Into the Mix #4

by Diane Muldrow

  “But there are five of us,” Molly said. “We could do them pretty quickly. It would only be, like, thirty each.”

  “You know, I think I’m going to be too busy to help with this job, after all,” said Peichi. “I’m learning Chinese after school, and I’ve got the play. Do you mind?”

  “Uh, no, that’s okay,” Molly said disappointedly. “We still have enough people.”

  “I have a test next period,” Shawn groaned, changing the subject. “I can’t wait until it’s over!”

  “Did you start your English paper yet, Amanda?” asked Peichi.

  “But of course, dahling,” said Amanda in her British accent.

  There she goes again with that bad British accent! thought Molly. “So, anyway, what do you guys think of my idea?” Molly was starting to get annoyed with her friends. Doesn’t anyone have any ideas about this job besides me?

  “Sounds good,” replied Shawn.

  “It’s cute,” added Natasha.

  “Sounds good,” said Amanda absently. She sighed. “I wonder if I’ll have stage fright? What if I forget my lines?”

  The next few weeks were pretty normal for all of the girls. Molly was practicing the piano and studying hard. She worked with Athena a few times a week. And it was beginning to pay off! Each of Miss Spontaks quizzes seemed easier, and each one brought fewer red slashes. Mom and Dad were relieved and told Molly how proud they were of her hard work.

  “So does this mean I can do the Dish job for My Fair Lady?” asked Molly.

  Mom and Dad looked at each other. They nodded.

  “As long as your grades don’t slip back down,” warned Mom.

  About a week before the play opened, Amanda and Shawn arranged to hang out after school, just the two of them, before cheerleading practice and rehearsal began.

  “We could go get a slice of pizza,” Amanda had suggested, “and then walk back to school.”

  “Sounds good,” said Shawn. “I’ll meet you in front of the school.”

  But that afternoon, Amanda waited and waited, and Shawn didn’t show up.

  Amanda thought about going back into the school to look for her, but worried that Shawn wouldn’t find her where they were supposed to meet.

  Amanda stood, she sat, and she paced. Finally it was time for rehearsal, so she headed back inside, confused. Did I get the day wrong? she wondered. Does Shawn think we’re doing this tomorrow?

  Amanda made her way to the auditorium. When she walked in the door, she smiled to herself. She couldn’t believe she was a part of this—this set, this music, this excitement that was building every day.

  Some of the set crew were touching up the paint on the London street set. It had columns and a large, beautiful doorway to represent a church, two street lamps, and a building that looked like a theater. The floor was covered with fake cobblestones. Behind the wooden structure was a painted backdrop of shops.

  “Hi, Omar,” called Amanda.

  Omar nodded and waved.

  Amanda was still too early for rehearsal, so she decided to walk by the gym to see if Shawn was there.

  As she got closer, Amanda thought she recognized Shawn’s voice echoing in the hall. She turned the corner, and there was Shawn, with Angie and a few other girls. They were talking and laughing loudly.

  “Oh, hi,” said Shawn when she saw Amanda. “What’s up?”

  The group of girls instantly grew quiet. They all stared at Amanda.

  What’s up? What’s up? fumed Amanda. Was Angie sneering at her? What was that look for?

  “Oh, hi,” said Amanda, trying to mimic Shawn’s casualness. She had to think fast. She wasn’t about to say to Shawn, “Where were you?”

  “I—I’m just looking for Tessa,” Amanda heard herself say. “We have to head to rehearsal now. It’s a big one today.”

  “Tessa’s not here,” said Angie in her shrill voice. She reached her arm out as long as it could go, and pointed a long fingernail in the direction Amanda had just come from. “Rehearsal’s in the auditorium. This is the gym.”

  The girls began to crack up. Their laughter echoed and bounced off the walls, hitting Amanda in her ears, her stomach, her throat. She knew her neck and face were turning red, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  She tried to keep a casual look on her face, even as she panicked inside. Then she looked at Shawn—who was looking down at the floor. At least Shawn’s not laughing, thought Amanda.

  She had to get out of there. But there was no way she was going to walk in the direction Angie had just pointed her toward. So she put one shaky foot in front of the other, walked past the girls, and said something like, “See ya later,” when she passed Shawn.

  “See ya,” Shawn had practically whispered.

  Amanda didn’t look at her this time.

  As Amanda walked away, the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears drowned out the sounds of the girls’ sharp laughter.

  Chapter 14

  Amanda went through rehearsal in a daze. Her voice seemed brittle when she sang or spoke her lines. Tessa wasn’t there because she was sick. Everything felt off.

  When Amanda got home from rehearsal, she found Molly, Matthew, and Mom in the kitchen. playing Scrabble.

  “Hi,” said Amanda from the doorway.

  No one heard her because they were laughing.

  Matthew spotted her first. “Hi!” he said. “Wanna play? You and me against Mom and Molly?”

  Amanda shook her head and turned around. Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears. She could relax now that she was home. She began to cry, and ran upstairs to be alone.

  She didn’t even hear Mom and Molly come into the room.

  “What’s the matter?” they both asked, sitting down on her bed.

  “Shawn completely bl—blew me off.” Amanda began to cry again, louder.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” said Mom. She stroked Amanda’s hair. “You know, Shawn called here earlier. She said she’d call you later.”

  “I don’t want to t—talk to her.” Amanda took the tissue that Mom offered her, blew her nose, and sat up. “She’s hanging out with the meanest people.”

  “What happened?” asked Mom.

  Amanda told them everything.

  Molly looked at Mom. “Yeah, that Angie Martinez. She’s really stuck-up. And loud and stuff.”

  Mom didn’t say anything for a moment. “Was Shawn mean to you?” she asked.

  “Well, no. It was just the girls she was with.”

  “When she calls back, just listen to what she has to say. Okay, sweetheart?”

  Amanda didn’t say anything. She crumpled up her tissue and tossed it toward the wicker wastebasket. She missed.

  “People change,” said Mom softly, leaning over to pick up the tissue ball. She placed it in the wastebasket. “Sometimes friendships change. You’re all changing and growing up, and sometimes it’s going to feel like nothing’s the same from day to day.”

  “That’s for sure,” said the twins at the same time.

  “You’ll give Shawn another chance, I hope,” said Mom as she rubbed Amanda’s shoulders. “You’ve been friends too long to do otherwise.”

  “I know,” said Amanda. She began to sniffle. Then she turned her head away from Mom and Molly.

  Mom pointed to the door, Molly nodded, and the two got up. They could fell Amanda wanted to be by herself for a while.

  “What about twins?” Molly asked Mom sadly when they got to the kitchen. “Do twins change? Amanda seems far away from me. She’s always talking in that British accent. And all she talks about is the play. And Tessa. And the play. And Tessa.”

  Mom smiled. “Yes, Amanda’s pretty self-absorbed right now!” she chuckled. Then her expression turned sincere. “But Amanda loves you as much as she ever did, sweetheart. She’s just going through a new experience that means a lot to her. But don’t worry. Amanda will always, always be there for you. Let’s just be patient with her, okay? Pretty soon the play will be over, and s
he’ll be back to normal. I promise!”

  Molly nodded. She hoped Mom was right. Then Molly noticed that the message light on the answering machine was blinking.

  “That’s funny,” said Mom. “I didn’t hear the phone ring.”

  “Amanda was crying too loud,” chuckled Molly. She pushed the button.

  Beep!

  “Hello,” said a voice. “This is Natasha. Um, Molly and Amanda, I, um, can’t help with the dessert job for My Fair Lady. I’m sorry. My mom says I’m in over my head. With homework and Hebrew school and the article about the play. Okay? I’m sorry. Uh, see-you-tomorrow-bye.”

  briiinnnnggg! The phone rang just as the message finished playing.

  “Hello?” said Molly.

  “Hi, Molls, it’s Shawn.”

  “Oh. Hi, Shawn.”

  There was a pause. “Um, is Amanda there?”

  “Hang on a minute. She’s upstairs. I’ll get her.”

  Molly put down the phone, then ran up the stairs, two at a time. She opened the bedroom door. Amanda looked up from her science textbook.

  “Shawn?” asked Amanda.

  Molly nodded.

  Usually Molly and Amanda talked to Shawn together, but this time, when Molly heard Amanda get on the upstairs extension, Molly hung up.

  After a while, Molly went upstairs. Amanda was doing her homework at the desk.

  “So?” asked Molly.

  “She was really sorry. She said she totally forgot we were supposed to meet. She feels really bad about the way Angie and her friends acted.”

  “So, are you okay?” asked Molly.

  “I’m fine.” Amanda sighed heavily. “But you know what bums me out the most? That Shawn forgot we were getting together today. I’d never forget.”

  “I know,” said Molly. She didn’t know what to say about that. It did seem strange that Shawn had forgotten.

  “By the way,” said Amanda, “Shawn also said that she can’t help with the dessert job. She’s just gotten way too busy.”

  “Oh, great. Now it’s just the two of us,” said Molly. “How are we going to do all that baking?”

  Amanda sighed. She looked down at her book.

  That’s when Molly knew that Amanda didn’t want to work on the job, either. Or couldn’t work on it. Whatever. Too bad—she’s going to have to do it anyway. What’s happening with Dish? Doesn’t anyone care except me? Mom’s right—nothing seems the same anymore! Molly thought.

  Chapter 15

  The next day, Molly met Athena at their usual table in the empty cafeteria.

  “Hi, Molly!” said Athena. She sat down and said, “How are you?”

  “I’m okay, I guess,” replied Molly, trying to be cheerful. “How are you?”

  “You don’t seem okay,” observed Athena. “Did something happen in math class?”

  “No,” she said. “I’m just a little worried because Dish is supposed to make the desserts for the My Fair Lady dinner theater. But there’s no Dish right now, except for my sister and me!”

  “Oh, no!” said Athena. Her brown eyes opened wide. “That’s terrible! What do you have to make?”

  “Oh, cookies. And some cake. I had wanted to make cupcakes and decorate them for the play. You know, put little drawings on with icing—”

  “Oh, that’s a good idea,” said Athena. “I’ve seen My Fair Lady. You could draw little hats, and gloves, and flowers—”

  Molly gasped. “That’s exactly what I wanted to do!” she exclaimed.

  Athena grinned. “Great minds think alike,” she said. “Well, I’ll help you! If you want me to.”

  “Really?” cried Molly. “That would be great! Thank you so much!”

  Athena smiled again. “I have some free time. Just tell me what to do. You’ll be the boss. Okay? Now, let’s take a look at your math homework.”

  At play rehearsal the next day, everyone was a little edgy, especially Bruce MacMillan, the eighth-grader who was playing Henry Higgins, and Tiffany Hurst, who was playing Eliza Doolittle. They’d been arguing with each other.

  “We’re doing a full run next Monday and Tuesday,” Ms. Barlow reminded everyone. “That means we’re doing the whole play! In order! With the orchestra! The lights! We open on Thursday night. There is a six thirty call starting Monday night. Don’t be late, people—or you’ll give me a heart attack wondering where you are!”

  “What’s ‘call’?” asked someone.

  “That means you are expected here at six thirty to give you time for makeup, costumes. and warm-up,” explained Ms. Barlow.

  Amanda looked over at Natasha, who was watching this rehearsal. She was busily writing down everything Ms. Barlow was saying. Justin was near her, loading his camera. Those two are always together, thought Amanda. She and Justin are better friends than I’ll ever be with him.

  “I can’t wait for next week!” chattered Tessa as she and Amanda waited backstage with the others for their cues. “It’s going to be so cool! We’ll eat popcorn and put makeup on each other, and take pictures of everyone, and do a group warm-up, and hang out until it’s time to go onstage.”

  “I hadn’t even thought about all that,” said Amanda.

  “Oh, Tiffany was telling me that being in the greenroom with everyone before the play is the best part! Everyone’s really excited, and joking, and laughing together.”

  “What’s the greenroom?” Amanda wanted to know.

  “You know, where the actors hang out before it’s their turn to go onstage. And everyone goes back there when they come offstage.”

  “Sounds like fun,” stated Amanda. “It must feel like you’re in a real theater troupe.”

  “Ex-actly!”

  Amanda walked home that night with Natasha.

  “I didn’t do so well tonight,” Amanda complained.

  “Realty? I thought you were great.”

  “No, I stumbled over my lines and my accent came out all wrong. Could you hear me okay?”

  “Sure. Don’t worry so much,” Natasha told her.

  Amanda couldn’t get rid of the nervous feeling in her stomach. How was she going to help Molly with all the baking? Both of them had a lot of studying over the weekend for exams. And next week was already full.

  That night after dinner, she tried to start her math homework, but she couldn’t concentrate.

  “Molls,” she blurted. Molly was sitting at the desk, while she was on the floor, her back against her bed. “I don’t see how I can help you and Athena with the baking.”

  Molly looked up from her book. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing!

  “I can’t do it. I just can’t. I’ve got tests next week—and the play! We have dress rehearsals every night!”

  Molly slammed her heavy science book closed. Her eyes showed panic. “You have to help! We need you!” She was starting to really freak out.

  “Well,” said Amanda, as she searched for something to say. “Can’t you just tell Ms. Barlow it’s—it’s not going to work out?”

  “Tell her what?” shrieked Molly. “It’s too late to back out now! How would she find someone else? You tell her!”

  Amanda didn’t say anything.

  “Thanks for nothing,” snapped Molly. “You’ve been acting like such a big shot ever since you got in this play. You’ve been driving everyone crazy. Peichi—”

  “What about Peichi?”

  “She told me that you wanted her to change your costume.”

  Amanda rolled her eyes. “That was no big deal.”

  “How do you think it made Peichi feel? She got over it—she always does—but, come on! And then Natasha—you practically ordered her to mention in her article about Dish that you were in the play.”

  Amanda blushed. She didn’t say anything.

  “And me! You’re always walking around with your hand on your hip, speaking in that accent! You think you’re so cool. All you talk about is the play. You barely listen to anything I have to say anymore.”

  Amanda�
��s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe the things Molly was saying. They were so not true! And yet...was there a tiny chance that she had been that obnoxious?

  Amanda tried to speak, but nothing came out.

  “Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll help with the baking. We can start this weekend—”

  “Never mind,” said Molly. “I don’t want you to help anymore. I really don’t.”

  “That’s ridiculous, Molls,” said Amanda. “I’m sorry.”

  But Molly ignored Amanda the rest of the evening, despite Amanda’s dramatic sighs. And the next morning, Molly left for school before Amanda was ready.

  Molly and Mom had a talk the next day.

  “You said Amanda would always be there for me,” Molly reminded Mom. “But she’s not.”

  “Don’t give up on her just yet,” said Mom, which made Molly roll her eyes. “And don’t worry about the desserts,” Mom went on. “You and I are going to start right now. And I’m sure Athena will be a big help.”

  Molly sighed. “I know you’re busy, too, Mom. This is your busiest time working at the college.”

  Mom put her arms around Molly. “What do you want to bake?” she asked. “I can’t wait to do all this. I’ve really missed cooking with you—like we did all summer!”

  At rehearsal that afternoon, Ms. Barlow gave the cast a pep talk.

  “This is it, people. We open in three days. You’re all doing great, and now I want to see you all being more confident, more in character. Give it your all! People are spending good money to come see you perform! Show em what you’ve got!”

  The cast cheered.

  “Oh! I have another announcement,” said Ms. Barlow. “There will be a cast party at my house on Saturday night after the play. Everyone who has worked on the play is invited.”

  The cast cheered again.

  “This week,” said Ms. Barlow, “you have such an important job to do. Acting is all about giving. Giving everything you have...”