work. Even more surprising, Kylie is here, too. They all look
pretty ragged. Mom’s careful makeup is smeared, and Dad is still wearing his blue pajamas under his jacket. Kylie is pale through her makeup. She glares at me and a blast of anger shoots out of her eyes.

Our parents grab us, hug us, then push us away. “What were you thinking?” my mother yells.

“We’ve taught you better than this!” Leo’s mom says. She tries to yell it, but she can’t quite achieve the level of volume my mom can.

Mom’s voice is practically shaking with anger. “Imagine how surprised I was, young lady, when your father called me from work to tell me he couldn’t find you.”

“But I thought Dad was sleeping… .” I say weakly.

“I was,” Dad says, his voice even hoarser than before, “until Mrs. Fitzpatrick called to see if Leo was at our house. Imagine my shock when your room was empty. Then imagine all the horrible things that went through my mind about what could have happened to you.”

My mouth has gone dry. I don’t think he really wants an answer. I also don’t think this is a good time to point out that if I had been allowed to own a cell phone, he could have just called me.

“But Mom,” Leo says, “how did you know I wasn’t in school?”

His mom is still holding him by the arm, as though he might run off again. “You left the sign and streamers for Amanda’s locker on your desk. You spent so much time on them last night, cutting out the different letters, trimming the streamers. I didn’t want you to be disappointed, so I drove them over to the school. Do I need to tell you the principal doesn’t look highly on students forging their parents’ signatures?”

Leo looks at his feet and shakes his head.

“Look,” Dad says, stroking my hair. “We’re glad you’re okay, and that the two of you have obviously made up. It was Kylie who suggested we check the gift pile, and sure enough, we found the empty box of gift cards. We figured sooner or later you’d wind up here. I just never would have expected this from you, Amanda.” He turns to Leo. “From either of you.”

A small crowd has formed, watching the exchange with interest. “Can we go home now?” I ask in a small voice.

“Fine, let’s go,” Mom snaps. “You’ll have a lot of time to think about what you’ve done while you’re sitting alone in
your room all night. No birthday cake, no presents, and since your party’s already canceled on account of you being ‘sick,’ we’re going to leave it that way.”

Leo turns to his parents. “I guess my party’s canceled, too, right?”

His father shakes his head. Leo’s face falls, clearly hoping to not have to sit through Hop-along Willie and the Knee-slapping Five again. “We don’t want to disappoint your guests. The ones who DIDN’T cut school and give their parents heart attacks. Plus, it’s too late to cancel the entertainment. But believe me, the second it’s over you’re grounded for a long, long time.”

Leo and I don’t have a chance to speak without being overheard until we’re in the parking lot. “Well,” he whispers, only moving one side of his mouth. “I did warn you we might get in trouble.”

I nod slightly, aware my mother is watching my every move. “Guess I should have let you decorate my locker after all!”

“You’re right!” he says, forgetting to keep his voice down. “It’s YOUR fault!”

Dad piles both scooters into the trunk of our station wagon, and Kylie and I climb in the backseat. She still
hasn’t said a word to me. Leo’s parents follow us in their car and we both pull up in front of the Schwartzes’ house. They make us wheel the scooters up to the front door and apologize for “borrowing” them. It’s humiliating. The walk from the Schwartzes’ porch to the sidewalk feels a little like walking the plank. This would be a really bad time to have Saturday finally show up.

“Say good-bye to Leo, Amanda,” Mom says as we reach the sidewalk and our waiting mothers. “It’s going to be a long time till you two spend another birthday together.”

“I doubt that,” I mumble under my breath. Out loud I say, “Bye, Leo, see you in history class. You know, on Monday.”

“Right,” he says, stifling a grin. “See you Monday. I’ve heard a rumor there’s gonna be a pop quiz.”

Never in my life have I been so happy to see a
balloon. I twirl SpongeBob around the room, dancing like I’ve just gotten out of jail. Which in a way I have. Last night was horrible. It was even worse than when Mom thought I had sabotaged her presentation. Even though I apologized like a million times, no one spoke to me. Mom wouldn’t even let me talk to Stephanie when she called to find out if I was feeling better. The only good thing to come out of the day is that for the first time, Mom didn’t get fired. I guess her boss thought that firing her on the day her daughter goes missing would just be rude. Being grounded gave me time to reflect on everything that’s going on, and I can’t wait to get to school to talk to Leo.

I leave SpongeBob floating happily and run to my parents’ room. I knock on the door impatiently until Mom opens it, rollers still in her hair. “What is it? Is everything okay?”

I throw my arms around her and hold tight. Laughing, she peels me off of her. “You must be really happy to be turning eleven today!”

“Oh, I am!” I exclaim. “Like you wouldn’t believe!”

She steps back a little. “Where’d you get that nightshirt? I don’t recognize it.”

I look down and am shocked to see the words
BORN TO ROCK
across my chest. I say the first thing that comes to mind. “I won it at school yesterday. For guessing how many jelly beans were in a fishbowl.”

“I see.”

“Where’s Dad?” I ask, changing the subject.

“He just went downstairs to make some tea. He’s not feeling well. I’m sorry but you’ll have to take the bus today.”

“That’s okay!” I say, already halfway down the stairs. I find Dad as he’s fishing through the cabinet for a mug. Before he can even turn around I give him a huge hug from behind. He twists to see who it is.

“Well, that’s a nice greeting from the birthday girl,” he says, then coughs for a full minute. I don’t let go until he’s done. Before he can ask why I’m hugging him, I run to the front door and look down the block. I can see Kylie heading back toward the house so I run outside in my bare feet to meet her.

“Whoa!” she says as I plow into her. “What are you DOING? Get off me!”

I hang on tight. “Can’t a girl just hug her big sister?”

She stops fighting me. “Are you dying? Am
I
dying? Did Grandma die?”

I laugh. “No one died.”

“Then get off!” She pushes me again, and this time I let go. She runs back into the house, and I follow, whistling happily. Then, suddenly inspired, I run onto the middle of my lawn and do my best back handspring ever. Which is to say that I still didn’t do it right, but at least I’m not on my butt on the dewy grass.

I hurry upstairs to get dressed, slipping on the same jeans I wore yesterday, now folded in the drawer, of course. I reach into the pocket to get the poem Leo gave me. It’s not there. I check the other pockets. Why would the band’s
T-shirt have made it across the boundary, but not the poem? I hope Leo has another copy.

I race up the steps of the bus, wishing there was an even faster way to get to school.

“You must really be anxious to get to school,” the bus driver says with a smile.

I bob my head up and down. “I am!” I plop in the seat right behind her. Why shout for Stephanie when we can sit right here? The driver hums as she maneuvers the bus down the tree-lined streets. When I took the bus last month it was a guy driver. This lady is so small her feet barely reach the pedals!

When we get to school I run to my locker, and light up when I see it’s fully decorated. And this time there’s a folded piece of notebook paper sticking out of it.

“Who’s it from?” Stephanie asks, leaning over my shoulder. “A secret admirer?”

I shake my head. “It’s from Leo.” I wait for her reaction, hoping it was the right decision to say that. But I figure he and I really need to talk, and it’s better than hiding from our friends again.

She doesn’t even blink. “It’s about time you two
made up.” Guess I don’t have to worry about her being jealous.

I reach over and snatch the lollipop from the floor. I place it in her hand.

“What’s this for?”

The warning bell rings before I can tell her it’s for being a good friend. She jams the lollipop into her pocket and runs down the hall. I take the note into class with me and open it at my desk while Ms. Gottlieb writes on the board.

A —

Yesterday was really great. You know, doing all the stuff we’d never have the nerve to do. I hope last night wasn’t too horrible for you. I felt so bad that I scared my parents like that. You’re so lucky you didn’t have your party. Mom glared at me the whole night and all the people from your party came over and it was so hot and crowded. I think most of the kids only wanted to see the hypnotist and Paul the Ball. I’m pretty sure NO ONE wanted to hear the band! Let’s just pass notes today, instead of cutting. That didn’t work out so good.

— Leo

As I read the note a thought strikes me. As soon as the quiz is graded and handed in, I rip out a piece of notebook paper and write back.

Leo —

I just thought of something. You haven’t said anything about the hypnotist guy. What was he like? Do you think it’s possible that he could’ve hypnotized you into thinking every day was your birthday? And maybe because it’s my birthday, too, I got sucked in somehow? W/B/S.

— A

When Ms. Gottlieb’s back is turned, I pass the note to Jimmy and motion for him to pass it to Claudia next to him, and for her to pass it to Leo. I hold my breath until Leo gets it. Ms. Gottlieb has a zero-tolerance note policy and I wouldn’t want that one read out loud.

A few minutes later Jimmy tosses another note onto my desk.

I don’t know. He wasn’t that good. All he did was make Bobby Simon cluck like a chicken. But
maybe we should talk to him, anyway. I know where to find him. By the way, my T-shirt from the band is gone. I left it in my jacket pocket and this morning it was gone. I forgot that everything resets itself each morning. Bummer!!

— L

The bell rings before I get a chance to write back. I wait for him outside class and we walk down the hall together. He tells me that one of the school busses goes into town, so we can take that one to see the hypnotist, and he’ll call his mom at lunch to ask her to pick us up after. Once that’s decided, I tell him I still have my
BORN TO ROCK
T-shirt.

“You do?” He wrinkles his brows. “That’s weird. I wonder why yours would stay and mine wouldn’t?”

“I don’t know. I wore mine to sleep, and it was still on me when I woke up.”

“That’s it!” Leo says, startling me. “Anything on our bodies stays with us!”

“You’re right! The Band-Aids stayed on my ankles, but when I went to get your poem, it wasn’t in my jeans pocket!”

He stops walking and clutches his books to his chest. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“That no one should ever dress up as Dorothy from
The Wizard of Oz
because you’ll get blisters?”

“No. Well,
yes,
but that’s not it. What it means is that me and you are still growing every day, like normal. But no one else is! So we’ll just keep getting older while they stay the same. One day we’ll wake up and other people are gonna notice that we don’t look the same as the night before.”

My jaw slackens. “Oh! You’re right! What a horrible thought!”

Leo nods in agreement, his face pale. “This hypnotist better have the answers because I’m gearing up for a growth spurt, I can feel it.”

For the rest of the morning this is all I can think about. What if one day I wake up and I look older than
Kylie??

After school I convince Stephanie (again) that I’m not cut out for the gymnastics team and to try out without me. I decide to experiment with leaving my backpack in my locker to see if it will appear in my house again in the morning. Twenty minutes later Leo and I are standing in front of Willow Falls Pre-owned Vehicles. I don’t see anyone nearby. “Your hypnotist works at a
used car lot?”

Leo nods. “Maybe he hypnotizes people into buying cars.”

A middle-aged man in a light blue suit pops out from behind the hood of a white sports car. Leo and I both jump. “Oh, it’s you!” Leo says, recovering. “You scared me.”

The man wipes his brow with a gray handkerchief. His suit is straining to button across his belly. He doesn’t look like he has the power to make anyone buy a pack of gum, let alone cluck like a chicken. “Do I know you?” he asks.

“It’s me, Leo!”

I elbow Leo in the ribs.

“Hey, that hurt!”

I give him my most meaningful look.

“Ohhh, right. Got it.” Turning back to the man he says, “Er, sorry, I mean it’s me, Leo, the kid whose birthday party you’re performing at tonight.”

The man glances around quickly, maybe looking for Leo’s mom. “You’re not going to cancel, are you?”

“No, no, nothing like that.”

With a sigh of relief, he gives a little theatrical bow. “What can I do for you then? Are you worried I’ll
embarrass you by making you bark like a dog? Don’t worry, I’ll save that for some kid you don’t like.”

Leo and I glance at each other. “Go ahead,” I whisper.

“Okay,” Leo says hesitantly. “This is going to sound really weird …”