Ivy in the Shadows (11 page)

I changed into the clothes Ellen bought me and ran downstairs.

Aunt Maureen was in the kitchen stirring something in a pot and Caleb was peeling potatoes.

“There you are! My, Ivy, you didn't have to dress for dinner! JJ's job is to set the table—
without wearing his Heelys.
” She looked at him and raised her eyebrows. “Caleb is our potato person. You can be our salad maker.”

“Okay,” I said, and began yanking veggies out of the fridge. I grabbed a knife and quickly hacked up the lettuce.

“Whoa, girl! You're not killing snakes,” she said. “Didn't your mama teach you how to make a salad?”

“She did. It's just that … my friend? The one I called? Well, she wants me to come over because she's … upset.” Truth. Because if I didn't go, the word “upset” wouldn't begin to cover it. “So I guess I'm trying to hurry.”

Aunt Maureen took the knife from my hand. “Ah! Boy trouble?”

I started to protest because Mama said she'd put me in an all girls' school if I even thought about boys, let alone dated one. But Aunt Maureen said, “There's nothing worse, honey. You just run on over there whenever you want. Let me make you a sandwich first.”

She spread mayonnaise on whole wheat and layered turkey slices from the deli on it. My stomach growled and I dived right in when she handed it to me.

“Run along! Here, take a pop with you.”

I smiled my thanks since my mouth was bulging with sandwich. It was so easy that I wondered why I had ever worried about it to begin with until she said, “Just be home by six-thirty, you hear?”

I nodded, glad this part was over and eager to leave. I turned to go and had to make my way around Caleb as he threw the potato peels into the trash can by the door.

He looked at me as if he could read my mind and a little chill ran down my spine.

11

Ellen tucked my hair behind my ear. Again. I yanked it out. Again. “It looks better that way!” she said. I ignored her because, really, how many different ways can you say “Leave me alone!” By my count I was up to about twelve.

She pulled a mirror out of her purse and checked her makeup. “Are you sure I look good?”

Again, how many times can you say something?

“Yeah, I'm sure.”

Maybe she didn't believe me because my reassurance sounded fake even to my own ears. Her new boots weren't broken in so they were really stiff. Her jeans were snug and no girl with scrawny legs should wear skinny jeans unless she wants to be compared to walking chopsticks. But I kept my mouth shut so she wouldn't cry and ruin her eye makeup, which had taken her exactly eighteen minutes to get just right. I know. I timed her.

When we got to Alexa's, she stiff-walked her way to the front door, panting. I thought maybe she couldn't breathe very well with those tight jeans until she squeezed my arm and squealed, “This is so exciting!”

Oh, yeah!
I thought.
Almost as much fun as that pop quiz in math
.

Alexa opened the door and Ellen immediately stopped smiling. She put one hand on her jutted-out hip and said, “'Sup?”

Looking her up and down, Alexa said, “So you came.”

“Of course. I said I would, didn't I?” Ellen walked past her like she owned the house. That left me standing on the porch.

Alexa eyed me as she leaned back against the opened screen door. “What do you want?”

That just burned me, so I said, “Pizza delivery. Except I got hungry and ate yours.”

I wanted to leave right then but Ellen's face went completely white. “She's my guest,” she said.

Alexa sneered. “When I said ‘guest,' I meant boyfriend, but whatever.” She swung her hip against the screen door so it opened even farther and walked into the house, leaving me to grab the door before it slammed shut.

She walked past Ellen like she wasn't even there. Ellen's face had gone from ghostly white to deep red and I felt sorry for her. She tried to smile but her lips shook a little. She whispered, “It's okay, Ivy. She didn't mean anything. Don't worry about it.”

“I'm not worried!” My whisper was louder than hers but I was mad. “You're the only one here who cares what she thinks.”

Alexa started down the hall and looked back over her shoulder at Ellen. “Are you coming?”

Ellen mouthed to me, “I'll be back soon.”

She turned and copied Alexa's slow, hip-rocking way of walking. Or tried to as best a skinny girl can in too-stiff boots. Just inside the front door was what was obviously the “party room.” All the furniture was pushed against the walls and a table was covered in food. I walked in and picked up an MP3 player and went through the 300-plus songs on the playlist. I wanted to see if it worked the same way as the iPod Shuffle that Aunt Maureen got me. I sure felt lucky to have it. But then I remembered that the only thing Caleb owned was a box filled with notebooks and magazines. Not that I wanted to be thinking about Caleb but sometimes you can't control every thought that pops into your head.

Before I knew it, some girls from school arrived. They hung in groups, most of them looking as stiff and out of place as Ellen. And where
was
Ellen, anyway? Alexa had come out when the girls showed up but Ellen was nowhere to be seen.

Then boys came and it seemed a little more fun, because here's the thing about boys: they don't really care how they look. Oh, their mamas probably made them wear nice shirts and comb their hair and stuff but they didn't look like they were trying to be something they weren't, like the girls. So I loaded a plate of chips and dip and went over to stand by them.

It was awkward at first because someone started playing music and the boys got all self-conscious. Mainly because the girls lined up and eyed them like they had no choice but to come over and dance. So no one did anything for a while, just girls on one side waiting, boys (and me) on the other fidgeting. Well, the boys fidgeted. I ate. Then I think the boys probably just decided to do what they do best: talk sports.

“How much do you practice?” Brandon asked Andrew. They'd both been in my grade since preschool.

“I don't. I just play backyard ball,” Andrew said.

“You have to practice, moron. This is junior high. Cuts are made in football now. It's not like last year when we all got to play.
I'm
not going to be cut or sit on the bench.”

“How much do you practice then?”

“I throw passes in my sleep.” And to demonstrate, Brandon closed his eyes and pretended to spiral a ball out of his hand.

“If you're asleep, that explains why you're so bad,” Andrew said. All the guys laughed and so did I.

“We'll see which one of us is sitting and which is playing, Andrew.”

“Awake or asleep?” Andrew said, and let out a fake snore that almost shook the house.

Alexa came over to the boys and rubbed Brandon's arm. “Aw, don't listen. We know you're wonderful. Come sit by me.”

But Brandon didn't seem to care that she was there. He shrugged her hand away and took a step back. He was close to me and moved so suddenly that I jumped, causing chips to hop off my plate. That sounds like something that only happens on TV shows but I found out you can be so startled that you really do it.

“Oh!” I said.

“Ugh! Look what you did!” Alexa pointed to my mess.

“My bad,” Brandon said, but Alexa stalked off toward the kitchen.

Brandon crouched down to help me pick up the chips. He had on one of those watches with the big dials and I saw that it looked like it was twelve o'clock. I grabbed his arm and tilted my head so the watch wasn't upside down. Six-thirty!

“I'm sorry! I … I've got to go,” I stammered. I made my way through the crowd and had reached the front door when Alexa came dragging Ellen into the room. Ellen was pulling yellow rubber gloves on and her once perfectly straightened hair was curling from sweat. Under her arm was tucked a hand broom and dustpan.

All this flashed through my mind in a millisecond as I tried to get out the door. I'd almost made it when a girl I didn't know pointed to me and asked, “Who is she?”

Alexa looked at me and said, “Her? She's Ellen's date.”

I blasted through the door just as a wave of laughter washed over the room. I didn't dare look back at Ellen.

Running through the alley, I held on to the hope that I'd beat Mama home, but when the house came into view, there was Mama's car. I was almost to my front door when Caleb came out of nowhere and grabbed my arm, pulling me off the sidewalk into the yard.

“Let go, freak!” I yelled.

“Shhh!” he said.

“Shoosh yourself! And don't
ever
grab me like that again!”

“Listen,” he said, and then lowered his voice to a whisper. “You've been home. You found a bird's nest on the ground out back. You were keeping guard until the baby birds flew away.”

He thrust a nest into my hand. At that moment Aunt Maureen and Mama came out onto the porch.

“Young lady,” Aunt Maureen said, “you're late!”

“What's this about?” Mama asked. “Ivy, where have you been?”

I hesitated for a minute, then the words came out of my mouth on their own. “I've been home. I found a bird's nest on the ground out back. I've been keeping guard until the baby birds flew away.”

Mama looked at the nest in my hand. Her face softened because Mama loved all living things so. “Why, Ivy! What a sweet thing to do. Come here, you.” She wrapped her arms around me in a hug.

My head spun a little. I think it was because so much had happened in such a short time. I should have been mad at Caleb for a lot of things. I should have been ashamed of myself for lying. I should have worried that I hadn't already shown Mama my new clothes. But all I knew was that Mama was hugging me and I wasn't in trouble and it was a really nice feeling.

“Come inside.” She took the nest from me and set it in a bush, put her arm around me, and led me up the steps and into the living room. “Can you
believe
your aunt Maureen is here? I don't think I've ever been happier.”

“Then you lead one boring life, Cass.” Aunt Maureen looked at Mama and raised her eyebrows. “Besides, my memory is good and I know for a fact you've had some happier moments. Just none that are G-rated.”

She and Mama both broke into loud laughter.

“JJ's in his room playing so all you have to do is get over here and take a load off while Ivy, Caleb, and I do the dishes.”

Mama raised her feet onto the couch and sighed. “I'd argue but I'm too tired and grateful.”

Caleb followed Aunt Maureen into the kitchen. “Be right there!” I called, and ran upstairs to get out of the clothes Ellen had bought me before Mama noticed them. When I headed to the kitchen, I passed Mama but her eyes were closed and she had a small smile on her face.

In the kitchen, Aunt Maureen already had the sink filled with soapy water.

“Caleb, you bring us the dirty dishes. I'll wash,” she said. “Ivy will dry and put them away.”

Then she lowered her voice. “And while we're all nice and busy, you'll both tell me what that bird lie was about.”

Caleb and I froze. Aunt Maureen let out a low, barklike laugh. “Kids, I am not Cass Henry. I don't get all dewy-eyed over a baby bird story and I can smell a lie a mile away. You're not in trouble yet and I won't tell Cass unless it involves a dead body or stealing, but you
are
going to spill the beans.”

Before I could say anything, Caleb jumped in. “I found the nest, ma'am.”

“And that's all well and good but that doesn't explain why Ivy was late, now does it, Caleb?”

“I'm sorry, Aunt Maureen. I should have watched the time more.”

“And what exciting things were you doing that made time fly?” she asked.

“Well…” I gulped. “I did go see my friend, just like I told you.”

“And?”

I wondered how it was possible for her to look at me so long and not blink.

“And…” I weighed my options. She said she wouldn't tell Mama but I knew there wasn't much she and Mama didn't share. My mind was totally blank. I couldn't think of any good excuse for being late. Besides that, I was tired of lying. I kept catching everyone else in lies and here I was, doing it, too.

“I went to a party.” I told the truth but I couldn't look her in the eye.

“Did something happen at this party?”

“No, not really.”

“So what's the problem then?” she asked.

“There were boys there.”

“It wouldn't be much of a party if there weren't.”

“Mama won't let me go to parties with boys.” I kept my head down and my hair covered my hot face.

“Is this a joke?” she asked, putting one hand on her hip. “Cass Henry won't let her daughter go to parties with boys?”

“No, ma'am. It's no joke,” I said.

Then she let loose with a loud laugh. Mama's voice came in from the living room. “Don't y'all be having so much fun without me.”

Here it comes, I thought, and braced for Aunt Maureen to tell Mama why she'd laughed. But she said, “You just rest, Cass. I'm only laughing at how clumsy I am tonight. I've got a case of the dropsies.” She lowered her voice again, crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned back against the sink. “So, like mother like daughter.”

“I'm like Mama?” I asked.

She tilted her head left to right, like she couldn't decide. “More like Cass is like her mother.”

“Mama sneaked out for parties?” I asked. This didn't fit with the Mama I knew but I guess I'd never heard her talk to Aunt Maureen about what it was like to be my age.

“I don't want to go there, Ivy. That's up to your mom. Just answer me this. Did you kiss a boy tonight?”