30 Days of No Gossip (15 page)

“Can you get us on TV?” Kathina asked. Chelsea gave her a look, to which Kathina responded by lowering her gaze to the floor.

“What Kathina means is, do you think that pretty producer lady could get us on camera working with you?” Chelsea asked. “You know, since you and Vi are going to be the stars and all.”

I looked at Kathina, then at Emma, who was trailing along after them. The three of them were only being nice to me because they thought I was going to be the star of this thing. That was it. I had no more to say to them.

I spun around to rush off in search of Vi and nearly ran directly into a camera. Behind it was a guy, and next to him, a guy with a microphone he was holding above all of us. There were other people too, all of whom traveled in a large clump behind the camera.

Wow. How could anyone have a conversation like nothing out of the ordinary was happening with all of this going on?

“Hi, everyone!”

I was so busy nearly running down the camera crew, I didn’t see Jilly zoom around them. Jilly was
24-Hour Makeover
’s star. She worked on everything with the help of a crew of assorted muscle-bound guys. Jilly looked even more amazing in person than she did on TV.

Everything stopped. I was pretty sure most of these people had no idea who Jilly was. I mean, how many seventh graders watched home remodeling shows? But Jilly was the type of person you looked at. Everything about her looked better than anyone you normally saw.

“I’m Jilly Clark,” she announced. Funny that even as small as she was, she could speak loudly enough to be heard all the way down the hall. “I host
24-Hour Makeover
. We’re going to have some fun today.”

People cheered. I couldn’t help but get caught up in the excitement. It felt like something big was happening here . . . and I was part of it.

“I need to see someone named Vivienne Lakewood?” Jilly said. She was reading off a slip of paper she’d been holding and looking around.

Vivienne.
Vi! 
I stood on tiptoe to look around. No sign of Vi. She would have stepped forward by now, wouldn’t she?”

“Okay, Emma Mayfield?” Jilly said.

“Me!” Emma pushed her way through the people in
front of her and stood eagerly in front of Jilly. It was a little nauseating.

“Luke Summer?” Jilly continued.

Luke climbed down from his ladder and started toward Jilly. I, meanwhile, was starting to panic. Jilly had already called two other names, and Vi wasn’t answering. Had she gotten stuck outside the school? I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, stepped away from the camera and the crowd, and called her.

The phone rang so many times, I was sure it was about to go to voice mail. I didn’t know what I’d do at that point. A voice mail wouldn’t help me get her in here, where she needed to be. I was about to call her over and over until she answered, but she picked up on the second try.

“Hello?” She sounded groggy. Like she’d been asleep.

“Vi? Where are you?”

Silence on the other end. She’d figured out it was me, but would that make her hang up?

“Maddie. What time is it?”

“After six o’clock,” I said. “You’re missing everything.”

I’m sure my panic was coming over the line, but I couldn’t help it. This was probably the biggest day of Vi’s life and she’d overslept?

If we’d still been BFFs, this wouldn’t have happened. I
would have spent the night at her house or she would have spent the night at mine. We would have set seven alarms if that was what it took to make sure we got up in time. For backup, we probably also would have had her mom wake us and maybe had Jessica or Sydney do a wake-up call. That was how Vi was.

“My alarm must not have gone off,” Vi said. “It’s too late.”

I knew that sound in her voice. She sounded like she was about to be sick. She was right. It was too late. I remembered what Miss Golden had said about the doors to the school locking at six a.m. and absolutely no one else being let in. I’d seen the security guard stationed at the door when we’d entered and knew they were serious about that. There was no way to get Vi in here at this point unless I appealed to Miss Golden. Even then, knowing adults, she’d say if she made an exception for Vi, she’d have to make an exception for everyone else standing out there.

As I hesitated, I heard Jilly tell the small group she’d gathered that they were all going to Pro Hardware in town with her to pick out materials for the remodel. That was it. The perfect way to get Vi in.

“You were chosen,” I told Vi. “Jilly Clark just called your name.”

“She did?”

Vi no longer sounded sad. I knew I’d gotten her attention when I mentioned Jilly Clark’s name. Jilly Clark was her hero. Her idol. Vi was the only reason I knew who Jilly Clark even was.

“She’s standing right here in front of me,” I told her. “And just two minutes ago, she said your name. You were the first name she called.”

“Called? For what?”

“She picked out four people to go with her to Pro Hardware,” I said. “They’re leaving now. You were one of the four, but you aren’t here.”

“Oh,” Vi said, that sick sound in her voice again as she realized she’d just missed one of the best opportunities ever.

“Go to Pro Hardware,” I instructed, speaking quietly as I watched Jilly leaving, the camera crew rushing after her. “Get there as quickly as you can. Jilly’s on her way.”

I was still putting my phone away when I saw Jessica and Sydney waving me over. They were standing near the paint buckets. I grabbed a paintbrush and started painting.

Cameras seemed to be following me everywhere I went, but I tried to ignore them. We’d all been told to pretend they weren’t there, but I couldn’t help but notice that people were all too aware of them. Whenever a camera would come
our way, for instance, Sydney would suddenly start talking louder and working harder than she did when the cameras weren’t around. I, meanwhile, was falling behind because I had to stop every few minutes to take another picture and post it to three different sites.

“Where’s that producer woman?” Sydney whispered. A camera was on the group next to us, so I guess she didn’t want her question to be picked up by the large microphones.

I looked around again. I’d seen no sign of Miss Golden all morning, but now that I was looking, I found her. It was no wonder I hadn’t noticed her. Surprisingly, she was in jeans and an oversize sweatshirt, painting with a group at the far end of the hall. I wouldn’t have thought she would help out with the remodel, but I guess they needed all the hands they could get at this point.

Around the time we were about to break for lunch—they’d brought in pizzas for everyone—Vi showed up. She was with Emma and the two others, but there was no sign of Jilly. Miss Golden sent a group of guys out to the parking lot to bring in the materials they’d bought.

Vi and the others mingled in with the crowd, which had now gathered near the front to prepare to head to the cafeteria for lunch. I was too far from the back to even see Vi,
but I was so happy she’d made it in, I didn’t care. In the brief glimpse I’d gotten of her, she looked happy, and that was all that mattered. After spending the morning shopping with her idol, I was sure the rest of this was icing on the cake.

“After lunch, our team of four will meet to draw up the master plan for the break area,” Miss Golden announced. “The rest of you will keep working. Enjoy your lunch.”

I looked around as the crowd moved in one large mass toward the cafeteria. At some point, they’d replaced the old, discolored ceiling tiles with new white ones. The walls were done—the top half was bright white and the bottom half was a deep golden yellow. I still didn’t get the master plan. It looked cleaner and less run-down, but it was still just a hallway. I didn’t see how we could make it something people would ooh and ahh over on TV.

“This is where the fun starts,” Jessica said as we entered the cafeteria.

I assumed she was talking about eating pizza, but she started in on all the exciting things we could do to make the walls of the hallway look better. Finally I had to stop her.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“The stencils,” she said with a shrug. She leaned forward to look at my face. We were in line for pizza by then. I figured
by the time we got to the front of the line, all the good slices would be gone. “Have you never watched
24-Hour Makeover
?”

“I watch it all the time,” I replied.

Well, in truth, I’d only recently started really watching it. It was on every time I was with Vi, but most of the time I was only halfway watching to keep Vi happy. I’d be checking e-mail on my phone or reading one of Vi’s design magazines or picking on her little brother.

“Maddie doesn’t know about the stencils,” Jessica said to someone over my shoulder. I turned around, figuring I’d see Sydney, but instead it was Vi.

I tried not to show how excited I was to have her standing there. Scared, too. What if she was here to tell me how mad she was at me or something?

“Huh?” Vi asked.

“Maddie says she watches
24-Hour Makeover
,” Jessica said. “But she doesn’t know about the stencils.”

“You remember the stencils,” Vi said to me. “They always let the people who will be using a building put a personal touch on it. Usually that’s by letting them paint something on the walls. Thank you.”

That last part was a complete change of subject. I knew from the way her eyes were lit up that she was happy. Really happy.

“You’re welcome.” I smiled. I didn’t know which thing specifically she was thanking me for, but I was so glad she was looking at me like a friend again, I didn’t care.

“Isn’t this the most exciting day ever?” Jessica asked. “We’re going to be on TV.”

Vi’s smile fell. “I hope not.”

Vi didn’t want to be on TV. I’d learned that about her during all this. I guess it made sense. Vi had never been one to try to hog the spotlight, instead standing back and watching everyone else. Having a camera shoved in her face wasn’t her thing.

“Vi isn’t into that,” I explained. “She’s more excited to learn new things and design something awesome.”

I was realizing this even as I spoke the words. Unbelievable that I’d known Vi all these years and had never fully understood that being noticed wasn’t her thing. How much time had I spent gabbing away about various things while she quietly listened? Or didn’t listen . . . Either way, I hadn’t been a very good friend to her.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

My vision got all blurred and I realized my eyes were filling with tears. If I cried, people would probably wonder what was going on, but I didn’t care. I wanted Vi to know what I was thinking.

“I’m not a very good friend,” I said. “It’s not even about the gossip. It’s about how selfish I’ve been. I need to stop trying to be the center of attention.”

“And I should learn to lighten up a little,” Vi admitted. “Learn to not take things so seriously.”

“Maybe that’s what’s always made us such good friends,” I said. “We’re so different.”

“We balance each other out,” Vi agreed. “I guess I just missed having you to talk to. You always had a crowd around you.”

“I’m starting to realize that isn’t really a good thing,” I said. “Especially when they’re only around to hear bad things about other people.”

I should have known better in the first place. I’d gone from being Fatty Maddie in second grade to being the girl who talked about other people. Oh, sure, I didn’t make fun of them to their faces like people had done to me, but was saying it in private any better? If I made fun of Kimmy Welles’s big feet, for instance, even if she never heard it, wasn’t it almost as bad?

“You’re both being ridiculous,” Jessica told us. I turned around to see that Sydney had joined us. She was covered in paint from head to toe. I looked down and realized I had quite a few paint spatters myself. When had that happened?

The two of them started giggling about something, leaving me to talk to Vi. There was an awkward silence, but Vi ended it.

“I guess I should tell you,” Vi said. “Travis Fisher and I have talked.”

She said it quietly, so no one else could hear. I had to hold in a squeal.

“Really?” I whispered. “When?”

“Yesterday afternoon. He stopped by my locker and asked me about my design.”

I felt at least a little better about telling him about Vi liking him. But still . . .

“I know I messed up,” I admitted. “I feel really bad. You know I was just trying to help by telling Travis what I told him.”

It was hard to believe I’d given away a secret that huge. Best friends didn’t tell things like that. There were some things you kept secret until the day you died.

“That’s okay,” she said. “I overreacted. But there are some things we still need to talk about.”

I nodded. This wasn’t the time or place. Even if we talked, things would probably be a little weird between us for a while. I’d have to keep my mouth shut and she’d have to—

There was nothing she’d have to do. I was the one who
needed to grow here. Although Vi had already realized that she needed to learn to have fun every now and then. Maybe smile, join in on the conversation, talk about something besides schoolwork . . .

“So, anyway,” Vi said, raising her voice a little. “Jilly said during lunch they’ll paint two parallel lines above the yellow part of the wall. We’ll be allowed to paint whatever we want between those two lines. No approval needed.”

“That’s awesome,” Jessica said. “What else did she say?”

It took me a second to figure out why this was so weird. I couldn’t believe it, but Vivienne Lakewood—the girl who just recently told me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, I should keep quiet—was actually . . .

Gossiping?

Okay, so it was good gossip. It wasn’t hurting anyone else. As I watched Vi’s face light up, I realized it was completely possible to tell people news without hurting anyone else or breaking a trust. I smiled. Maybe I could still gossip. I just had to learn the difference between good gossip and bad gossip.

“She said they’re picking the winner of the Hollywood trip after lunch,” Vi continued.