Natalie and the Downside-Up Birthday (6 page)

“Nat! Hurry up! I saved you a swing.” My bestest friend, Laurie, yells this to me at recess. She is a great swing saver.

I shuffle my feet to the swing set. This is the first time we’ve had recess outdoors for a long time. It took us half our recess time to get on our outside clothes.

I take the middle swing Laurie saved.

Anna is swinging on the other side of me. She already had her birthday party in our class. She passed out napkins that came from China on account of her granny still lives in that place.

Somebody screams. I look fast and see a girl from our class who goes by the name of Erika. She is jumping up and down and waving something in her hand.

“One more invitation,” Anna says. Her boots squeak when she drags them to stop her swinging. “Sasha passed out a bunch already. There can’t be too many left.”

Sasha is standing in the middle of the playground. A gazillion kids are crowding around her.

I hear Bethany’s voice. “What about me, Sasha? Is there one for me?”

Yesterday Bethany said she was coming to
my
party.

“Hmmm,” Sasha says. “Bethany…Bethany…Let me see.” She goes through the invitation envelopes she’s still got left. “I don’t know…”

Bethany is kind of dancing next to Sasha. She tries to peek at the cards. But Sasha jerks them away. “Is it there?” Bethany whines. “Am I invited?”

“Well, look at this,” Sasha says. She holds a card to her chest. Then she hands it to Bethany.

“YEA!” Bethany grabs the card and rips it open. “I got one!”

“Big deal,” Anna mutters. “Who cares?” She drags one boot on the ground. Her swing spins in a slow circle.

I’m glad that Anna doesn’t care about getting invited to Sasha’s party. She’s coming to
my
party.

Laurie must be thinking what I’m thinking ’cause she says to Anna, “We’re going to play all kinds of games at Nat’s party.”

Anna makes a tiny smiley face at us. “That will be—”

“Anna!” Sasha tromps right in front us. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“For me?” Anna says.

Sasha holds up an envelope. She reads the front of it. “Is your name Anna?”

“Yes! I’m Anna.”

Sasha hands over an invitation. Anna takes it like it’s a big, fancy Christmas present. “Thanks, Sasha!” Anna says. “I can’t believe you invited
me
!”

Sasha makes a smiley face. But she turns that face to me. And it doesn’t look smiley for real. “I just wish I had enough invitations so everyone could get one.”

I stare at the invitations Sasha is still holding. I think they’re all gone, except for one. Sasha is
hiding that one, last envelope against her purple coat.

Laurie makes her eyes into lines and turns her frowny face to Sasha. “Sasha, what time is your party?”

“The party starts at nine in the morning,” Sasha answers.

This is exactly when
my
party starts. My mom wrote on all the invites
Party time: 9 – 11, Saturday morning
. That way we don’t have to make lunch. Only maybe we can change my party time. On account of Sasha’s party is then.

Before I can say this idea, Laurie comes up with it. “Nat, do you think your mom would switch your party to after lunch instead? Kids could go to both parties.”

Sasha shakes her head. “That won’t work.”

“Why not?” Laurie asks.

“Because
my
party is all day. We do party stuff at my house in the morning,” Sasha explains.

“Like horse rides? And jumping-on-the-trampoline things?” Anna asks. She sounds way too excited about these things for a girl who will be at my party then.

“And other things too,” Sasha says. “Lots of secret surprises.”

My neck is getting chokey. This is why I leave the talking to my bestest friend.

“And all that stuff is in the morning, right?” Laurie asks. She turns to Anna. “So maybe you can go to Sasha’s in the morning and come over to Nat’s in the afternoon.”

“I’d like that,” Anna says.

“But you’ll miss the Pizza Game Parlor,” Sasha says.

“The Pizza Game Parlor?” Anna shouts. “Wow! I’ve always wanted to go there!”

Now I am chokey all over. That pizza place has games like Skee-Ball and a fish tank and machines you sit in and drive. Plus also, pizza.

“Well,” Laurie tries, “you can’t stay there all afternoon, can you?”

I think this is a good point. I just hope it’s okay with Mom and Dad and Granny if we have my party later.

“Of course we can’t stay there all afternoon,” Sasha says. “That’s why my dad reserved the whole bowling alley for later.”

Even Laurie gets big in her eyes at that one. I know she’s trying not to, on account of I know my friend that much. And ’cause I know Laurie so much, I know that Laurie LOVES to go bowling. And she never gets to go almost, ’cause there are too many people in Laurie’s family and not enough bowling money.

Laurie doesn’t talk after this bowling news. She just makes a frowny face at Anna. Then a frownier face at Sasha. Then an I’m-sorry face at me.

“Oh.” Sasha pulls out her very last invite card. “Almost forgot.” She hands that last invite to my bestest friend, Laurie. “This is for you.”

“Cheer up, Nat,” Laurie says when we’re eating in the cafeteria.

All around us, everybody is talking about Sasha’s party.

“You know I’d never go anywhere but to
your
party,” Laurie promises.

I thought this. That’s how bestest friends are. Only it’s very good to hear this in person. “Really, Laurie?”

“Of course!” Laurie answers.

“But what about bowling?” Once, Laurie said she’d rather bowl than color. And she
loves
to color.

Laurie takes a big bite of her sprinkly cupcake. “It wouldn’t be any fun without you.” That’s what I think she says. But it’s hard to tell with her cupcake mouth.

Laurie finishes her cupcake. “Kids are going to figure out the same thing, Nat. They know your party will be more fun ’cause
you’re
more fun than Sasha.”

“I am?”

“Sure.” Laurie snaps her lunch box shut. “So, let’s have a great classroom party. I can’t wait to eat another one of your cupcakes! Remember what your granny always says.”

I try to remember. But Granny says a lot of stuff. “What?”

“Keep your chin up. That way you’ll see God—or heaven, I can’t remember exactly—and everything else will start looking up too.”

Laurie’s right. Granny does say that. Only she also has a saying about things going from bad to worse. And one that goes, “If you think things can’t get worse, use your imagination.” Plus also, other sayings about things going downhill. Like, “Things went downhill from there.”

Miss Hines has us finish our work early. Then she says, “Class, will you please clear your desks?”

Our teacher gives me her best smiley face and says, “While we’re waiting for Sasha’s mother to join us, Natalie, I’d like you to pass out your treats.”

My heart gets very thumpy. “I have napkins in my pack. And juice boxes in my cubby.”

“Sounds great!” Miss Hines says. “Why don’t you pick a partner to help you pass out your goodies, Natalie.”

This is a great idea. I smile at my bestest friend. “Laurie!” Of course.

Laurie passes out juice, and I pass out napkins. Then we both go get the not-smushed cupcake box from our teacher. We each take one side of the box.

I am starting to think that Laurie picked the right saying of my granny. That one about looking up at God and other things looking up too.

“Mother!” Sasha screams this so loud that I almost drop the not-smushed box of cupcakes.

Sasha runs to her mother and says, “You’re late!” in a mean voice that would get me sent to my room to think about what I said.

I wait for Sasha’s mommy to tell her to sit down and think about that voice. But she just looks at our
clock on the wall. “No, I’m not, honey. I’m a few minutes early.”

“But it’s not fair!” Sasha whines. “Natalie already started
her
party. It’s our turn now!”

Miss Hines whispers to Laurie and me, “Would you girls sit down for a little bit. We’ll pass out cupcakes a little later. Okay?” She gets up from her desk and helps Sasha’s mom with some of the sacks and boxes she’s carrying. “Plenty of time for both parties. Thanks for coming.”

Laurie and I sit back down. Without cupcakes.

Sasha’s mom runs back to the car for another load of stuff. The principal of the whole entire school helps her carry things and then leaves real fast.

“Sasha, sweetheart, would you please give everyone a plate and a napkin for me?” her mom asks.

“We already got napkins!” Jason shouts.

“Not like
these
napkins,” Sasha says.

I have to admit she’s right about that. Sasha’s napkins are so big they cover our whole desks. Plus, they are purple. Plus also, they have cats in birthday hats on them. And we each get a party hat just like that.

Sasha’s mom walks up each desk lane and plops down the biggest cookie I’ve ever seen onto that
napkin. It’s a great cookie, with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting and more frosting inside of it. Plus purple candies that spell out SASHA on every cookie.

But cookies are not cupcakes. I think cupcakes are fancier than cookies. That’s what.

“Shall we start the first game?” Sasha’s mother asks. She writes in big letters on the blackboard:
SASHA
. Then under those letters she writes
NATALIE
. “Let’s see how many words we can make out of the birthday girls’ names.”

“As!” Sasha shouts.

Her mother writes “AS” on the board under “SASHA.”

“Has! Ash!” Sasha shouts.

Nobody else says anything. Finally, Anna says, “At?”

Sasha’s mom writes “AT” under “NATALIE.”

“I didn’t know you were using
her
name too,” Sasha says.

“Well, let’s go on to the next game,” Miss Hines says.

We play three more games that are more fun than words. Only not for me. Plus, there are prizes. And everybody ends up with a ball or a card game, even if they’re losers. Like me.

“Is it time for cupcakes yet?” I ask my teacher.

“Good idea,” Miss Hines answers. She holds out the box of not-smushed cupcakes.

Laurie and I hurry up for that box.

“
I
have cupcakes too!” Sasha shouts.

“You do?” Miss Hines says. “Well, okay then. Um…why don’t we pass out all the cupcakes? Students, you can take whatever cupcake you want. Okay?”

I take the top off my cupcake box and hand the first cupcake to our teacher.

“It’s lovely, Natalie,” she says. She puts it on her fancy purple cat napkin.

Laurie and I start on the back row ’cause Sasha and her mom are on the front row. Anna takes one. “Thanks,” she says.

Farah takes one. “These are very nice, Natalie,” she says. “Thank you.”

“Man! These are awesome!” Matthew, a front-row boy, hollers. “I never saw cupcakes like these! Cool! Mine has a real whistle on it.” He blows the whistle.

“I have a fan on mine,” Bethany says. “It really works.”

“Who cares?” Griff says. “Look at the size of this cake!”

The back-row people get out of their seats to go look. Nobody else takes one of my cupcakes when Laurie and I walk by with our cupcake box. Anna

puts hers back. Farah doesn’t. But she takes one of Sasha’s too.

I can’t blame her. Even Laurie and I take one of Sasha’s cupcakes. They are the most gorgeous purpley giant cupcakes I ever saw. Plus there are prizes on top.

Everybody helps with cleanup. The school bell rings. Party’s over.

I walk out into the hall with two boxes full of cupcakes. One smushed. One not chosen.

Then before I go outside, I dash into the girls’ bathroom. And I dump both boxes into the wastebasket.