While I was thinking, I felt something tickle my leg. It was an ant. I slapped it with my hand and squished it.
“Bessica,” Grandma said. “You didn’t have to kill it.”
“Sure I did,” I said. “It was crawling on me.”
“Bessica, Bessica, Bessica,” Grandma said. “You’re so impulsive.” And then she didn’t say anything.
We sat and listened to the wind start to blow. Banging sounds came out of the motor home as Willy drained the refrigerator. I knew I should practice being a bear. But I was just too tired.
“I better get in there and help him,” Grandma said.
I wasn’t ready for her to leave.
“I’m nervous about Friday’s game,” I said.
“It’s normal to be nervous. But I’m sure you’ll do an excellent job,” Grandma said.
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
“Willy and I will both be there,” she said. “And so will your parents and so will Alma.”
I was actually happy to hear that Alma would be there. Because the more time the third wolf spent with the wolf couple, the easier it was going to be to make Willy fall in love with the third wolf and leave Grandma alone. But I didn’t necessarily want all these people to watch me get facebombed. Or, in the best-case scenario, I didn’t want all these people to watch me facebomb T.J. Because I would probably do it all wrong.
Just then, Alma drove by and she honked at Grandma and Grandma waved back like she was thrilled.
“Do you like Alma?” I asked. Because I didn’t want Grandma to lose a friend when Willy and Alma ran off together.
“She’s building a new life. She needs friends,” Grandma said. “She’s growing her circle.”
“But if you just met her on the street you probably wouldn’t like her. Right?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t say that,” she said.
“Ouch!” Willy called from the motor home. “I can’t get this blasted tubing to come apart.”
I looked at Grandma. I didn’t want her to leave me. Couldn’t Willy handle the tubing by himself? Couldn’t he do anything without Grandma? She pushed off her chair and stood up.
“Grandma?” I asked. “What if when I’m cheering at the game I’m terrible? I mean, not a little terrible. But totally truly very terrible? Or what if something terrible happens?”
“There’s no way you will be terrible. And nothing terrible is going to happen,” she said. “It’s a game. People go for the fun of it.”
“What if I let people down?” I asked.
“Who could you possibly be letting down?”
I looked at the clouds inching across the sky. I didn’t want to tell Grandma about all the facebombing that might take place. But it was sort of like she could read my mind.
“Do you want to know one of the key things to living a happy life?” Grandma asked me.
“Of course,” I said.
“Do what makes you happy in a manner that doesn’t hurt anyone else,” she said.
“Okay,” I said. I felt myself holding back tears. “Thanks for sharing that with me.”
“Happiness isn’t something you chase, Bessica,” Grandma said. “It’s just the way you feel.”
I’d never thought about the fact that I was chasing happiness.
“I still haven’t finished my Arctic collage,” I said.
“Why not?” Grandma asked.
I shrugged. “I already did a collage. For nutrition.”
“Collage fatigue?” Grandma said, laughing a little.
I nodded. Then I felt my phone buzz and I looked at it. Ooh. “I have to take this. It’s Annabelle. I give her great advice.”
Annabelle: Jasper is driving me nuts!
Me: I can’t really talk. I have to make a stupid collage.
Annabelle: I thought you finished your collage and it turned out super-orange.
Me: (Sigh) Different collage.
I felt Grandma touch my arm. “Invite your friend over to help you.”
I shook my head. I didn’t think Annabelle would be much help. If she came over, all she’d do was talk about Jasper and distract me.
Annabelle: Is that your mom? Did she just invite me over?
Me: No.
Then Grandma touched my arm again. “Willy and I can pick her up. Or drop her off if that’s a problem.”
I shook my head again. Didn’t Grandma know what it meant when I shook my head? I covered my phone with my hand and whispered, “Bad idea. We’ll need to ask Mom first.”
“Your mom and dad aren’t here,” Grandma said. “They went on a drive to Jackson Hole. They’ve having a date night.”
I kept my phone covered. “But they don’t have those.”
Annabelle: Is that your grandma? I’d love to meet her.
Then Grandma did something crazy. She leaned into my phone and said, “I’d love to meet you too, Annabelle.”
Annabelle: I’m on my way!
Annabelle hung up and I hung up and then I stared at Grandma. “I might never finish my collage now.”
“Sure you will,” Grandma said. “You’ll be inspired by the company of your friend.”
Sometimes it was like Grandma and I didn’t even live on the same planet. “I don’t think that’s true. Annabelle isn’t even taking geography. And for my assignment I’m supposed to answer the question ‘What would you see if you went to the Arctic?’ But when I try to imagine what I’d see, all I picture is snow, and my blank piece of poster board works for that.”
“Sounds like you’ve got an interesting project on your hands,” Grandma said.
“That’s a lie.” I leaned back in my chair and stared at the awful Winnebago. “One collage a year is plenty.” I closed my eyes. Mr. Hoser and Mrs. Mounds shouldn’t both have been allowed to assign such terrible identical homework. I felt tortured. I turned and looked at Grandma. “There should be a rule against terrible identical homework. Teachers should be required to be more imaginative.”
“Don’t bash teachers. They’ve got tough jobs,” Grandma said. “Let me get Willy. We’ll cook a motivating meal for you and your friend.”
Motivating or not, I did not want to eat Willy’s cooking.
And I did not want Annabelle to come to my house and obsess about Jasper.
And I did not want to make a second collage.
And I did not want to get facebombed.
“Does Willy know how to make pizza?” I asked.
Grandma’s hearing was as sensitive as a bat’s. She called to me from the Winnebago, “Willy makes fantastic pizza!”
“I actually make far better calzones!” Willy added.
I didn’t say anything back. I wasn’t sure a calzone would improve anything for anyone. Especially me.
Annabelle arrived excited and ready to chat. Also, she was wearing clothes that looked like pajamas.
“Are you spending the night?” I asked as I led her to my room. Because it was a school night and I didn’t think that was wise or allowed.
“I like wearing comfy clothes,” Annabelle said. Then she didn’t comment on my green lizard or offer to help me with my collage at all or bring up the fact that I should be practicing my cheers. She launched into Jasper chat. “He texted me earlier today and asked if he could visit us at lunch tomorrow. Isn’t that weird? What do you think it means?”
I spritzed Bianca with some water and then sat down and stared at my poster board. “I don’t think it’s weird. He likes talking to you.”
“Right,” Annabelle said, plopping down next to me. “But he’s never texted and asked for permission before. I think his feelings for me are deepening. What do you think?”
I didn’t tell Annabelle what I thought. Because I thought she was acting like a crazy person. “Maybe we should help my grandma and Willy make calzones.”
I didn’t want to help them, but talking to Annabelle was driving me nuts. When we got to the kitchen Willy and Grandma were listening to terrible country music about people getting di
vorces and horses running wild and cowboys missing other cowboys who were either dead or in prison.
“This music is depressing,” I said.
“Really?” Willy asked, turning the station. “It lifts me up.”
“I like it too,” Grandma said. “Shows human perseverance.”
Willy found a station playing popular music with lots of drums that normal people listened to and I felt much better.
“Do you girls like pepperoni?” Willy asked as he tossed a slab of dough in the air and twirled it.
“I do!” Annabelle said.
Annabelle and I sat at the breakfast bar while Grandma and Willy whipped up dinner.
“Do you want tomatoes in your salad?” Grandma asked us as she chopped the life out of a head of lettuce.
“I want information about the Arctic. So I can properly locate pictures and glue them to my poster board,” I said.
“What’s the theme again?” Grandma asked.
I couldn’t believe Grandma had forgotten my theme already.
“I have to make a collage that answers the following question: ‘If I went to the Arctic, what would I see?’ ”
“Willy has been to Barrow, Alaska,” Grandma said. “It’s the northernmost city in the United States.”
“That’s amazing!” Annabelle said.
“That’s cool,” I said. But I didn’t really care.
“I’ve got some good travel books about the Arctic,” Willy said.
“You’d lend Bessica your books?” Grandma asked.
“I’d love to!” Willy said.
“Your Arctic books are currently inside your Winnebago?” I asked. Because it felt like Willy should have told me this as soon as he’d heard about my collage.
“You can’t cut them up,” Willy said. “But you can use them for information.”
“What a huge coincidence, Bessica!” Annabelle gushed. “You are so lucky Willy is here.”
I could not believe Annabelle had said that. My ears rang in horror.
“I should not be making calzones or an Arctic collage. I should be practicing my bear cheers,” I said under my breath. But then there wasn’t time to do either of those things, because we needed to hang out with Willy and Grandma until dinner was ready.
After we ate our calzones and salad, Willy gave me his books and Annabelle and I went to my bedroom.
“Hit me with an arrow!” Annabelle said.
“What?” I asked. I unrolled my poster board and put shoes on the corners to keep it from curling up.
“It’s a saying related to Cupid. God of love. Son of Venus,” Annabelle said. “Jasper texted me again. He wants to bring dessert for me tomorrow. A special cookie.”
I looked at her but didn’t say anything.
“He’s basically asking me to be his girlfriend,” Annabelle said. “Isn’t he?”
I didn’t agree or disagree. “You should call and ask Lola about that.” Lola liked to analyze boy stuff more than I did. And I needed to finish my collage so I could practice my cheers a little.
I stared at my books. “If I went to the Arctic all I would see was snow. Doesn’t Mr. Hoser know that already?”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“How are things going in there?” Grandma asked.
“Fantastic!” Annabelle said.
“Awful,” I said.
“Aren’t Willy’s books helping?” Grandma asked.
Willy had given me two terrible books. Silent Snow, which was very big and talked about how all the world’s pollutants had traveled to the Arctic and turned it and every single polar bear toxic. And The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Arctic and Antarctic, which I didn’t really want to open because I found the title a little insulting.
“I’m just going to Google the Arctic and print out some pictures,” I said. “Research is hard.”
Annabelle didn’t say anything because she was busy texting Lola.
Grandma frowned at me. “This sounds like a delightful assignment. You get to read about polar bears and ice floes and ringed seals.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said.
“Do you think it would help to watch a movie?” Grandma asked.
I sat up straight. “Probably.” I liked watching movies with Grandma.
“Movies are the best,” Annabelle said as she furiously punched buttons on her phone.
“Willy, bless his heart, went to pick up a movie about polar bears,” Grandma said. “I think he’s hoping that you two might bond over the Arctic.”
“Wow,” I said. “That’s weird.” Because I could imagine Willy bonding over the Arctic with Mr. Hoser, but I couldn’t imagine Willy bonding over the Arctic with me. Ever.
“Willy is the best,” Annabelle said.
I really regretted that Annabelle was in my bedroom right now.
“Would you do me a favor?” Grandma asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Would you give Willy a chance?” she asked. “I love Willy. I want you two to get along.”
I couldn’t believe Grandma loved Willy. She was going to be devastated when he ran off with Alma.
“I am giving him a chance,” I said.
Then I heard the front door slam.
“I got the Arctic DVD!” Willy yelled.
So Grandma and me and Annabelle and Willy gathered in the living room and popped in the DVD.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“What’s that sound?” Grandma asked.
“Annabelle texting,” I said.
“I just need to ask Dee one more question,” Annabelle said.
“I thought you were texting Lola,” I said.
“She got a thumb cramp,” Annabelle said.
I looked at Grandma and rolled my eyes.
“Let’s put our electronics away and concentrate on the film,” Grandma said.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Annabelle looked devastated.
“I’m trying to figure out whether or not I have a boyfriend,” Annabelle said.
I rolled my eyes big-time at that.
“Seems like the sort of thing best figured out face to face,” Grandma said. Then she cranked up the volume.
The film started off showing icebergs and polar bears, and then a narrator came on and informed us that in one hundred years the Arctic would be totally melted.
“This is bumming me out,” I said.
“My grandma thinks the world will end in less than twenty-five years,” Annabelle said.
“Let’s just watch the movie,” Grandma said. “National Geographic made it. That means it’s high quality.”
“Look. There’s a lot of things to put on your poster,” Willy said.
And Willy was right. Because after a couple of minutes the screen was flooded with stuff. “Ooh,” I said. “The Arctic has birds? I didn’t know that.” I kept watching. “And seals! And polar bears. And walruses. And biologists on snowmobiles with fur hats and dogs.”
“Those look like Labrador retrievers,” Grandma said.
“Cool,” I said. “I can find them on the Internet.”
“Should you be taking notes?” Grandma asked me.
I tapped my head. “No. I’m great at storing information.”
Willy chuckled at this. And it didn’t really bother me. Because I was grateful that he’d found such a cool DVD for us to watch.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
We all looked at Annabelle.
“Sorry,” she said.
I watched her catch a quick glance of her screen. “It’s a text from Jasper!” she whispered.
I started watching the movie again. The camera was underwater, showing everything that lived below the ice. “What’s that thing?” I yelled. I saw the weirdest animal ever. It looked like a seal with a huge spike on its head.
“It’s a narwhal,” Grandma said. “Hasn’t your teacher mentioned them?”
“No,” I said. “He has not.” Which was a big surprise to me, because they were the freakiest animals I’d ever se
en, and if Mr. Hoser had mentioned them, I bet the entire class would have become much more interested in the Arctic.
“I thought I saw a narwhal once,” Willy said. “But it was a beluga whale.”
It would have been a much better story if Willy had actually seen a narwhal. “Too bad,” I said, and I kept watching the DVD.
“Only the male has the tusk,” Willy said. “It’s a tooth.”
“Ouch,” I said. Because the narrator said the tusk could grow to be nine feet long.
“When I get home I’m going to text Jasper about this,” Annabelle said. Then, using her phone, she took a picture of me. “I’m sending that to Lola. Your hair looks so cute right now.”
But I worried that Annabelle was overtexting. Jasper. Lola. Everybody.
“Look at the seals,” Grandma said.
“I’ve seen hundreds in real life,” Willy said.
I was surprised to hear this. “I thought you were a welder,” I said. I didn’t know why he’d see that many seals and a beluga whale. Did he weld aquariums?
“Before my wife passed we were quite the globetrotters,” Willy said.
I glanced at Grandma. I wondered if it hurt her feelings that Willy was talking about his wife.
“Here’s some more narwhals,” Annabelle said.
I listened closely to the DVD narrator. “ ‘Narwhals’ chief predators are killer whales.’ ” Then a picture of a killer whale eating something bloody flashed across the screen.
“No! Not the narwhal!” I said. I had not been expecting to see blood in the Arctic. Then the documentary showed killer whales chasing what appeared to be more narwhals.
“Those guys are goners,” Annabelle said.
“Actually, because they don’t have dorsal fins, they can swim right under the surface of the ice,” Willy said. “Killer whales have huge dorsal fins and can’t do that. So the narwhals might have a shot. If they can make it back to the ice.”
“Go narwhals! Go narwhals!” I said.
“Don’t forget to breathe,” Grandma said.
“I’m breathing,” I said.
“Oh! Oh! They made it,” Annabelle said. “I’m going to text Jasper and tell him.”
Bessica 2 - Bessica Lefter Bites Back Page 13
