Holiday Spirit

by Zoe Evans

  “Katie?” he asked, confusion in his voice.

  OOPS. Ruh-roh.

  “Oh. Uh. Oh, man. I actually wasn’t supposed to say anything. But can you keep a secret?”

  “Of course,” he said.

  “Katie Parker is here, in New York City, auditioning for a spot in a dance program here. It is mega competitive.”

  “You’re serious?” he asked.

  “Yeah, but you really, really cannot tell a soul. This can’t get back to the Titans. I can’t believe I just slipped!”

  “No worries. I’m good with secrets. Besides, none of my friends would care, anyway. So, were you hanging out with, like, ballerinas?”

  “Well, yeah. There were ballerinas, and some other friends of theirs.”

  He was silent for a few moments.

  “Any guys?”

  It was so weird. I’ve never heard him be jealous before. And never in a million years would I have guessed that THE Bevan Ramsey would be jealous of little ol’ me hanging out with other guys.

  “Yeah, a couple,” I told him, trying to be casual about it. “They were nice, though.”

  I don’t know why, but I felt like I was hiding something from him.

  “Oh,” said Bevan. “Cool.”

  “Anyway,” I said. “You’d love this hotel. It’s super old, and there are some pretty crazy characters here.” I thought of telling him about the game Katie and I had played earlier when we were in the lobby, but worried he’d think it was stupid.

  “Ha. Cool. Hey, I miss you.”

  It was such a sweet thing to say. My heart should have melted right then and there. Rewind to just over a week ago, and I would have been attempting somersaults of joy in my room. But something felt a little off.

  “Awww,” was all I could manage. “Well, I wish I could talk more, but I have to get to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow.”

  “Skating in Rockefeller Center?” he asked.

  “That’ll probably happen at some point, but no. First Chinatown,” I told him.

  “Ooh. Make sure to eat some dumplings for me.”

  “I will!” I said. “G’night.”

  “Sweet dreams.”

  I know I should be missing him more right now, but for some reason, all I can think about is Evan and how quiet he’s been. I kind of expected some sort of message from him later today. But-nothing! The boy is incommunicado. Is it just that I’m not used to him ignoring me that it’s become this big thing? And this whole Luc-reminding-me-of-Evan thing is just so weird. I mean, here I am all the way in New Year-all the way on the other side of the COUNTRY-and the guy I’m supposed to like just told me he misses me and I feel nothing except the strange and sudden urge to get off the phone. YET, all I CAN think about are: A) some boy who’s like Evan’s slightly cooler twin brother and, B) the fact that Evan-in-the-flesh won’t message me!!!!

  Grrr. Where is my fairy godmother when I need her?? .

  What a totally crazy day! It’s really incredible how everything just keeps moving here, like, at a mile-a-minute speed, and it’s so easy to get wrapped up in it. The speed of Port Angeles after this is going to be, like, a major letdown.

  So, this morning we went for a walk through Chinatown. Beth is totally tea-obsessed, so we went into a store she’d heard about that sells all kinds of weird teas. Dad chose this one tea called “gunpowder tea.” Yuck! It smelled like gym socks. I was like, “Yeah, Dad. Hey-none for me, thanks. But enjoy.”

  It was below freezing, though, so every few minutes we’d have to find an excuse to go inside a store. The highlight of the morning was definitely this little cart on the side of the road that made mini pancakes-practically doll-size. The old woman making them filled a wax paper bag to the brim with the little dough rounds, and it only cost two dollars!!! Also, I don’t know how anyone figures out the streets downtown, because I would be completely lost if I lived there. Each street zigzags into another, and before you know it, you’re in a dead end.

  Dad found a cute French restaurant downtown where we had delish eggs Benedict and fluffy waffles. And just as we were finishing up, who walked in but Daphne Song-one of THE biggest fashion bloggers in New York. Who else could make bundling up in the freezing cold look so good?

  She practically discovered the Draper Sisters-these amazingly cool designers (who are actually real sisters!) who are known for taking ripped and tattered fabrics and putting them together into unique pieces. When I’m a gazillionaire, I’m totally going to buy something of theirs . Once you have the Daphne Seal of Approval, you’re pretty much on the path to becoming the next “It” designer. OMG, Life Dream Numero Dos (or is it Uno???).

  So get this: Daphne sat right across from us and began playing with her camera. It would have been so cool if she took a pic of us, but what were the chances of that happening? I’m clearly not a celebrity or model or anything. Still, a girl can dream. I must have been drooling over her rockin’ outfit, because I heard Dad clear his throat a couple of times. (He does that to get my attention.)

  “Is that some sort of celebrity?” Beth asked.

  “Well, to me she is,” I said. “She’s a fashion blogger.”

  Dad raised an eyebrow. “Is that even a job?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “She gets paid in free clothes, I guess.”

  Sidebar: I actually have no idea how fashion bloggers make money, but when the top designers send you all that free stuff so you can critique them, what else do you need?

  I told them that Daphne has made a lot of designers super famous. Like the Draper Sisters. And surprisingly Beth actually knew who they were! Major points for Beth. It pains me to say this . . . BUT . . . my opinion of her is totally shifting-strictly in the fashion arena, that is.

  “Do you have a blog, Madison?” asked Beth.

  I laughed and shook my head. “Not yet,” I said. “But I do have a ton of my own designs and love putting together looks from different ads in magazines.”

  “Madison, remember that dress you were in love with when you were five?” Dad added, trying to join in on the conversation. “The one Grandma bought you with all the bows?”

  “Ohmigod, I loooooooved that dress.”

  “You wore it every day, until the seams came apart.” He chuckled to himself at the memory.

  “I guess I’ve loved fashion since I could walk, huh?” About as long as I’ve loved cheer.

  Dad nodded. “Maybe you’d like to research some of the schools in the pamphlets I gave you? We could do it together this afternoon, even.”

  I could tell he was trying to be casual about the question-so that I wouldn’t think he was trying to force me into anything.

  Beth patted Dad on the arm reassuringly. “As you know, Madison, there’s no better place to learn all about fashion than New York,” she said.

  A part of me is still a little annoyed that Dad is so over the moon about taking me away from my cheer life. But then, maybe he just wants to give me a chance to do something ELSE I love.

  I looked back at Daphne. A woman (who definitely could have been a model) tapped her on the shoulder and gave her two air kisses. Daphne showed her some of the pics on her camera, and the two of them laughed about something. As I looked at her in all her fabulousness, I realized, hey, that could be me someday! The thing is, I think I have to give some real thought to Dad’s offer. . . . What if coming here to study fashion and art is this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Mom even said it herself, there’s more to life than cheer. AND, at some point cheer has to end. What happens then?

  As if I need more drama. Let’s take a look at the long list of things bugging me on this vacay, shall we??

  1) There’s the Bevan/Evan debate

  2) There’s the weird Luc attraction

  3) There’s Katarina vs. “the social studies” and subsequently, Get Up and Cheer

  4) AND there’s the whole Katie-wants-me-to-take-her-Titan-captain-throne thing

  Yes, I’d say piling on a “to move or not to m
ove” question is EXACTLY what I need right now.

  I noticed that as the day went on, I was already starting to feel better about Dad moving to New York. The thought crossed my mind that a big part of why he invited me on this trip was because he was feeling guilty about moving away. Like taking me to NYC would make up for it. But I don’t think that’s the reason anymore. It seems like he really does want me to be a part of his life here, and isn’t just saying stuff about me going to school here because he has to. For the first time in, like, ever, Dad seems to care about my designing thing and isn’t trying to convince me to take classes on how to be an astronaut or something like that. It’s kinda nice. Actually, it’s more than nice.

  “I’d kinda like to see FIT. Just to see what my potential future could be like,” I said, even though I can hardly wrap my head around me being a college student one day. Eek!

  Dad smiled, and it felt good to know I’d made him happy .

  Anyway, I called Jacqui today to see how practice was going with the new chick. “Diane’s doing really great!” said Jacqui. “Higher, guys!” she barked into the phone, obviously talking to the squad.

  “Everyone likes her,” continued Jacqui. “And she’s catching on so quickly. She’s already learned the new routine, and now we’re working on some pyramid stuff. This girl is strong!”

  “You have her doing pyramid stunts? Already?” I knew Diane was good from the tryouts, but this all seemed a little fast.

  “Trust me. She’s up to it,” Jacqui said.

  Jacqui knows what she’s doing, so I guess I have to trust her. “So, what about Katarina?” I asked.

  According to Jacqui, Katarina has memorized all the main ideas from the chapters that will be covered on her test. Matt taught her some mnemonic devices to remember everything. He also has her do sit-ups whenever she gets something wrong. (I wonder who he picked that one up from . . . ahem, Jacqui!) By the end of their tutoring session, she was so sore she refused to miss an answer.

  It was reassuring to hear that there’s hope for Katarina. But then I started worrying about what would happen if she passes. “So what will we do with Diane?” I asked Jacqui.

  “Um,” Jacqui paused. “Well, we can always use another teammate-especially a good one. It won’t be so hard to add another girl into the routine, and having another girl who can do stunts and tumble will actually give us a much better shot at winning.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got it all under control!” I answered.

  It’ll definitely be weird to have a new member on the team. I feel like we’ve all become this close little family. Will things change with someone new in the mix? I mean, I guess Diane, who already has flying skills, will probably change things for the better when it comes to us competing, like Jacqui said. But still-I kind of like things just the way they were. (Funny for me to say, I know, since I’m considering leaving the team completely.)

  As I listened over the phone to the sounds of everyone practicing in the gym, I really started to miss my teammates. Thinking about Jared’s goofy dance routines, and Ian and Matt’s antics, got me a little misty eyed, I have to say. How will I handle it if I move to New York and never get to cheer with them again? Or worse, if I stay but make the Titan team? So much is going through my head right now, I literally have no idea what to do. I wish I could at least talk to Mom about this, but she doesn’t know about New York yet. And anyway, I’m pretty sure I know what her opinion on that will be. Also, being the Grizzly coach means she’s kind of biased on the Grizzly vs. Titan issue as well. The only totally impartial person is probably Lanes. T.G. I have her.

  Later this afternoon, we took a walk through the Garment District, which I’d been waiting to see all week. It’s only THE fashion capital for the biggest designers and couture houses. I think I expected everyone there to look like they just walked out of a magazine. Instead there were lots of girls walking around in homemade-looking clothes, carrying giant sketchbooks and bags of fabric. The Fashion Institute of Technology was not that far from where we were, so I figured that’s where these girls were coming from and going to. We hung out on the steps of one of the buildings for a while and watched the fashionable girls come and go. Then we looked for some of the famous showrooms that were supposed to be in the area but didn’t find them. I took a picture of the street sign that said “Fashion Avenue.” I’m going to blow it up, frame it, and hang it up. (Hurrah! for homemade art. I feel like one of those interior designers on some home makeover show.)

  “So, Madison, can you imagine living on Fashion Ave someday?” asked Beth.

  “That would be ah-mazing!” I said, laughing. “But until then, it can just hang on my wall at home.”

  When we got back to the hotel, I called Katie’s room to see how her second audition went.

  “Not so good,” said Katie glumly. “I think I messed up by not getting a good night’s sleep last night. I just wasn’t able to give it 120%.”

  “I’m sorry, Katie,” I said.

  “It’s not your fault,” she said. “The whole thing was my idea-going out with my friends the night before a big audition. And modern was supposed to be the easy part! I mean, what was I thinking-seriously? I don’t know how I managed to lose track of time last night. I should have gone to bed way earlier. Anyway, I just hope my other audition gets taken into consideration. I killed that one.”

  “I’m sure you didn’t do as badly as you think you did,” I said, trying to reassure her. Knowing Katie, her idea of “bad” was another person’s idea of more than perfect.

  “Well, whatever,” said Katie. “My mom is taking me out to this famous ice cream place called Serendipity to cheer me up. You wanna come with? This time I’ll actually ask her to talk to your dad for real.”

  “Sounds fun,” I agreed.

  I still can’t get over the fact that Katie and I actually have a friend thing going on. I never would have imagined-especially after what happened when Bevan started liking me, and my huge fight with her at Regionals. It’s been nice hanging out with her, but I wonder what it will be like when we go home. I mean, it’s pretty clear that she can’t really be all buddy-buddy with me around Clementine. Hilary is easily swayed. (I mean, the girl is so gullible she thought Jacqui’s addition of shoulder pads to my original Titan design was retro, ha-ha!) Still, it’s definitely going to be interesting. Good thing I don’t have to worry about it until I get home!

  Dad agreed to let me go with Mrs. Parker (this time he insisted on talking to her face-to-face). The place? Was the COOLEST!! I was thinking we were just going to go to some boring ice cream parlor, but as soon as we got there, there was a line out the door. (How could I think for one minute that Katie Parker would go somewhere boring? Silly Madison.) Obviously, Katie would know about the “it” ice cream place .

  Luckily, we only had to wait twenty minutes. Inside, they have this adorable general store where you can buy teddy bears, hot chocolate, or these really cool old-fashioned lamps. And the desserts there are so amazing!! Their famous frozen hot chocolate comes in a glass so big, you could literally stick your entire face in it. You wouldn’t, of course, because that would be gross and messy. But that’s how big it is. Katie and I ended up sharing that one. At one point she thought it would be really funny to launch a whipped cream blob onto my face.

  I didn’t think it was that funny, but then Katie took one look at my face and completely lost it. At least she wasn’t feeling so miserable anymore. Who knew that food all over my face would one day be a good thing??!

  On our way back from Serendipity, Katie asked if I wanted to have another cheer lesson when we got back to the hotel. I never say no to an opportunity to cheer with a Titan. . . .

  This time we had to move the couches in the hotel library on our own. Thankfully, none of the staff was really around to notice or give us a hard time about it.

  “So, have you given any thought to what I said the other day?” asked Katie, while we warmed up. “Do you want me to train you f
or Titan tryouts this spring?”

  “I-I don’t know, Katie,” I stuttered. It’s the truth. I don’t know what I want.

  “I’m pretty confused about a lot of things right now. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I really like being a Grizzly.”

  “But haven’t you always wanted to be a Titan?” She looked at me as if I’d just told her I preferred spinach quiche over a double fudge sundae.

  “I know! I did,” I said. “But the Grizzlies are . . . well, they’re family now. I’m not saying I’ve made my final decision or anything. It would be amazing to be a Titan-especially a captain.”

  “Yeah, obviously.”

  “Well, we can still train together, without me having to make a decision just yet, can’t we?”

  Katie shrugged. “Sure, if that’s what you want. Anyways, I guess I should wait and see if I actually get into this school before I start planning my departure from the team and your future as team captain.”

  We did a ton of stretching, and then Katie showed me how to take my scorpion to the next level. I already know I’m going to be mega sore tomorrow. Which is a good thing-besides these little practice sessions with Katie, I haven’t been doing a ton of cheer stuff this week.

  When we were done, I saw that I had a missed call from Evan. Yay! Finally!

  He hadn’t called me all week before this. I hate being the only one making an effort. He didn’t leave me a message, which is totally annoying. But I forgive him. In fact, I’m actually a little nervous about calling him back. Weird, right? I mean, it’s just Evan. Dorky, comic-book-loving, messy-haired, sarcastic . . . puppy-dog-eyed, kinda sweet, knows-me-better-than-anyone-on-the-planet Evan. Uh-oh. When we finally do talk, will he be able to tell from my voice that I’m feeling all weird and confused about him? I decided I better not call him back just yet. If he really wants to speak to me, he’ll call again, right?

  UGH. Seriously, I feel like such a mess. Luckily, the one person who I can pretty much talk to about all this was just a phone call away.