Lisa hurried toward Georgie as soon as the bell rang.
“Hi, Georgie!” she called. “I hate math, don’t you?”
“Can’t stand it,” Georgie said.
“I got an eighty-five on yesterday’s homework. That’s pretty good for me. What did you get?”
“Seventy,” Georgie lied.
“Oh, well,” Lisa said. “Don’t feel bad. It’s so hard!”
“No kidding.” Georgie grabbed her science book from her locker and then walked with Lisa to hers.
Lisa picked up her English book. They had their first classes, social studies and math, together, so they’d gotten into the habit of walking to each other’s lockers.
“Okay, ready.” Lisa turned just as Craig walked up to her. “Hi, Craig,” she said, and her face flushed.
Georgie looked at Craig. She didn’t want to hate him, but it was hard not to. He’d made it clear he thought the war was wrong. She wanted it to end, too, but honorably.
“Hi, Lisa.” He looked at Georgie as if he wanted her to go away.
When she didn’t move, he cleared his throat and said to Lisa, “I was, um, wondering if you had a partner for the Good Deeds thing.”
“Oh!” Lisa said.
Georgie asked, “Why do you want to know?”
“Well—um—”
Putting him on the spot felt good.
“I signed up for the Keep America Beautiful project,” he said. “I heard the assignment will be to plant trees, and I thought being outside would be kind of nice.” He looked down at his shoes. “And, well, since we’re from different sides of town now, I thought if you didn’t have a partner…”
“Well … I do have a partner,” Lisa said. “But—I—” She looked to Georgie for help.
Georgie smiled at her but didn’t say anything. She loved watching the two of them squirm. She felt back in control.
“Well, that’s good that you have a partner. I guess I’d better find one, too,” he said. “Nice talking to you.”
He walked away. Lisa groaned and banged her head on her locker door.
“Why are you doing that?” Georgie said.
“Are you blind? Don’t you think he’s the cutest guy in the whole school? He used to be in my class, but his parents moved across town to Glendale. The best part about Glendale and North Ridge consolidating is that we’re in the same school again, but every single time he talks to me, I stammer.”
“He seems to have the same problem,” Georgie said. “You should have told him your partner was Ringo.”
“So then he thinks I’m an idiot? No, thanks.”
“He might have gotten that impression anyway,” Georgie said.
Lisa looked so stricken that Georgie burst out laughing. “I’m kidding!” She gave Lisa a shove.
Lisa laughed a little. Then the bell rang and she let out a squeal. She ran in the direction of her English class, while Georgie slowly sauntered toward her science lab.
7
As soon as Principal Gordon finished announcements Friday morning, the school secretary, Mrs. Sanders, came back on the intercom. “Would Lisa Loutzenhiser and Georgia Collins report to the principal’s office, please.”
Georgie’s first thought was that it must be payback time for destroying Mrs. Donovan’s ship. But not if Lisa was called in, too, she realized.
Lisa quickly gathered her books and almost ran toward the office.
“What’s your hurry?” Georgie said as she followed her.
“I wonder if something bad happened at home.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Why else would we get called to the office?”
“You’ve never been sent to the principal’s office for getting into trouble?” Georgie asked.
“Of course not!” Lisa looked so innocent, like a chicken right before its neck is wrung.
Mrs. Sanders was busy on the phone. Too bad. Georgie remembered her from the week before school started. She’d enjoy giving Mrs. Sanders a hard time again. Some people were such easy targets. Instead, Georgie sat in a chair and picked up a pamphlet: How to Get the Most out of Your Education. “This should be good for a laugh,” she said.
Lisa stood at the reception desk and tried to catch her breath.
“Hello, Lisa.”
Georgie looked up to see Kathy Newman coming out of the supply room.
“Hi!” Lisa said. “Were you called to the office, too?”
“Me? No. I volunteer here during homeroom,” Kathy said.
“Oh, that’s nice.”
Kathy seemed kind of friendly. Lisa must have exaggerated when she said they weren’t friends anymore. Or maybe they had made up. Georgie went back to her pamphlet. Then she noticed that Kathy and Lisa were arguing. She loved a good fight, so she tossed the pamphlet down.
“How can you be so stupid, Lisa?” Kathy asked.
“I thought we could put all that behind us,” Lisa whined. She looked as pathetic as a dog left out in the rain. Georgie made a mental note to work on that with Lisa. Never appear weak to the enemy.
“Yeah, well, that’s easier for you than me,” Kathy said.
At that moment, Mrs. Sanders hung up the phone and turned to Lisa. “May I help you?”
“I’m Lisa Loutzenhiser. I was called to the office.”
“Oh, you’re here to see the principal! Didn’t Kathy tell you?”
Before Lisa could answer, Kathy said, “Yes, Mrs. Sanders. I told her that Principal Gordon is expecting her and that other girl.” Then she said to Lisa, “I doubt he’ll be in a good mood, since you’ve kept him waiting. I’ll have to tell him how you wouldn’t stop gabbing.”
“But—I—” Lisa’s face was all splotchy. “You didn’t tell me!”
“Sure I did, Lisa,” Kathy lied. “I told you as soon as you walked in the door.”
Georgie followed Lisa into the office. She didn’t know what was going on with those two, but it would be fun finding out.
Principal Gordon sat back and looked at the girls. He took off his glasses, chewed an earpiece, then put them back on.
“It was nice of you to finally join me, ladies.”
Lisa said, “I’m sorry we’re late, we didn’t—”
Mr. Gordon held up his hand. “Not now, please.”
The room was silent except for the sound of the clock’s ticking. Mr. Gordon was in no hurry. Georgie examined her fingernails. Lisa squirmed in her seat. Georgie was really going to have to give Lisa lessons on handling pressure.
Finally, Mr. Gordon picked up a stack of papers, shuffled them, and cleared his throat. “Tell me, Lisa, how is Richard Starkey these days?”
So, that’s all it was! Georgie relaxed, but Lisa pressed on the inside corners of her eyes, as if to keep from crying.
“And Georgie’s partner is Simon Garfunkel.” Mr. Gordon leaned back. “Ladies, if you had done your homework, you’d know I’m a Beatles fan. Nice touch using Ringo Starr’s real name, though. Richard Starkey is such a common name, it might have gone unnoticed. But Simon Garfunkel? Really.”
“Next time we’ll try to be a little more creative,” Georgie said.
“Good idea,” Mr. Gordon said. “So, girls, how did we do? Is this the first test you’ve put our little school through?”
“Yeah. It’s the first,” Georgie said. “You get an A.”
“That’s good to know. It looks as if you two will have to be partners after all, since everyone else already has one.” He looked at them over the top of his glasses. “You’ve already proven that you work well together. However, by pulling your prank, you lose your choice of projects. They’ve all been taken except one. You win it by default.”
“I can’t wait to hear what it is,” Georgie said.
“It’s a request from the staff at the Sunset Home for the Aged.”
Mr. Gordon slipped a letter from an envelope and read: “‘Mrs. Sophia Albertson is a lovely lady who rarely gets visitors. When we heard about your Good Deeds pro
gram, we thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for Sophia to have guests.’”
He stopped reading and Georgie groaned. “An old folks’ home? You’ve got to be kidding!”
“Shhh,” Lisa whispered.
“Well, have you ever been to one?” Georgie asked. “They stink to high heaven. People use bedpans and grown men and women wear diapers.”
She looked at Mr. Gordon. “Hey, we don’t have to empty bedpans, right? Because I’ll take an F before I’ll touch one of those.”
Mr. Gordon lowered his voice. “Don’t push me, Georgie. My hunch is that, for whatever reason, you wanted to get caught. You seem too clever to set yourself up like this. So I’ll play along for now. You’re in the principal’s office and you’ve established yourself as a troublemaker.”
Lisa’s head jerked up. “You didn’t want to get into trouble, did you?”
Georgie shrugged.
“Oh!” Lisa cried out.
Maybe it wasn’t her best idea ever, but Georgie hadn’t exactly wanted to get caught. Had she?
“Georgie, how could you?” Lisa said.
“You don’t have to be such a baby about it.”
“Girls!” Mr. Gordon leaned back in his chair. “You’ll visit Mrs. Albertson Saturday morning—tomorrow—at ten o’clock. The staff is expecting you, and we’ll check to make sure you visit at least once a week. I know you’ll be there for the next six Saturdays. Right, Lisa?”
Lisa nodded vigorously. Sure she would. Georgie would have bet that Lisa would mop his floor with her hair to gain back her good-girl status.
“Right, Georgie?”
Georgie smiled her fake smile. “Right, Mr. Gordon.”
* * *
Georgie had just turned her book to the correct page in math class when there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Miss Horton called. Mrs. Donovan walked over to her desk and whispered something to her.
“Georgie? Bring your things, please.” Miss Horton jotted down the day’s assignments for her and said, “You’re to go with Mrs. Donovan now.”
Georgie expected to get busted for destroying Mrs. Donovan’s ship, but did it have to be today? She had already been called into the office once. She snatched the paper out of Miss Horton’s hand and stomped down the hall behind Mrs. Donovan.
When Georgie stepped into the office, Mrs. Sanders wore a superior look on her face, as if she knew Georgie was in trouble. Georgie raised her head high. She wasn’t about to let on that what Mrs. Sanders thought bothered her. Not one bit.
This time Mrs. Donovan sat but didn’t say anything, so Georgie sat across from her in the circle of chairs. Georgie glanced at the shelf where the boat bottle had been. It was empty, but the spotlight was still on. To make her feel guilty, she supposed. Georgie crossed her arms and waited. Well, it wouldn’t work.
“I’m sorry I pulled you out of class,” Mrs. Donovan said.
“Then don’t.”
Mrs. Donovan blinked. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t pull me out,” Georgie said.
“I realize you don’t want to be here, Georgie, but I feel it’s important. Your mother feels so, too.”
“And what I want doesn’t count?”
“Of course it does,” Mrs. Donovan said. “But what we want and what we need aren’t always the same thing.”
“Listen, you don’t even know me, so you can’t know what I need.”
“Do you think your mother knows what you need, Georgie?” Mrs. Donovan asked in a low voice.
The room was so stuffy that Georgie pulled on her collar. She could barely breathe. Mrs. Donovan sat there, cool as an early spring day, while Georgie felt as if she would suffocate.
“It’s hot in here,” Georgie said.
“I don’t think so. Maybe you’re feeling uncomfortable because of my question. I asked if you think your mother knows what you need.”
It made Georgie want to hurt her again. She pushed one of the chairs aside and went to the shelves. She swished her hand around the empty spot. “Looks like what you need is a bottle here.”
Georgie felt some satisfaction at the look on Mrs. Donovan’s face.
“Is that remark meant to wound me?” Mrs. Donovan asked.
“Well, I know you can’t be happy about it. And we both know I did it,” Georgie said. “Let’s just get to the part where I’m in trouble. What will it be? Detention?”
“I don’t want to put you in detention. You were angry and acted out. It’s not the first thing that’s been broken in my office.”
“But it meant a lot to you,” Georgie said. What was with this woman? Georgie almost felt as if it was her job to get into trouble now.
“It was just a thing. Things aren’t that important to me. People are. Like you,” Mrs. Donovan said.
“Oh, pul-eeze,” Georgie groaned. “That sensitive, caring crap is worse than Chinese water torture.”
“Okay, I’ll stop talking,” Mrs. Donovan said. “But only if you start.”
“Fine, what do you want to talk about? What it’s like to be in seventh grade? What it’s like to be a new student here? Oh, wait! I know. How about what it’s like to be forced to talk to you?”
“Why don’t you tell me what it’s been like having a father in Vietnam?”
“It’s great. He sends home all the rice we can eat. The only thing I hate is that he doesn’t have to pay postage on his letters. I’d really hoped to add to my stamp collection.”
“You sound angry.”
“I do? And I was going for funny,” Georgie said. “I guess I’ll have to work on my timing.”
Mrs. Donovan looked at Georgie. Georgie stared back. Finally Mrs. Donovan said, “So, you regret that he didn’t help with your stamp collection. Is that the only feeling you’ve experienced regarding your father’s last Vietnam tour?”
“That’s right,” Georgie said.
Mrs. Donovan said, “You must miss him very much.”
“Well, it’s not like he can come home for supper when he’s in the middle of a war.”
“War could keep him away,” Mrs. Donovan said. “Among other things.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Georgie asked.
“As I said earlier, Georgie, your mother and I have talked.”
Georgie had made a mistake letting Mrs. Donovan get to her. She began staring at Mrs. Donovan’s glasses again and let her rattle on. Georgie tried to bring back the memory she had earlier of her dad writing out her battle plan. She could see him running his left hand through his hair as he wrote. The memory made her feel calm and safe.
“It looks as if we’re not gaining much ground today, are we?” Mrs. Donovan said. “I’ll let you go back to class.”
She picked up Georgie’s books and handed them to her. “I wouldn’t want you to have to come back for them.” She gave a small smile.
Georgie ignored the remark and grabbed the books.
“Oh, Georgie,” Mrs. Donovan said, “just so you know, I’ll pull you from class again from time to time. To talk more.”
“Great. Just make sure it’s during home ec.” Georgie opened the door. “I stink at cooking.”
8
Georgie looked at her bedroom clock. Lisa would just be getting off the bus at the corner of Fifth and Pine Street. They had agreed to meet there at nine-thirty Saturday morning, then walk together to the Sunset Home.
Georgie was still annoyed about the way Lisa had acted in Mr. Gordon’s office and afterward. “Oh, you don’t think they’ll call our parents, do you, Georgie? I’ll just die if they call my dad!” Georgie hoped they would call if Lisa was going to be such a crybaby about it.
Georgie threw on her granny sunglasses and a huge hat like the ones people wear on safaris. She didn’t even brush her hair. The bus stop was a short distance from her house, so she took her time walking there.
When she saw Lisa anxiously pacing at the bus stop, with a wide-eyed, worried look, Georgie felt even more annoye
d.
“Georgie! I’ve been waiting for ten minutes. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Let’s get this over with” was the only greeting Georgie gave Lisa.
“Are you mad?” Lisa asked.
“We’re working for free at an old folks’ home, Lisa. I should act happy?”
“But we could’ve had our pick of projects if we hadn’t played that trick!” Lisa said.
Georgie looked over the top of her sunglasses. “Has anyone ever told you how irritating you are when you whine?”
Lisa sucked in her breath. They walked in silence until they came to the sign that said SUNSET HOME FOR THE AGED.
“I don’t think it’s a nursing home, Georgie. It looks more like a retirement home or a place where you go when you need a little help taking care of yourself.”
“That probably means they clean out their own bedpans.” Georgie snorted. “Some improvement.”
“The place must have been pretty at one time, don’t you think?” asked Lisa. “I mean, those tall peaks might look kind of like princess towers if you were a little kid.”
Georgie looked and she knew what Lisa meant. The main part of the building probably had been a stately house at one time, but one-story modern wings had been added to each side. They didn’t go together at all.
“Yeah,” Georgie said. “But now it looks kinda bizarre. Which is a heck of a lot better than pretty, if you ask me.”
“I don’t think bizarre is the right word. Disrespectful, maybe.”
“Disrespectful!” Georgie said. “To a building?” She chuckled. “I’ll bet you’re a writer, aren’t you? One of those artsy people?”
Lisa looked at Georgie so fast and with such a stricken face that Georgie almost felt bad. She took off the safari hat, scratched her head, and crammed the hat back down on her hair. “Oh, forget it. It was just a guess. Besides, everybody has their quirks.”
When Lisa didn’t say anything, Georgie said, “Just ring the doorbell. Maybe we’ll get lucky and no one will answer.”
“They have a staff. Someone will answer.” Lisa pushed the button.
The door was slowly opened by a woman wearing a faded red dress that had to be from the 1940s. It had huge shoulder pads and a skirt that hung past the woman’s knees. She wore a tight-fitting green hat with flowers all around it. Her hair was tucked up inside, but one very long gray strand escaped down the back.
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