“You sure about that?” Cecilia peered at me over her cat’s-eye glasses, scrutinizing me like an X-ray. I’d never felt so exposed.
“Yes! I mean, we used to have a tiny bug problem but the exterminator took care of it. But no rats. Ever!”
“What’s the basement used for?” Cecilia asked. “Storage or something?”
“Um, yeah, we use it for storage,” I said. “Now, right back here is where we store those products you were asking about.” I tried to lead her away from the basement door but she still stood beside it, looking curious.
“You don’t store the products in the storage basement?” she asked.
“Um.” This was not happening. I would not say stupid things to Cecilia von Tressell on camera that made my mom look bad.
“Could you please show us the basement?” Cecilia asked.
“Uh, I can’t,” I said.
Cecilia raised an eyebrow and said, “Why not? Is it that unsafe down there?”
“Not at all! It’s safe as a baby’s room!” I moved my body ever so slightly in front of the door. “It’s just that Mom has the key, and I know she left it at home, so maybe some other time.” Like when the cameras were long gone. “Now, the products you wanted to see are right back here.”
I showed her the products in the back, and she made a special note that the space doubled as the staff break room. I tried to tell her all sorts of interesting things about the salon in a pathetic effort to make her forget about the zombie rats, but even if I wasn’t smart enough to keep my mouth shut, I was smart enough to know she’d never fall for it.
CHAPTER 10
That night, after spilling my mother’s deep, dark basement secret to a future nationwide audience, I locked myself in my room and concentrated on reading chapter twenty-eight of To Kill a Mockingbird and preparing for Friday’s test. I got totally caught up in the chapters and completed the study worksheets Ms. Carlisle had given us. After inspecting my work Mom said, “I’m proud of you for working so hard—at the salon and in school. You deserve a day off.” Which just about killed me since I may have made her and the salon look like a major health-code violator. I went to bed feeling anxious about what the show would do with all that rambling footage of me.
Cutting-room floor, anyone?
In the morning, I felt less anxious about my latest salon goof. It would all be okay, I told myself. No one would care about a dirty old storage basement with all that styling going on upstairs. I decided to focus on my afternoon with Kyle.
I had a hard time coming up with an appropriate outfit—one that would take me from school to salon to wooded trails. After spending more time digging through my closet than I’m willing to admit, I finally came up with something appropriate: slim khaki pants with an army-green-and-tan layered tank with a jacket over it.
Kyle planned to meet me near the front office after school. I spotted him waiting for me, leaning against the wall as he looked down at his cell phone.
I went up to him and playfully punched him on the shoulder. “Hey.”
His face relaxed into a big smile, showing off that front tooth that very slightly overlapped the other, just enough to be charming. “You ready?”
“Yep,” I said. “Do you mind if we stop by the salon so I can check in with my mom, make sure she doesn’t need anything? We can leave our bags there, too, if you want.”
“Yeah, sure,” he said as we headed out of school. “And maybe we can go to the Waffle Cone afterward to grab some ice cream or something before heading home.”
“Sure,” I said. “I still haven’t tried their new tiramisu flavor yet.”
We walked over to Camden Way to drop off our bags. “Be warned,” I said before going into the salon. “There are cameras.”
“Oh, right,” he said, as I opened the door. “That TV show. You gotta tell me all about it.”
“I’ll tell you after,” I said. I had Kyle wait at the front while I quickly walked to the back to stash our stuff.
Mom was in her office. “Hey, Mom,” I said, peeking through the doorway. “I’m here—okay if I go?”
She smiled. “Everything’s fine here. Go have fun with your friend.”
I dashed back to the front and . . . uh-oh. Giancarlo was hovering over Kyle. The poor kid looked like he was being interrogated by the Secret Service. But even worse, a cameraman had spotted them and was on his way up to capture it all. I raced ahead of him.
“Hey, GC,” I said. “Bye, GC!” I grabbed Kyle by the wrist and pulled him out the door. We ran halfway down the street before slowing down.
“Who was that guy?” Kyle asked, catching his breath.
“Just Giancarlo,” I said. “What was he saying to you?”
“First he asked if I had an appointment. Then he asked if I needed some product for my hair. And then he asked what my intentions with you were.”
“Oh my gosh,” I said, completely mortified. “What did you say?”
“I said I was going to show you the town.” He shrugged. “I panicked.”
That was actually really sweet. I mean, I know what he meant—that he was showing me the view of the town from the top of Bended Brook. But it sounded cute.
“Giancarlo is harmless,” I assured him. “He’s like my uncle at the salon.”
“What’s going on there, anyway? I know you guys were talking about it the other day at lunch, but what’s the full deal?”
“I got my mom on a TV show.” I sounded like a show-off, I know, but who cares—it was just Kyle. We turned off the main road and onto a small wooded trail, barely wide enough for us to walk side by side. Our arms brushed against each other.
“Wow,” he said, stepping in front of me to hold back a thin branch that was hanging over the trail. I stepped around it before he let it snap behind us. “I didn’t know you knew people in the industry.”
“Ha-ha,” I said. “I’m exaggerating. A little. But I did text the show and tell them Hello, Gorgeous! should be featured. I didn’t think they’d actually do it, though.”
“So what happens?” he asked. “Is it, like, a competition or something?”
“No, it’s more of a showcase,” I replied. I wasn’t sure that was the exact word but it definitely wasn’t a competition. I told him how Cecilia picks a salon to observe for a week, sees how things run, and how the vibe is. “Tomorrow, her Head Honchos will come in to observe the stylists on their techniques to get a deeper understanding of the salon. And then Cecilia will make her recommendations on what to change to take it from good to great, and Mom has about twenty-four hours to do it.”
“What if your mom doesn’t make the changes?” Kyle asked. “Watch that rock.”
I stepped around a jagged rock sticking up from the ground and said, “Lots of times on the show the owners freak out and get really upset about having people tell them what’s wrong with their business. Sometimes they refuse to make changes. But that’s not going to happen with my mom. She has the most successful salon with the best stylists in New England for a reason. She doesn’t freak out. Mom is always in control—especially at her salon.”
“That’s cool,” he said. The sun streamed through the vibrant green leaves of the trees, casting a bright light over us. “I can’t believe there’s another thing being filmed here. First a commercial and now a whole TV show. Rockford is becoming the Hollywood of the Northeast.”
“We can rename it Hollyrockfordwood,” I said.
“Martin Scorsese will want to shoot his next gangster film here,” Kyle joked.
“And you’ll get the lead role of the godfather’s ruthless son, ready to take over the family business.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m the only one in town who hasn’t been on camera yet, now that you’ve got that Cecilia chick here. Your friends must be going out of their minds to get on TV.”
“Not really,” I said. Then I thought of Kristen. “Well, one of them. I think Lizbeth would like to be on as well but she’s not making a big deal
of it. Eve, though, couldn’t care less.”
“But isn’t she supposed to be the actress?”
“I don’t think she cares about it that much. Especially since she and Jonah got together.” I said the word as if it were a big whoop-dee-doo.
“Those two,” Kyle said. “They’ve seriously lost it.”
“I know. I really think we should investigate this alien theory because they are not acting normal.”
“I was actually thinking about calling the authorities,” Kyle said. “The body-snatcher police.”
“But how will we know the body-snatcher police are the real police? What if they’ve been body snatched, too?”
“Because,” Kyle reasoned. “If they’ve been snatched they won’t hear a word we say.”
“That’s true,” I said. I thought of how lately, when I tried to talk to Eve, it was like she wasn’t listening. To anyone but Jonah, anyway. “Maybe we can try to rescue them. Save them from themselves. Because seriously—how lame have they been acting?”
“Dude, if Jonah doesn’t pull it together soon I’m going to have to give him a serious beat down on Warpath of Doom.”
“What I don’t get is how they can just ignore their friends. What’s that about? I mean, here we are in the woods fending for ourselves.”
“Like we’ve been thrown to the wolves.”
“Yes, like wolves,” I said.
“No, we’re thrown to the wolves,” he said.
“That’s what I said.”
“No, you didn’t,” he laughed.
“Don’t laugh at me,” I said, lightly punching his arm.
Kyle dodged my hand and leaned back. He howled a huge laugh before doubling over and actually slapping his knee.
“Hilarious, Kyle,” I said. And then I started laughing, too, because he had started laughing for real.
The trail to the top ended in a short, steep climb and we had to use our hands to help pull ourselves up.
“The top is right up here,” Kyle called back to me. “This is a good foothold right here.”
I put my foot in the spot he showed me and pulled myself up. The climb was tough but I didn’t want to look like a wimp so I worked every muscle to hoist myself up. I dug my hands and nails into crevices in the rocks for support, glad I hadn’t gotten a full manicure.
When we got to the top, the rock was wide and smooth. We walked to the edge and looked down at the town laid out before us.
“Wow,” I remarked. “Pretty nice.”
“Yeah. Not bad.”
We stood for a moment as the sun started to dip, casting a soft glow over our town. A white church steeple peeked up from the tops of the trees on the horizon and the cars on the winding streets below looked like toys from up on our perch.
After a while Kyle said, “We should get back before it starts getting dark.”
“Okay,” I agreed. I knew he was right, but I kind of didn’t want to leave. The view was so cool. I wished I could show Eve and the rest of my friends. Eve would totally like doing this, I thought. Lizbeth, maybe; Kristen, no way.
We started down the trail, careful of our footing on the climb down.
“I can’t believe Jonah would bail on this,” I said. “He loves outdoor adventures, and it’s amazing up here.”
“I know, and imagine riding mountain bikes down this.” He kicked a rock, sending it rolling down the trail ahead of us. “I’m thinking we need to help our friends. We have to show them they’re missing stuff like this.”
“Totally,” I said. “I mean, a study date? It’s like, what next? Checkers on Saturday night?”
“They’re becoming old people like our parents.”
“More like our grandparents,” I said. “We have to show them that the whole world isn’t just the two of them.”
“We should actually do that.”
“Maybe I should remind Eve of all the fun stuff she likes to do with her friends,” I said, thinking. “I’ll get her to go out with me and the girls tomorrow night. If I can get them away from Tobias and Matthew.”
“Let’s stick with one operation at a time,” Kyle joked.
“Agreed. Okay.” I starting to think this could be a real plan. “I’ll make sure Eve and I hang out tomorrow night. You’re in charge of taking Jonah out.”
“I’ll take him skateboarding after school and maybe we’ll go play video games at the mall,” Kyle suggested.
“Perfect. We just have to make sure they agree to go out with us and not each other. Can you handle that?”
We got to the end of the trail and started back on the sidewalk. “I can handle it,” he said. “So do you want to go to the Waffle—” His phone chimed just then and he checked the new text message. “Oh, brother. It’s my mom.” He shut off the screen and said, “Dinner.” He rolled his eyes. “I guess ice cream another time, then.”
“Yeah, no problem,” I replied. I’d had a great day hanging out with Kyle. Boys could be really cool, and you didn’t have to go all mental over them.
We headed toward Hello, Gorgeous! to get our bags. The cameras were gone and I was glad to not have to face them. I raced to the back and I brought our bags out to where Kyle waited on the sidewalk.
“Thanks,” I said as I handed over his bag. “I had fun. Eve and Jonah have no idea what they’re missing.”
“So we’re on? For our plan?”
“We’re on,” I said.
Kyle stuck out his hand. “Deal?”
I took his hand in mine.
“Deal,” I said.
“We’ll get that ice cream some other time.” He let go of my hand and started down Camden Way toward his house.
As I watched him go, butterflies soared in my stomach and all I could think was, What was that? That strange feeling of nervousness I got when Kyle held my hand. That’s totally not something that should happen between friends. Is it?
CHAPTER 11
Later, at home, I started reading the last three chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird for the test tomorrow.
My mind kept drifting to Eve and what fun things we could do tomorrow night, though. It had to be something amazing to drag her away from Jonah. Maybe Kyle and I could brainstorm, help each other come up with ideas. After all, he knew about Bended Brook and that was something I’d never have thought of on my own.
I started thinking about Kyle and how there were never any awkward pauses in conversation and how sweet he was helping me up the trail even though I didn’t need it. I thought about the branch that stuck out in the middle of the trail that he held back, and how he made sure I had good footing on the climb to the top.
I wondered what that little zip was that had gone through me when we shook on our plan.
Is that what happens when you like a boy? That feeling that makes you go all giggly and crazy like Kristen and Lizbeth? If so, count me out. Kyle and I could act normal around each other.
I shook off those funny feelings and focused on the mission we had agreed on. I had to remind Eve that it was actually really fun to hang out with her girlfriends. Girls had to stick together; isn’t that what we were taught? Maybe for starters I could invite her to the salon for a full beauty treatment. I didn’t think she’d mind being there while the cameras were shooting.
Then I started to wonder what was going to happen to Hello, Gorgeous!, how it would be different just after being on the show. Tomorrow Cecilia would make her recommendations, and I could hardly wait to hear what she had to say.
I put my book down and sat at my vanity table. It had a three-way mirror so I could see all angles of my hair. I played with some styles while I waited for dinner and planned out my Friday night with Eve. When I heard the front door shut, I figured Mom was home. I went downstairs.
Dad stood at the island in the middle of the kitchen cutting up vegetables for a salad. Mom paced back and forth, a tight expression on her face.
“Hey,” I said. “What’s for dinner?”
Mom turned on me and sucked i
n a deep breath. “Zombie rats?” she practically hissed.
Oh no.
“Wait, that’s not right,” Mom continued, putting her finger to her chin as if she were thinking very hard. “Mutant zombie rats. Did I get it right? Is that the correct wording, Mickey?”
Dad stayed quiet, which meant I was in deep trouble.
“Mikaela,” Mom said. She threw her hands up. “I just . . .” She shook her head, then looked to Dad. “What am I going to do?”
Dad put down the knife and walked over to her. Mom sat down in a chair and rested her elbows on the table, cradling her head in her hands. I’d never seen her so upset to the point of speechlessness before. It scared me.
“Come on, honey,” Dad said, giving her a hug. “You’re overreacting.”
“No,” she said. “It’s not even everything that happened at the salon, or everything that Cecilia said.” Mom looked at me through weary eyes. “It’s that having the cameras there to capture it all is too much pressure. It’s not just some fleeting moment of embarrassment for me or the salon. It’s recorded to be played back forever.”
I thought of all the times I’d messed up at the salon—and there were a lot. How would I feel if all my mistakes had been caught on camera for the world to see again and again? It was bad enough for my mom and my friends to see me mess up. I didn’t know if I could take it if there were a constant reminder of that sitting in someone’s DVD collection.
Dad sat next to Mom and said, “Tell me what happened.”
“She caught me off guard,” Mom said. “Which was probably the point. They have to make a good TV show, right? Cecilia and I were talking about how long Rowan has been doing facials. Cecilia commented that the room she works in is pretty small—which it is, I know it is. And then she said, ‘Maybe you can kick out the mutant zombie rats and make better use of that basement.’ I didn’t know what she was saying at first, but then she asked me if I was really allowing an infestation of rats to live in the basement. An infestation! That’s what she said. Mickey, you know I’ve had an exterminator down there—there are no bugs, and certainly no rats. It’s just messy, that’s all. But I didn’t want to show Cecilia because then she’d think I’m disorganized and not on top of things.”
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