Abigail
A Note I Found in My Friendly Letter Mailbox
Hey Abigail,
How about me tagging along with you and Flabby when you read?
I NEED SERVICE POINTS!!! BAD!!!
Jackson
What I Said to Gabby after I Showed Her Jackson’s Note
“NO WAY!!!!!”
One Thing Gabby Said after I Said, “No Way!”
“Think of all the great troll stories we could do.”
The Thing I Said after That
“Jackson’s such a troll he’d scare the kids worse than the child-abusing storyteller that came in first grade. Besides, after all that mean stuff he’s done to you? Forget it.”
But as soon as I said it, my stomach tightened up like a ball of aluminum foil. I mean, I was being a little nicer to Gabby now, but I felt like deep down there was an ugly troll inside me too. I didn’t make fun of Gabby out loud like Jackson did. But I still didn’t want anyone thinking we were friends. And I knew I would never be able to stand up for Gabby if it meant putting my reputation on the line. Did that make me an even bigger troll than Jackson Dawber?
What I Found in My Locker after School That Made Me Forget All about Trolls
ABIGAIL + KIP = TRUE LOVE FOREVER (TLF) with hearts all around it written on the cover of every single one of my spiral notebooks and folders.
AlliCam must’ve gotten my note.
Three Good Things That Happened at My First Game as a Real Pom-Pom Girl
1.Even though I was nervous (I thought for sure I would pee my pants), I did the whole routine perfectly.
2.We used my pose idea at the end of the song, and the crowd went crazy.
3.Kip was looking at ME the entire time we were out there.
Three Bad Things That Happened at My First Game as a Real Pom-Pom Girl
1.Gabby showed up and sat in the front row of the bleachers.
2.She kept smiling at me the whole time and giving me the thumbs-up sign.
3.I’m pretty sure I saw Kip looking at Gabby and giving her the “how-can-you-be-here-when-you’re-such-a-loser” look.
Two Things That Happened after the Game
1.Jackie said, “My mom’s waiting in the parking lot to drive us all to Chitchat. Let’s go!”
We all grabbed our gym bags and poms and headed toward the door. Going to Chitchat in my uniform was like the cherry on top of a hot fudge sundae.
2.Gabby stood at the edge of the bleachers. I know she saw me, and I think she could tell that I saw her. I pretended not to notice her, and it felt like the ice cream on my sundae was melting and the cherry was sliding off, so I hurried out the door before it fell all the way to the floor.
Three Things That Happened at Chitchat That Made Me Forget All about Gabby
1.We sat in the corner booth, and this time I wasn’t sitting on a chair. I had a great spot right next to Jackie.
2.Jackie said, “I propose a toast to Abigail on her first game. Move over, Alicia Brenton, because Abigail Walters is in the house.”
Everyone cheered, raised their soft drinks, and tapped their straws together.
3.When the boys came over, Kip slid into the booth right next to me. He smelled so good I thought I would faint.
One Thing I Didn’t Need
The list of interesting things to talk about with the seventh- and eighth-grade poms because this time I was definitely part of the group.
One Thing That Happened Later That Night
I lay in bed thinking about what kind of house Kip and I might live in if we got married. But when I fell asleep, I dreamed about Gabby.
In the dream, she was sitting in the gym on the empty bleachers. I was in the middle of the basketball court shooting free throws, and all the poms were cheering for me. Then Gabby came down to shoot free throws too. But the poms didn’t cheer for her. Instead, they waved their pom-poms in her face so she couldn’t see. Just as I tried to say, “Stop it! That’s not fair!” the buzzer for the game clock blared. It kept blaring. No one could hear what I was saying.
I woke up, with my alarm blasting. I felt sweaty, tired, and out of breath.
Things to Do Saturday
1.Look up Gabby’s phone number online.
2.Call her.
3.See if she wants to get together and practice the story we’re working on.
Five Things That Happened Later That Day
1.Gabby’s brother dropped her off at our house.
2.We made costumes for our next story, “The Gingerbread Man.”
3.We practiced our lines and made up actions to go along with the story. Gabby even made up new words for the song in the story to make it more fun for the kids.
Instead of always saying, “Run, run as fast as you can…” Gabby thought it would be fun to say different things every time, like, “Wiggle, wiggle as fast as you can…” or “Dance, dance as fast as you can…” and then let the kids do what the song said. We knew the kindergartners would love to wiggle and dance.
Gabby always had such great ideas!
4.When we got hungry, I asked my mom if we could make gingerbread cookies. She said no, because we didn’t have the stuff, but she said we could make chocolate chip cookies instead.
5.We spent the rest of the afternoon making cookies, and even though they weren’t gingerbread cookies, we decorated them anyway.
One Thing That Happened While We Made Cookies
Gabby called her brother to ask if she could stay a little longer. She ended up staying for dinner. Mom let us make frozen pizzas and eat while we watched TV.
One Thing I Realized While We Watched TV
All my Gabby Guilt had vanished.
The Question I Asked Later While We Sat in the Dark Living Room Waiting for Gabby’s Brother to Come and Pick Her Up
“Where is your dad anyway?”
Gabby’s Answer
“In jail.”
What I Said Next
Nothing.
I was completely speechless.
What Gabby Finally Said to Fill the Silence
“When my mom got sick, my dad started drinking, and when she died, he drank even more. He got arrested for leaving me home alone. It’s called neglect. The judge is making him serve two years in jail because he was arrested for it so many times.”
Three Things That Happened Next
1.A horn honked outside.
2.Gabby thanked me for inviting her over.
3.She gave me a quick hug and ran out the door.
What Happened after That
I sat in the dark living room thinking about what Gabby had told me. Before I knew it, my head was buried in my hands and I was crying.
All the Things I Was Crying About
1.Gabby’s mom dying.
2.Gabby’s dad being in jail.
3.Gabby always getting teased and made fun of.
4.Gabby not having any friends.
The One Thing That Made Me Sob the Hardest
Gabby needed a friend more than anyone at Crestdale Heights, and I was probably the only person who knew that. But I still didn’t want anybody to know we were friends.
The One Thing That Made Me Sob Even Harder Than That
Gabby was always nice to me, no matter what.
The Note I Left Next to the Coffeepot before I Went to Bed
Dear Dad,
Thanks for all the doughnuts.
Love,
Abs
Something AlliCam Asked Me on the Bus on Monday
“Gabby Marco was over at your house ALL DAY Saturday?!!!”
Three Things I Did Instead of Answer the Question
1.Swallowed hard.
2.Started to sweat.
3.Felt my head throb. It wasn’t Gabby Guilt this time.
It was “AlliCam Anxiety.”
&
nbsp; One Question I Managed to Ask
“How did you guys find out about that?”
The Extremely Exasperated Explanation Alli Gave
“My mom heard it from your mom at their book club last night. She said you guys were singing songs and making cookies. What’s going on, Abigail? You told us you were only hanging around with her to get extra credit points for Old Hawk.
“You get extra credit points for making cookies at your house on Saturday? I don’t think so. I mean really, Abigail, we’re the Fab Five. You gotta remember that. Plus, did you forget that one of the cutest, most popular guys in the whole school likes you? You know how lucky you are? Every girl wants Kip to like her. You better not blow it by hanging around with Gabby.”
One Thing I Thought About as I Walked to Homeroom
A seesaw.
My life was a seesaw. AlliCam on one end. Gabby on the other. I was in the middle trying to keep both sides from crashing to the ground.
It was impossible!
The Note I Found in My Friendly Letter Mailbox
Hey Abigail,
Sat. was a blast! The kids are going to love “The Gingerbread Man,” especially our new version of the song.
I got this idea that we could make gingerbread cookies to give to all the kids after the story. So I had my brother take me to the store to get the stuff so we could make some.
What day do you want to get together to do it?
Would your mom let us make them at your house?
Let me know.
Gabby
What I Thought About during First Period
I wanted to come clean with everyone about my friendship with Gabby, especially because of what she told me about her parents, but also because she really was my friend. Saturday at my house had been a lot of fun.
But if I let people know we were friends, the Fab Five would flip out. It could mean the end of all the pom fun and popularity. I couldn’t risk that.
So This Is The Note I Wrote Back to Gabby about Making Cookies
Gabby,
I have pom practice every day.
I’ll have to let you know.
Abigail
Three Great Things about Lunch That Day
1.It was pizza. My favorite.
2.Kip had saved me a spot at his table.
3.Gabby wasn’t in the cafeteria because she had signed up to volunteer in the office once a week. Today was her day. I was relieved. I had managed to avoid her all morning, and now that she wasn’t in the cafeteria, I could relax and enjoy my lunch with Kip.
The Reason Why I Couldn’t Relax and Enjoy My Lunch with Kip
I was waaaaaay toooooooo NERVOUS!
The first time I’d eaten with him, it had been a surprise, so I hadn’t had time to think about it. But now my mind was racing with all the ways I might completely embarrass myself.
So I let him talk while I took really small bites of my slice of pizza. I was worried he’d ask me a question when I had a mouthful of cheese and sausage. But he didn’t. He just talked about basketball.
“Yeah, Coach says my layup is our fast break secret weapon against Elmwood’s half-court press.”
I smiled and nodded, even though I had no idea what he was talking about.
I couldn’t really concentrate on what he was saying anyway because I had too many things to think about.
I worried that I might have pizza sauce on my face or a piece of oregano in my teeth. Then I was paranoid that everyone in the cafeteria was staring at us.
Were they wondering why such a cool guy like Kip was sitting with someone like me? Thinking about that made me wonder the same thing.
But then Kip said something so sweet:
“The poms are so much better now that you’re on the squad.”
All my nervousness melted, and I felt as warm and cozy as hot chocolate and marshmallows.
Something Even Better That Happened When the Lunch Bell Rang
After Kip carried my tray to the trash, he offered me a piece of spearmint gum. I knew what that meant. AlliCam and I had read it in one of our magazines last summer. “When a boy offers you gum or mints, it’s usually a sign that he wants to kiss you.”
The Note I Scribbled to AlliCam the First Chance I Had
AC,
Kip gave me gum!!!!
SPF,
A
The Note AlliCam Scribbled Back the First Chance They Had
A,
GUM!!!! OMG!!!!
SPF,
AC
What I Did the Rest of the Afternoon in All My Classes
I drew more hearts and TLFs all over my folders and spiral notebooks.
Three Reasons Why the Seesaw I Was On Was Beginning to Feel More Like a Roller Coaster
1.Gabby kept bugging me about making cookies, and I kept making excuses.
2.AlliCam kept making sure the three of us were together ALL THE time, so I couldn’t spend any time with Gabby.
3.I kept making sure I was everywhere Kip was and kept wondering if he really did want to kiss me. Thinking about that made me excited and petrified all at the same time, which ended up making me feel like I might throw up any minute.
Four Reasons Why My Roller Coaster Was Picking Up Speed
1.I never made cookies with Gabby, but she showed up to our story time with a boxful of supercute gingerbread cookies. One for each of the kids. They loved them! She even made extra cookies for the teacher. She said her brother helped her make them.
I felt like a slug.
2.McKenzie heard from a girl on her bus that Gabby and I had done “The Gingerbread Man” story, so at practice on Thursday, she and Jackie kept singing, “Run, run as fast as you can. Flabby can’t catch you, but Abigail can.”
Of course, they only did it when Ms. Jenson wasn’t around.
3.Gabby showed up to the basketball game on Friday night and sat in the front row, AGAIN.
4.Kip kept giving her weird looks AGAIN.
The Wonderful, yet Horrible Thing That Made Me Realize I Had to Get Off the Roller Coaster
The poms went to Chitchat after the game. We had a great time—talking, laughing, joking. It was so fun I felt like I was in a movie. It was just the best! And then it got even better when the basketball players showed up.
Kip actually made someone move so he could sit right next to me. I told him he played great. He told me I looked great! Then he talked about each point he made in the game. After that, he talked about how many times he stole the ball from the other team. It was like listening to my favorite song on the radio over and over. I could’ve listened to him talk all night.
And finally, when most of the other kids had moved to different tables, Kip offered me another piece of gum. I couldn’t believe it! I was going to get my first kiss right there in Chitchat. How awesome was that?
I felt the excitement of speeding down the biggest hill on a roller coaster.
Scary but FUN!
Kip leaned a little closer to me, but then things took a sharp turn, the way roller coasters sometimes do, jerking you in a completely different direction.
He said, “You gotta lose Flab Girl.”
“What?” I asked, confused that my exhilarating ride had just turned into something that could give a person whiplash.
“Gabby,” he said. “You really got to lose her. She’s a freak.”
I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t have time to say anything because someone yelled, “C’mon, Kip! Brandon’s dad’s here to take us home.”
“See ya, Abigail!” Kip said, and he got up and was gone.
What I Did That Night When I Got Home
Wrote two lists.
Things about Kip
1.Cute ☺
2.Cool ☺
3.Great smile ☺
4.
Athletic ☺
5.Likes me ☺
6.I think he wants to kiss me. ☺
Things about Gabby
1.Always have fun together ☺
2.Always covers for me ☺
3.Bizarro laughter ☹
4.Crestdale Heights biggest outcast ☹
What I Did after Making the Lists
Wrote two math equations:
1.2 ☺s + 2 ☹s = A Big Fat Zero
2.But are 6 ☺s <, >, OR = A Big Fat Zero?
Both equations were easy, but solving the problem was impossible.
I knew if I blew off Gabby it would mean I was a worse troll than Jackson Dawber. But at the same time, it would mean Kip would be happy, which meant I’d probably be getting that kiss soon. I could go on as part of the Fab Five living the blissful, popular life of a pom-pom girl, and no one but Gabby would know I was a troll.
Always, Abigail Page 9
