Picture Perfect #5 (6 page)

“Who won?” Jimmy asked.

“Me!” Mari, Robert, and Jon all yelled at the same time.

“Do you really even care?” Juliana asked Mari.

Mari chewed on her lip, thinking about it. “No,” she said. “It's just fun. I think you had the right idea, Gracie. Those fries tasted terrible, I should have spit them out too!”

“That's not why I did it,” Gracie said.

“Mari's right, though, they're pretty bad.” Juliana wrinkled her nose. “They're not salty enough.”

“You have to go to the Old Barrel if you want salty fries,” Mari said.

“I love the Old Barrel!” Juliana agreed. “Especially their curly fries. Ooh, and their burgers are the best.”

“So is their ice cream,” Mari said. “Mmm, the Old Barrel is my favorite restaurant in this town.”

“We should've gone there for lunch,” Gracie said. “I never would have spit out curly fries! I love them too much.”

“It's way at the other end of town, too far from the slopes,” Mari told her. “But I bet we could go for dinner. We'll definitely be hungry enough after racing all afternoon. I plan to even the score with Jon.”

“You know what? I think I'm done racing,” Gracie
said, hoping her best friend wouldn't be mad. “I just want to ski and not worry about winning.”

Mari looked confused, but before she could say anything, Juliana stood up. “I can't race with you this afternoon either. I'm supposed to meet my grandma in ten minutes—she wants me to help her go grocery shopping.”

“That stinks. But we can still have dinner,” Mari said. “Let's meet at the Old Barrel.”

“I would love that,” Juliana replied. “What time?”

“Do you have a cell? We can call when we're done skiing for the day,” Gracie suggested.

“My parents think I'm too young to need a cell,” Juliana said. “Can we just meet at the restaurant?”

“Sure!” Mari exclaimed.

Gracie glanced at her watch. “It's one thirty now. If we spend the rest of the afternoon here, we'll be done by five or five thirty.”

“But then we have to go home and change,” Mari put in. “Let's meet at six thirty. Right by the old barrel in front of the Old Barrel.”

Juliana grinned. “I can't wait!”

Gracie smiled back. She hadn't been expecting to make such a fun new friend on this trip. “See you then!”

“Don't use up all the hot water,” Robert called as Jon headed into the shower that evening. Jimmy had already taken his bath, and Mari and Gracie were next in line since Ms. O'Hagan had said they couldn't use today's races to decide the shower order.

“It's already a quarter to six,” Gracie said nervously. “Do you really think we all have time to shower before dinner? I don't want to be late.”

Mari shrugged and leaned her head back over the edge of the top bunk, where she and Gracie were both sitting. “It will be fine.”

“But that's a lot of people to shower in less than an hour,” Gracie said.

“You worry too much,” Mari answered, yawning. “I'm always so tired after the first day.”

“Maybe you should have played more skiing video games to get ready,” Gracie joked.

Mari sat back up and pointed through the window right over the bed. “It's clear out. We'll be able to see the North Star through here later.”

“Really? Cool. What about the dippers?” Gracie asked. They both loved astronomy, but they almost never got a chance to look at the stars together since she always had to be home so early.

“I can usually see the Little Dipper,” Mari replied. “I don't think we can see the big one from here. The window is too small.”

“It's amazing how many more stars you can see in the mountains,” Gracie said happily. “Thanks for taking me along on this trip, Mar.”

“I still can't believe you're here,” Mari replied. “I thought we'd never be allowed to have time together.”

“And I'm glad we do, because there's something I've been meaning to tell you,” Gracie said. “You know how in our band class—”

“Somebody has to bring me a towel!” Jon called from the bathroom, interrupting. “I forgot mine!”

“Oh! I'll get it.” Mari jumped down from the bunk bed and went over to the twins' bed to grab the towel hanging off one post.

Gracie felt a prickle of irritation. She'd finally been about to tell Mari about Alex Parker, and as usual,
something happened to stop her. Who went into a shower without a towel?

When she glanced at her watch, she felt even worse. It was already six o'clock. “Mari!” she said as her friend wound her way back across the crowded room. “Jon's not even out of the shower yet, and we have to be at the Old Barrel in half an hour! How long does it take to get there?”

“I don't know. Not long,” Mari said.

“You know what? You should go ahead of me,” Gracie told her. “Your hair is longer than mine, so it takes longer to dry. And I don't have to wash mine every day, anyway.”

“Okay, if you want,” Mari replied.

“But hurry up,” Gracie added.

“Don't get crazy, Grazey,” Mari teased her. “I promise I'll go as fast as I can.”

“We told Juliana we'd be there at six thirty. We can't be late,” Gracie insisted. “We have no way to get in touch with her to tell her, and she'll be worried. She might even leave if we're really late.”

“Okay, okay,” Mari said. “I understand. But you know, not everybody worries about the things you worry about. Juliana might not even notice if we're a little late.”

“You're right. Sorry,” Gracie told her. “You know how much I hate being late, especially when you're meeting somebody. It's so rude.”

“Next!” Jon yelled, coming out of the bathroom with his wet hair styled like a shark fin on top of his head.

“Me!” Mari cried, jumping off the top bunk. “I'll be fast,” she promised Gracie.

“Don't forget your towel,” Gracie called after her as she headed for the stairs.

Mari crossed her eyes and chuckled. “It must run in the family,” she joked, coming back to grab her towel.

Gracie pulled out her notebook, figuring she could use the time to work on her paper for Mr. Ferrone.

Big Differences, continued,
she wrote.
THE BATHROOM. Only children don't have to share with anyone besides their parents. Multiple children have to share everything, all the time. I've never had to wait in line before for the bathroom, unless I was at a restaurant or something!

She chewed on the end of her pen, thinking. It wasn't just the bathroom that was different between Mari's family and hers. It was the fact that none of the other kids seemed to mind waiting, or sharing. None of them seemed to find it odd that they had to take turns in their own bathroom.
Maybe multiples are used to splitting things with other people all the time,
she wrote.
Only kids aren't used to that.

Jimmy had come upstairs in his pajamas and was bouncing on his bunk bed. Jon was busy combing his wet hair, making sure to spray as much extra water as possible at Robert as he did it.

But why do the multiples spend so much time trying to annoy each other?
Gracie wrote.
And why do they turn everything into a contest?

Maybe that was just the O'Hagans, though. Juliana had said she didn't compete with her brother all the time. The thought of Juliana made Gracie look up again, and this time she realized something. Jimmy was in his
pajamas
. Why? He shouldn't be dressed for bed when they were going out to eat. Was it okay for six-year-olds to wear pj's to the Old Barrel? With no little siblings or little cousins, she didn't know the rules for young kids.

“I ordered from Tony's!” Ms. O'Hagan called up the stairs. “It should be here in ten minutes.”

The boys all cheered.

“What's Tony's?” Gracie asked.

“The best pizza in town. Probably the best in the whole state,” Robert replied.

Gracie's brain felt like it was full of cotton. She was confused. Why had the O'Hagans ordered pizza? They were supposed to be meeting Juliana for dinner.
Hadn't Mari told them about the plans? Gracie had just assumed that she had.

She ran quickly downstairs. Maybe if Ms. O'Hagan called the pizza place back fast enough, she could cancel the order.

“Ms. O'Hagan? I think there's been a mistake,” she said in a rush. “You ordered pizza, but Mari and I are supposed to meet Juliana at the Old Barrel for dinner.”

Mari's mom looked up from the table, where she was setting out plates. “Well, that's the first I've heard about it.”

“I guess we forgot to tell you,” Gracie said. She wasn't sure what to do. “Um, maybe Mari thought she and I could walk there?” she suggested. “How far is the Old Barrel?”

“It's too far to walk, honey,” Ms. O'Hagan said. “Maybe we'll go there some other night.”

Gracie felt frozen. Mari's mother didn't seem to understand that Juliana was planning to be at that restaurant in twenty minutes, expecting them to meet her. Gracie knew she had to get Ms. O'Hagan to see how awful it would be to leave Juliana all alone. But she couldn't very well order the O'Hagans to change their dinner plans. Mari's mom was . . . well, she was an adult.

The bathroom door swung open, and Mari came out along with a puff of steam. “Gracie, you're up!” she called.

Gracie rushed over to her friend. “Mari! Your mom ordered pizza!” she whispered quickly. “You didn't tell her we were supposed to meet Juliana.”

“Oh.” Mari frowned, running her hand through her wet hair. “We were talking about it at lunch. I figured my parents heard us.”

“Well, they didn't. And we're supposed to be there in twenty minutes,” Gracie went on. “You have to do something! Can you ask your dad to drive just you and me there? Your mom didn't seem to think I was serious when I asked her.”

“Okay,” Mari said. “You better get in the shower before Robert cuts you in line.”

“Right.” Gracie ran upstairs, grabbed her towel and her clean clothes from her open suitcase, and hurried into the shower.

She soaped her body faster than she ever had in her life. Even if she rushed, they were still going to be late to meet Juliana. And poor Mr. O'Hagan would have to miss the hot pizza because he'd be busy driving them to the restaurant. She couldn't believe how messed up this dinner had gotten.

It will all be okay in the end,
Gracie told herself.
But I think I need to put something in my paper about how easy it is to get confused with so many people in one family! Maybe communication is simpler when there're only three people.

When Gracie got out of the shower, she dried herself off and threw on her clothes as fast as she could. Her braids were still wet, but she could just stuff them up under her hat to keep them from freezing when she went outside.

“Okay, Mari, I'm ready,” she called, stepping out of the bathroom.

Mari glanced up from the crowded table, a piece of half-eaten pizza in her hand.

“What are you doing?” Gracie cried.

“Eating,” Mari said. “My mom called the restaurant and told them that if a kid showed up looking for us, to say we weren't coming. So we don't need to worry about Juliana arriving at the restaurant and not knowing where we are.”

Gracie stared at her best friend, too shocked to say a word.

“There aren't any houses in walking distance to the Old Barrel, so Juliana's grandmother would have to drive her,” Mr. O'Hagan said. “She won't be there alone.”

That was good. But it wasn't the only thing Gracie
was worried about. Juliana was expecting them to be there! They had made plans!

Everyone had gone back to eating and joking around as if nothing was wrong. Even Mari had a big smile on her face. But Gracie felt sick. She had never stood anyone up in her whole life. What must Juliana think of them? Would she wonder if they were playing a mean joke on her? Would she think they weren't nice people?

Slowly Gracie went over to the table and got a plate. She put a slice of pizza on it and sat down next to Mari. It was supposed to be the best pizza in town, but it tasted like cardboard in Gracie's mouth, and she put it back down on her dish. She was too upset to eat.

“Something wrong with the food, Gracie?” Ms. O'Hagan asked.

“No. I'm just not hungry,” Gracie replied.

“I'll eat hers!” Jimmy cried, grabbing the slice off her plate.

“Hey! She didn't say you could take that,” Mari protested.

“It's fine, he can have it.” Gracie found that she didn't even want to look at Mari as she spoke. She was so angry! Would Mari ever leave
her
stranded at a restaurant like that? “I'm going to go call my parents.”

Gracie went upstairs, climbed into the top bunk, and dialed her mom's number. It went straight to voicemail. Surprised, Gracie hung up without leaving a message. She wasn't sure what she would say, anyway.

A minute later her cell buzzed with a text from her mom.
No phone calls allowed in dining room here. All okay?

All was not okay, but there was no way to write that in a text. Plus, Gracie didn't want her parents to worry about her. She texted back.
All fine. Talk to you tomorrow.

And then there was nothing to do. Downstairs, Mari's family was as loud and happy as usual, but tonight Gracie just couldn't get into the spirit. She pulled out her notebook and pen.

Differences, continued,
she wrote. Then she stopped. Was the Juliana situation about only children versus multiple children? Or was it just that Mari was more thoughtless than Gracie had ever realized? After all, they didn't get to spend that much time together outside of school. It was possible that at-home Mari was different than at-school Mari.

Gracie thought about the few times she'd been allowed to sleep over at Mari's house. It had always been fun because there were so many kids there. Hanging with the O'Hagans was like a party—full of noise and fun and laughter. But maybe that meant that Mari
didn't need anybody else. Maybe she didn't care much about time with her friends because she always had so much family around.

It had seemed as if Mari was having fun with Juliana, but that didn't mean she cared about standing her up. Mari had fun everywhere, with everyone. Maybe it didn't matter to her whether or not her friends were having fun too. Or maybe she just didn't notice.

Does she even notice if
I'm
having fun?
Gracie wondered.
Does she care?

Downstairs, the yelling grew louder, and Gracie could hear that they were having a pizza-eating contest. Mari definitely cared about things like that, like beating her brothers. But she hadn't spent much time trying to hang out alone with Gracie. She wasn't even up here asking what was wrong.

Maybe this best-friend ski trip hadn't been such a great idea after all. So far, it had taught Gracie some confusing things about her very best friend.