Caitlin's Lucky Charm

by Lisa Schroeder

  Mrs. Rogers stopped at a stoplight, then turned around. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, sweetie. I called yesterday. Should be good to go by Monday.”

  Isaac did a fist pump in the air. “Yes!”

  As Isaac turned back to playing with his car, Caitlin thought about how lucky she was to have friends she could talk to.

  Jade, who’d helped her so much with her campaign and had stayed so positive about it all.

  Esther and Tezra, who’d both been really encouraging, at just the right times.

  And, of course, Mia, Hannah, and Libby. Each of them had believed in her ability to make friends more than Caitlin had. And every time she’d thought of them, it had reminded her that although finding and making friends might not always be easy, in the end, it was so worth it.

  Caitlin fingered the bracelet and knew today was the day she needed to get a charm. It was time to send it off to the next person. She’d already decided whom she’d send it to. Mia had a broken foot and Caitlin wanted so much to do something that would cheer her up. She’d send the bracelet along with a package of cookies or something. If only she could send a fruit pizza. The thought made Caitlin smile. Now that would cheer her up!

  When they got to the mall, Jessi asked if she could just get some money and go off on her own.

  “I figured that’s what you’d want to do,” Mrs. Rogers said as she reached into her purse. She pulled out two envelopes and handed one to each of the girls. “You two can go together and buy what you need while I take Isaac to try on some things. Let’s meet by the big glass elevators in two hours. That will be twelve thirty. We’ll grab some lunch in the food court, and then if there are more things you need to get, we’ll go together. How’s that?”

  Caitlin nodded enthusiastically as she peeked inside the envelope before sticking it in her purse. It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. This way, she could get some clothes, hopefully on sale, and then shop for the charm with the money she had left over.

  “All right,” Mrs. Rogers said. “Please, be safe. Try and stick together. And call me if you need anything, all right?”

  “We’ll be fine, Mom,” Jessi said. “We’re at the mall, not the state penitentiary.”

  “Can we go to the LEGO store, Mom?” Isaac asked. “Please, please, please?”

  “Because you don’t have enough LEGOS in your room to pick up and put away?” Mrs. Rogers teased. “I suppose we can make a quick stop in there. But just to look. Your birthday’s coming up in a couple of months, you know.”

  They turned and left, and then Caitlin asked Jessi, “So, where do you want to go?”

  Her sister stuck the envelope into her little black purse. “Well, I’m going to that adorable store Just Between Friends. I don’t know where you’re going.”

  “Jessi, Mom said we should stick together.”

  “Whatever. I prefer to shop alone. But you can shop there too, if you want to. Or not. I mean, you’re a big girl. You can decide what you want to do.”

  Jessi turned and started walking. Caitlin hung back but followed her. It probably wasn’t cool to be seen with your little sister at the mall. Caitlin wondered why she couldn’t have a sister who was also her friend. Her mother had told her once, when Jessi had been particularly mean to Caitlin for some silly little thing, that it wouldn’t be this way forever. Just because they weren’t really friends now didn’t mean they never would be, she’d said.

  The girls shopped in the store for more than an hour but kept their distance from each other. Caitlin mostly shopped the sale racks and wound up with two new pairs of jeans, a couple of skirts, and some new tops. She still had some money left to buy a charm, and that’s what she wanted to shop for next. What she didn’t know was whether she should tell Jessi about the charm bracelet.

  While she waited for her sister to finish shopping, Caitlin stood out front, eyeing the big department store just a few stores down. That’s where she wanted to go. She figured she’d have the most luck finding a charm there.

  When her sister finally emerged, they only had twenty more minutes until they needed to meet up with their mom and brother. Caitlin decided to tell Jessi the truth.

  “Did you get some good stuff?” Caitlin asked, trying to be nice.

  “Thankfully, yes.”

  “I was wondering if we could go look at some jewelry next. I need to get a charm for my bracelet.” Caitlin held out her arm so Jessi could see what she was talking about.

  “Oh, that’s pretty,” she said. “When’d you get that?”

  “At camp. Four of us girls went in on it together, and we’re kind of sharing it. I’m supposed to buy a charm and then send it on to another girl to wear.”

  Caitlin waited for Jessi to laugh at her, or to make some smart remark about how childish it was to share a bracelet.

  But she didn’t do either.

  “Wow,” she said. “I love that. It’s like a way to keep your camp friends close until you see each other again.” She paused. “You know, I’m sort of jealous of your ability to make friends so easily. I mean, look at how you already fit in at your new school. For the past few weeks, I’ve been having trouble getting along with my friends, who I’ve known forever.”

  Maybe that was why Jessi had been acting so grouchy. “I’m sorry,” Caitlin said. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “I don’t think so,” she said with a sigh. “I’m gonna see if Mom will let me have them over for pizza and a movie tomorrow afternoon. Pizza will make things better, don’t you think?”

  Caitlin thought of her four friends at camp and that fruit pizza they’d loved so much. “Definitely,” she said. Then she had an idea. “How about if I make a super-delicious dessert for you and your friends? Something amazing that will make them forget why they were ever upset with you.”

  “You’d do that for me?” she asked.

  “Jessi, friends are important,” Caitlin said. “I want to help you. Besides, I hate seeing you so miserable all the time.”

  “What are you going to make?”

  Caitlin didn’t want to tell her. She wanted the fruit pizza to be a surprise. “Something I had at camp. It’s really good. You’ll see.”

  “So,” Jessi said, “what kind of charm are you going to get, do you know?”

  “A flower,” Caitlin responded as they started walking toward the department store together.

  Jessi nodded. “Let me guess. Because you’ve had to figure out how to bloom where you’re planted?”

  It made Caitlin smile. Her sister knew her well. Better than either of them would probably ever admit. “Exactly.”

  Maybe, Caitlin thought, there was hope for the two of them to be friends someday after all.

  Monday morning, Caitlin told herself she shouldn’t be nervous. There was no way she was going to win the election.

  And yet, as she got ready for school, she was a bundle of nerves.

  She grabbed the bottle of conditioner instead of the shampoo in the shower, and took ten minutes longer in the shower to fix that mistake.

  At breakfast, she poured orange juice on her cereal instead of milk.

  And as she walked out the door, she happened to look down at her feet and noticed she had on two different shoes.

  She ran back inside, muttering at herself as she went.

  “Caitlin?” her mom asked. “Is everything all right?”

  She pointed to her feet. “Does this answer your question?”

  Her mom put her hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry. It’s going to be okay. Whatever happens today, you know we’re all proud of you.”

  Caitlin changed her shoes, then ran all the way to the bus stop, making it in the knick of time.

  As she walked into school, she fiddled with the cute flower charm that now hung from the bracelet. Later, she would take it off and mail it to Mia. But she’d wanted to wear it just one more day. It had helped get her through her speech, and she knew it would help her get th
rough a stressful day of announcements.

  Esther was waiting for Caitlin at their locker. She moved aside so Caitlin could put her backpack and jacket inside.

  “Hey,” Esther said. “Cute clothes. Are they new?”

  “Thanks. Yeah, we went to the mall on Saturday.”

  “Are you nervous?” she asked. “About the election?”

  “I don’t want to be,” Caitlin said as she grabbed her notebook, a couple of books, and a pencil for homeroom. “But yeah, I am. I mean, it’s fine if I don’t win, you know? I just … I want to get it over with, I think.”

  “I understand,” she said. “It’s the way I feel about the play. I might be a little disappointed if I don’t get a part, but it’s just the waiting and not knowing that’s driving me crazy right now.”

  “That’s exactly how I feel.”

  She shut the locker door and the two girls headed to class. As they walked, Caitlin spotted Tezra at her locker.

  “Let’s go say hi,” Caitlin said.

  They went over and Tezra gave each of them a hug. “I’m so glad to see you two. I wanted to tell you to come find me at lunch so we can sit together. I made cookies last night and brought some for all of us to share.”

  A warm, happy feeling washed over Caitlin. She’d brought cookies. To share!

  “Ooh, what kind?” Esther asked. “I hope they don’t have raisins. I hate raisins.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oops, I probably shouldn’t have said that. Now if they do have raisins, I’ll feel really bad.”

  “Don’t worry,” Tezra said with a big smile. Caitlin noticed she had dimples in her cheeks when she smiled big and wide. “I made sugar cookies. You’ll like them, I promise.”

  Caitlin rubbed her hands together. “I can’t wait! Thank you for doing that. We’ll see you at lunch, then.”

  “Yeah. And don’t forget, after school the play assignments are going to be posted.”

  “Forget?” Esther said, laughing, “It’s all I can think about.”

  Caitlin and Esther made their way to class. When they walked into homeroom, Mr. Hankins smiled and said, “Good morning, ladies. Caitlin, are you holding up all right?”

  “I had kind of a rough morning,” Caitlin replied. She looked over at Esther. “But everything’s better now.”

  “Glad to hear it,” he said. “The principal will be sharing all the election news during the morning announcements.”

  “Good,” Caitlin whispered to Esther as they made their way to their seats. “Let’s hurry up and get it over with.”

  Brie and her friends were whispering among themselves as Caitlin and Esther sat down. Maybe they were whispering about her and her silly speech, but Caitlin told herself she didn’t care. No matter what happened, she’d found friends who liked her and accepted her. She was almost embarrassed now, thinking back to how badly she’d wanted to be a part of their little group, and why? What had they ever done to show Caitlin anything but how tight and exclusive their group was?

  She looked over at Esther, who gave her an encouraging smile, just like always. Then she told Caitlin, “This is worse than going to bed with a tooth under my pillow, wondering how much money I’d get from the tooth fairy.”

  Caitlin grinned. “I know, right? Hey, did you ever wonder if you’d wake up and be surprised to find a ten-dollar bill?”

  Esther nodded. “I even wrote the tooth fairy a note one time. It said, ‘This tooth is very special to me. I’m really sad to be losing it. Can you please give me a lot of money so I won’t be so sad?’ ”

  “Did it work?” Caitlin asked.

  “Are you kidding? I got a dollar bill, like I always did, with a note that said, ‘Little girl, you should be glad you lost a tooth and not an ear.’ ”

  The two girls laughed as the bell rang. A minute later, the principal came on over the loudspeaker. Caitlin squeezed the flower charm in her hand, her heart beating so hard, she wondered if Esther could hear it.

  “I know you’re all anxious to hear about our new student body officers, so I’ll get right to it,” Mr. Eckhart said. “I want you all to know I was very impressed with the speeches on Thursday. You’re all winners in my book. All right, here we go. We’ll start with the sixth grade. After tabulating the votes, we have D. J. Michaels for treasurer, Gina Tran for secretary, Kai Krokum for vice president, and …”

  Caitlin held her breath.

  “Our new sixth-grade president is Kristopher Barry.”

  A couple of kids in the classroom whooped and hollered, while others, including Brie and her friends, groaned.

  “Congratulations one and all,” Mr. Eckhart continued. “Now moving on to the seventh grade …”

  “Sorry,” Esther whispered, reaching over and giving Caitlin’s arm a friendly squeeze.

  “It’s okay,” Caitlin said, finally able to breathe.

  Caitlin felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to find Brie staring at her.

  “I can’t believe that,” she told her. “You totally should have beat Kristopher. I mean, all that Star Wars talk? Come on, it’s so last year.”

  “Oh. Well, thanks.”

  “I think you should run next year,” Brie said. “I’d totally vote for you.”

  Caitlin shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I will.”

  “Quiet, please,” Mr. Hankins said.

  They stopped talking and listened to the rest of the names. Esther passed Caitlin a note.

  “It’s way better you didn’t win. Now you have a lot more time to read books. Our team is going to smoke all the other teams, just wait and see.”

  Caitlin really liked her new friend.

  * * *

  At lunch, they found Tezra. “I’m so sorry you didn’t win,” she said as the three girls sat down at a table together. “Are you doing okay? Is there anything we can do?”

  “I’m fine,” Caitlin said. “Really. My campaign wasn’t that great. If I run next year, I’ll do a much better job.”

  “We’ll help you,” Esther said. “We’ll be your personal campaign team.”

  “That’s right,” Tezra said.

  “Cool,” Caitlin said, taking the sandwich out of her lunch bag.

  “Here. Maybe this will make you feel better.” Tezra passed Caitlin a big, round sugar cookie with the words Proud to be your friend. She passed one to Esther too.

  “I figured whether you won or lost,” Tezra explained, “it would be one hundred percent true.”

  “These are amazing,” Caitlin said. “Thank you so much. Honestly, I’m just glad it’s over.”

  “Now we wait for the last bell of the day to ring,” Tezra said. “It’s like they enjoy torturing us, you know?”

  Caitlin gulped down a bite of her sandwich. She hadn’t expected to win the election, and she wasn’t that disappointed when she’d lost. But she suddenly realized if her two friends got a part in the musical and she didn’t get anything, she was going to be upset.

  Really upset.

  After school, the girls gathered outside the music room along with a bunch of other students. When Mrs. Sears stepped out, holding the cast list, the crowd buzzed with excitement.

  “I’m so glad to see lots of enthusiasm for our musical,” she told the students. “Tomorrow I’ll hand out scripts to all of the students selected, and you’ll want to start memorizing your lines right away. We’ll begin rehearsals a week from today. Thanks to all of you who tried out, and please know, in some cases, it was a very difficult decision.”

  She taped the cast list to the wall and then turned and went back into the music room.

  Caitlin hadn’t cared that much about the election. After all, she’d gotten into it in the first place for basically all the wrong reasons. But the musical was different. She really wanted a part. As people pushed and shoved their way to the sheet, she found herself wishing really hard as she fiddled with the charm bracelet.

  Please let me get a part.

  Please let me get a part.

  Please
let me —

  “Oh my gosh, I’m Fern!” Brie called out. “And Lavinia, you’re …” Caitlin watched as she moved her finger across the cast list. “Templeton.”

  The four fun girls squealed, jumping up and down in celebration.

  Caitlin looked at her friends.

  “I wonder who got Wilbur,” Caitlin said. “And Charlotte.”

  “Good for you,” a kid said, “but can you move out of the way so we can see the rest of the cast?”

  Caitlin felt sick. Lavinia had been really good. If she didn’t get Charlotte, surely Caitlin didn’t get it. There was no way Caitlin had sung better than Lavinia, especially with the silly snowman song. Was there?

  The three girls inched closer and closer to the cast list, as kids read it and walked away, most with disappointment on their faces.

  Finally, Caitlin had wiggled her way through the crowd so she was close enough to read the cast list. She looked back at her friends, who were looking at her with eager anticipation.

  And in that moment, Caitlin realized it was time to do something for her friends for a change. Esther and Tezra had done so much for her during the campaign. It was time to give back a little bit.

  So Caitlin scanned the sheet, from the bottom of the list going up, not looking for her own name, but the names of her friends.

  “Tezra, you’re the goose,” Caitlin called out. “And Esther, you’re the sheep!”

  Caitlin watched as the two girls grabbed each other’s arms and started jumping up and down. “We did it, we did it,” they said as they jumped.

  Caitlin was shaking as she turned around. This time, she went down the list from the top.

  And there it was. Her name. After the kids who would play the various Zuckerman family members and Wilbur.

  Caitlin’s name was in the spot she had hoped and wished for.

  “I’m Charlotte!” she squealed as she ran to her friends, who had moved out of the crowd of people. “I can’t believe it! My wish came true — I got the part I wanted.”

  As the three girls jumped around, hugging and laughing, Caitlin realized what a mistake it had been, worrying so much about the election, when it was the play she’d really wanted to be a part of all along. It was like the fun girls. She’d been so distracted, focusing on what she thought she wanted, she’d almost missed out on some great friends.