Odd Girl In

by Jo Whittemore

  Several girls laughed at her unintended joke, and Emily smiled and continued. I noticed that she was as careful as I’d been not to mention Trevor’s involvement in the adventure. I relaxed a little, realizing she didn’t want a fight with Chloe any more than I did.

  As her story went on, the crowd grew closer and quieter, so that when Emily got to the part where we tried to put the fire out, each girl in the backyard was hanging on her every word.

  “Alexis threw flour into the oven, thinking it would smother the flames, but what she didn’t know”—Emily leaned toward her audience and whispered—“is that flour acts just … like … gasoline.”

  “Oh, no!” Someone gasped.

  “You’re lucky to be alive!” said someone else.

  “We would’ve been toast,” I added, getting into the spirit of things, “if it hadn’t been for Trevor.”

  I realized my mistake too late and clamped my mouth shut. Emily stiffened, but didn’t dare look at me.

  “Who’s Trevor?” asked Claire.

  “Just a guy,” I said.

  “Oooh, a guy.” She winked, not helping the situation.

  “So, you were hanging out with him?” Chloe’s voice, sounding sharp, came from over my shoulder. “Doing your teamwork task?”

  I turned to face her. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

  Emily chimed in. “He overheard Alexis and I talking about the desserts we were making for your party and offered to help.” She smiled broadly at Chloe, challenging her to press the issue.

  Not a single splash came from the pool as the other girls watched the silent showdown. Finally, Chloe laughed and gave me a friendly slap on the arm. It was meant to look friendly, at least.

  “I was just curious. No biggie!”

  The other girls relaxed and Emily went back to the story. The rest of the evening proceeded with pillow fights and gossip sessions. By the time we all laid down for the night, Chloe seemed to have completely forgotten the incident.

  Or at least I thought she had.

  Shortly before dawn, I jolted awake, unable to breathe. Chloe had one hand over my mouth and the other pinching my nostrils shut. It was probably meant to scare me, but since I’d grown up sparring with my brothers, I simply shoved her away.

  “What is your problem?” I hissed in my quietest voice.

  She put a finger to her mouth and nodded toward the staircase. I followed her to the back porch, and as soon as she’d closed the doors behind her, she exploded with fury.

  “Trevor is off-limits!” she snapped. “What part of that did you not get the first time?”

  “Seriously?” I groaned and rubbed my eyes. “I can’t believe you woke me up for this. I’m going back to sleep.”

  “No, you’re not! We’re not done!” She grabbed my arm and yanked me off-balance.

  Now I was starting to remember why I didn’t hang out with other girls.

  “Chloe,” I said, doing my best to stay calm, “you’re overreacting. Let’s talk later.”

  “You think I’m overreacting?” she squeaked. “You just stole the love of my life!”

  I rolled my eyes up to the heavens. “If you’re so in love with him, what’s his favorite type of movie?”

  “Movie?” Chloe paused in her rampage. “Um …”

  “Sci-fi,” I said. “What does he dip Cheetos in?”

  She tugged on the drawstrings of her pajama bottoms. “Ranch dressing?”

  “Chocolate pudding,” I said. “If you’re really so concerned that I’m trying to steal him, maybe you should try harder to keep his attention.”

  After hearing my logic, a sane person would have nodded and been embarrassed. Since Chloe was an irrational psycho, however, she went ballistic.

  “You are trying to take him from me! I knew it!” She charged at me, arms flying.

  Over the past week, I’d made a serious effort to be friendly, and social, and play the part of an average girl, but even the average girl had her limits.

  So I stepped aside and let Chloe fall into the pool.

  It was blissfully quiet for the five seconds she flailed around underwater, but as soon as her head broke the surface, she made sure everyone in a two-block radius knew her anguish.

  “Aughhh!” she screamed, pounding the water with her fists.

  I crouched by the edge of the pool, just beyond her reach. “I’m only going to say this once more. I … don’t … like … Trevor.”

  Chloe growled and lunged at me, but since she was waterlogged, it was more of a slow-motion belly flop.

  From the direction of the house came the sound of the doors bursting open, followed by a familiar gasp.

  “Alexis!” cried Emily, running toward me. “You pushed Chloe in?”

  “No,” I said. “She fell in before I had the chance.”

  Emily clapped her hand to her forehead.

  “Relax,” I said with a smile. “It’s a heated pool.”

  Emily gripped my shoulders. “You have to do major damage control right now!” She glanced behind her where girls were streaming out the back door to see what had happened.

  “Okay,” I said.

  Then I pushed Emily into the pool.

  Several of the closest girls gasped and I turned to face them.

  “Pajama pool party!” I shouted, and did a backflip into the deep end.

  Even submerged I could hear the giggles and feel the splashes around me as everyone joined in. When I reached open air, I came face-to-face with Emily, who tried to scowl at me but burst out laughing. Everyone was having a great time except, of course, Chloe, who was staring murderously at me. I almost expected the water around her to start boiling over from her anger.

  And then someone said, “Chloe, this was an awesome idea!”

  “So fun!” another girl agreed. “The best slumber party this year.”

  All the other girls chorused their agreement and instantly Chloe’s bad humor vanished. After we’d all dried off later, I expected her to confront me again, but she didn’t say another word on the subject. And when Dad came to pick me up, she simply thanked me for coming.

  Part of me was relieved that she’d finally gotten my point, but another part of me wondered if the pool incident had given her a new reason to hate me.

  Chapter 10

  I have to say, I’m impressed.” Dad tossed my duffle bag in the backseat while I carried a party tin of cheese popcorn. “I didn’t get a call in the middle of the night saying you’d put someone in the hospital or the trunk of a car.”

  “That’s because I’m a perfect angel,” I said with my most innocent expression.

  Dad laughed and put the car in gear. “I would never believe that, but I’m glad everything turned out okay. Did you have fun?”

  “Yep,” I said.

  “Enough to go again?” he asked with a grin.

  “Nope.” I smiled back. “How are Nick and Parker doing? Did they have a good time without me?”

  “Well, Nick spent the evening with a tutor and Parker spent it running the track.”

  “In other words, no.” I made a face. “What are they doing now?”

  “Parker is supposed to be helping Nick study,” said Dad. “Although I’m not sure how well that’s going.”

  “Nick?” I turned toward him. “You’re joking.”

  Dad shook his head. “He’s been taking this Champs business pretty seriously.”

  “Well, I’d hate to interrupt that,” I said. “I guess if they’re busy I’ll just relax in my room.”

  “Sure,” said Dad. “You’ve earned it.”

  I wondered if he’d feel the same if he knew what had really happened at Chloe’s, but all I said was, “Thanks.”

  Back at the house, I shouted a hello to my brothers, who were taking a break in the kitchen, and ran up to my room. Dad never liked us to lock our doors, but I figured I could get away with it for half an hour or so.

  Pushing aside a pile of laundry in my closet, I pulled out the box
of photos from the garage and carried it to my bed. I flipped through the first three albums that I’d already seen, but took my time once I got to the newer ones.

  I was hoping I’d be able to understand Mom better if I could peek into her past, but the more I saw, the more confused I became. There would be several pictures of her awkwardly posed with my brothers, face devoid of any emotion, and then there would be a picture of her clutching her pregnant belly and smiling, as if she was thrilled to be a mom.

  I compared them to the albums I had from after I was born and it was the same pattern. I’d be sitting on the floor by Mom’s desk while she worked, completely ignoring me, and later I’d be sitting on her lap while she pointed out pictures in one of her books.

  There was a loud thud outside my bedroom door and I quickly fumbled to put the albums back in the box. A couple of photos fell out of their sleeves, and I scooped them up, hiding them behind my back as I crept to my door to listen. When I didn’t hear anything else, I climbed back onto the bed and set to work replacing the fallen photos.

  Except, behind one of them, someone had tucked in a note.

  I pulled it out and recognized the same handwriting that I’d seen on so many birthday and Christmas checks—Mom’s.

  I stared at the note in disbelief. I re-read it. Then I flipped it over but there was no date on it. I read it one more time, but it was getting harder to focus on the words with the note shaking in my hand. Several thoughts struggled to be first in my mind.

  Mom loved us … or she had at some point, anyway.

  Mom had met with my brothers, but not me.

  Dad had tried to cut off communication with Mom, even birthday checks.

  But why?

  The knob on my bedroom door jiggled and I leapt about a foot into the air.

  “Alex?” Dad’s muffled voice carried through the door. “Are you decent?”

  “Uh, yeah!” I threw a blanket over the box and shoved the note in my back pocket. I wasn’t quite ready to share it with anyone. “Just a sec.”

  I took a few deep breaths and then opened the door. “Sorry. I just wanted a little private time.”

  Dad nodded. “I’m heading out to the grocery store. Apparently, exercise is turning Parker into a bit of an eating machine.”

  “He gets full after a carrot stick,” I said. “How much can he eat?”

  Dad crossed his arms. “Well, the refrigerator’s almost empty, and if metal was edible, I’m sure he would have swallowed that, too.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Just be on your guard,” said Dad. “And don’t wear any food costumes.”

  I pushed him and laughed again. He disappeared down the hall and I leaned against the door frame. Dad was usually so patient and good-humored. What could Mom have done to set him off? I returned to the box of photo albums and started poking behind all the photo sleeves, looking for more notes. Unfortunately, it seemed that this was the only one to have made its way into the box.

  I heard more thumping outside my door, followed by an assortment of odd grunts. After shoving the box under my bed, I poked my head into the hallway.

  “What are you guys doing?”

  My brothers were sprawled out on the carpet of the second-story landing, Parker fighting to break free from Nick, who had him in a headlock.

  “Give it here!” Nick shouted, reaching for something Parker had clutched in his fist.

  “Never!” Parker twisted his hand out of reach and brought whatever he was holding to his mouth.

  Nick looked up at me. “Alex! Stop him!”

  I dropped down between the two of them and clawed at Parker’s hand. “What is it? Parker, let … ugh!”

  Whatever it was smushed between my fingers as I grabbed for it, and I recoiled in horror. My hand was coated in reddish-brown ooze.

  “Nooo!” cried Parker.

  “Please tell me this didn’t come from someone’s nose.” I wiped my fingers on Parker’s shirt.

  “It was a moldy strawberry he found in the back of the refrigerator,” said Nick, releasing Parker from his grip.

  “What?!” I stared at my brother in disgust.

  “I was going to eat around the mold.” Parker glanced hungrily down at his shirt where I’d wiped my hand.

  “Don’t even think about it,” said Nick.

  “But I’m starving!” cried Parker.

  “Dad’ll be home soon with more groceries,” I said. “Why don’t you go back to whatever you were doing before this?”

  Nick snorted. “He wasn’t doing anything. He was supposed to be helping me study for a test tomorrow since my tutor isn’t working out.”

  “You’ve only had one session,” I said. “How can you already know that?”

  “I thought I’d get one of those cute, smart girls for my tutor, like how it always works on sitcoms,” said Nick.

  “Yes. Because our lives are so laugh-a-minute,” said Parker, getting to his feet and heading for the bathroom.

  “Anyway,” Nick said, “I wound up with this guy from Dad’s college. All he did was babble about geometry, and all I did was count the hairs curling out of his nose.”

  “So you did do some math,” I said with a smile.

  “Well, I’m sorry,” said Parker from the bathroom doorway, “but I can’t help you study on an empty stomach. All this exercise is making me hungry.” He uncapped a tube of toothpaste and squeezed the contents into his mouth.

  “Parker!” I jumped up and knocked the toothpaste out of his hand while Nick forced his head into the sink.

  Begrudgingly, Parker spit out the toothpaste and turned to glare at us. “You’re lucky I didn’t bite off a few fingers.” Parker’s eyes lit up. “Ooh. Chicken fingers!”

  Nick looked ready to pummel him so I stepped between my brothers. “Wait! I have a big tin of cheese popcorn.”

  “Really?” Sheer joy shone on Parker’s face, but it was quickly replaced by annoyance. “Were you going to tell me before or after I ate rotten fruit and toothpaste?”

  I stuck my tongue out at him. “The deal is this: Help Nick study, and you can have a handful of popcorn for every answer he gets right.”

  “But then I’ll never eat again!” moaned Parker.

  “Hey!” Nick frowned. “I’m not that hopeless.”

  “And you”—I pointed at Nick—“have to at least try, with or without his help. Agreed?”

  Nick and Parker glowered at each other.

  “Agreed,” they said in unison.

  I grabbed the tin of popcorn from my room and handed it to Nick. I couldn’t put it past Parker to push me down the stairs for it.

  “To the living room,” I said.

  While my brothers studied, I watched them and thought about the note in my back pocket. I didn’t find it difficult to believe that something had gone wrong at their meeting with Mom, but I did have trouble believing I hadn’t been invited. Or that I hadn’t at least been told about it. I wanted to ask while Dad wasn’t around, but I couldn’t take away Nick’s study time.

  The front door opened, and Dad appeared with an armful of paper bags. My brothers glanced up, but Parker didn’t leap over the couch to get to the groceries. He simply nodded at Dad and grabbed a handful of popcorn as Nick correctly solved an equation.

  “Glad to see the house is still standing,” Dad said as I took some bags from him. “Did I miss something?”

  “Why would you think that?” I asked, leading the way to the kitchen.

  “Your brothers aren’t fighting over that popcorn tin, and they’re actually working together. Did you have something to do with that?”

  I smirked at him. “If I did, I’m very clever. Wouldn’t you say?”

  In answer, Dad kissed my forehead. “I’m proud of you. A few weeks ago, you wouldn’t have done anything to help,” he said. “Or you would have buried the popcorn in the backyard and given Parker a treasure map.”

  I tilted my head to one side thoughtfully. “Yeah. I was
a lot more fun a few weeks ago.”

  The next morning, on the way to school, I shared Mom’s note with Emily. After her eyebrows had returned to their normal position, she asked, “How old do you think this is?”

  I shrugged. “It can’t be too recent because my dad would still be upset. I’m thinking it has to be at least a few years old.”

  “And all this time, your mom’s probably been thinking of you.”

  I didn’t answer Emily. It was a strange feeling to think Mom might be gazing out a window somewhere, wondering what we were up to. I’d always assumed we were just a mark on the calendar when it was time to mail off checks.

  “You have to try and get in touch with her,” said Emily.

  I folded the note and put it back into my pocket. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  Emily stopped me. “You can’t be serious. All this time, you’ve been upset about your mom. Now you know she’s out there and that your brothers have had communication with her….”

  “I know,” I said. “But they obviously stopped talking for some reason, and I don’t want to be the one to reopen old wounds.”

  “But aren’t you even the least bit curious?” pressed Emily. “Don’t you want to find out what happened when she met your brothers and, more important, why she didn’t meet you?”

  I frowned. “You’re a bad influence, you know that?”

  Emily rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying…. You have the chance to bring your family together again. Don’t just write it off.”

  I shook my head. “I’ll think about it. Let’s change the subject.”

  Emily cleared her throat and casually glanced at her nails. “You mean, to how Trevor and I played paintball yesterday?”

  I gasped. “What?! You didn’t.”

  “We did!” Emily dropped the nonchalant act and bounced up and down. “He called Saturday night while we were at Chloe’s, and when I called him back yesterday, he said he’d been thinking about how I liked him.”

  “And?”

  “And he thought I was odd but sweet.” She blushed.

  I smiled. Only Emily would take that as a compliment.