The Other Side

by Ashlynn Elliott

  Laura rolled her eyes. “You knew it was going to snow today! No one told ME that! I told you to do something nice for Barbara! Not embarrass her!”

  “What do you mean, embarrass her?” Macy asked sarcastically.

  Barbara opened her mouth to speak, but Laura interrupted her. “You told her to buy summer things so that when it snowed today she would be embarrassed!”

  “Oh,” Macy laughed, “That! I thought you were talking about her diary.”

  Barbara’s mouth hung open. “My what?” She asked in disbelief.

  Macy rolled her eyes. “Oh, I just thought Laura was talking about how I stole your diary so you would go to the office and never get the note about school being canceled today. That’s all. No biggie.”

  Barbara’s face flushed red. “You’re the worst friend ever,” She snapped.

  Macy, Grace, and Natalie laughed like she had just said something really funny. Natalie choked out a few words. “As if! Right, Laura?”

  Laura just glared at them for a second. “No.” The three girls stopped laughing and looked at Laura.

  “What do you mean, No?” Grace sneered.

  “No!” Laura shouted. “You may not be Barbara’s friend, but I am! And I’m not your friend anymore either.”

  Macy, Grace, and Natalie, exchanged glances. Macy rolled her eyes. Grace snickered. Natalie scoffed. “Whatever,” Natalie moaned. “I still have more friends than you two,” She pointed to Laura and Barbara. “Oh, wait. Neither of you have any friends!”

  Laura looked uneasy. Bella guessed that after Barbara, she didn’t have any friends. Finally, Barbara spoke up. “We do have friends!” She cried. “Laura has me,”

  “Oh, sure, like one friend is going to make you popular,” Macy rolled her eyes again.

  “And I have lots of friends, too.” Barbara exclaimed.

  “Like who?”

  Barbara looked around nervously. “I have Laura.” She pointed to Laura. “And Raelynn. And Penny.” She pointed to the girls next to her. “And-And-my cousins! And especially Bella!”

  Bella’s eyes widened. Especially Bella? Bella wanted to smile, but she couldn’t. Tears stung Bella’s eyes as she remembered the move. Bella was Barbara’s best friend. She couldn’t move!

  Grace laughed. “You’re friends with little Elsa-lover here?” She pointed to Bella, who was sitting on the ground with her head between her knees, trying to keep from crying.

  “Yeah,” Barbara shot back. “She’s going to be my best friend forever, right, Bella?”

  Bella looked up. She didn’t know how she was going to tell Barbara about the move. “No,” Bella choked.

  Barbara looked devastated. “What?” She asked, hurt. “Why? What did I do to you?”

  “Nothing, I-”

  Before Bella could say a word, the back door swung open. It was Thomas. He had an nervous and fearful expression on his face.

  “Barbara? Bella? We’ve got a problem and you girls need to hide.” He gasped.

  “What?” Bella groaned.

  “Bella, your mom’s at the door.”

  Chapter 30:

  Bella’s room was a mess.

  A day before the move, Bella had taken everything out of her moving boxes and made a mess, just to intimidate Maryrose. My daughter’s such a slob. Maryrose thought.

  Anger flared through her as she walked through the house, trying to find her daughter. Maryrose understood that Bella had been through a lot lately, like not getting a Sparkle and having to move, but this was unacceptable.

  Maryrose levitated up and floated through the house. She got around faster that way. One of the perks of her powers, in her opinion. After searching the whole house, she only found Freddy in his office, and Eric reading in Bella’s room.

  She stopped next to Bella’s doorway. “Eric?” She screeched.

  Eric jumped up in surprise. “Whoa. Mom. Geez.” He said when he saw Maryrose. She was floating, her eyes were probably red, and her hair was frizzy and poofy. Her voice got gruff and scary when she was mad. Sensible. “What’s your problem?!” He gasped.

  “Your sister’s missing.” She growled. “Do you have any idea where she is?”

  Eric smiled proudly. “Actually, I do. She told me not to tell you, but I guess I can. She snuck out.”

  Maryrose looked at him. She wasn’t exactly surprised that Bella had snuck out. That’s something like Bella to do. But she wasn’t happy about it. “Really? And why did she not want me to know where she was going?”

  “Because! She’s going somewhere she doesn’t want you to know!” Eric said proudly, as if he was very glad to be selling out his sister. “She’s been doing it all week. She said if I kept the secret, she would do me one favor with her Sparkle. But since she doesn’t have a Sparkle, I can tell you! And it’s a really great secret because you’ll be mad and-”

  Eric rambled on and on about how he could now say where Bella went. Finally, Maryrose had had enough. “Eric, just tell me where she went!” She groaned.

  “To the neighbors!”

  Maryrose’s jaw dropped open. She didn’t. No way. Bella had been sneaking out to hang out with her biggest enemy?! “Eric, I’ll be right back. Pack your bags. We’re moving early. When I get back, we’re leaving.” She growled through her teeth and floated out of the house. She was so mad. Bella was in BIG trouble.

  She floated to Thomas’s doorstep and angrily banged on the door. Thomas casually opened it.

  “Hellllooooo-OH MY GOSH!” Thomas jumped back when he saw Maryrose.

  “Where’s my daughter?” She snapped.

  “Um...uhh….” Thomas shook in terror. “Uh….Uh...Uh….Uh..”

  “She’s in your house. I know it.” Maryrose balled up her fists as she got closer to Thomas.

  He was scared of her. He ought to be. If he had lived his life with the curse that she gave him, he’d better be scared!

  “I… uh… um..” Thomas backed away, speechless and in pure terror. “Excuse me a second!” He slammed the door and ran off into the house.

  Maryrose assumed he was going find Bella. But after a few minutes of waiting impatiently by Thomas’s doorstep, Maryrose was starting to think he was just hiding Bella from her.

  Finally, she had had enough. She was going to go inside, have a freakout, and scare everyone to the point to where they would give Bella back.

  She swung open the door, squinched her eyes shut, floated up to the ceiling, and screamed, “WHERE’S MY DAUGHTER, THOMAS WILSON?!?!?!?!”

  But she didn’t get what she expected.

  “Mommy!!!!”

  “I wanna go home!!!”

  “Mr. Wilson!”

  “It’s a murderer!!!”

  “Help!”

  “WAAAAH!!!”

  “It’s an evil witch!!! WAAAHH!!!!”

  Maryrose, surprised opened her eyes. Kids. Kids everywhere. Little kids. Big kids. Kids everywhere. Thomas must have been having a party for his daughter.

  And she had just walked in and had a freakout. All these kids, seeing her fly. Seeing her freak out like that.

  Thomas walked in with a smug look on his face. “Hey, kids! Don’t worry!” He laughed. “It’s just the party clown here!”

  Maryrose’s jaw dropped. The Party Clown?! Thomas just hit rock bottom. That was dirty. Spilling her secret, stealing her daughter, and telling a bunch of kids that she was a PARTY CLOWN?! She scowled at Thomas. She hated that guy.

  “Do some tricks!” said a little girl.

  “Yeah! Do something funny!” Said another little boy.

  Maryrose just stood there. “Um,” She tried to sound like a sweet happy girl clown, but just listening to her voice, she didn’t sound too convincing. “Nice to meet all you kids!” She smiled while angrily glaring at Thomas.

  Thomas snickered and smiled at her, like he was enjoying her embarrassment. Maryrose looked back at the kids. “But The Magnificent Maryrose is having a few, um, technical difficulties,” She glared
at Thomas again, who was biting his lip to keep from laughing. “And I’m...going to have to, uh, take the day off.”

  A few kids groaned. “Bye!” Maryrose smiled halfheartedly and walked off.

  She had enough. This is her last time she’d see Thomas before she moved, and she didn’t exactly want to hug him bye.

  She was going to get Bella, and get out. She wasn’t going to freak out. She just wanted to get out.

  Chapter 31:

  “It’s not very comfy up here,” Bella told Barbara.

  They had climbed up the big oak tree in Barbara’s yard in order to hide from Maryrose. Barbara and Bella were both wedged between two scratchy branches, and they were both holding on for dear life, trying not to fall.

  “No duh,” Barbara replied. “Again, why are we even up here?”

  “Because my mom figured out I was here. You know what she’s like. She’s going to KILL me for sneaking out.” Bella replied nervously.

  There was a long silence.

  “What did you mean when you said you weren’t my friend?” Barbara asked and frowned.

  “I never said I wasn’t your friend,” Bella started tearing up again. “I said that I wouldn’t be your best friend forever.”

  Barbara looked at Bella painfully. “Why?” She asked.

  Bella had been dreading that moment all day. “I’m moving,” She choked through tears.

  Bella expected Barbara to burst out into tears. But she didn’t. “Oh,” Barbara sighed. “When?”

  “Tomorrow,” Bella replied, “But most likely today. Mom is probably so mad she’ll probably want to get out of here as soon as possible. Are you...mad?”

  “No,” Barbara replied. “Just, well, disappointed. I thought I had finally found a good friend,” Barbara slumped down and sat down on the branch, leaving Bella only a little room.

  “But you do have friends,” Bella replied. “Like you said, you have Laura, your cousins, and those other girls, what were their names?”

  “Raelynn and Penny,” Barbara replied. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But I’m going to miss you a lot. What if I never see you again? What if I forget you?”

  Bella then had a great idea. “You won’t forget me. I’ll make sure you don’t.”

  The two girls sat atop the tree, waiting for Maryrose to come outside. “Thanks,” Barbara said at last.

  “For what?”

  Barbara sighed. “Everything. You’ve helped me a lot this week. Being with you made me brave. I’m not scared to make new friends anymore. I’m not scared to stand up to bullies. I’m not scared to take risks anymore. Going over the fence and meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  Best thing that ever happened to her, Bella echoed in her mind. She really was good luck. And she was proud of it.

  “You too, Barbara. You’ve made me brave, too.” Bella smiled. “I’m not shy like I used to be anymore. You’ve taught me to make friends. You taught me to speak for what I believe in, like when I told my mom you weren’t mean.”

  “Thanks.” Barbara replied.

  “Thanks,” Bella echoed.

  About ten seconds later, Bella and Barbara saw Maryrose, stepping carefully around kids outside. Finally, Maryrose spotted Barbara and Bella in the tree.

  “Oh, Bella, sweet daughter,” Maryrose said in an exaggerated sweet voice. “You need to come down so we can talk.”

  “Bye,” Bella sighed.

  “Bye,” Barbara echoed. The two girls hugged and Bella climbed down the tree, ready to meet her angry mother.

  Maryrose squeezed Bella’s hand. “Come on.” She muttered. “Let’s go get in the car.”

  Maryrose and Bella walked back through Barbara’s house, twisting through the crowds of kids. After a not-so-formal goodbye between Maryrose and Thomas, (Bella hoped she’d never hear things like that again) they began walking toward her house.

  Bella braced for the fussing of her life. But Maryrose didn’t fuss at her. “Thank the Lord we’re getting out of this trashy town.” She muttered. “I don’t know why Freddy wanted to live here anyway.”

  Bella stopped in her tracks as a great idea dawned on her. Maybe she could use her Sparkle to get them to stay there! “It sure would be lucky if we didn’t have to move,” She whispered.

  Maryrose stopped to look at Bella. “Bella, aren’t you coming? We have to get your luggage so we can get out of here.”

  Bella looked down. “I don’t want to move, Mom.” Bella sighed. “Can we please stay? Isn’t there anything you can do to stop the move? Like, maybe use your powers to make sure we didn’t win the lottery? Please. I don’t want to leave.”

  Maryrose knelt down next to Bella. “Bellie, look. I understand it’s hard on you to move. I understand that you don’t want to. Powers can change some things, Bella. But some things are just meant to be. No amount of power can change that. Not everything in life is perfect. Good or bad, some things are just meant to be. And this trip, it was meant to be!” Maryrose giggled. “Now, come on! Let’s get out of here!”

  Bella smiled. Maybe her mom was right. Maybe she would have fun in Hawaii. Maybe some things are meant to be.

  But she knew something that wasn’t meant to be. Barbara’s curse. She could do something to change that. Besides. She could replace her mom’s bad luck on Barbara with good luck.

  Bella looked around to see if Maryrose was watching. She wasn’t. She looked at Barbara from across the yard, playing with her new friends.

  “I reverse Barbara and Thomas’s curse. Let there be no more Bad Luck Thursday.” She smiled. “But still let there be a BLT. But instead of Bad Luck Thursday, let it be...hmm….Best Luck...Tuesday.”

  Nothing happened physically, but Bella knew, deep inside, that it had worked. There would be no more Bad Luck Thursday, but there would be Best Luck Tuesday.

  Bella skipped happily to the car.

  She knew now that she’d never have bad luck again. Just good luck.

  Friday, April 25

  Dear Diary,

  Guess what? Obviously, I got my diary back!!! YAY!!!

  My dad found out that Macy, Grace, and Natalie were at the party, so he told their parents and sent them home. Macy’s mom made her surrender my diary. Then he called Mr. Marcantel and told him about the things they’ve done. Macy got suspended, and Natalie and Grace got detention.

  I’ve made really good friends with Raelynn and Penny. They’ve become good friends with me. And I also forgave Laura.

  I know now who are my true friends, and who isn’t.

  I’m really going to miss Bella. I had fun with her. She changed my life. I’ll never be the same again.

  I hope she has fun.

  Anyways, I’m glad I got my diary back. Now I can write in it for the rest of my life.

  Maybe.

  Epilogue:

  Weeks later, confused Thomas picked up the phone and called Maryrose. “Hello? Maryrose, this is Thomas.”

  “Ugh, what do you want?” Maryrose replied. “And how do you have my number?”

  “Never mind that,” Thomas shot back. “I want to know what happened to BLT.”

  “Excuse me?” Maryrose snorted. “Thomas, why are you calling me about a sandwich? Freddy, do you know what he’s talking about?”

  Thomas waited as Freddy said a few words. “The curse? Why would- Thomas, what happened to the curse?” Maryrose asked, confused.

  “Um, it’s gone,” Thomas laughed at Maryrose’s confusion. “There’s no more curse! Now we have good luck on Tuesday! Guess who just hit the jackpot at the casino?”

  “Wait, what?!” Maryrose shrieked.

  There were muffled voices. “Bella- what?! Why didn’t you tell me that?! You WHAT?! YOU-YOU-LITTLE-”

  “What’s going on?” Thomas snickered.

  “My mommy erased your curse because she LOVES you!” Bella cried from the background.

  “Excuse me?” Thomas laughed.

  “SHUT UP OR I’LL STRANGL
E YOU, BELLA!!!!” Maryrose screeched.

  “I think I’d better go,” Thomas laughed nervously.

  “I erased your curse.” Maryrose grunted and hung up.

  Thomas smiled. Maryrose reversed the curse. He knew one day, Maryrose would come to her senses.

  And today was the day.