by Mimi McCoy
Gradually, the houses became more run-down. They saw row houses with peeling paint and yards full of unraked leaves. When the houses gave way to buildings, mostly warehouses, with empty lots in between, Anna knew they were getting close to the river.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked.
“Almost there,” Emma said in reply.
They walked another block and came to an old brick building surrounded by a chain-link fence. Some of the windows were covered with plywood, while others were just gaping holes, like empty eye sockets in a skull. The building was clearly abandoned. Nearby, cars rushed past on the ramp leading up to the bridge that crossed the river into downtown.
Anna had seen this building before on car trips with her parents; seen it in the way you see things without really noticing them. It was just part of the landscape, an ugly blotch that her eye usually passed over in search of something more interesting.
Ignoring a NO TRESPASSING sign, Emma squeezed through a hole in the fence. Anna followed reluctantly. The ground around the building was littered with glass bottles, rusted beer cans, and cigarette butts — evidence that other people had been there. People Anna didn’t necessarily want to run into.
When they got to the building, Emma set down the backpack and took out the cans of paint. Now Anna knew why they were there. The brick wall of the building was covered in graffiti.
“You said you felt invisible,” Emma said, handing her a can of paint. “Now’s your chance. Put your name where hundreds of people will see you every day.” She swept an arm toward the cars buzzing past on their way to the bridge.
Anna’s heart began to pound. She’d heard of kids being fined hundreds of dollars for getting caught tagging buildings. But now that she was standing there with the can of spray paint in her hand, the urge to write something was irresistible.
She studied the tags that were already there: scrawled names, goofy faces, initials in big bubble letters. Spaz. MJ rules. GoGo.
Anna uncapped the can and slowly shook it, listening to the bead inside rattle. After a second’s hesitation, she wrote ANNA on the wall in big block letters.
She stepped back and giggled. She’d done it!
Emma nodded approvingly. She uncapped the other paint can and wrote EMMA in red next to Anna’s name.
Emma shook the can again, hard, then continued to write, so now it read
ANNA + EMMA = BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!
Emma stepped back and stood next to Anna. They both stared at the words. Emma had written in such huge letters that it stood out from everything else on the wall. Anna felt a little thrill. No one could miss seeing their names now.
“It’s permanent,” Emma said in a thoughtful voice. “It can never be erased.”
After that, they sat leaning against the wall, watching the traffic and the river flowing by below. The river water was gray and sludgy, and occasionally some bit of trash would come bobbing along. But it felt good to sit there with the warm sun on their faces.
“Why do you keep fiddling with that?” Emma asked.
Anna looked down and realized she was twisting her bracelet around and around on her wrist. It was a beaded friendship token Dory had made for her the year before. “I didn’t even notice I was doing it,” she said.
Emma grabbed Anna’s wrist and examined the bracelet. “It’s cool,” she said. “I’ll trade you for it.”
Anna hesitated. It seemed wrong to give a friendship bracelet away, even if Dory wasn’t her friend anymore. “It’s just an old bracelet,” she said. “It’s not worth anything.”
“Come on. I’ll trade you for my ring,” Emma said, holding out her pinky ring. The fire opal flashed in the sunlight. “We are best friends forever, right?”
This was too much for Anna to resist. She’d so wanted a friend like Emma. She undid the clasp on the bracelet and passed it over. Dory will never know, she thought. And anyway, Emma’s my best friend now.
Anna slipped the ring onto her right pinky finger and admired it. She felt as if she’d found the old ring she’d lost as a kid.
A gust of cool wind blew off the river, ruffling Anna’s bangs. Suddenly, she noticed how low the sun was in the sky. “I’d better get home,” she said, hopping up. “If I’m late for dinner, my mom’ll kill me.”
Emma climbed to her feet, too. “Do you do everything your parents tell you?”
Anna shrugged. “I guess so. I mean, they’re my parents.”
Emma mumbled something that sounded like, “You didn’t used to.” But her face was turned toward the river, and Anna couldn’t really hear.
“What did you say?” she asked.
Emma turned back to her. “Nothing. Come on. Let’s go.”
They walked together back to school. “See you tomorrow?” Emma asked as they parted ways.
“Yup.” Anna nodded. She watched as Emma walked away, her braids swinging behind her like two long chains.
Then she turned and set out for her own house, turning up her collar and shrugging her shoulders against the chill wind that had suddenly come up. Despite the cold, Anna felt warm with happiness. Emma Diablo, the coolest girl at school, was her best friend. Forever.
Chapter Six
“I haven’t seen Dory around here in a while,” Anna’s mother remarked that evening.
They were in the kitchen, washing up after dinner. Anna rinsed a frying pan under running water and handed it to her mother. “Yeah, I guess we haven’t been hanging out much,” she replied carefully.
Anna’s mother looked at her as she ran a dishcloth over the pan. She had eyes like Anna’s — big and dark, with long eyelashes. “Did you two have a fight or something?”
“No, Mom,” Anna huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. It was the truth. She’d never actually had a fight with Dory. She’d just sort of stopped hanging out with her, without ever explaining why.
“It’s not like I have to do everything with Dory,” she added. “I have other friends, too, you know.”
“Of course,” her mother said lightly. “I just wondered, that’s all.”
“In fact, I made a new friend at school,” Anna went on. “Her name is Emma.”
“That’s a pretty name.” Mrs. Dipalo’s lips curled in a tiny smile.
“What’s so funny?” Anna asked.
“Oh, it just reminded me of something,” her mother said as she dried a serving spoon. “You had an imaginary friend named Emma when you were little. Don’t you remember?”
Anna shook her head.
“It was a long time ago, before Dory moved into the neighborhood. All the kids on our block were older, and I think you missed having someone to play with.”
Mrs. Dipalo paused with the spoon in midair, remembering. “Although she was more like your partner in crime. You were always getting into trouble and blaming it on Emma. Like the time you poured juice on your father’s laptop. Or the time you pulled the heads off all our neighbor’s roses.” She laughed. “That one I’ll never forget. Mrs. Knox was furious. When I asked you why you did it, you said, ‘I didn’t do it, Mommy. Emma did!’”
“That’s funny.” Anna furrowed her brow. “I don’t remember doing any of those things.”
“Well, I’m not surprised. It was a long time ago,” her mother said. “But I’ll tell you, I was glad when Dory came along. We didn’t hear too much about Emma after that.”
As they finished up the dishes, Anna’s mother seemed to be thinking about something.
“I’m glad you made a new friend, sweetie,” she said, after a moment. “But don’t forget the old saying.”
“What saying?” asked Anna as she handed her the last pot to dry.
“ ‘Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other’s gold.’”
Anna rolled her eyes. “Mom, that’s so corny.”
“Corny, maybe,” her mother replied. “But true.”
Anna unplugged the sink then dried her hands on a clean dishtowel. “Are we done h
ere?”
Mrs. Dipalo looked around the clean kitchen. “I guess we are. You are released from duty.”
“Good,” said Anna. “ ’Cause I’ve got homework.”
By the time she’d climbed the stairs to her room, her mother’s words had already faded from her mind. She was too busy thinking about the fun she’d had with Emma that day, and wondering what new adventures the next day would bring.
Now that she spent all her free time with Emma, Anna hardly ever saw Dory. The only class they shared was science, and since Anna had moved to Benny’s lab table, they no longer talked there, either. If she saw Dory coming down the hall, she usually ducked the other way. Anna didn’t like confrontation. If she could have, she would have gone on avoiding Dory forever.
But, as it happened, the very next day Dory caught her at her locker as Anna was putting her books away. “Hey, Anna!” Dory called, striding over.
Anna groaned inwardly. She glanced up and down the hall, wondering if she should pretend to have to rush off somewhere. But it was too late. Dory had already reached her.
“I haven’t seen you for a while,” Dory said a little too brightly. She was breathing fast, as if she’d hurried to get there. “Want to come over after school today? I’m working on a new video starring Hester and Harold. It’s going to be Romeo and Juliet.”
Hester and Harold were Dory’s pet hamsters. Dory loved to film movies with them in the lead roles. There was a time when Anna would have thought doing Romeo and Juliet with hamsters was a hilarious way to spend the afternoon. But that time was over since she’d met Emma.
“Sorry, I can’t.” Anna pretended to search for something in her notebook, hoping Dory would take the hint and leave.
But Dory just stood there. “Are you mad at me?” she asked suddenly, the brightness gone from her voice.
Anna sighed. “I just think,” she mumbled, without quite looking Dory in the eye, “maybe we just shouldn’t hang out anymore.”
Dory stared at her. “Why not?”
At that moment, Anna caught sight of Emma coming toward them through the crowded hallway. Thank goodness, she thought. Anna smiled and waved to her. But although Emma seemed to glance in her direction, she walked past without stopping.
“Who are you waving at?” asked Dory, following her gaze.
“Emma,” Anna replied distractedly. What was that all about? she wondered.
Dory’s brow wrinkled. “Who’s Emma?”
“My friend. She’s right —” Anna broke off. Emma had disappeared.
“Well, maybe we could all hang out sometime.” Dory tried a smile, but her voice quavered.
Stop being so pathetic! Anna wanted to shout. “Look,” she said sharply. “I just don’t think we have anything in common, Dory. Okay?”
Before Dory could reply, Anna slammed her locker shut and hurried away. She had to find Emma and make sure that nothing was wrong.
Anna looked for Emma by her locker, but she didn’t find her there. She checked everywhere else she could think of, even going up to the third-floor bathroom to see if the window was open (the sign that Emma was on the roof), but it was shut tight and locked from the inside. Emma didn’t seem to be in any of her usual places.
It wasn’t until Anna had given up and was leaving school that she spotted Emma. She was standing at a maple tree in front of the school, leaning against its trunk. She made no move to greet Anna as she hurried up.
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” Anna said. “Why didn’t you say hi to me in the hall?”
“What were you and Dory talking about?” Emma asked coldly.
“Nothing!” Anna said. Was that what Emma was upset about? “She just wanted to know what I was doing after school.”
“I thought you said she wasn’t your friend anymore.”
“She’s not. We were just talking,” Anna explained, confused. Why was Emma acting so strange?
Emma said nothing, but her eyes pierced Anna coldly. Anna shivered and tugged at the zipper of her windbreaker. After the long stretch of Indian summer, the weather had finally taken a turn. Now, heavy clouds filled the sky like piles of wet cotton, and the sharp smell of burning leaves hung in the air.
“We were just talking,” Anna repeated. “Let’s forget it, okay?” She tried a smile. “So, what should we do today? Want to go back down by the river? I think there’s still some paint left. Or we could go to the park….”
Emma pushed herself off the tree. “Not today. I have something to take care of.”
Without any more explanation, she turned and walked away.
Saturday morning, Anna awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. She rolled over in bed and checked her clock. It was just after seven thirty. Who would call so early on a Saturday? she wondered with irritation.
Anna flopped back on her pillow and closed her eyes, but she couldn’t go back to sleep. Finally, she climbed out of bed. She pulled on jeans and a sweater and went down to the kitchen.
Her mother was standing in the middle of the room holding the cordless phone. She had a funny look on her face. “That was Dory’s mother on the phone,” she told Anna.
“Oh, yeah?” said Anna. She got a box of cereal down from the cupboard and poured herself a bowl, then went to the refrigerator to get milk.
“Something happened at the Welches’ house last night,” Mrs. Dipalo said.
Anna paused with her hand on the refrigerator handle, waiting for her mom to go on.
“Their property was vandalized,” her mother told her. “Someone wrote on the lawn in spray paint.”
Anna’s mouth fell open. “What did they write?” she asked.
Her mother cleared her throat, as if she wasn’t quite comfortable saying it out loud. “ ‘Dorky Dory.’”
“That’s awful!” It had to have been the Jackals, Anna thought. They’re getting back at her for walking out on their stupid trick. Poor Dory.
“Do they know who did it?” she asked her mother, wondering if she should say something about Jessamyn.
Mrs. Dipalo’s worried eyes burrowed into Anna’s. “Dory says it was you.”
“What?”
“Dory told her mother that she heard something in the middle of the night. She looked out the window and saw you running down the street.”
“It’s not true!” Anna exclaimed. “She’s lying.”
“Why would she say something like that?” her mother asked.
“She’s just jealous because I’ve been hanging out with Emma. And now she’s trying to get back at me.” Anna yanked open the refrigerator door and grabbed the milk. “I can’t believe she would say that! You believe me, right? You know I would never do something like that.”
“That’s what I told her mother.” Mrs. Dipalo looked relieved. “I knew it couldn’t have been you.”
Anna sat down at the table to eat her cereal. She spooned it into her mouth, chewing furiously, but she didn’t taste a thing. She was so mad she could hardly think straight.
The nerve of Dory, trying to get her in trouble like that! The sympathy Anna had felt for her just moments before had vanished.
When she’d finished eating, Anna prowled around the house, looking for something to do, but she was too worked up to focus on anything. Every time she thought about Dory, she felt angry all over again.
Finally, Anna put on her sneakers and her jacket, got her bike out of the garage, and pedaled the few blocks to Dory’s house.
When she got close, she slowed down. Dory’s older brother, Drew, was out front, mowing the lawn. He ran the mower back and forth across the grass, but Anna could see that it wasn’t doing much good. The bright red letters DORKY DORY were still clearly visible in the green grass. It would be days, or even weeks, before they faded.
Anna rode past slowly, making sure to stay on the far side of the street so Drew wouldn’t notice her. As she glanced up at the house, she thought she saw a curtain move, but no one appeared in the window.
Was it D
ory? Anna wondered. She imagined Dory sulking behind the curtains, waiting for her to come up the front steps and apologize.
Well, she can wait for the rest of her life, because it’s never going to happen! Anna thought, pedaling away. As far as she was concerned, her friendship with Dory was over. For good.
Chapter Seven
The rest of the weekend dragged by. Anna tried to call Emma several times, but she always got a message saying the number was disconnected. She figured Emma hadn’t paid for her minutes again. With nothing else to do, Anna spent the weekend moping around the house and plotting what she’d say to Dory when she saw her at school on Monday.
But on Monday Anna didn’t see Dory at her locker, and in science class, Dory’s seat was empty.
“Did you hear about Dory? Or, I should say, ‘Dorky Dory,’ “ Anna overheard someone say at the next table. It was Krystal, the biggest gossip in the seventh grade, gabbing to her lab partners as usual.
If Krystal was talking about Dory, Anna knew that meant everyone in school had heard about what had happened — or soon would. For as long as she was at Wilson, no one would ever say Dory’s name again without adding “Dorky” to it.
Well, she deserves it, Anna fumed as she stared at Dory’s empty seat. Serves her right for trying to get me in trouble, the little backstabber.
“Hey, hello out there.” Benny waved his hand in front of her face. “Earth to Anna.”
“Huh?” Anna blinked at him.
“Phew!” Benny feigned relief. “For a second there, I thought you’d donated your brain to science.”
Anna giggled. Benny’s jokes were kind of dumb, but they always made her laugh.
“So,” he said, “are you going to help me on this experiment or what?”
Thoughts of Dory slipped from Anna’s mind as she and Benny turned to their assignment.
