by Annie Bryant
Maeve smiled and put her arms around Katani’s and Isabel’s shoulders. “They are, in fact. Shall we walk you to your car? I wouldn’t want you to waste even one more second of your precious time.”
“No thanks.” Stacy sneered. “Will I see you at my Bat Mitzvah boat party next month?”
“Hmmm.” Maeve pretended to think about it.
Isabel squeezed Maeve tighter. “I think we might have a sleepover planned for that evening already.”
“Sorry!” Avery added.
The girls managed to keep it together until Stacy was just out of earshot, then collapsed with laughter. Maeve’s eyes started to tear. “You are the greatest BFFs a girl could ever have,” she said, choking on the words.
“You have no idea how great we really are!” Avery blurted out.
“Huh? What?” Maeve looked at her suspiciously.
“She’s just saying.” Charlotte covered Avery’s tracks. “We’re better friends than anyone could ever realize.”
“Oh.” Maeve grinned. “Of course!”
“Gotta run.” Katani grabbed Avery’s hand and yanked her toward the door.
“Hasta luego!” Isabel followed them, with Charlotte and Sophie close behind. “Have fun at your lunch!”
“Aren’t you guys going to hang out awhile?” Maeve dashed after her friends. “We might not be having an official party, but there is a small reception in the social hall. I was hoping you’d stay at least a few minutes.”
“I’m sorry,” Charlotte told Maeve. “But my dad is driving us all . . . home. And he just drove up!”
Maeve looked to Katani for confirmation.
Katani nodded. “We’ll catch up later. Okay?”
“Wait!” Maeve protested. “It’s Sophie’s last day in town. We should at least have a good-bye party that’s better than the welcome one when she first came. How about we meet in the Tower later, okay?”
“But of course.” Sophie nodded vaguely.
Then Isabel checked her watch in a way that was so dramatic, Maeve wondered if she was vying for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. “Mr. Ramsey is probably sitting out in the car right now,” Isabel proclaimed, overenunciating and tapping her foot.
“Maeve! Congratulations!” Grandma Taylor engulfed Maeve in a hug that smelled like lavender, and then a whole swarm of cousins from Atlanta rushed in, shouting, “Mazel Tov!”
When Maeve finally managed to come up for air, her friends were gone. But Austin was waiting to give her a card he’d drawn himself, the rabbi wanted to congratulate Maeve on her new project idea, Great-grandma Gigi had to see the photo of Maeve in her horrible lavender dress, and her parents both needed to tell her how grown-up and responsible she had sounded.
“You never cease to surprise me, Maeve,” her mom confessed, tears leaking out of her eyes. “My little girl. All grown up!”
“You made us all so proud, Maeve,” her father added, misty-eyed.
After what seemed an eternity of well-wishing, the cousins and the rest of the extended family headed over to the luncheon, and the temple was finally quiet. Maeve gathered her preparation binder, her speech, and the lip gloss she’d stashed in a corner, and met her parents in the parking lot.
The luncheon was quiet and ordinary, but still lovely. Maeve was happy, honestly happy, for the time with her extended family. Of course, it helped that Stacy’s family wasn’t there. They had to leave early to catch their flight back to New York. I kinda feel bad,Maeve realized, that Stacy doesn’t know what it’s like to have such awesome friends as I have. Maeve couldn’t wait to see them in the Tower later!
Some things would never change.
Coffee Break
“We need to make a quick stop on the way home,” Maeve’s mother said as they turned down Beacon Street from the restaurant.
“A stop?” Maeve asked.
“Oh, Maeve,” Ms. Kaplan gushed. “You know how much I love Montoya’s coffee! I need a hot cup.”
“But, Mom,” Maeve said, “you had coffee at the restaurant. Can’t we just go straight home? I was going to change and then head over to the Tower to see my friends.”
“I want a hot chocolate,” Sam added from the backseat. “Can I get one?”
“Sure, sweetie.” Their mom smiled. “We’re almost there now.”
“Yippee,” Sam cheered. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Well, hurry up!” Maeve ordered.
As they turned into a parking space outside the BSG’s favorite hangout, Maeve noticed a lot of familiar cars lined up. Apparently the entire Kaplan and Taylor families had all been possessed by sudden caffeine and sugar cravings! Maeve’s cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and father were all getting out of their cars here, too.
“A cup of coffee sure would hit the spot,” her father remarked.
“I want a slice of chocolate cream pie,” Grandma Taylor explained.
“I am craving donuts,” Great-grandma Gigi chimed in.
Maeve went inside with her mom and Sam, her family close behind. The restaurant buzzed with the normal hustle and bustle of a Saturday afternoon.
“Come with me, Maeve-y.” Sam grabbed her hand. “I need to show you something.” He was tugging her toward a door in the back.
She pointed. “It says ‘Employees Only.’”
“I know,” Sam said, dragging her along. Maeve tried to tug her hand free from Sam’s, but he held on with the grip of death, pulling her closer and closer to that door. “Fine. Whatever. Just show me, then let’s get going so I can get together with the BSG and debrief,” Maeve proclaimed with a dramatic, Hollywood air.
Sam opened the door.
Surprise!
“SURPRISE!” shouted about a hundred voices.
The room behind the door was filled to the brim with all the people Maeve knew and loved, and decked out from floor to ceiling with streamers, balloons, shiny stars, and flashing strings of holiday lights spelling out “Maeve Kaplan-Taylor!”
“It’s . . .” Maeve was too stunned to speak for a moment. “It’s my party,” she murmured, gazing around the room at all the cheering faces. Absolutely everyone was there! The BSG, Sophie, all the kids from school, including the QOM, Mr. Ramsey, Mrs. Martinez . . . In fact, all the BSG’s parents were there! Mrs. Weiss, Yuri, Mrs. Fields, and even shy Miss Pierce had shown up. And of course Marty was there too, yipping and dancing around the room!
“Félicitations,” Sophie congratulated.
“What do you think?” Katani waved a hand at the room.
“Sorry we had to leave you hanging at the temple,” Charlotte added. “But we had things to do!”
As a response, Maeve gave each of her friends a kiss on each cheek, European style. “I don’t know what to say!!!” she gushed.
“You don’t have to say anything!” Isabel said with a laugh. “Just have fun!”
As Maeve wandered across the room, hugging and thanking every person she passed, she didn’t notice the low ceiling, odd corners, or the one cracked window. All she saw were the decorations her friends must have spent hours putting up, and the love and friendship it all stood for.
A red carpet stretched from the door to the back wall, where more red velvet was draped, like a grand theater curtain, gathered at the sides with ornate, gold tassels. Gold and silver stars hung from the ceiling, and there was a line of stars around the edge of a little dancing area with Maeve’s favorite actors’ names inside—Isabel had made the walk of fame she’d promised! Old movie posters that her father must have gathered were plastered on the walls, there was a stage for a band, and the dance floor was just the right size for Maeve and her friends to cut loose and boogie!
“You guys did all this?!” Maeve returned to the corner where the BSG had staked out a table just for themselves. “This is beyond nice!”
“Well . . . we had help,” Isabel admitted.
“This used to be just a storage room,” Charlotte explained. “But Nick’s family always wanted to fix it up for hosting p
arties. They just never got around to it.”
“They said if we could clean it out, we could have your party here, no charge!” Katani declared. “And all these decorations—the curtain, stars, centerpieces, everything— we made from things we found in our basements and closets.”
The tables were draped in red velvet, like the curtain, and each table seemed to have a different theme, like doves, butterflies, and movie stars—all the things Maeve had said she wanted when she was planning her mega-bash. There was even a big picture of a limousine on the side wall!
“Isabel made all those drawings,” Charlotte pointed out.
On the walls, between the movie posters, Isabel had hung sketches of Maeve’s favorite actors and actresses. And there, in the very middle of the party room, Isabel had mounted a beautiful, life-size cutout of Maeve herself, holding an Academy Award.
It was just a drawing, but seeing her dream for her future standing in the middle of the room made her heart melt. I am so lucky!Maeve thought, gazing around the room once again. I have amazing friends, an amazing family, and life just couldn’t be any better than this!
CHAPTER
20
A Bat Mitzvah to Remember
Sorry I’m late!” Ms. Razzberry Pink stepped into the room and held out a big, flat pink box with an enormous matching bow on top. “I think this belongs to you.” She handed the box to Maeve.
“For me?” Maeve stared at the gift.
“Go ahead. Open it,” Ms. Pink insisted. The BSG gathered around, and so did the rest of the crowd, murmuring questions about what could possibly be inside the beautiful box.
Maeve set the present on one of the beautifully decorated tables and carefully removed the bow. With each passing second she could feel her pulse accelerating. Finally the lid slipped off, and Maeve reached between the folds of soft, rose-colored tissue paper.
“OMG!!!” she exclaimed. “The dress! My dress!” Maeve held the dress tightly to her chest and swung around, giddy with joy. “My dress! I can’t believe it!” She hugged Ms. Pink hard. “Oh, thank you. Thank you so much!”
“My pleasure,” Ms. Pink said gladly. “But you should thank your friends and your little brother, not me!”
“Sam?!” Maeve turned over the gift tag tucked under the bow and saw her brother’s name.
Sam crept out of the crowd and just stood there smiling, so Ms. Pink explained. “Your friends called, begging me to reserve the dress. I told them I couldn’t do that, but I’d take it down from the window. The very next morning, in comes Sam with a wad of crumpled cash, asking if anyone bought it yet!”
Maeve knelt down next to her brother. “Where did you get enough money?” she whispered.
“Welllll . . . ,” Sam admitted. “Most of it was yours. From your babysitting stash. I’ll pay you back! Here, I have sixty-three cents so far.”
“Oh, Sam!” Maeve laughed and hugged her little brother. “How did you know? You’re the best little brother ever!”
“Go and put it on!” Katani urged.
“Yeah! We wanna see it!” Avery cheered.
“Be right back!” Maeve exclaimed, rushing out toward the restroom.
“Wait! Maeve!” Sophie called after her. “You need the shoes.”
“Shoes?!” Maeve was very near tears as she turned back to take the small gift bag that Sophie was holding. She peeked inside. The shoes were the same color as the dress, with matching sequins across the top of the toes.
“I brought them with me from Paris,” Sophie told Maeve. “But I think you must have them. They fit your lovely Hollywood style!”
“Oh, wow!” Maeve fanned her face to keep herself from crying. “Merci, Sophie. Merci beaucoup!”
“Come on, Isabel,” Katani said as she took Maeve’s arm and led her toward the bathroom. “We’ve got work to do.”
With a nod, Isabel followed closely behind.
Shining Moment
When Isabel, Katani, and Maeve returned to the party room, Maeve looked like the superstar triple threat her friends knew she’d one day become. It was her shining moment.
Katani had helped her change into the dress and then swept Maeve’s hair up into a stunning arrangement, with little crystal beads twisted into the top knot.
Isabel had brought her makeup bag and worked her artist’s magic, painting Maeve’s eyelids and glossing her lips.
“Wow! What did you do with my sister Maeve-y?” Even Sam couldn’t hold back, seeing how pretty his sister was in her new gown.
“You guys really are the best, most fantabulawesome friends ever!” Maeve said as she hugged each of her BFFs.
“We know,” Avery said, grinning. “I told you that earlier.” She winked, “It was my idea to ask the Montoya’s if they had a room we could use. And finally they listened to me!” Avery added with a lopsided grin, catching sheepish glances from Katani, Isabel, and Charlotte.
“Very sneaky,” Maeve remarked. “I didn’t have a clue what you guys were up to.”
“That’s only because you were so busy!” Charlotte laughed. “We weren’t always very subtle . . . like during our triple date when Fabiana was back here getting stuff ready.” Then Charlotte told Maeve how she manned the communications for the party, making sure everyone knew their job and got it all done in time. “I was IM central.”
“Most of the plates and silverware are from my house,” Avery said. “I lugged it all in here myself.”
“Katani was in charge of decorating and scheduling,” Isabel put in. “Betsy arranged transportation. Sophie came up with the table themes and made centerpieces—”
“And wait until you see the photo slideshow Chelsea made!” Katani interrupted.
“Slide show?” Maeve was thrilled. “There’s a slide show?!”
“After the cake!” Avery said. “Elena Maria and Scott baked a triple-decker, chocolate-strawberry masterpiece. With no help from dogs or parrots this time!”
Marty jumped up on Avery and yelped. “No chocolate for dogs!” she reminded him.
“What about me?” a little voice next to Avery piped up. She looked down at Sam and remembered her pinkie promise.
“Of course, you most excellent secret keeper! You kept your side of the bargain so you get the biggest slice!”
Maeve walked up to the gorgeous cake—decorated with sliced strawberries and delicate curls of chocolate. It seemed such a shame to cut into it!
“Who’s got a camera?” Maeve asked, then laughed because dozens of flashes were already going off. Her mom and dad both had cameras practically glued in front of their noses, capturing every moment of their daughter’s special party.
Dance Party
Maeve got a chance to eat only one bite of the delicious cake. Every aunt, uncle, cousin, friend, and grandparent needed a picture with the special girl in her fabulous new dress. As she spun from one group to the next, Maeve kept her eyes peeled for Riley. She’d seen Dillon talking to Sophie, and Nick and Charlotte were sitting together sharing their cake. . . . But where was the oh-so-cute Mustard Monkey band leader?
“Looking for someone?” The Queens of Mean snuck up behind Maeve after she had just finished posing for a photo beside Isabel’s life-size Maeve drawing for the gazillionth time.
“This is sooo not like the party you promised,” Anna taunted.
“What are you talking about?” Maeve demanded. Avery had just told her how hard Dillon, Nick, and Fabiana had worked, putting in multihours, cleaning out this old storage room.
“You said your party would be radder than Henry’s,” Joline reminded her.
Maeve looked around. Henry Yurt’s family had donated a photo booth, just like the one from his Bar Mitzvah. Katani’s father had helped build the stage, and someone had brought a sound system that was pumping out dance tunes. Every single family had donated food and beverages, and her own brother had not only kept the party a secret, but made sure Maeve got the dress of her dreams. And then there were the BSG who had somehow pulled all thi
s together in only one week!
If this isn’t radder than the Yurtmeister’s party, what is? Maeve realized.
“This party,” Maeve announced, waving her hand around the room, “has everything I said it would have. Including a limo.” She pointed to the picture on the wall. Maeve felt so happy that nothing the QOM might say would bring her down!
Isabel danced over and handed Maeve a cookie. “Try this! Mrs. Weiss made them,” she said, then noticed Anna and Joline. “I see you’ve already enjoyed some of that delicious cake,” Isabel commented, pointing at the chocolate crumbs both on Anna’s mouth and the front of Joline’s light blue dress.
“We aren’t enjoying anything,” Joline said snottily, dusting off the crumbles.
“Yeah.” Anna drew a hand across her mouth. “We only came because we thought it would be a big bash with some, like, famous band. Instead”—she looked at the stage where a band was setting up—“Mustard Monkey is playing.”
“Mustard Monkey!” Maeve squealed, spinning around to see Riley and his buddies take the stage. “Go have more cake,” she told the Queens, then, turning her back on them, Maeve bounded out across the dance floor.
“Hey,” Riley greeted, his face turning the same shade as the strawberry decorating his slice of cake. He’d set it on top of the speakers while he plugged in his guitar.
Maeve practically lunged at him, knocking Riley back a bit as she flung herself around his neck. “Thank you for playing. And for helping. And for EVERYTHING!” She was holding on so tightly, Riley had to struggle to get her to loosen up.
“Can’t breathe,” he choked out.
“Ooops, sorry.” Maeve giggled, loosening but not removing her arms from his neck. “Let’s try that again. Thanks, Riley.” This time, instead of grabbing him in a stranglehold, Maeve kissed Riley softly on his cheek. “Will you play that song . . . you know?”
Riley was speechless. He just nodded, and his cake sat on top of the speaker, forgotten, for the rest of the night.
BFFs+e
The opening bars of Mustard Monkey’s seventh-grade hit, “You, You, You” rang out across the room. It was the same song Maeve and Riley had sung together at the end of the Valentine’s Day dance, except Sophie had helped translate one of the verses into French just for the occasion!
