Fashion Frenzy (11 page)

She had just flipped to a fresh sheet in her notebook when she heard, “I was right, Isabel. The guide says they don’t have any cat mummies in the museum. That’s a relief
for you, huh? Now you can just draw away and you have nothing to worry about.”

Danny was so proud of himself he looked like he was going to pop, thought Isabel. She had a sudden vision of Danny as a huge balloon floating in the air and spouting useless facts, shouting, “Vote for me!”

Isabel pressed her lips together tightly to prevent herself from screaming. “Mmm hmm.” She nodded. Nothing to worry about? What would it take to get Danny to leave her in peace? He seemed, at least for the moment, to be completely absorbed in an amulet in a glass case. Maybe she could concentrate once more. As soon as she started a new drawing, Danny popped up and said with a hopeful smile,
“¿Cómo estás?”

The only thing more annoying than Danny making small talk in English was Danny making small talk
en Español
. Could someone save her, please? She looked around for Avery, who could send Danny away in a minute and wouldn’t worry too much about hurting his feelings. Worrying about hurting someone’s feelings could be a real burden sometimes, she thought.

“Did you know,” he inquired, “that Egyptian women made sure they were buried with their cosmetics, too? They used tons of makeup every day. Did you know they were supposedly as beautiful as supermodels are today? Of course they weren’t as beautiful as…well, never mind.”

Isabel groaned. “Danny, you are driving me crazy.”

Once again, Danny had become magenta, but he couldn’t stop himself from demonstrating his vast artillery of pointless facts. Now Danny was pointing to a small
object in the case. He uttered a word and dramatically let the letters roll off his tongue. Isabel thought it sounded a little like Spanish—but not like any Spanish she’d ever heard before! Then he nudged her and pointed to another trinket and again said something with a strange, Spanish-like accent.

Danny must have been trying to say something in Spanish, but he wasn’t even close. Isabel had been at the museum for almost an hour and she had barely made a scribble. If she didn’t get away from Danny, she would never come up with a picture for Charlotte’s article.

“Look,” she said, throwing down her pencil, “Danny, no offense, but I don’t even care about makeup all that much myself, and anyway, I’m not studying makeup today, or anything else! I am here to draw and I haven’t gotten much done…” As she waited for her words to sink in, she hoped she hadn’t been too harsh. She gave him a quick smile. Big mistake!

Danny shook he was so happy. “Come on, Isabel,” he continued. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Danny wasn’t trying to leave her alone…he was trying to make her feel better. “Hey, I really study this stuff. I don’t mean like some people—I don’t just do a five-minute Google search and figure I know all there is to know. I mean, I’ve read books, tons and tons of them. I could quote you stuff all day about the ancient Egyptians!”

Danny peered down at her sketch. “Wow! Wonderful sketch, Isabel.”

Isabel started to cough. “Danny, this isn’t even a sketch. This is lines!”

“Ah-HAH!
Methinks the lady doth protest too much
! That was a Shakespearean quote, by the way. You like Shakespeare,
si
?”

“What?” Isabel asked. “Danny…” She was almost in tears. “I just want to draw. I don’t speak Shakespeare.” She searched for a glimmer of recognition in his eyes that he was beyond annoying and had turned into a major cling-on! “Danny…I gotta go…now.” Isabel tried to look like she had another destination in mind and turned to walk away as fast as she could.

Danny stopped and blinked. “What?” he asked. “Go where?
Adónde va usted?
”

“See ya!” She waved over her shoulder as she hurried off to another room where on the way in she had spied a funny painting of a boy wearing a dress. It was an American painting from the seventeenth century called “Robert Gibbs at 4 ½ Years.” Isabel thought the little boy with long hair looked funny in his long gown, but she supposed that was the style back in early America. As Isabel settled down to work, she took a deep breath and tried to remember that drawing was what she did to relax.

She jotted down a few figures and started to get lost in her sketch. This is nice, she thought. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. Then she heard it. “
Señorita Isabel
…”

Isabel jumped up and hurried away. With each step she took she could hear Danny’s untied sneakers clomp-clomping behind her. They were getting closer and closer.

It was like Marty trailing around after Avery! Only Marty was sweet and lovable, and Danny was like a sticky,
gooey piece of gum you couldn’t get off your clothes, no matter how hard you tried.

Thank goodness Maeve and Katani are in New York
, she thought as she raced through the halls looking for Avery and Charlotte. The only thing making her happy right now was that at least her friends were having a good time. Clearly
she
wasn’t having fun. Not at all! Danny Pellegrino was slowly but surely leeching all the fun out of her trip.

I
T WAS ONLY NINE THIRTY
on Friday, and Katani was already frantic.

Michelle had to be at the
Teen Beat
fashion show venue super early, and Katani wanted to go with her to experience as much of the show as possible. Katani set her alarm clock for seven a.m. sharp and was up, showered, and dressed by seven-fifteen a.m. She put on a little lip gloss so the fashion show people could see she was well groomed but still professional.

At seven thirty, Katani sat down with Michelle to eat breakfast: a glass of orange juice and Michelle’s delicious scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, onion, and bacon. Michelle asked her if she was excited and Katani nodded. “Oh Michelle, this is a dream come true!”

Michelle gulped down her orange juice and said, “My first fashion show was the sweetest thing ever. You’ll want to make sure you are on time so you don’t miss anything.”

Katani was all set to go. Maeve, on the other hand, was not. She was still out cold on the pullout couch. The long “Zzzz…” sounds coming from the study indicated that she had no intention of waking up any time soon.

It was a little after eight o'clock when Michelle glanced at her watch and reluctantly said, “K, I really have to go now.”

“Of course,” Katani assured her. She wanted to be mature, though her heart was sinking. “I understand. We’ll be right behind you.”

“I know you will,” Michelle said, though there was doubt upon her face. She dug into a striped leather handbag and handed Katani some cash. “Here. This is cab fare to the
Teen Beat
office. The fashion show is being held on the twenty-ninth floor in the grand ballroom. I’ll write down the address for you. It’s not far from here at all. You think you can find it?”

“Oh, sure,” Katani said, trying to sound confident. “How hard can it be?”

Michelle carefully scribbled down the office address, her office phone number, and her cell phone number. “The front door locks automatically, so just pull it closed when you leave. Andrew’s the doorman who’s on duty during the day at my building. He’s really nice. Ask him to get you a cab and then just tell the driver the address. Cab drivers know where everything is in this city. And don’t worry if it’s too busy for a cab—you can always take the subway.”

“The subway?” Katani asked doubtfully.

“Well of course, silly. Everyone takes the subway in
New York. It’s much cheaper than a taxi and just as quick and easy. Besides, the stop is only a few blocks away. Andrew will tell you how to get there.” Michelle glanced at her watch. “Yikes! Okay now I
really
have to run. I’ll see you soon, Katani!”

She gave Katani a hug and was off in a flash. People in New York seemed to move a lot faster than they did in Brookline!

The moment the door slammed shut behind Michelle, Katani heard a loud thump followed by a yawn coming from the study down the hall. The door burst open and out stumbled Maeve, her eyes still half closed. “Sleeping Beauty is awake!” Maeve announced, stretching groggily. “And has to shower like
WHOA
!”

Katani watched as Maeve tramped down to the bathroom. The shower seemed to go on forever. When the water finally shut off, Katani heard the sound of Maeve’s voice belting out a song from an old Broadway show: “
Come on along and listen to…the lullaby of Broadway!
”

Katani summoned up all the patience she could muster. The sooner Maeve ate, the sooner they could get their show on the road. Katani quickly laid out breakfast for Maeve and called her to come in and eat. Ten minutes later, Maeve appeared in the kitchen. Her face was scrubbed, but her hair was soaking wet.

“Oh, Katani, you didn’t have to do that! Thanks!” Maeve exclaimed when she saw the eggs and toast on a plate. She slid into a chair and began to drink her orange juice as though she had not a worry in the world.

Katani could feel her face getting warm. This was the
day she had been looking forward to for weeks. In fact, she had been waiting for this day her whole life. She couldn’t wait to be a part of the big fashion show, and she was already running late.

“I think,” Katani suggested as politely as she could manage, “that we’d better get going now. Michelle is already there, and she expects us to come very soon. She even gave me cab fare.”

“Oh. Okay.” Maeve cast a longing glance at the pitcher of orange juice but obediently got up. “I’ll be just a minute,” she promised.

That minute turned into fifty…

Maeve simply could not make up her mind on what to wear. She had brought enough with her for a month, Katani thought, and she had to try on each outfit and scrutinize her appearance in the mirror before deciding that no, this wasn’t right at all. These pants made her look like a kid, and that sweatshirt was too garish, and these jeans were too informal for an office, and…Katani lost track of the reasons Maeve gave for each change of outfit.

Katani was so upset she was ready to cry. She wanted so badly to come across as professional on her big fashion debut. Professionals were always on time. Professionals made do with whatever they had. Professionals got the job done. And arriving more than an hour after everyone else didn’t make her a look like a professional—it made her look like a kid who couldn’t keep up!

She bit her lip. Why didn’t Maeve understand how important this was to her? She was about to pound on the door when Maeve finally popped out of the room.

“I think I’ve got it,” Maeve finally announced brightly. She came out of the study wearing jeans, a crisp white shirt, and a light pink cable-knit sweater. She rolled the cuffs of the shirt over the sweater and was sporting what she called “the popped collar.”

Katani stared at her. “That was the first outfit you put on!”

“I know. I guess it’s like Dorothy’s lesson in
The Wizard of Oz
. I had to try everything else to know that I had it right the first time!” Maeve flashed Katani a friendly smile. “Anyway, I’m ready now. I won’t even waste time doing my hair again.” She showed off her freshly washed red hair that she’d spent at least a half hour drying and styling. “See? Just these two little barrettes. Very simple. I don’t want to hold you up. Come on, let’s hurry.”

Katani wondered if Maeve knew the meaning of the word “hurry.” “Oh, I’m hurrying,” Katani said sarcastically.

“Now, do I have everything?” Maeve looked around doubtfully for a minute. She swung her pink jacket over her shoulder, but a worried look still plagued her face.

“I’m sure you’re all set,” Katani said dismissively. She had waited for Maeve long enough, and now she was done. She turned and marched out the door with Maeve scuttling behind her.

Once they got out of the apartment, Katani assumed it would be relatively easy to ride the elevator down to the lobby and catch a cab. But she hadn’t accounted for Maeve’s enormous pocketbook. It was a retro carpet bag that was about size of a small child. Maeve loved it—and started complaining about it as soon as they got into the elevator.

“This is soooo heavy,” Maeve groaned.

“Then leave it in the apartment!” Katani snapped. She could feel her patience slipping away and feared it was coming across in her voice.

Maeve looked hurt. “I can’t! I’ve got all kinds of important stuff in here. Besides, if I go back, it’ll make us late.”

Late? Katani wanted to yell at her.
We were late half an hour ago—now we might as well be Rip van Winkle!

But she bit her lip. When the elevator doors jerkily slid open on the ground floor Katani was through them in the wink of an eye. Maeve followed, shifting the heavy bag from one shoulder to the other for comfort.

Katani spotted a man in a dark red uniform standing outside as soon as she came through the doors. “Excuse me, are you Andrew?” she asked.

He smiled. “You must be Michelle’s cousin,” he said. And as Maeve huffed and puffed out the door behind her, he added, “And friend.”

“That’s right,” Katani agreed, grinning back at him. She began to feel more cheerful now that she had this jolly doorman looking after her. Outside it was sunny and bright, which further lifted her spirits. “Michelle said you could help us get a cab?”

Andrew looked as if she had just asked the unthinkable. “Now? Oh, honey, you won’t get a cab now. You can’t catch a cab in this neighborhood until rush hour is over. I recommend you walk up two blocks to the subway.”

Maeve looked utterly beside herself at the idea of lugging her barge of a bag up and down subway station stairs.
“Is that really the only option?” she asked dejectedly. “There has to be another way…”

“I’m afraid not,” Andrew said sympathetically. “But cheer up, little lady. It’s real easy.” He pointed in the right direction. “See over there? That’s the station. You catch the number one train, the Seventh Avenue local. It stops in Times Square.” Katani listened carefully while Maeve scanned the street, unwilling to give up the idea that an empty cab might pass by.

“I’ve got it,” Katani said finally. “Thanks, Andrew,” she called over her shoulder as they walked away.

“Are you
sure
we can’t take a cab?”

“You heard Andrew. It’s too late. There were cabs here an hour ago, but now we have to take the subway.”

“But subways can be dangerous!” Maeve turned pale.

Katani rolled her eyes, exasperated. “Come on, Maeve, even Michelle said that we might have to take the subway, and she told me it was fine. It’ll be full of people, and it’s broad daylight. Lots of kids our age take the subway every single day, and they don’t have a problem.”

“But what if we get lost?” Maeve looked genuinely nervous at the thought.

“We won’t. I have a great sense of direction.” Katani was now getting seriously annoyed. She felt like she was the only one who cared about being grown up and responsible! But then she caught a glimpse of Maeve’s big, scared eyes, and she remembered this was her very good friend who’d gone to bat for her and made sure she could even be there right now. “Wait!” Katani said. She took the piece of paper that had the
Teen Beat
address on it. She double-checked
once more and then shoved it into Maeve’s pocket. “Now you have the address too, so no matter what happens we’ll be just fine.”

“Okay,” Maeve said, sounding a little more cheerful. “If you really think it’ll be all right.” They made their way up the streets to the subway. Katani led the way swinging a tiny black purse of her own design, while Maeve lagged behind, struggling to keep the heavy tapestry bag on her shoulder. What exactly did she have in there? Katani wondered.

They caught the uptown train at the Sheridan Square station. Katani felt a definite sense of accomplishment that they were at last headed in the right direction and with some speed! It was extremely crowded on the train, and there were no vacant seats when they boarded. So they stood, holding on as best they could, with Maeve still shifting the bag every few minutes.

“Ow, this thing hurts,” she complained once the train started moving. Katani said nothing. She knew if she opened her mouth she’d probably point out the foolishness of bringing a bag that size in the first place.

When Katani didn’t respond, Maeve persisted. “Did you notice the view from Michelle’s study? When I looked out this morning, it was so beautiful. It looks right over the square, you know? Did you see that last night, or was it too dark to see?”

“I don’t know,” Katani said briefly. “I wasn’t paying attention.” All she wanted to think about was working with Michelle on the fashion show. She’d had enough of Maeve’s jabbering yesterday in the car, and it looked
like Maeve was determined to do more of the same today. Katani didn’t know if she would be able to stand it.

“Hey, check out the artists,” Maeve said, nodding to a pair of tall guys in colorful ponchos and weird hats. They looked like the kind you saw in old photos of Western cowboys. “They must be painters, don’t you think, or photographers? Their outfits are so wild! I love it!”

Katani didn’t reply. At the next stop, a group of young men and women came on, most wearing backpacks and sporting NYU sweatshirts. “College students,” Maeve whispered.

Would she ever stop? Katani wondered. Did Maeve have to comment on everything? It didn’t occur to Katani that Maeve was talking more than usual, partly because Katani was so quiet.

“Oh, look at the cute baby!” Maeve cooed, nudging Katani and pointing at a young woman seated several rows back. They could see the baby, folded into a soft blanket in the woman’s lap, its face peaceful in sleep, its little fists clenched.

Katani’s face softened. The baby was cute. And Maeve did notice an awful lot about people. She could see little slices of life and wonderful details that Katani herself would never stop to observe.
Maybe
, she thought a little guiltily,
she sees how impatient I am right now to get to Teen Beat and she’s just trying to make me feel better—in her own Maeve-ish way
.

“Isn’t it cute?” Maeve asked again.

“Whoa—this is our stop!” Katani said, catching a glimpse of the Times Square station sign. “Come on!”

They poured out onto the platform along with at least thirty other people. “This way,” Katani said, after glancing left and right. She led the way toward the exit stairs, weaving neatly in and out of the various groups of pedestrians in front of her. After so long, Katani couldn’t believe that she was finally so close to her destination. She could hardly wait!

“Ouch, hang on. This bag is killing me! I think there’s a pin sticking out or something,” Maeve called once she was safely on the platform and clear of the train. She heaved a sigh of relief as she placed it on the ground. Maeve felt silly. Earlier, she’d thought that a brush, some makeup, a mirror, and pictures of famous models and actors who could be at the show were all really important things to have with her at all times in New York. Now she realized that Charlotte had been absolutely right. Traveling light was essential, especially when she was on her feet so much.

Charlotte wouldn’t have approved of her footwear, either, Maeve thought, awkwardly looking down at her flashy pink boots. She’d packed the comfortable shoes Charlotte picked out but left them at Michelle’s. She thought she would be so embarrassed in front of these well-dressed New Yorkers if she was caught wearing sneakers all over town! Unfortunately, her feet were already starting to ache. And every well-dressed New Yorker who passed was wearing comfortable shoes.