“What are you talking about?” Chris was trying to sound tough. Instead, she sounded scared.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Eddie returned. “I had my pen when I went into homeroom this morning, and when I got to my first class, I looked in my pocket and it was gone. And I know for a fact that you’re the one who took it!”
“I did not!”
“Hey,” Frank said, taking a step closer to her. “If Eddie says you took his pen, then you took his pen.”
“But I swear—”
“You’re not calling me a liar, are you?” Eddie’s dark eyes narrowed. “Well, are you?”
Chris had an idea. “Look. I’ll show you that I don’t have your pen.” She stuck her hand into her shirt pocket and brought out the pen she had been using all day, one of the inexpensive plastic ones that are sold everywhere. “See? This is my pen. It’s the only one I’ve got.”
“That’s my pen!” Eddie cried.
Chris was starting to panic. “It’s possible that your pen looks like this, Eddie. I mean, there are a lot of them around. But there’s no way that it’s your pen.”
Eddie stepped right up to her. Poking her in the chest with his index finger, he said, “You’re a thief, and you’re a liar. And if you think I’m going to let you get away with that, you’re crazy.”
“Yeah,” said Jimmy. “You’re crazy! Nobody steals from Eddie and gets away with it!”
“I want to have this out with you, buddy. Man to man. Friday, after school. Right here. We’ll settle this once and for all.”
“You mean you want to fight?” Chris was so frightened that she could hardly talk.
Eddie just laughed cruelly. “And don’t get any funny ideas about trying to hide from me. I’ll come and find you. Once I’ve decided that I’m going to show somebody who’s boss around here, I don’t change my mind.”
“Yeah! Eddie doesn’t change his mind!” Frank said.
With one final poke of his ringer, Eddie said, “See you on Friday, Charlie. After school. Right on this spot. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll bring along plenty of Band-Aids!”
Whooping as if Eddie had just said the cleverest thing any of them had ever heard in their entire lives, the three boys took off.
Chris just stood there, shaking.
Eddie McKay, the school bully, had just challenged her to a fight! And he’d made it clear that he wasn’t about to take “no” for an answer!
It didn’t make any sense. And she certainly hadn’t done anything to bring it on herself. Why, Charlie Pratt hadn’t done anything to offend anybody! Yet here he was, after only one day at Whittington High, expected to have it out with Eddie in just a few days.
There was one way to get around it, or course. Charlie could suddenly leave town, going back to Chicago ... where he was safe, far away from Eddie McKay and his friends.
The only problem was that then the Marshmallow Masquerade would have to be cut short.
And, as scared as she was, letting a bully like Eddie McKay bring that about wasn’t something that Chris was about to let happen.
Not if she could help it.
Chapter Six
“Sooz, I’ve got to talk to you!”
“I’m all ears! I can’t wait to hear every single detail of the first day of the Marshmallow Masquerade!”
The twins were at Fozzy’s, Whittington’s ice cream parlor, where they’d decided to meet after school in order to discuss Charlie Pratt’s debut. They were sitting at a round white table that was off to one side and therefore afforded them some privacy. In front of each of them was a huge chocolate ice cream soda.
But while Susan was already wolfing hers down, Chris’s just sat there, untouched. As a matter of fact, the scoop of chocolate ice cream on top of the frosty glass was starting to melt.
After a few seconds, Susan realized that her sister was silent. When she looked up from her soda, having just consumed almost half of it, she saw that Chris was merely staring at hers. And the expression on her face was one of total despair.
“Chris! What’s wrong? Oh, no, don’t tell me someone saw through the masquerade already!”
Chris shook her head slowly. “No, it’s nothing like that.”
“Well, that’s a relief!”
“It’s something worse than that. Much worse!”
“Uh-oh.” Susan couldn’t imagine what could possibly be so terrible. But something was up. Why, Chris looked as if she was on the verge of crying.
“Do you know who Eddie McKay is?”
Susan immediately made a face. “Oh, yuck. He’s that bully who’s always acting tough. Getting into trouble. And picking fights.”
“That’s the one,” Chris sighed loudly. “Guess who his latest target is.”
“Oh, no! Not Charlie Pratt!”
“None other. Oh, Sooz, he’s challenged me—I mean Charlie—to a fight! This Friday, right after school!”
Chris proceeded to fill her twin in on the details of both the encounters she’d had that day with Eddie McKay and his friends, Jimmy and Frank, even quoting Eddie’s warning about what would happen if Charlie tried to hide from him. “I’ll come and find you,” he had said. “Once I’ve decided that I’m going to show somebody who’s boss around here, I don’t change my mind.” She ended by saying that she suspected Eddie was going to go out of his way for the rest of the week to scare her every chance he got.
Susan just listened, spellbound. By that point, her chocolate ice cream was also beginning to melt.
“Chris, that’s terrible! What are you going to do? Do you have any ideas?”
“Do I have any ideas! Susan Pratt, you’re the mastermind behind the Marshmallow Masquerade! You got me into this; you should get me out of it!”
Susan thought for a few seconds. “Don’t panic, Chris. After all, we have until Friday afternoon. It’s only Monday. We have lots of time before then to come up with something.” She hesitated. “Of course, we could always just call off the Marshmallow Masquerade. Make up some story about Charlie having to go back to Chicago and Chris having a sudden, miraculous recovery from the flu.”
“I already thought of that,” Chris said morosely. “But I don’t want to end the Marshmallow Masquerade now! I still think it’s a great idea. And it’s obviously working. I mean, I certainly managed to convince Eddie and his pals that I was a boy, right?”
Susan laughed half-heartedly. “That’s true. Even so, Chris, this could be dangerous. That Eddie’s an awful creep....”
“But that’s the point!” Chris cried. “Eddie is a creep! And I’ll be darned if I’m going to let him spoil a good thing! Here the Marshmallow Masquerade is in full swing. I cut my hair, bought all these clothes.... And I’ve already managed to convince half of Whittington High that I really am Charlie Pratt! Even Scott Stevens ...”
“Oh, Chris!” squealed Susan. “Do you mean you talked to Scott today? How did it go? What did he say?”
All of a sudden, Chris smiled triumphantly. “He invited Charlie over to his house, tomorrow after school!”
“Wow! You sure are a fast worker!” Susan grinned teasingly. “Did you manage to find out anything about how Scott feels about Charlie’s cousin?”
“Well, no. Not really.” Chris turned back to her chocolate soda thoughtfully. Just because the ice cream was a little bit melted, she decided, there was no reason to let it go to waste. Within a few seconds she had downed a good portion of it. “Although I did learn one thing that was kind of interesting.”
“Really? What?” Susan leaned forward, anxious to hear about her twin’s latest discovery.
“Here I thought I was making a big play for Scott. You know, letting him know, in all these really obvious ways, that I thought he was special. And it turns out that he didn’t even notice! I guess he just thought I was being friendly or something!”
Susan nodded earnestly. “That supports my theory that the world would be a much better place if boys and girls co
uld just be direct with each other.”
“Oh, Susan!” Chris cried, exasperated. “What do you expect me to do? Go up to him and say, ‘Scott, do you know what chapters we’re supposed to read for history tonight? Oh, and by the way, did you know I’ve developed such an incredible crush on you that I’ve actually started going to basketball games, even though I think watching basketball is about as much fun as watching grass grow?’ Come on, Sooz! Give me a break!”
“Actually,” her sister replied with annoying calmness, “I was thinking how much easier all this would have been if you had just called him up on the phone and asked him out,”
Chris’s mouth dropped open.
“Well, why on earth not? If he’d been the one to get a crush on you first, that’s exactly what he would have done, right?”
“Yes, but—”
“I don’t think that boys are any better at dialing phones than girls are, are they?”
Chris burst out laughing. “I can’t argue with you on that, Sooz. You’re absolutely right. We’re all still following rules that must be a million years old!”
“There were no phones a million years ago.”
“Well, then, I guess it was cavemen who used to ask cavewomen out all the time! Anyway, I agree with you that the whole thing is pretty silly, especially in this day and age.” Chris sighed deeply, toying with her straw. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure that I’m brave enough to be such a maverick.”
“You’re brave enough to cut your hair and pretend to be a boy!” Susan protested.
“That’s different! That’s ... well, a prank. Calling up Scott and asking him out would be for real. Besides, when’s the last time you called a boy?”
Susan blushed. Chris was right, of course. It was easy to urge someone else to do something a bit out of the ordinary. Doing it herself, however, was another matter entirely.
Even so, she didn’t want to lose face with her twin.
“Well, I haven’t tried it ... yet. But maybe I will, one of these days.”
Chris’s dark brown eyes lit up. “Oh, really? And who, may I ask, will be the lucky recipient of your telephone call?”
By now, Susan was beet red. “That, my dear twin,” she said, keeping her eyes glued to what was left of her ice cream soda, “is for me to know and you to find out!”
It was time to change the subject, Susan decided.
“But I don’t want to talk about my social life; I want to hear all about what happened today. Tell me everything, right from the start. And don’t you dare leave out one single detail!”
“Okay. But before I start, let me ask you one thing.” Chris was grinning mischievously.
“What?”
“If boys can drink two cartons of milk at lunch ...”
“Yes?”
“Is it okay for them to have two ice cream sodas after school?”
Susan pretended to ponder that question with great seriousness. “Well, I guess so. On one condition, of course.”
“What’s that?”
“That the girl that they’re with gets to help drink it!”
Chris immediately flagged down-their waitress. “Excuse me. I’d like another chocolate ice cream soda, please!”
The waitress looked over at Chris-as-Charlie and shook her head slowly. “You boys never cease to amaze me!” she said cheerfully. “First of all, you can consume more food at one sitting than an entire roomful of girls. And second, you never put on an ounce!” She shrugged, then said, “One more chocolate ice cream soda, coming up!”
Chris and Susan just looked at each other and laughed.
* * * *
“My goodness!” exclaimed Mrs. Pratt as she sat at the dinner table, eyeing her daughters’ plates. “You two don’t seem very hungry tonight!”
“Maybe Susan and Chris are simply getting ready for Thanksgiving,” Mr. Pratt commented, heaping a second helping of mashed potatoes onto his plate. “After all, Turkey Day is only a week and a half away. I’d say they’re pretty clever, starting to save up room so far in advance!”
Instead of laughing at their father’s bad jokes, the way they usually did, the twins merely exchanged wary glances.
“Let’s just say that we’ve both got kind of a stomach ache,” Chris said. She glanced down at the small serving of salad she’d put on her plate, wondering how she would ever manage to eat it.
“That’s right,” Susan agreed. She forced herself to bite into a biscuit. “We’re, um, kind of full because we stopped off after school for a little snack.”
“Uh-oh,” Mr. Pratt teased. “Don’t tell me you girls have been eating up all of Fozzy’s ice cream inventory again! Having another one of your celebrations, no doubt!”
“Daddy, how did you know we went to Fozzy’s?” Chris cried.
Susan, however, was even more alert. “Wait a minute. What do you mean, ‘having another one of our celebrations’?”
Mr. and Mrs. Pratt looked at each other. For a second, they both looked terribly guilty. But then they burst out laughing.
“Don’t tell me you know!” Chris squealed. “How on earth did you ever find out about the Marshmallow Masquerade?”
“The what?” Mr. and Mrs. Pratt demanded in unison.
The twins started to laugh, too.
“Don’t you think that your own parents know you two by now?” said Mrs. Pratt. “We may not know all the details—or your secret code words, either—but we can certainly figure out when you girls are up to something!”
“All that whispering and giggling behind closed doors,” Mr. Pratt said. “Rummaging through my old clothes in the attic, sneaking out of the house without any breakfast ... And then there’s that outlandish haircut that Chris got on Saturday!”
“Now that all this is out in the open,” Mrs. Pratt said, “how about you girls telling us all about this ... What did you call it? ‘Marshmallow Masquerade’?”
It was a relief for Chris and Susan to tell their parents all about their scheme—including how well it was going so far. Not wanting them to worry, however, Chris left out the part about Eddie McKay and his threats. Susan, following her lead, remained silent as well. The girls shared the same philosophy where their shenanigans were concerned: If they got themselves into scrapes, then it was their responsibility to get themselves out of them, as well.
When they had finished explaining the Marshmallow Masquerade—how it had come to be and how it was progressing—the twins sat back and waited to see their parents’ reactions. It occurred to them that their parents might insist that they abandon it entirely ... but somehow they suspected that their mother and father would support them in what they were doing.
“Well,” said Mrs. Pratt, her eyes twinkling, “if I remember correctly, when I was a teenage girl, I was pretty baffled by teenage boys myself. I would have loved the chance to find out more about those puzzling creatures.”
“ ‘Creatures’!” exclaimed Mr. Pratt. “I was never a ‘creature’! At least I don’t think I was. And I don’t think I am one now.... Am I?”
“You’re one of the lucky ones, dear,” Mrs. Pratt replied with a perfectly straight face. “You managed to outgrow it!”
“So you don’t mind?” asked Chris hopefully. “I mean, now that you know all about it, you think it’s okay if we continue?”
“Well, you’re not missing any school because of it,” Mrs. Pratt observed, “You’re not hurting anyone, either. And I suppose it is educational.”
“Besides,” said Mr. Pratt, “you might as well get some more mileage out of that haircut of yours!”
“Yippeee!” cried Susan. “The Marshmallow Masquerade goes on!”
“And do you know what the best part about having Mom and Dad know all about it is?” Chris asked in a teasing tone.
“No, what?”
“Now I don’t have to miss breakfast anymore!”
Happily, she stuck a big forkful of salad into her mouth.
Chapter Seven
As she d
ressed for school on Tuesday morning, Chris was enthusiastic about embarking upon day two of the Marshmallow Masquerade. Her success of the day before, her parents’ support, and the prospect of going over to Scott Stevens’s house after school had all put her in a good mood. Even her fears about Eddie McKay were stashed away at the back of her mind, at least for the moment. As a matter of fact, she was actually whistling as she left the house, disguised as Charlie Pratt.
Her twin picked up on her good mood immediately.
“So, Chris, I see you’re all ready for another day as Charlie Pratt, Whittington High’s number-one mystery man,” she teased.
“That’s right. I’m really looking forward to it. In fact, maybe you and I should run to school this morning, so we can get there all the sooner!”
“Gee,” Susan said wistfully, “I was kind of hoping that Mike Anderson would give us a ride again.” And then, as if she’d just realized what she’d said, she added, “I mean, I really like Holly, and, uh, it’d be fun to see her again. I see so little of her these days.”
“You’ve got to be kidding, Sooz! Holly’s over our house so often that Mom and Dad probably think they’ve got triplets, instead of twins!”
As she was puzzling over her twin’s remark, however, Chris suddenly realized what it all meant.
Of course! she thought. Mike Anderson! Only yesterday Susan was saying that there was a boy she was thinking of calling. And I had no idea who she meant. But it’s got to be Mike!
For a moment, she was tempted to tease Susan about it. But Chris knew her twin sister very well. She was a person who valued her privacy. When there was something she decided to keep a secret, she really meant it. She wasn’t at all like Chris, who went around telling everyone everything about herself!
No, Chris decided, she wouldn’t say anything to Susan.
What she would do, however, was try to play matchmaker. Not her, exactly, but Charlie Pratt.
It’s the least that Charlie can do for Susan, she thought with satisfaction. After all, Susan is the one who thought up the Marshmallow Masquerade—who created Charlie Pratt—in the first place!
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