by Rachel Wise
Hailey shrugged. “It’s okay. I just can’t be in a fight with you because I’m failing all my classes and I need your homework help.”
“Really? In the past two days?”
“Kind of. All this reading and writing we had due yesterday. It’s just not my thing.”
I flashed back to the dad asking the question about reading levels at the PTA meeting. I wondered what Pfeiffer was doing to support the kids who needed help.
“Have you told your teachers? I mean, I’m happy to help, but maybe you need tutoring or something.”
Hailey nodded. “I’m getting it. I just hate doing the work on my own.”
I felt bad. We usually did homework together. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we meet at the library after school today and I will help you.”
Hailey nodded. “I have soccer at four thirty.”
“Okay, so from three to four fifteen then.”
“Great. Thanks so much, Sam!” Hailey moved her books aside and gave me a big hug.
“See you then,” I said, glad to be friends again.
“Bye!” Hailey practically skipped away. I guess she was relieved too. Peace Achieved by Warring Factions.
Now I just had to cram in rewriting my whole curriculum article (which should have been done by now!), doing my homework, helping Hailey with hers, finalizing the soccer tryout article, oh yeah . . . and writing the Dear Know-It-All column!
I hurried off to class, purposely taking the long way so I wouldn’t run into Trigger on the way.
How was I going to get it all done?
Chapter 15
BEST FRIEND TO THE RESCUE
The library was almost empty, I guess ’cause it was kind of an Indian summer and people could still enjoy the day once they left school. I found Hailey immediately, and after bumping my chair really hard against my leg (Why, why was I such a klutz?), I settled in beside her and helped her with her work.
One thing about Hailey is that she’s a hard worker. She might have some learning differences, but she never gives up, even though lots of stuff takes twice as long for her as for regular learners like me. I was patient with her and we got through her first assignment pretty quick. While she worked on the final part, I pulled out my draft of the article and reread it to see where I could make changes to cut all the “work in progress” stuff.
I guess I sighed hard as I was reading and puzzling, so Hailey said, “What’s the matter?”
I tried to blow it off but ended up telling her the whole story, kind of the short version.
“So you have to rewrite the whole thing just because you can’t prove that he said that, even though you know he did?”
I nodded miserably.
“Bummer. Bad enough to have to write it once, but twice?”
I half smiled. It would be Hailey’s worst nightmare. She turned back to her paper and I kept reading, struggling.
But suddenly, after a couple of minutes, she turned to me. “You’ve watched the videotape of the meeting, right?”
“What?” My pulse quickened. “What videotape?” Could there be such a thing?
“Well, I’m pretty sure they tape all those meetings. I mean, I remember when my mom was the assistant head of the PTA, she always got dressed up to go to the meetings because she said they film them, and she wanted to look her best.”
My jaw dropped. “Who is ‘they’?”
“The school.”
I looked around. “Where do you think they store the films?”
Hailey shrugged. “Here?” Her palms were up and she swiveled her head around.
I jumped out of my chair, banging my leg again, and quickly crossed the room to the librarian’s office. I tapped on her door. “Mrs. Osborne? Excuse me?”
“Hi, honey,” Mrs. Osborne was a very kind, grandmotherly woman with white hair, and smart. If you were making a librarian from scratch, she is what you’d dream up. “What can I help you find today?”
I explained what I needed, and before I was even finished, she was nodding her head. “Certainly. The school stores it on the website. It’s in the public domain. I can show you how to access it from one of the desktop computers,” she said.
“Great. Thanks.” Wow! Inside I was bursting with excitement. I followed her to the computer area, pumping my fist at Hailey in victory, but knowing this was just step one. If we found the film, I still had to review the whole thing and see if he said it.
“Here we go.” Mrs. Osborne sat down and fiddled with the computer, setting it all up. “Let’s see, last Thursday, I believe it was? That was September sixteenth . . .” She clicked on a link and it opened a QuickTime video screen. “Here we go, honey. Let me know if you have any problems.”
It was that easy!
“Thanks so much, Mrs. Osborne! You’re the best!” Eagerly, I sat down and put on the earphones and began playing the movie. It covered the whole two hour meeting so I tried to fast-forward, but it skipped too much. Finally I just gave up and settled in to watch the whole thing through. At least I knew it would be in the first half of the meeting, before Michael had left, because he said he’d heard it too.
After a while, Hailey came over and tapped me on the shoulder. “I have to go,” she said quietly. “Thanks for your help. I’ll call you later.”
I waved and continued watching. It was really pretty boring, watching this all over again in real time. Finally we got to the part where I was asking questions. I winced. It was horrible watching myself. I had been a little aggressive. Michael was right. Maybe a softer approach would be more appropriate. I kind of looked like a show-off. . . .
Wait! I’d heard it! There it was! I clicked on the rewind button and moved the film back a few frames.
“. . . It’s kind of a work in progress . . .” Mr. Pfeiffer was saying. Eureka! I jumped up to celebrate, forgetting that I had the earphones on. The cord yanked my head back as I stood up and I kind of cracked my head on the monitor. I looked around. Thank goodness no one was here to see that!
Mrs. Osborne came over to where I was seated. “I’ll be going now, unless you need anything else? The custodian will be in shortly to lock up.”
“I’ll head out with you. Let me just grab my stuff.”
It was late for me when I got home. I quickly called Michael Lawrence’s house (Daring me! Twice in one week!), but his mom, who was superfriendly on the phone, said he wasn’t home from practice yet. I couldn’t feel totally settled until I’d told him about the video I’d seen. I rushed through my homework and wolfed down my dinner, then I ran back to my computer to tighten up the article.
While I was reviewing it, I got an e-mail from Allie. I had tons of e-mail but hadn’t had a chance to sift through them yet today. Allie’s said, “R U in a fight with H?”
Is my sister psychic? How does she know everything?
“What?” I wrote back. “Why do you care?”
“Haven’t seen her over here in a while. Morgan has a crush on her brother and I don’t want it to be awkward if I invite him over for Wii this weekend.”
I thought about this for a minute. Allie and her friends socializing with Hailey’s brother. Oh, whatever.
“No, it’s fine,” I typed back. “Not sure why you couldn’t stand up and come ask me in my room.”
There was no reply, naturally.
“I guess you have all the school supplies you need,” I typed. “Or you’d have already been in here.” Ha! I love having the last word!
I scrolled through the rest of my e-mail (mostly spam and junk) until my eye caught one from Mr. Trigg! Oh no!
I almost didn’t want to open it, but I had to. It read:
“Ms. Martone, I am very sorry, but if I do not have your column in hand by tomorrow morning, I’m afraid I will have to ask one of your peers to take over. I still think you are the right person for the job, so please do your best to prove it.
Many thanks.
Nathan Trigg”
One of my peers! That could be
Michael! Then he’d be on the road to editor in chief! No way!
I started to draft a reply but suddenly an e-mail pinged into my box with all kinds of urgent red flags and exclamation points attached. It was from Hailey. I opened it.
“Major Buddybook meltdown!” it said. “Get on quick and look!”
I groaned. I didn’t have time for this junk tonight. I deleted the e-mail, but another one popped up from her, all urgent and desperate again. “It’s all about your article! Quick!”
What?
The fastest thing to do was use Allie’s account. I ran down the hall and banged on her door as I opened it.
“Sheesh!” she said. She was on her bed, typing on her phone. She looked annoyed at me, but I was too frantic to care.
“Can I use your Buddybook account?” I asked, breathless.
“Be my guest, desperado. What’s up? More hot Michael Lawrence photos just posted?”
“Very funny.” I dashed to her computer and went to the sign-in page.
“What’s your password?” I asked.
“As if,” said Allie. She got off her bed huffily and came to type it in herself. “Look away,” she instructed.
But she did quickly help me find what I was looking for. It was the page Michael had created asking people if they were for or against the new curriculum. Lots of people had voted (still more for it than against, but the numbers had climbed since this morning. It was now 892 for and 412 against). But the problem was the posts. People had been putting up comments and they were growing more and more heated. I couldn’t believe my eyes! People were name-calling and it had deteriorated into just a really ugly war.
“Oh my goodness,” I said.
“It’s like a social revolution,” said Allie breathlessly, reading over my shoulder.
“I have to call Michael again!”
“You go girl!” Allie shouted after me, laughing.
I flew back to my room and dialed his number. He answered this time on the second ring.
“I know, I know!” he said, before I could say anything. “I’m taking it down!”
“Wow. You really . . .” I didn’t know what to say. “You really started a revolution!”
“I didn’t mean to,” he said sheepishly. “I shouldn’t have had an area for people to post comments. That was my mistake.”
“Live and learn,” I said, giggling. “I just hope old Pfeiff didn’t see it.”
“Me too,” said Michael. “I was going to call you back once I got this under control,” he said.
“Wait!” I said, and told him about what I found in the library.
“That’s great news about the video! How did you ever think of such a brilliant thing?” he asked.
I paused. Here was a chance to let him really think I was great, and I hated to miss the opportunity. But to tell him the truth would have him thinking Hailey was great, and I wasn’t so psyched about that.
“Sam? What gave you the idea?”
Mr. Trigg had said, “All’s fair in love and war. . . .”
Martone Betrays Best Friend over a Guy.
“Are you still there? Sam?”
Darn it! I couldn’t do it. “Stick to the facts, kid,” I heard my journalism teacher Mr. Bloom saying. Stick to the facts.
“It was Hailey!” I blurted finally.
“What was Hailey?” asked Michael.
“She was the one who knew that they tape the PTA meetings. Her mom used to be in the PTA. She was the one who thought to ask in the library. And they had it. It was all her idea.”
“Wow! Hailey really saved the day!” said Michael.
I winced. Oh well, I thought. There goes my chance at love.
“Looks like you’re as good at picking friends as you are at everything else!” said Michael cheerily.
What?
Did he really just say that? I didn’t know how to reply. I looked at the receiver in my hand. Did Michael Lawrence really think I was good at things? Like what, I desperately wanted to ask. List some things, please!
“Oh, uh . . . thanks?” I stammered.
“Listen, this is all good, but I’ve gotta run. Let’s swap drafts one more time before the end of the night via e-mail. Then I’ll meet you at the Voice tomorrow and we can file the story together, okay? Give me your e-mail address since you’re not on Buddybook.”
“Okay.” I hesitated. “Newsysaml” sounded so cute when I chose it. Now it was just one more embarrassment.
“Uh, Sam? Your e-mail?”
“Oh, right!” I said, and gave it to him.
Michael chuckled. “Bye, Pasty! I mean Newsy!”
Ugh.
I replaced the receiver in the cradle and looked at the phone for a long time. Then I wrapped my arms around myself and hugged my shoulders. Hailey had said it: at least I had nicknames. Maybe that meant something. I felt all warm inside. I think I might actually have a chance with Michael Lawrence!
Impulsively I picked up the receiver again and dialed Hailey. She really was a great friend.
“You’re the best!” I said when she picked up.
“Thanks!”
“You saved my butt today!”
“Well you saved mine with the first-person narrative paper!”
“Oh, that was nothing!”
“We’re a good team,” said Hailey.
I smiled. “We are.”
After we hung up, I trudged up the stairs to my room and settled back at my desk. I put a few lines in the article about the Buddybook war, and polished up a few other things, then I sent it to Michael and also posted a copy to the Voice’s server so I could work on it there tomorrow.
Then I pulled out the manila folder from behind my desk, opened it up, and started to type.
“Dear Unlucky,” I began, and my fingers flew over the keys with all I had to say.
Chapter 16
LUCKY IN LOVE?
Well, I made the deadlines. Both of them.
Michael and I got our article all polished up, of course, even though we both got yelled at by our moms for staying up so late e-mailing. Mr. Trigg was really pleased with it and very impressed by our reporting.
“Mr. Lawrence, quite brilliant to research the funding. Jolly good idea!” he said. “And Ms. Martone, the video evidence is compelling. Very cloak and dagger.”
“It wasn’t my idea, but I’m glad I got the lead. I can’t reveal my source.”
“Sources are what make journalism go round, my girl!”
“And friends!” I added.
“Thanks,” said Michael, smiling at me.
Oh dear. I hadn’t meant him, of course, but now I realized I should have. It was pretty cute that he thought of me as a friend. It’s a good first step to major romance, I think. At least that’s what I told Unlucky Taste in my Dear Know-It-All column.
“Yeah, I think we both learned a lot doing this,” I said.
Mr. Trigg was nodding happily. “Excellent. Like what?”
Michael and I smiled at each other. “Well . . .” I began. “You have to listen when you ask questions. You can’t just keep firing them off, and you can’t always rely on just copying down answers. You’ve got to really hear what people are saying . . .”
“And you’ve got to be careful of social media,” added Michael.
“Certainly, we’ve seen that all over the world,” said Mr. Trigg, all serious now.
“And you’ve got to try to look at both sides of everything . . .” I said.
“Yeah, and also the gray areas and the works in progress in between,” Michael chimed in. “Also, you have to remember to feed Sam and stay out of her way.”
I elbowed him. “Be quiet!” But he knew I wasn’t mad. We were friends. I was starting to feel a lot more comfortable around him. And he was still so super cute. “Anyway, as long as you’re making cinnamon buns, I’m ready to eat,” I added.
Mr. Trigg looked back and forth between us, smiling like a proud father. “Maybe we have a new arrangement next yea
r. Co-editors-in-chief!” He tapped his chin thoughtfully with his index finger. “Yes, like a Hepburn and Tracy movie. I can just see it . . .” He wandered back to his desk, lost in thought.
Michael and I watched him go and then burst out laughing. “Whatever!” he said.
“Co-editors-in-chief—as if!” I said, but Michael knew I was joking.
“Good job, partner,” said Michael, reaching out his hand to shake mine.
I placed my hand in his large, warm paw and we shook, smiling. “A pleasure doing business with you, Pasty,” he said.
“Thanks, Mikey.”
The paper came out the following Monday and there was a ton of hoopla. Mr. Pfeiffer called Mr. Trigg and yelled about being misquoted, but Mr. Trigg said he was standing by his staff and directed Mr. Pfeiffer to watch the video on the school website. That shut him up fast.
Hailey and I were at lunch together when she opened the paper for the first time. I held my breath as she read my cover story (Front page! Top of the fold!).
“Sammy, this is awesome!” she said, and she dove across the table to give me a huge hug. “Even though I don’t understand half of it!” She laughed.
“Thanks!” I said, my voice muffled by her shoulder.
I finished my lunch while she flipped through the rest of the pages, chattering and commenting on everything. Finally, she got to the back inside cover. The Dear Know-It-All page. I looked at her face while she started to read, but then I felt like I was invading her privacy and I had to get away.
“Want anything? I’m going up for dessert,” I said.
Hailey didn’t even look up. “No thanks. I’m good,” she said, riveted by the paper.
I watched her from afar as I gathered up my chocolate cake. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Michael walking in with Jeff Perry. Oops. I didn’t want to be chatting with him when she finished reading. I quickly dashed back to my table and slid into my seat.
Hailey had finished reading and looked startled by my reentry.
