My New Best Friend (9 page)

"The cookies are probably done," I say back. "If we don't go downstairs, she'll bring them up here. And then she'll see what we're doing and it won't be a secret anymore."

Stacey flicks off the flashlight. "You're right," she says. "Let's go and hurry back!"

We race each other downstairs. As soon as we hit the bottom step, our feet freeze.

My mom is standing just inside our front door. So is Kelli.

"Kelli?" Stacey says. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just going to ask
you
the same question," Kelli says. She folds her arms across her chest. "Guess who called me this morning?"

I hear Stacey swallow. "Who?" she asks.

"Your dad," Kelli says. "He wanted to know if you were still
sick.
"

"Oh," Stacey says, quietly.

My skin starts to prickle and I could use a little air.

Kelli continues, "I told him, 'Stacey's not sick, and she told me you were going out of town.'"

Stacey stares at the step.

My mom looks at me. "Ida, did you know about this?"

I fidget. And nod.

Kelli starts pacing. She runs her fingers through her spiky hair. "What have I said about the
lying,
Stace?"

Stacey doesn't answer.

"Get in the car," Kelli snaps. "I'll get your stuff."

Stacey's eyes are bright with tears. She storms out the door.

My mom zeroes in on me as she follows Kelli upstairs.

If I was wax, I would be a puddle right now.

I wait until Mom walks Kelli out to her car. Then I run to the attic. I put away the flashlight and pick up the pens and pencils and candy wrappers that are still scattered across the floor. I walk over to the mermaid and put my hand on her glowing head. "Please don't let her be too mad," I say and pull out her plug.

I'm lying on my bed when Mom walks into my
room a few minutes later. She sits down next to me. "We need to talk," she says.

I sit up and fiddle with George's tail.

"Tell me what happened," Mom says. "
Everything.
"

So I tell her the whole story. Only I leave out the part about the mermaid. "Stacey's my best friend," I say. "I didn't want to let her down."

"Lying lets everyone down, Ida," Mom says. "Sometimes you have to stand up
to
a friend if you want to stand up
for
her."

"But I don't think Stacey even likes going to her dad's," I say. "It just reminds her that they're not a family anymore."

"Ida, they're still a family," Mom says. "They still need to work stuff out." She reaches over and brushes back my bangs. "I'll talk to Dad. Then we'll let this one go. But if you ever do something like this again—"

"I won't," I say. "I promise."

On Monday morning, I walk past the broken water fountain. Stacey isn't there. I check the girls' bathroom, but she isn't there, either.

"Did you hear?" Tom says to me as I walk into our classroom. "Miss Woo invited our class to have our Greek Day at her studio next Sunday. Mr. Crow is running off notes about it right now!"

Tom pokes his thumb toward the board where Mr. Crow hangs up drawings and other stuff we make. Tom's school picture is attached to the body of a cartoon god, riding in a chariot. "I call him A
Tomo
," Tom says, smiling. "Cool, huh?"

"The coolest," I say, and smile back.

"It gives me an idea for Greek Day," Tom continues. "In fact, now that we'll be doing the program at Miss Woo's studio, I have a
big
idea!"

Before Tom can tell me what his big idea is, the bell rings and everyone heads to their desks. Everyone except Stacey. She's nowhere in sight.

But Jenna is. I can feel her eyes heating up the back of my head.

I turn to look at her. "What?" I ask.

"
Hammering
all weekend, huh?" she says. She shifts her eyes away, but my head still burns.

Mr. Crow walks in with a stack of notes. He's handing them out when Stacey hurries into the room. "Sorry I'm late," she says to Mr. Crow.

"You're right on time," he replies, handing her a note.

Mr. Crow starts explaining about having our parents program at Miss Woo's. I grab a scrap of paper out of my desk and write a note. I toss it onto Stacey's desk.

What happened when n you got home on Saturday?

I.

I wait a minute and then read the note that sails back.

I got grounded! For the rest of the week, No phone cads', no cgoing anywhere with friends, 1 can't even ego to Jenna's house today to practice our dance, Kelli called Mrs, Drews to explain, So now I'm sure Jenna's not speaking to me,

S.

P.S. Did you get in trouble?

I write another note and pass it back.

I didn't get grounded, but if I ever do anything Like that again I'LL get buried.

I.

P.S. There are worse things than not having Jenna Drews speaking to you.

Stacey reads my note and glances at me. Then she glances over her shoulder at Jenna.

"Hi, Jenna," she whispers.

Jenna glances at Stacey's left ear. "No talking during class," she says. Then she glances at me. "No passing notes, either." Then she goes back to staring at the chalkboard.

I guess Jenna decides to give the do-good nymphs the day off, because she doesn't make us meet at the pigpen for recess. In fact, I don't even see her at recess. And at lunch, when we all sit together at our usual table, Jenna just chews her veggie burger without one word about the greasy meatballs the rest of us are eating. She doesn't even lift an eyebrow when Brooke and Stacey make friendship bracelets out of their spaghetti, or when Jolene and Meeka stick cucumber slices to their earlobes, or when Randi catapults cherry tomatoes at the boys with her spoon.

After school, Jenna announces, "See you on the bus," and then walks off without even lining up Randi, Brooke, Meeka, Jolene, and me for the trip to her house.

Stacey walks to the bus with me. "Can I call you tonight and tell you how practice went?" I ask.

Stacey shakes her head. "No phone calls, remember?"

"Can't we even go to the Purdee Good this week for a giant cookie?"

"I can't go anywhere except school and dance class on Thursday. Then on Friday my dad is
picking me up right after school and taking me to his place for the weekend."

"He'll bring you back for the program on Sunday, right?" I ask.

"Unfortunately," Stacey mumbles.

"Don't you want him to come?"

Stacey sighs. "Yes, but he will want to bring Tanya. And then Kelli will see her and be even madder at me for not telling her about the girlfriend situation." Stacey sighs again. "It's all kind of ... complicated."

I fidget a little, thinking about the talk me and my mom had on Saturday. "Maybe you should just tell your dad to talk to your mom? About Tanya?"

"So Kelli can be mad at him, too?" Stacey says. She shakes her head. "It's better if she doesn't know everything."

Stacey walks off and I climb onto the bus. I sink down next to Rachel.

"You look sweaty," Rachel says, studying me.

I blow my bangs. "Yeah, it's hot out there today."

***

A few minutes later we're all walking into Jenna's house. Biscuit, her hyper little dog, runs circles around us, jumping and barking. Must be a boy dog.

"That you, Jenna?" Mr. Drews calls from the living room.

"Who else?" Jenna grumbles back.

The other girls take turns holding Biscuit. I peek into the living room and see Mr. Drews sitting on the couch with his bare feet pointing toward the TV. He's wearing pajama pants and a work for peace T-shirt. But the only thing I see him working on is a bag of potato chips.

Rachel skips past me and climbs onto his lap.

"Hi, kiddo," he says, giving her cheek a rub with his scratchy chin.

Rachel munches on a chip. "Where's Mom?" she asks.

"Bringing home the bacon," Mr. Drews replies. He punches up the volume on the remote and grabs another chip out of the bag.

"Everyone's here to practice our dance," Jenna barks from behind me.

"Mmm-hmm," Mr. Drews says. "Mom left a note."

Jenna crosses her arms and taps her toe. "Well? Is there anything to eat?"

"Cookies in the kitchen," Mr. Drews replies, giving the remote another punch. Rachel settles back against his shoulder. Biscuit scampers in and begs for chips. Jenna whips around and walks away.

We follow Jenna into the kitchen. Plastic grocery bags slump near the back door. Cracker boxes, gummy snacks, and soup cans peek out of their tops. Crusty pots and milky cereal bowls are stacked in the sink. Sticky notes cover the refrigerator door with messages like buy
DOG FOOD, TAKE JENNA TO SCOUTS,
and
DO LAUNDRY!
written on them. A bag of vanilla cookies spills across the counter. Another sticky note is next to it.

Jenna,

I'll be home late again. Make sure Rachel eats something GREEN with supper.

Help her get ready for bed, okay?

Love,
Mom

Jenna studies the note like it's a science experiment. Then she marches to the kitchen doorway. "If you're not going to
bake
cookies, could you at least
buy
some that don't taste like tree bark?!" she shouts.

"What?!" Mr. Drews shouts back.

"Never mind!" Jenna snaps and marches back to us.

"What's up with your dad?" Brooke asks. "Doesn't he have to work?"

"He's taking some time off," Jenna grumbles.

"Man, that would be great," Randi says, nibbling a cookie. "My dad and me could play basketball 24/7 if he took some time off."

"It's
not
great," Jenna says. "Not when your dad is supposed to do the stuff your mom usually does, only he does it all wrong." She grabs the bag of cookies. "C'mon. We've got work to do."

Jenna marches out the door into the backyard.

We shoot glances at each other and follow along.

Jenna tosses the cookie bag onto a picnic table and starts picking up scattered toys. She chucks them into a vegetable garden that takes up one
corner of the yard. A tire swing hangs from a tree in another corner. Jolene and Randi spin Meeka on it until she squeals. Brooke throws herself into a lounge chair that's under the tree. She picks up a Frisbee Jenna missed and starts fanning her face. I shuffle around in the weedy grass. It could use a crew cut.

"Ida, you stand there," Jenna says, pointing to a cleared off spot just past the picnic table. "We need to practice the part where I dance on stage with Zeus and the nymphs dance around me." She looks at Brooke, Meeka, and Jolene. "Just be sure to leave room for Stacey," she adds. Then she turns toward the house. "Rachel!" she hollers. "Get out here!"

"I want to be a goddess," Brooke complains from behind her fan. "Aphrodite or Athena. Not some no-name nymph."

"There's only
one
goddess in this myth," Jenna says. "Gaia. Zeus's grandmother. Me."

"Brooke could be Zeus's mom," Randi says, giving Meeka another spin. "She must have been a goddess."

"Yeah," Brooke says. "Where's his mom?"

"She probably went shopping for bacon," Rachel says, coming out the back door. She's wearing a sparkly blue dance costume with a puffy tutu. She's carrying three Kens, two Barbies, and one stuffed poodle.

Jenna studies her sister and sighs. "Rachel, why are you wearing your old recital costume?" she asks.

"Because you said I got to be in your dance," Rachel replies. "And you said I got to be a boy, so there you go. Blue is for boys." She lines up her toys on the picnic table.

Jenna gives her sister a huff. Then she turns back to Brooke. "You can be the
head
nymph," she says. "You can even wear one of your pageant crowns."

Brooke thinks this idea over for about one second and says, "Okay!"

Then Jenna turns to me. "Try your box on, Ida," she says, pointing to a large brown box that's sitting next to the picnic table. "You'll have to pretend it looks like a mountain since you were too busy to help me paint it."

I walk over to the box and look inside. A hundred scribbled sticky notes are stuck to it.

I glance at Rachel. She glances back at me. "It's a good box," she says, smiling. Then she puts a sticky note on the poodle.

I'm about to tell Jenna I can't wear a box with no holes to see through when something catches my eye.

A bush on the other side of the yard is looking at me. Two sparkly eyes blink through its branches. A moment later, Stacey peeks around the side of the bush and gives me a secret smile. Then she disappears around the house.

I look back at the other girls. Brooke, Meeka, and Jolene are too busy learning a new step Jenna just invented to notice Stacey. And Randi is too busy feeding cookies to the squirrels. And Rachel is too busy telling Ken to give Barbie a hand with the laundry.

"Um...," I say, loudly. "I need to ... go to ... the bathroom."

Jenna gives me a glance. "Hurry up," she says. "We'll need you in a minute."

I nod and walk quickly to the back door. I go inside the house, but I don't go to the bathroom. I tiptoe to the living room and peek inside. Mr. Drews is still watching TV. Biscuit looks up from
his lap and whines at me. Mr. Drews feeds him another chip. I sneak past and open the front door. Then I close it behind me, carefully, like it's made of glass.

I stand on the porch and look around for Stacey.

Snap!

I turn toward the sound and see Stacey crouching behind a big tree with a broken stick in her hand. She waves.

I glance around, run across the yard, and dive behind the tree.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Grandma Tootie fell asleep in her recliner," Stacey says, all breathless. "The mermaid gave me the idea to play outside, so I wouldn't disturb her."

"That was thoughtful of her," I reply.

Stacey nods. "So I went outside. And
then
the mermaid gave me the idea to go for a little walk. So I did. And, just like that, she led me right here!"