by April Marcom
“Thanks.”
Nicole didn’t respond after that. It felt like we’d all dodged a bullet. And the day went on to be a total blast!
Ty mostly stood around looking lost when he and Poppy came over later. Ladybugs and decorations obviously weren’t his thing. Turns out it was totally Poppy’s thing, though, the decorating part, at least. She wants to be an interior designer when she grows up.
She brought over giant, colorful tissue paper flowers that we stuck along the bottom of the wall upstairs, leading to my bedroom. Then she took down my drapes and hung this beautiful shimmering red fabric with giant, sparkly black dots pinned to it. Apparently, she was the only member of the Black family to have her own room, and kept her closet jam-packed full of all sorts of crafty things, just in case.
Aside from the scavenger hunt, all I’d come up with was handmade paper ladybug garland, along with cupcakes and strawberries I’d decorated to look like ladybugs. I also hung the little ladybug costume I grew out of years ago on the outside of my bedroom door.
My mom was pretty busy getting ready for her flight once we got home from The Royal Rebellion, but she found time to make us a big tray of assorted fruit before she left. Ty and I were sitting across from Poppy at my kitchen table, painting Styrofoam balls to make ladybug antenna headbands, when my mom slid the tray in between us. A rainbow of berries, sliced pineapple, oranges, and apples spread before us.
“You guys must be hungry,” she said. “You’ve been working on this party for over an hour.”
“Yeah, I’m starved,” I said, reaching for the green grapes. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Cane,” Poppy said. She went straight for the blueberries.
“Yeah, thanks,” Ty added. He smiled at her, but didn’t break away from painting black spots on the little red ball he was holding.
“No problem,” my mom said. “Hadley, do you need anything before I go?”
“I’m good.” I stood up to hug her.
“All right, but call if you need me—anytime, day or night.”
“I will. Love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too. See you Monday after school.” She went to grab her suitcase from the kitchen. “Have fun at your sleepover,” she called back to me on her way out the door.
“Mind if I get a drink of water?” Poppy asked me.
“Go ahead,” I answered.
She passed under the archway into our kitchen. “Should I get you one, too? And you, Ty?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
“Sure,” Ty said. The little ball slipped out from between his fingers. “Oh, crap!” He tried to grab it, but it hit the table and rolled toward me, leaving a trail of red paint behind. “Sorry, Hadley.”
“You’re fine. My mom said it’s washable paint.” I set the one I’d just finished painting on the piece of paper with the others and reached for another one. “These are never going to dry before the squad gets here. I’ll have to put them together with the other cheerleaders later.”
Poppy set two clear glasses of ice water in front of me and Ty, then slipped into her chair on the other side of the table.
“You don’t know how happy I am that you came over with your brother, Poppy,” I said, squishing the last three grapes into my mouth. My next sentence came out slightly muffled. “Everything’s sooo much better wi’ your decorations.”
“You should see her room,” Ty said, working to fix the fallen antenna.
I swallowed part of the grape-mash before I asked, “Yeah? What’s it look like?”
“I’ll give you a clue—she’s in love with Superman.”
“Which one?”
“Not an actor or a movie,” Poppy said. “Just Superman. I love the colors, the outfit, the superpowers. He’s awesome.”
“She’s got a black city skyline covering an entire wall,” Ty added. “The windows have little lights in them and Superman’s flying overhead.”
“Did you do that all yourself?” I asked Poppy.
“Yeah, it only took all summer,” she said with a laugh.
“Wow; I’ve got to see it next time I’m over at your house.”
“You could come over tomorrow night,” Ty said. “As long as Benjamin’s awake, we could watch a movie in my room.” He grinned and winked at me.
“Okay.” My stomach fluttered wonderfully. I smiled and leaned over to kiss him, feeling flight at all the joy inside me because I was sitting there with him on this night instead of broken because we’d broken up.
“We better get out of here soon, Ty,” Poppy said, glancing at the clock hanging above the kitchen archway. “The cheerleaders will be here in less than fifteen minutes.”
He took his phone out of his pocket. “I guess you’re right.”
“Thanks again for helping me, Poppy,” I said, standing up, because she and her brother were, too. “I’d totally invite you to stay if it wasn’t cheerleaders only.”
“Any time. And I’d totally stay if it wasn’t for all the cheerleaders.”
I bit my lip. She laughed, so I laughed, deciding it was cool. No hurt feelings.
“I’ll give you two a minute.” Poppy grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
Ty slid one hand into his pocket and the other across my back. He smiled and watched me until Poppy had shut the door behind her. “You gonna be okay here alone until your mom gets back?” he asked me.
“Yeah. It doesn’t really bother me when she leaves like it used to.” Mostly because I always had my Saturday night sleepovers to keep me distracted. “Your sister’s really cool. You can bring her over anytime.”
“Thanks. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“I can’t wait.”
One quick kiss on the forehead, then he was headed for the door.
24
I looked up at the clock once they’d gone and realized the sleepover really was only a few minutes away. So I went in the kitchen to get the cupcakes and strawberries. Then I took them to my room and texted Nicole to let her know the front door was unlocked.
My nerves started to catch up to me when I sat on my bed and just stopped to look around the room. Face paint and cartoony ladybug activities I’d printed off the internet were on my desk. Friendly ladybugs and flowers hung everywhere. The scavenger hunt cards and snacks were laid across my bed. It looked fantastically fanciful. It looked fun and carefree.
Nicole would either love it or hate it. There was no in between. Flashes of how wonderful and how horrible the night could go whizzed through my mind. I was on edge by the time I heard the door open and Brittany sing out, “We’re heeeere.”
The other girls laughed, and I could hear Zaniah talking about how she couldn’t wait to see what the surprise was on their way up the stairs.
I sucked in a breath and walked across my room to wait beside the door.
Nicole gasped. “Hadley! Someone stuck these horrible, tacky flowers on your wall.”
Not a good start, I thought, squeezing my hands together.
“And what’s that on your doo—” Nicole stopped in my doorway. Her eyes were wide and unreadable as they swept over my room in slow-mo. Her duffle bag fell off her shoulder and hit the floor.
“Is that costume yours?” Zaniah asked when the other four stopped behind Nicole.
“Check out those drapes,” Brittany said in awe.
“Yeah, they’re gorgeous,” Stephanie added.
“What did you do?” Nicole asked in an unnaturally deep voice. There were tears in her eyes when they met mine.
“I wanted to throw a ladybug party mostly for you,” I said. “You know, a flashback to our past…What’s wrong, Nicole?”
“Why would you do this?” She looked positively venomous, as a tear trickled over her cheek. Of all the scenarios I’d imagined, this one hadn’t come up.
“For fun. I wanted to remind you how happy we were as kids—when we didn’t care how popular we were or what anyone else thought about us.”
&nb
sp; “But why?” She sniffled and wiped a tear off rapidly.
“Well—” I struggled for words. She was acting so weird. The other girls just stared at her. No-one knew what to do. “I thought if you remembered these wonderful, perfect days—you might understand—that’s what it’s like when I’m with Ty, but on a more mature level. It’s like, it doesn’t get any better than this when I’m with him.”
A snarly curl came to her lips. “This is about him, then?”
“He makes me so happy, Nicole. I don’t want to get cut from the team, but I don’t want to lose Ty either.”
A tear fell from both her eyes.
“Nicole, what’s wrong?” I tried reaching out for her, but she pushed me away—hard. I stumbled sideways and stared at her, shocked.
“Don’t touch me,” she said hysterically. “And don’t you dare show up to practice Monday.” She grabbed her bag and turned to leave.
“Nicole, wait!” Brittany went after her. Stephanie and Zaniah followed.
Lavender looked back and forth between me and the others. She looked as if she might cry, too.
“Lavender, let’s go,” Nicole ordered.
Her bottom lip quivered when she opened her mouth. She took one last look at me. “I’m sorry, Hadley.” Then she was gone.
I stood there frozen as they stamped down the stairs. Brittany kept telling Nicole to stop and asking her what the deal was—even as the door shut behind them.
Had that really just happened?! All my hopes and dreams dashed to pieces in the blink of an eye?
Breath finally returned to me, bringing with it an awful trembling that spread all over my body. I looked down through blurry tears as I sat on the ground helplessly.
My house was suddenly the emptiest, loneliest place on earth. My mom was out of state. My friends had all sided with Nicole. There was no-one to come to my rescue… except for Ty.
I took my phone from my pocket and dialed his cell with shaking fingers. It rang the bells of isolation once—they felt condemning—a second time—so cruel—then Ty finally answered. “Hello?”
“Nicole cut me from the team,” I cried.
“The cheer team?”
“She told me to break up with you, but I didn’t. I threw a party instead, so she would see how happy you made me, but it made things worse. And now she’s never gonna talk to me again. She told me not to come to practice Monday. She’ll probably have everyone at school hating me by Monday morning. I don’t even know how I’ll get there, cause her mom probably won’t even come get me! I screwed everything up, Ty, and I really don’t want to just sit here all alone all night thinking about it, so could you just come over for a little bit? Please?”
It should have been humiliating to break down so hard like that with a guy. Most of them would have probably been so freaked out, they never would have talked to me again. But not Ty.
The phone went silent for a moment. I almost started calling his name, hurt that he’d hung up on me. Then his masculine voice returned. “Pack an overnight bag. You can spend the night with Poppy. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
I hung up the phone, not sure if I felt better or not. If there was any hope at all of fixing things with Nicole, I needed to avoid Ty. But that felt just as terrible, and I shouldn’t have to do that! And what if I’d really screwed up so badly, there was no hope at all?
“It was just a party,” I said quietly to my empty room, picking myself up off the floor. I moved numbly around my bedroom and bathroom, gathering the things I would need.
I felt a hint of comfort, at least. Even if this whole mess started with Ty, I was grateful that he was there for me in my darkest hour.
As I sat on the couch and waited for him, all my life goals and opportunities seemed to drift away. I held my blank phone screen in front of me, wondering if Nicole truly meant what she said.
I decided to send her a simple text:
Can’t we at least talk about this?
I heard Ty’s bike pull up outside. My courage faltered. Maybe I should wait and text her in the morning, when her emotions have had a chance to settle. It was just a simple question, though. So I hit send as the front door opened.
My fingers swiped softly underneath both eyes, even though I’d worked to stop the crying and fix my soggy makeup before Ty got there. I stood up, but didn’t know what to say. So I watched Ty cross the small entry area and then the living room.
He gave me a reassuring smile and kissed my forehead. “So, you want to talk about it?”
I shrugged, pressing back the lump in my throat.
My cell phone buzzed in my hand. I held it up desperately. My text had bounced back. “She—she blocked my number,” I said, devastated. “We’ve been best friends forever, literally, and she blocked my number.” There was no holding back the tears now.
Ty took my other hand and sat on the couch, tugging me gently so I would sit beside him. He put an arm around me and held me close. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what happened, and maybe I can make it better?”
I tilted my head to stare up at him. “This whole thing is so stupid.” I scooted over as close to him as I could get and wrapped my arms around his neck, hoping he wouldn’t mind. He scooped me into a great hug, easing the pain.
It was easier to tell him everything when I was nestled against his chest, eyes closed and clinging to him like he was a life raft and I was stranded at sea. I left out the very beginning, though: Nicole daring me to ask him out. Even though I knew he would probably forgive me, I was too afraid of losing him to lay it all out in the open.
Ty held me close, listening intently, as he brushed the fingers of one hand back and forth against my arm. My tears slowed early on, and I’d stopped crying well before I was finished telling the story.
“Sounds like Nicole put you in an impossible position,” Ty said when I was finished. “You know I would never ask you to give up something you love so much for me.”
I sat up to stare him right in the eyes. “Are you saying I should have broken up with you?”
“No, I’m just saying I wouldn’t blame you if you broke up with me instead of giving up your plans for the future.”
“I don’t want us to break up, and I don’t think it would matter now, anyway.”
Ty rested his hands against my neck. “I don’t want us to break up, either; I just hate to see you suffer.” His hands slid upward into my hair. His lips moved closer to mine. His kiss was like an elixir, offering a burst of liberation and joy. Maybe that’s why he drew it out for so long. He must have known how badly I needed him and that kiss.
Ty pressed his cheek against mine when our lips parted ways. I closed my eyes as he whispered into my ear. “I love you, Hadley.”
I took in a long, deep breath and let out a contented sigh. “I love you, too, Ty,” I whispered in return.
Ty kissed the top of my ear and leaned back so I could see his gorgeous face again. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
I smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Ty.”
He kissed me once more before he reached for my bag and we both got up. A night away from home and lots of extra time with my boyfriend was exactly what I needed.
25
My phone buzzed with a text message the next morning. The night was so sleepless, and I was so deep asleep now, I probably wouldn’t have gotten up if I wasn’t so desperate to hear from Nicole.
I was curled up inside a thick, blue sleeping bag on Poppy’s floor, my cell phone lying on the pillow beside my head.
I didn’t recognize the number in the little alert box, but I saw, This is Stephanie! at the beginning of the message when I turned on the screen. I sat up straight and clicked to open the message.
This is Stephanie! I’m on my mom’s phone cuz Nicole blocked ur number on all our phones. Just want u 2 no it was her & not us. Hoping this whole thing’s over soon & Nicole comes 2 her senses. Luv u!
I appreciated her text. Of course, I would have appreciated it more if
she or any of the other girls had stuck up for me a little harder. They’d all sided with Nicole, obviously. I understood their fear, but still resented them enough I didn’t text Stephanie back.
Poppy slept soundly in the bed beside me. It was draped from the ceiling to the floor with red, mesh fabric resembling a superman cape. She’d sewn on the giant red S symbol and everything.
Her room really was spectacular. The tiny lit windows sprinkling the black cityscape across the wall behind her bed’s headboard were all wired to a single red button at the corner of the display. I got up and went to turn them off, then grabbed my overnight bag and took it to the long white and mint-green bathroom.
My mom texted me while I was brushing my teeth in front of the double vanity mirrors.
Sleepover go ok?
It was too much to explain through text, and I didn’t want to call her and start crying while I was still at Ty’s. So I simply texted back,
Call u 2nite with details
It felt weird waking up at Ty’s house. I took extra care putting on makeup and straightening my hair, wondering what I was supposed to do if I walked out of the bathroom and everyone else was still asleep.
Ty was standing right outside the door with a fresh change of clothes in hand when I opened it, though, so that concern was quickly put to rest. He was wearing a white T-shirt and blue plaid pajama pants, looking sleepy but still as gorgeous as ever.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said with a tired grin.
“Good morning, Ty.” I felt really special being the first one to see my boyfriend when he woke up, like what if we got to do this every morning someday…
“Give me five minutes and we can go for a walk to the park around the corner for breakfast.” He kissed my cheek and disappeared into the bathroom. The door lock clicked, then the shower kicked on.
I put my night bag just inside Poppy’s room and grabbed my purse. Then I went to sit in their empty living room.
My phone buzzed. I held it up as I sunk into the couch and saw another strange phone number sending me a text.
