Three's Company, Mallory!

by Laurie Friedman

  For my nieces and nephew,

  Tillie, Hannah, Mimi, and Louis.

  Love you all!

  —Aunt Laurie

  For my sweet little Juliette, who comforts me on the sad days, cheers for me on the good days, and gives me hope when I need it most.

  —J.K.

  by Laurie Friedman

  illustrations by Jennifer Kalis

  A Word from Mallory

  Seeing Double

  The New Girl

  Dinner Disaster

  A Switch-Up

  Here, There, Everywhere

  Operation Three’s a Crowd

  The Sleepover

  Scissor (Un)happy

  All Alone

  Planning Time

  Wake-Ups and Makeups

  A Surprise!

  Poetically Speaking

  DIY Breakfast

  I, Mallory McDonald, officially love Saturday mornings. I love sleeping late. I love eating doughnuts. And I love watching my favorite TV show, Fashion Fran—especially because I always watch it with my best friend, Mary Ann.

  That’s what Mary Ann and I do on Saturday mornings. But this Saturday morning is different from other Saturday mornings.

  It didn’t start out different. I woke up. I brushed my teeth. I made my bed. I fed my cat, Cheeseburger, and then I fed myself. I was just finishing my doughnut and about to turn on the TV when I happened to look out the living room window.

  That’s when this Saturday morning started to be different from all other Saturday mornings.

  I saw a moving truck parked in front of the house across the street. And I saw a girl who looked about my age standing in the front yard.

  The girl looked just like Mary Ann. She was the same height as Mary Ann. She had the same blonde, curly hair as Mary Ann. She wore the same kind of jeans as Mary Ann and had on a shirt that looked just like one of Mary Ann’s shirts. At first, I thought it was Mary Ann.

  Then I saw something I hadn’t expected. I saw Mary Ann!

  She was crossing the street and walking toward the girl who looked just like her. She waved, and the other girl waved back. Then they started talking.

  I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was seeing right. It was like Mary Ann had a long-lost twin I never knew about.

  Seeing her left me with one big question: WHO IS THIS GIRL?

  “MOM!” I scream at the top of my lungs.

  Mom is in the living room faster than Max can grab the TV remote out of my hand. “Mallory, are you OK?” she asks.

  I hold Cheeseburger under one arm and point at the window with the other. “What’s going on?” I ask.

  Mom looks out the window and smiles like she actually likes what she sees. “The Fitzgeralds moved out, remember? It looks like the new family is moving in.”

  The Fitzgeralds moving out isn’t what I’m talking about. Either Mom needs to get her glasses checked or she doesn’t see what I see. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down.

  I ask Mom to look out the window again.

  When she does, I start questioning her like I’m a lawyer and she’s on the witness stand.

  “Do you see a girl you’ve never seen before standing next to the moving truck?”

  Mom nods. “I do.”

  “Do you see my lifelong best friend, Mary Ann, talking to that girl?”

  She nods again “Yes, I do.”

  “Did you notice that the girl you’ve never seen before looks a lot like Mary Ann?”

  Mom puts her face closer to the glass. “My goodness. They do look very much alike.” Her smile gets wider.

  Right answer. Wrong reaction. Obviously Mom doesn’t realize how weird it is that a girl who looks like my best friend is moving onto Wish Pond Road.

  I make Mom sit down in one of the chairs by the window. Then I put Cheeseburger down and sit in the chair across from her. “Mom, why didn’t you tell me that the people who are moving in have a daughter who looks like my best friend?”

  Mom gives me a look like what I’m saying doesn’t make much sense. “Mallory, I don’t know anything about this family. I had no idea they have a daughter. And I certainly had no idea what she would look like. But isn’t it nice that there’s another girl on the street for you and Mary Ann to spend time with?”

  I don’t think Mom gets that I’m supposed to be the one asking the questions.

  I look out the window again. Mary Ann and the new girl are still talking. The new girl is laughing. And so is Mary Ann! Mary Ann links her arm through the new girl’s arm, and they walk toward her house. Together! I watch as they disappear through the front door.

  The doughnut I ate for breakfast feels like it’s doing backflips in my stomach.

  I still don’t really have an answer to my big question: WHO IS THIS GIRL?

  For all I know, she could be an alien from outer space, sent here to carry out an evil plot … and what if she isn’t the only alien? What if there are more of them coming?

  I can see a whole army of aliens who look like everyone on Wish Pond Road. Joey. Max. Mom. Dad. Me! There might even be alien pets that look like Champ and Cheeseburger. I need to stop this invasion before it starts!

  I face Mom and put my hands on her knees so she’ll know that what I’m about to say is very important and she needs to listen to every word. “We need to find out more about these new neighbors.”

  “I agree,” Mom says.

  I breathe a sigh of relief. At least Mom understands the importance of this situation. Now we just have to figure out a plan.

  But before I can start thinking about how to put Operation Find Out What the Aliens Across the Street Are Doing Here into action, Mom stands up and puts her sweater on.

  She heads for the front door. I run in front of her to block the way.

  “Mom, what are you doing?”

  “I’m going to meet the new neighbors,” she says like she’s surprised I have to ask. Then she takes me by the arm and says three words I did NOT want to hear.

  “You’re coming too.”

  I follow Mom across the street, even though I’d like to turn back.

  Mary Ann and the new girl are still inside the new girl’s house, but now there’s a lady standing in the front yard, watching the movers unload furniture.

  When she sees Mom and me walking over, she smiles and waves like she’s really happy to see us, even though she doesn’t know who we are. She has long blonde hair and big blue eyes and the whitest teeth I’ve ever seen. I have to admit, she looks more like a beauty pageant winner than an alien.

  “Welcome!” Mom says as we get close. She introduces herself and then me.

  “I’m Kate Jackson-Brown,” says the lady. She gives both of us big hugs. “It’s so nice of you to come say hello. This is such a friendly neighborhood. My daughter already made a friend, and we just got here!”

  That new friend your daughter made is my best friend.

  That’s what I think, but I don’t say it out loud. Another thing I don’t say out loud is that it’s weird to hug people you just met, even if they are your neighbors.

  If you ask me, this mom is a little too sweet, like the time Mary Ann and I made chocolate chip cookies and accidentally put the sugar in twice.

  Mrs. Jackson-Brown says that she and her husband and daughter just moved to Fern Falls from Atlanta and that they don’t know anyone here.

  Mom starts telling Mrs. Jackson-Brown lots of stuff about Fern Falls.

  I try to listen, but it’s hard to act interested when my best friend is inside with some new girl and I’m stuck out here listening to a bunch of boring details about the grocery store, the dry cleaners and the pharmacy.

  I glance at the door of the Jackson-Browns’ h
ouse to see if Mary Ann and the new girl are coming back outside, but the only people coming in and out of the house are movers.

  I think about my alien theory.

  The truth is, Mrs. Jackson-Brown doesn’t look like an alien or sound like an alien. Even though part of me would like to believe she and her daughter could get back in their spaceship and leave Wish Pond Road any minute, I know that’s not the case.

  When Mom finishes telling Mrs. Jackson-Brown all about Fern Falls, Mrs. Jackson-Brown switches her attention to me. “Mallory, what grade are you in?” she asks.

  I hear myself telling her that I’m in fourth grade.

  “Really? That’s wonderful!” says Mrs. Jackson-Brown. “My daughter, Chloe Jennifer, is in fourth grade too.”

  Her daughter’s name is Chloe Jennifer? Why doesn’t she just go by Chloe or Jennifer? Nobody calls me Mallory Louise except Mom, and only when she’s really mad at me.

  “Is she finishing the school year at Fern Falls Elementary?” asks Mom.

  “Yes,” says Mrs. Jackson-Brown. “She starts on Monday morning. Her teacher is Mr. Knight.”

  “Wonderful!” says Mom. “Chloe Jennifer is in Mallory’s class.”

  “That is wonderful!” says Mrs. Jackson-Brown.

  It looks like I’m the only one who isn’t sure if this is “wonderful.” I haven’t even met the new girl yet, and our moms are already acting like we’re going to be friends, just because we live on the same street and are in the same class.

  Before I have a chance to say anything, Chloe Jennifer and Mary Ann walk outside. No. Scratch that. They skip outside. Holding hands!

  Mary Ann is holding hands and skipping with a girl she hardly knows. Mary Ann and I haven’t held hands while we skipped since we were in kindergarten!

  “Mallory, you have to meet Chloe Jennifer,” says Mary Ann as they skip over to where we’re standing.

  Chloe Jennifer smiles at me and says hi. Then Mary Ann starts talking like she’s one big mouth that can’t stop.

  “Chloe Jennifer’s going to be in our class and her birthday is coming up and she said we can help her plan her party! You have to see her room. She has a purple rug and pink furniture! Her mom had the movers put her stuff on the moving truck last so they could take it off first, and now it’s already all set up. It looks like she’s been here forever. And check this out.” Mary Ann puts her face up right next to Chloe Jennifer’s. “Isn’t it crazy how much we look alike? The movers could hardly tell us apart and Chloe Jennifer’s dad took a picture of us and he said we look like sisters. And guess what else? Chloe Jennifer is a dancer, just like me! We’re going to take hip-hop together. And we both have two names. Mary Ann and Chloe Jennifer. Get it? Chloe Jennifer said lots of girls at her old school in Atlanta had two names, but I told her we’re the only ones at Fern Falls Elementary with two names. Cool, huh?!?”

  Cool isn’t the word I would use. But for now I don’t have to use any words at all, because Mary Ann is still talking.

  “I asked Chloe Jennifer if she likes Fashion Fran. But she hadn’t even heard of Fashion Fran. So I told her it’s our favorite show and that we love to have sleepovers and watch Fashion Fran and paint our toenails, and now that she lives on Wish Pond Road, the three of us can do that stuff together! It’s going to be…”

  Mary Ann pauses—finally!—and looks at Chloe Jennifer.

  “Fun, fun, fun!” they say at the same time. Then they both burst out laughing.

  “I already told Chloe Jennifer how we like to say things three times,” says Mary Ann.

  I try to say something, but it’s like someone glued my mouth shut and nothing can come out.

  When I woke up this morning, my life was completely normal. Now, a new girl who looks like my best friend has moved to my street, and my best friend thinks everything about her is cool. She’s even invited her to do all the things the two of us have always done.

  I don’t know this girl yet. She might be nice. But if you ask me, best friends are supposed to do things together, not together with another person!

  “Hey, Mallory, while the movers are at Chloe Jennifer’s house, why don’t we show her around the neighborhood?” Mary Ann says to me.

  I try to give Mary Ann a we’re-supposed-to-be-watching-Fashion-Fran-not-showing-some-new-girl-around-the-neighborhood look. But Mary Ann doesn’t notice. She’s too busy telling Chloe Jennifer about the wish pond.

  Mom and Mrs. Jackson-Brown are still talking about how nice it is that the three of us are all the same age and how funny it is that Mary Ann and Chloe Jennifer look so much alike.

  “We’d love your family to come over for dinner tonight,” I hear Mom saying to Mrs. Jackson-Brown.

  I’m not sure why Mom thinks “we” would love this. The last time I checked, “we” meant more than one person.

  I try to send a message from my brain to Mom’s brain telling her to take back her invitation.

  But my message-sending skills must be at an all-time low. Mom doesn’t take back anything.

  “That’s so sweet of you. We’d love to come,” says Mrs. Jackson-Brown.

  Chloe Jennifer looks at me and smiles.

  I try to smile back like I’m happy they’re coming. But the truth is that I’m not so happy. In fact, if I had a piece of paper, I’d write down all the things I’m not happy about.

  While I’m thinking about all the things I’m not happy about, I hear Mom say something about inviting the Winstons to dinner too.

  Mary Ann starts jumping up and down like this is as exciting as getting to meet Fashion Fran.

  I look down the street toward the wish pond. I pretend I’m standing in front of it and make a wish.

  I wish Chloe Jennifer Jackson-Brown would go back to where she came from.

  But I know the only place Chloe Jennifer Jackson-Brown is going is to my house for dinner.

  Tonight!

  “Mallory, can you please set the table?” Mom hands me a stack of our good plates.

  I feel like I’m carrying an armload of bowling balls. Our good plates are a lot heavier than our normal plates, and I have to be extra careful not to drop them. We only use them for special occasions. I don’t see why tonight is a special occasion.

  I head for the dining room. But it doesn’t seem fair that I have to set the table with our good plates when I didn’t want to have this dinner in the first place.

  When I finish, I decide to change clothes before dinner. I go to my room and look through my closet. I try to focus on what I’m going to wear, but all I can think about is Chloe Jennifer and Mary Ann holding hands and skipping. There’s a picture of it in my brain, and it won’t go away.

  I wonder if Chloe Jennifer thinks she and Mary Ann are going to be best friends. I hope Mary Ann told her that we’re best friends. But something tells me she didn’t.

  I pull on my purple skirt. “What top should I wear?” I ask Cheeseburger. I look at my cat, but she’s asleep on my bed. She’s not much help.

  I open my T-shirt drawer and pull out the T-shirt on top. It’s my pink BFF T-shirt. Mary Ann has the same one. We bought them together at the mall.

  Suddenly, I have a great idea!

  I race back to the kitchen and pick up the phone. I dial the Winstons’ number. Joey answers, and I ask him to get Mary Ann. When she finally picks up, I tell her to wear her BFF T-shirt tonight with her purple skirt.

  She says she will.

  Just hearing Mary Ann’s voice makes me feel better.

  “Tonight might not be so bad,” I say to Cheeseburger when I get back to my room.

  I slip on the T-shirt and look at myself in the mirror.

  Part of me feels like maybe Mary Ann and I shouldn’t dress alike tonight. Chloe Jennifer just moved here, and I don’t want her to feel left out. But I also want her to know that Mary Ann and I are best friends and have been forever. Plus, Mary Ann and I always dress alike, so why should tonight be any different?

  When the doorbell rings, Mom yell
s to everyone to come to the living room. I open the door for the Winstons—Frank, Colleen, Grandpa Winston, Winnie, Joey, and Mary Ann. As they walk inside, I smile and say hello to everyone.

  But I stop smiling when I see Mary Ann. She’s wearing her purple skirt. But she’s NOT wearing her BFF T-shirt. She’s wearing her Fashion Rocks T-shirt.

  This night just went from might-not-be-so-bad to BAD. Whenever Mary Ann and I say we’re going to dress alike, we do. I cross my arms across my chest. “I thought you were going to wear your BFF shirt,” I say to Mary Ann.

  She shrugs. “I couldn’t find it.”

  I start to say, “How could you lose your BFF T-shirt?” But before I have a chance, the doorbell rings again.

  This time, Mom answers the door and the Jackson-Browns walk in. They’re like a whirlwind of perfectness sweeping through our living room.

  Dr. and Mrs. Jackson-Brown are super friendly. They say we should all call them Edward and Kate, even the kids. Edward gives Max and me a big box of candy. Kate gives Mom a big bunch of flowers tied with a ribbon.

  Chloe Jennifer looks like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine.

  Everyone acts like they think everything about the Jackson-Browns is great. Even Winnie, who never thinks anything is great, says she loves Chloe Jennifer’s outfit.

  When we sit down for dinner, things go from bad to worse.

  Chloe Jennifer says she loves Mary Ann’s Fashion Rocks T-shirt.

  Mary Ann smiles like she likes hearing that.

  Chloe Jennifer says that she saw Joey skateboarding and that he’s really good.

  Joey smiles like he likes hearing that. Chloe Jennifer says she thinks Winnie has cool style.

  Winnie smiles like she likes hearing that.

  Chloe Jennifer says that she noticed a piano in our living room and that she’s been playing since she was five.