13 Gifts (25 page)

“Nice dress,” Amanda says, joining me at the table. “It fits you perfectly.”

“Please thank your sister again for me,” I tell her, smoothing down the light blue silk skirt.

“That would imply I’d asked her in the first place.”

“I better not spill anything on it, then.” Amanda’s wearing her blackboard on top of a really pretty pink dress. “Couldn’t you leave that home today?”

She shakes her head and starts chewing on a fingernail. I’ve never seen her do that before. She looks around to make sure no one can hear us, then says, “Today’s the day. We can’t take any chances. Especially because we have no idea what we’re doing.”

My eyes widen. She’s never talked about all this before. “You know I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I wish I could tell you,” she says. “But you know when Angelina is involved there are things you can’t talk about.”

“I sure do.” One day I’ll tell them all about everything with my parents, and about why I’m really here in Willow Falls, but I want to keep it to myself for a while.

“The weirdest thing?” she says, standing even closer to me. “Is that for the longest time, we figured whatever was going to happen today had to do with David. Then we thought it was about you, but that doesn’t feel right anymore either. So we’re totally lost.”

“I don’t understand.”

I can see the gears turning in her head as she decides how much to tell me. “When a full year passes without Leo and me talking, something’s going to happen. I can’t tell you what, but it will give us a chance to fix something. Or do something. Or undo something. We really have no idea.”

“And that day’s today?” I ask.

“Yup.”

One of the servers comes by with a tray of mini hot dogs and holds it out for us. I take one. Then another. I feel so grown up. Amanda says she’s too nervous to eat.

Leo and Rory join us, and judging by all the crumpled-up napkins in one hand and pile of mini hot dogs in the other, Leo doesn’t have the same problem. His blackboard is slung over the shoulder of his blue suit.

“Hey, has either of you seen Connor?” Rory asks. “He was going to take down the computer and we don’t want to mess anything up.”

We shake our heads. “I saw him earlier setting up,” I tell them. “He was here with his whole family.”

“I saw them, too,” Amanda says. “Grace said, ‘Hi, Mommy,’ when they walked in because she was my daughter in the play yesterday. It was pretty funny.”

“So where are they?” Rory asks. “They shouldn’t be this hard to find. They’re the only family in Willow Falls with bright red hair.”

We’re about to spread out in four directions, when Emily comes hurrying over to us. “Are you still looking for Connor?” she asks.

“Yes,” Rory says, “do you know where he is?”

“David’s mother just told me the whole family had to leave right before the service started. They had to take Grace to the hospital! She doesn’t want to worry David, so she told him they had to leave for a family wedding that Mr. Kelly had forgotten to tell them about.”

Leo chokes on his hot dog and spits it out. The rest of us jump back to avoid the bits. He and Amanda grab their boards,
yank them off their necks, and start furiously attacking them with the chalk. White dust flies everywhere. They’ve been intense before, but nothing like this.

“Did they say what was wrong with Grace?” Rory asks Emily.

Emily shakes her head. “I’ve never heard of a kid being rushed to the hospital before.”

“I haven’t either,” Rory says, “except for a broken bone, or the flu or something like that. But she couldn’t have broken anything sitting in a chair, and she seemed fine last night.”

I look from one to the other. “What do you mean? About kids not going to the hospital?”

“We get really bad colds sometimes,” Rory says, “and rashes and bronchitis. I even knew one kid with asthma. But we don’t get
hospital
sick.”

I can’t imagine that’s true, but it’s not like I can argue it.

“And it’s Grace’s birthday today, too!” Emily says. “She told me at the play.”

“That’s right!” Leo says, turning white.

He and Amanda share one last look. “Please tell David we’re sorry to miss his party,” Amanda says, slinging her board over her neck, “but we’ve got to go.”

“Where?” Rory asks. “What about the premiere tonight?”

But they’re already running through the crowd. Amanda turns around and shouts, “Tara, will you explain? We really have to go.”

“But I don’t understand, either,” I shout back.

Leo replies instead. “It wasn’t about you after all! It’s about Grace!”

“Grace?”
I shout in response. But they’re too far away now to hear, all the way on the other side of the grove. We watch them run over to Ray, who is manning the drinks table. A few seconds later the three of them run toward the path that leads to the mall parking lots. As Leo passes the last server, he grabs a handful of whatever was on the platter. Amanda smacks him with her board.

Emily shakes her head. “Told you those two are weird,” she says and heads off to intercept her math crush, who is apparently making a few bucks on the side by working the bar mitzvah.

“Spill,” Rory says.

I tell her everything Amanda had said earlier.

After I’m done, she says, “Well, if Amanda and Leo have been planning for this day for a whole year, they must know what they’re doing, right?”

I don’t answer. I know she doesn’t need me to remind her of how things with Angelina don’t usually turn out like we expect them to.

David is still swarmed by relatives and well-wishers, so I’m going to have to wait till the party to talk to him. I won’t tell him about where Connor went, though, or about Amanda and Leo. Maybe with everything going on, he won’t notice for a while.

As I head over to rejoin my parents, I spot a red envelope on the ground right where Angelina had been sitting. At first I think it must be a card for David that she dropped by mistake. But when I pick it up, I see Angelina’s name written on the outside, not David’s. The envelope has already been opened.
I slide the card out just enough to recognize the valentine I’d picked out for Bucky on my first trip to the store for him. Well, well. Isn’t
that
interesting. I push the card back in, and drop the envelope in my bag. I’m sure Angelina will want this.

Even though we could all have squeezed into the SUV, Dad insisted on driving Uncle Roger’s sports car again. So when it’s time to leave for the party, I contort myself into the backseat and wait for Dad to join the line of cars leaving the parking lot. But one by one, people pass us.

“Um, Mom?” I ask. “Why isn’t Dad pulling out?”

She turns around to face me. “He’s stalling. We want to ask you something, but we’re not sure how to bring it up.”

I cringe. Here it comes. They’re going to ask about David. I guess it was inevitable. They’ve never even seen me
talk
to a boy before. I take a deep breath to steady myself. I figure I’ll just be honest and tell them how I feel.

“All right, here goes,” Mom says. “I know —”

“We just held hands!” I blurt out. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to get married! I mean, who marries the person they date at thirteen? Wait, don’t answer that!”

My parents share a puzzled look. Then my dad laughs. “Thank you for sharing, but that’s not what we wanted to talk to you about.”

I sink down into the seat and cover my face.

“Tara?” Mom says. “Do you want to say anything else about … what you just said? I mean, we’d be happy to talk to you about it.”

I shake my head, still covering my face.

She reaches over and gently pulls my hands away. “It’s okay, honey. David seems like a wonderful boy.”

I have to force myself to leave my hands in my lap. “Can we just go back to talking about whatever you wanted to talk about?”

Mom takes a deep breath, and with one last glance at Dad says, “I know we made a deal that we wouldn’t move again …”

I groan. “Are you serious, Mom? Angelina isn’t looking for us anymore. She said your debt is repaid.”

“I know,” Mom says, fiddling with her seat belt strap, “but there’s a house for sale down the street from Bethany’s, and we made an offer on it this morning.”

My jaw falls open.

“Unless you still don’t want to move, of course. A deal’s a deal. We can cancel our offer on the house.”

I start bouncing up and down in the seat, coming dangerously close to banging my head on the roof. I’m so happy I probably wouldn’t notice. “That would be totally bonza!” I shout.

“Is that a yes?” Dad asks.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Later, after what was no doubt the best day of my entire life, I sit down to write the rest of my essay about what I’ve learned this summer. Even though I’m not going back to my old school (Tara = Still Jumping for Joy!!) I want to finish what I started.

First I reread what I’d written after my first week in Willow Falls. Then, before I come up for air, I’ve written another whole page.

I’ve learned that the universe doesn’t care what our motives are, only our actions. So we should do things that will bring about good, even if there is an element of selfishness involved. Like the kids at my school might join the Key Club or Future Business Leaders of America, because it’s a social thing and looks good on their record, not because they really want to volunteer at the nursing home. But the people at the nursing home still benefit from it, so it’s better that the kids do it than not do it. And if they never did it, then they wouldn’t find out that they actually liked it.

I have learned that almost anyone will help you if you ask for it.

I’ve learned that mothers can love their babies even before they’re born and then will do all sorts of crazy things to try to keep them safe. Which leads to another thing I’ve learned —that everyone should be allowed to keep their secrets. But if they eat away at you with guilt, or make you move your family to a different town every year, you should
not
keep them.

I’ve learned that if you wait long enough, you might get a second chance at something you gave
up on. And sometimes you’ll be the one to give the second chance to someone else.

I’ve learned that sometimes you can meet your favorite movie star and he can turn out to be even greater than you thought, and that it’s possible to be really happy for your new friend that he likes her and not even be jealous.

That said, I’ve also learned that it’s possible to die from embarrassment when your dad, upon meeting aforementioned movie star at the premiere of his new movie, says, “Hey, you’re the guy on my daughter’s wall! She kisses your picture every night!”

I’ve learned that everyone can do their part to repair the world, and that the more you look for them, the easier it becomes to spot all the little pieces.

And most of all, I’ve learned that the sidelines may be safer, but life is played on the field.

 

Aussie Glossary

 

ace: great!

agro: aggressive

ankle biter: small child

arvo: afternoon

bingle: car accident

biscuit: cookie

blokes: male friends

bloody: very

bonza: excellent

brekkie: breakfast

cactus: broken

chewie: gum

chuck a sickie: take the day off work/school when you’re not really sick

chuck a U-ee: make a u-turn

cobber: friend

don’t fret your freckle: don’t stress

dunny: bathroom

furphy: false rumor

g’day: hi!

give it a burl: try it

gobsmacked: astounded

good on ya: congratulations! well done!

I’ll be stuffed: well, I’ll be; an expression of pleased surprise

knocker: someone who criticizes

London to a brick: it’s absolutely certain

make a quid: make a living

mate’s rate: a special discount given to someone who’s a friend

mates: friends

not my bowl of rice: I’m not interested in that

nut out: figure out

oldies: parents

pinch: steal

port: suitcase

rellies: relatives

ripper: really great

she’ll be apples: it’ll be all right

spit the dummy: be very upset

yabber: talk a lot

About the Author

 

Wendy Mass is the author of award-winning books for young readers, including
A Mango-Shaped Space, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall, Leap Day, Every Soul a Star, The Candymakers,
the Twice Upon a Time fairy tale series, and the books set in Willow Falls,
11 Birthdays
and
Finally.
She lives in New Jersey with her family. You can visit her online at www.wendymass.com.