The Pumpkin Principle

by Cynthia Blair

  But he just smiled. “Oh, yes, the other Pratt girl. Her name is Susan, right? And you two are identical twins. Yes, I know all about her.”

  Chris was taken aback by B.J.’s honesty. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting—for him to pretend he’d never heard of Susan Pratt, or maybe for him to mention that he’d walked her home the evening before . . . But his casual attitude took Chris completely by surprise.

  “So you know that I have a twin sister, then!”

  “Of course! Why, is it supposed to be a secret?”

  “Well, no ...”

  For one of the few times in her life, Christine Pratt was entirely at a loss for words.

  “It’s just ... it’s only that ...”

  “She’s quite an accomplished artist, from what I understand. I’d like to see some of her paintings sometime.”

  Chris was astonished. But then she remembered her conclusion of the night before: that B.J. Wilkins was just an unusually friendly person. Even if he were planning to ask Susan out, there was no reason why he couldn’t be nice to Chris.

  And then, of course, there was the possibility that he wasn’t planning to ask Susan out at all, that he was just trying to make as many new friends as he could, both boys and girls. After all, he was new in town.

  Hoping that that was the case, Chris decided to be as hospitable as she could.

  “Maybe you can come over to our house one of these days and see some of Sooz’s artwork.”

  “Yes, I’d really like to do that.”

  The first warning bell sounded then, startling Chris. “My goodness, it’s getting late. I’d better get moving or I’ll be late for homeroom!”

  “I’ll walk you over.”

  “Okay.”

  There it was again: that assumption that the two of them just belonged together. Chris couldn’t remember ever having met a boy who was so self-confident right from the start. And she liked it. If only she knew what his intentions were—and whether or not she might be hurting her sister ...

  As they walked down the corridors, through the crowd of students rushing to their lockers or their homerooms, Chris and B.J. fell into a discussion of the Halloween Dance.

  “You know, last night I spent the whole evening trying to think up some way to include everybody at that dance,” said Chris, shaking her head slowly. “And I just couldn’t come up with a single idea. I feel awful about it, too. It shouldn’t be that difficult to be a little creative!”

  “I know,” B.J. teased. “How about making school dances a part of the Whittington High curriculum? Sort of like an extension of gym class. Then everyone would have to go.”

  Chris laughed. “That’s a fantastic idea! Except I don’t know if we could get Ms. Barlow and the other physical education teachers to agree to it.

  “But here’s another idea. We could put the name of every student at Whittington High into a hat and have a drawing at the end of the dance. Whoever’s name was chosen would get some wonderful prize, like a television. And the catch would be that in order to collect the prize, the winner would have to be there!”

  “Terrific! Only one problem. Where would we get the money to buy the prize?”

  “You’ve got a point.” Chris sighed. “See, it’s not that easy, thinking up an idea. And I really want everyone to come to that dance!”

  “Well, I’ll be there, that’s for sure.”

  Then, in a somewhat different tone of voice, B.J. said, “You know, Chris, that dance is still a couple of weeks away, and, uh, I was wondering . . ,”

  “Yes?”

  Chris was expecting B.J. to ask her about planning for it, something like how far in advance it was necessary to hire a band for that evening. So he really caught her by surprise with the question he did ask.

  “I was wondering, how about if you and I go out together some night before then? Like this weekend, maybe. I thought maybe we could go to the movies this Friday night.”

  Chris was so flabbergasted that she didn’t know what to say.

  What about Susan? was the first thought that popped into her mind.

  But he didn’t actually ask Susan out, she quickly reminded herself. I mean, she thought he liked her and all ... And then there’s that old theory that B.J. Wilkins just happens to be a very friendly, outgoing boy.

  Fortunately, they had just reached the door of Chris’s homeroom. She was grateful for the chance to break off their conversation. Not that she didn’t like the way it was going ...it was just that she wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

  “Gee, this Friday night, huh?” she said, stalling for time. “Well, let’s see. I’m not sure if I’m free then, to tell you the truth.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve got a date with somebody else!” B.J. looked genuinely disappointed.

  “Oh, no, nothing like that.” Chris hurried to reassure him. “It’s just that, uh ...” Her mind raced as she desperately tried to think up some excuse. “It’s my parents. Yes, that’s right. I think my parents wanted us all to go out to dinner together Friday night. You know, kind of a family thing. It’s not definite, though, so I’ll have to check.”

  “Okay. You do that. And let me know as soon as you’re sure, all right? I’ve got to check with my folks, to make sure I can borrow the car!”

  “Fine,” Chris replied lamely. She didn’t sound at all like a girl who’d just been asked out by a boy she really liked.

  The last bell rang then, and Chris’s homeroom teacher cast her a meaningful look through the open classroom door.

  “I’d better run,” said Chris. “And you’d better get going, too. You don’t want to be late!”

  “Good thing my homeroom is just down the hall.”

  As he started to dash off, B.J. said, “I’ll be talking to you soon, Chris. And I sure hope we’re on for Friday night!”

  As she slunk into her homeroom and took her seat, Chris was in a daze. Once again she couldn’t figure out how she felt—or how she wanted to feel. She liked B.J. so much, but, at the same time, she didn’t understand him. One day he was walking Susan home from school, telling her he couldn’t wait to see her artwork. And the very next day, he was asking Chris out to the movies!

  Oh, what a mess! thought Chris, inwardly moaning. And here I was all set to forget I’d ever laid eyes on B.J. Wilkins!

  Well, at least there’s one thing that’s perfectly clear, she thought, opening her history textbook, planning to force herself to read all about the colonization of Virginia for the entire homeroom period. There’s no doubt in.my-mind that this time around, I am utterly, totally, completely confused!

  Chapter Seven

  Ever since Katy Johnson had confided in her about her secret crash on Wayne Lowell, Chris found herself taking a new interest in this quiet boy whom she barely knew. As she’d mentioned to her friend, he was in her third-period English class. In the past, she had never really thought of him as anything besides a pleasant-enough senior who always got A’s on his essays and invariably had some interesting insights to add to class discussions on the books they were reading. Now, however, she couldn’t help watching him, studying him—trying to see if she could figure out what made him tick.

  It’s just the matchmaker in me, she thought with a smile. Class had just started, and, for the second day in a row, she could barely concentrate on what her English teacher, Mr. Adams, was saying. Instead, she was staring at the back of Wayne Lowell’s head. He sat in front of her, three seats up and two over, so she had a fairly good view of him—especially when he turned his face to the side in order to watch Mr. Adams as he paced around the classroom, his usual teaching style. Today was no exception. As he led a discussion on Romeo and Juliet, Mr. Adams walked up and down the aisles, talking about the great play by William Shakespeare.

  Wayne was nice-looking, Chris observed, thoughtfully twisting a strand of chestnut-brown hair around her finger. He had dark hair, almost black, that was just a little bit shaggy in the back. Behind the tortoiseshell ey
eglasses that he always wore, his eyes were hazel, or so she remembered from the few times she’d stood close enough to him to see them. Between his glasses, his obvious shyness, and the slightly baggy sweaters be so often wore, he reminded Chris of “the boy next door” she was always reading about in stories.

  She liked Wayne, but her original assessment of him, that he was one of the most bashful boys she’d ever met, still held.

  Getting Wayne and Katy together is going to be one of the great challenges of my matchmaking career, Chris thought. She shook her head slowly.

  “Christine, I see that you’re shaking your head. Does that mean you disagree with what Tom just said?”

  Mr. Adams’s voice rudely snapped her back to her present situation. She was in English class—and she was supposed to be thinking about great literature, not plotting ways to get two people she really liked together.

  But she hadn’t been paying attention—and she’d gotten caught. Chris instantly turned beet-red.

  “Uh, I, uh ... I’m not quite sure what Tom meant, actually,” she stuttered, hoping she sounded convincing.

  “Very well. Tom, could you please rephrase the comment you just made? Then Christine will have the chance to tell us whether she agrees with you or not.”

  “Sure, Mr. Adams,” Tom replied congenially. “What I meant was, I don’t really get what the big deal about Romeo and Juliet was. Sure, they came from families who were enemies, and their folks wouldn’t have wanted them to see each other. I understand all that. What I don’t understand is why they didn’t just see each other on the sly. You know, meet in the forest or something when nobody was around.”

  “An interesting point of view, Tom. Now, Christine, what do you have to say about that?”

  “I think the whole thing isn’t that simple. Sure, it’s easy for us to judge them on our terms. But things were very different in those days. There was the question of family honor and loyalty ... and, of course, just having the freedom to ‘sneak around,’ as Tom suggested.

  “And, besides,” she finished, a bit less certain, “if they had just decided to meet each other in secret, there wouldn’t have been very much for Shakespeare to write a play about, would there?”

  The entire class laughed at Chris’s inventive insight—including Mr. Adams. They all had to agree that she did have a point.

  But even after the class had moved on to discuss the structure of the play, the way the plot developed, and the techniques Shakespeare used to introduce his characters, Chris continued to think about what she had said—and about how romantic the story of Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers, really was.

  If only that kind of thing happened these days! Two people, so much in love ... And here I can’t even get Wayne Lowell and Katy Johnson together!

  And we have the advantage of cars and phones, not to mention school dances!

  With that, she returned to pondering the issues at hand. At the moment, the problems of Juliet and her Romeo seemed very, very far away, indeed.

  By the time the bell rang to signify that third period was over, Chris had decided that she was ready to act. Perhaps the tale of Romeo and Juliet had inspired her—or perhaps she was just getting tired of feeling frustrated. At any rate, she made a point of standing right next to Wayne as the class gathered their books and shuffled out the door of the classroom into the corridors toward their fourth-period classes.

  “Hi, Wayne!” she said brightly.

  She hoped he wouldn’t think it was too peculiar that, all of a sudden, she was going out of her way to speak to him.

  But he didn’t seem to suspect anything. Instead, he acted pleased that someone was taking the time to be friendly.

  “Well, hi, Chris!”

  “I’m glad that class is over, aren’t you?” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “William Shakespeare is just a bit too heavy for me.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I kind of like his plays. At least the ones I’ve read so far. And Romeo and Juliet is such a wonderful story. It’s so ... so ...”

  “So romantic.” Chris finished his sentence for him. Then she sighed wistfully. “I know exactly what you mean.”

  “You’d never guess it by your comments!” Wayne said playfully.

  Chris laughed. “I just like to look at things realistically, I suppose. I mean, romance is great and all, but when it comes right down to it, people have to do more than just sit around and moon over each other. Daydreaming never got anybody anywhere, you know? No, sooner or later, people have got to take action!”

  She paused, then went on. “Speaking of romantic things, are you planning to go to the Halloween Dance, Wayne?” Hastily, she added, “I’m on the dance committee this year, so I’m taking a special interest in the turnout.”

  “I don’t know, Chris.”

  “It should be lots of fun. Even better than last year, in fact.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “The dance committee hasn’t completely worked out the details yet, but we plan to do something a bit unusual this year. What we’re thinking of doing is having some kind of theme.”

  “What do you mean?” The tall, dark-haired boy with the round tortoiseshell glasses looked puzzled.

  “We want to come up with a theme that the whole dance would be built around. You know, like animals or circus performers, or maybe a specific period in history like the revolutionary war. The decorations would be based on the idea we chose, of course, and maybe even the refreshments as well. But the main thing would be that everybody’s costume would have to fit in with the theme.

  “So,” Chris finished, “what do you think of our idea, Wayne?”

  “Gee, I don’t know, I guess it sounds okay. It’s different, anyway. But when it comes right down to it, I don’t really know how I’d feel about dressing up like—like a lion, or a trapeze artist, or even a rebel or a redcoat. And getting together a costume like that sounds as if it could be pretty complicated.

  “Besides,” Wayne continued, “I always thought that part of the fun of Halloween was seeing how original people could be with their costumes. And seeing all kinds of different costumes: ghosts and witches and animals and clowns. You know, a little bit of everything. If there was a theme, everybody would end up looking pretty much the same, wouldn’t they?”

  Chris frowned. “I never thought of that.”

  It was true; it had never even occurred to her that some people may not want to wear a costume that fit in with the theme that the dance committee had chosen. Or that some of them would prefer to see their classmates dressed up in a variety of getups.

  Suddenly, Chris had real doubts about the entire dance idea.

  But as long as she couldn’t come up with anything better, she reminded herself, she knew it really wouldn’t be fair of her to complain.

  Her daydreaming about the future of the Halloween Dance was quickly cut short, however.

  “Not that any of this matters to me very much, anyway,” Wayne was saying.

  “What do you mean? Aren’t you planning to go to the dance?”

  Wayne cast a strange look. “Of course not, Chris. I’ve never gone to any of the school dances. Well, I did go to one once, back in the tenth grade, but I decided never to do that again.”

  “Why not? Didn’t you have a good time?”

  “Are you kidding? I had a terrible time! I went to the dance all alone, and I spent the whole evening hanging around with some of my buddies, looking at all the girls and trying to get up the nerve to ask one of them to dance.” He shook his head sadly. “I never did, though, and neither did any of my friends. I guess we’re all just too shy for that kind of thing.

  “Anyway, that ended my interest in school dances, right then and there!”

  “But mat was two whole years ago, Wayne! Why don’t you give it another try? And,” Chris added, a bit more cautiously, “why don’t you invite somebody this time? You know, bring a date?”

  Wayne began to turn pink. “Gosh, Chris, to tell
you the truth, I wouldn’t know who to ask.”

  “Oh, come on. I bet there’s somebody ...”

  “Well ...”

  “Listen, Wayne, your secret is safe with me. I promise not to say a word to a living soul!”

  Once again, Chris simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to try playing matchmaker.

  “I’ll tell you what: I’ll give you a clue. She’s without a doubt Whittington High’s most outstanding female athlete.”

  Katy Johnson!

  Chris’s mouth dropped open. But before she could decide whether or not to let on that she knew precisely who Wayne was talking about, she glanced over at him and saw that the pink color of his cheeks had turned into one of the brightest shades of red she had ever seen.

  “Which is one of the reasons I’d never have the courage to call her up and ask her out. I mean, why would the school’s gymnastics champion want to go out with me?

  “Besides, we hardly know each other. For all I know, maybe she doesn’t even know who I am!”

  Oh, she knows who you are, Chris thought ruefully. There’s no doubt about that!

  But she wasn’t about to give Katy’s secret away. After all, the girl had told Chris about her crush on Wayne Lowell in confidence. No, she couldn’t be that direct, even though, at that moment, there was nothing in the world that she wanted to do more.

  “Well, Chris, I’ve got to get going. Spanish class is next. But it was nice talking to you.”

  “Yes, I enjoyed talking to you, too.”

  It was also an extremely educational conversation, thought Chris.

  “See you in class tomorrow, Wayne!”

  “Right. And good luck with your plans for that Halloween Dance!”

  As she strolled over to her next class, Chris found herself in a very blue mood. Even her worries about B.J. Wilkins—and the fact that he’d asked her for a date earlier that very same day—seemed of secondary importance.

  Here the committee is putting all this planning into the Halloween Dance—decorations, music, refreshments, even a theme—and yet two people who I really like, Wayne and Katy, still aren’t going to be there to enjoy all the fun!