Girl Power

by Melody Carlson

  “That’s sweet,” said Morgan.

  “Yeah. And they got to be friends and stuff.”

  “And then Dan went to the war and got killed?” said Carlie, her voice breaking as she said it.

  Emily nodded. “Yeah. I was really torn up about it too. I felt like I’d really gotten to know Dan, like we were related or something.”

  “Well, we’ll have to make sure that we honor his memory in our bus,” said Morgan. “Maybe we can hang up a picture or something.”

  “That’s a great idea,” said Emily. “I’ll talk to Mr. Greeley about it.”

  Morgan peered curiously at her. “So you’re talking to Mr. Greeley now?”

  Emily grinned. “Yeah. He’s really nice. Just sad and lonely. But we’re friends now. And he told me it was okay to tell you guys about Dan’s story—since we’re the owners of his bus.”

  “That’s cool,” said Morgan.

  “So what kind of Christmas stuff did you get at the gift show?” asked Emily, quickly changing the subject.

  “Huh?” said Morgan, caught off guard.

  “Like, did you get any cool strings of lights?” asked Emily hopefully. “I was thinking that it’d be cool to hang some string lights in here. You know for those gray, foggy kinds of days, like the ones we had last week.”

  “That’s a great idea,” said Morgan. “And I did get a set of lights. They were actually the shapes of tropical fruit.”

  “That’s perfect!” exclaimed Emily.

  “You want to see them?”

  “Yeah!” said Emily.

  “Okay.” Morgan was already pushing through the beads and going for the door. “I’ll be back in five minutes.”

  As soon as Morgan was gone, Emily started talking. “Okay, you guys, it’s Morgan’s birthday on Tuesday, and I wanted to get her out of here so we could make a quick plan. All in favor of giving her a surprise birthday party say aye.”

  “Aye!” all three shouted.

  “Okay.” Emily grabbed the notebook. “Who’s doing what?”

  It was the quickest party-planning meeting Emily had ever been to, not that she’d been to many. But by the time Morgan came back, they had it all figured out. And to make their little act even more convincing, Emily got very excited over Morgan’s tropical-fruit lights.

  “Those are so great, Morgan!” she exclaimed as Morgan took them out of the box.

  “They’ll be perfect in here,” said Amy.

  “And I bet they don’t use much electricity either,” added Carlie.

  “Good thinking to bring them in here, Em,” said Morgan. “I’m really glad I didn’t save them until Christmas.”

  “Well, I was in here a lot last week,” said Emily. “And it was pretty gloomy outside. Seemed like we could use some more light.”

  Soon they had the lights suspended over the tiny dining table, and when Morgan plugged them in, everyone cheered.

  “Look at all the colors,” said Emily.

  “Sort of like a rainbow,” said Amy.

  “Rainbows rule!” shouted Carlie, holding up her hand with the bracelet. And the other girls followed.

  “It’s good to be back together again,” Morgan said with a big smile.

  They spent the next couple of hours just hanging out, putting all Morgan’s interesting goodies away, and listening to old vinyl records. And Emily thought it felt almost like coming home.

  On Monday, Emily left the trailer park just a little before nine. She used the back exit so that Morgan wouldn’t notice her from her kitchen window. Then she hurried toward town and finally turned into the Waterfront District where she knew Morgan’s mom’s shop was located. She’d seen Cleo’s from the street, but up until now had never gone inside. But today she was on a mission.

  “Oh, hi, Emily,” said Cleo from where she was unpacking a box in the back of the store.

  “Hi,” said Emily, looking around the shop with interest, noticing all the colorful items from all over the world. There were pillows and dishes and statues and jewelry and clothing—all sorts of things. “This is a cool shop,” she told Cleo as she walked toward the back.

  “You’ve never been in here before?” asked Cleo as she unwrapped a large piece of pottery and set it on the counter.

  “No, but I’ll be sure to make it a regular stop from now on.”

  “So, what’s up?” asked Cleo as she adjusted a brightly colored scarf that was tied loosely around her neck.

  “I’m looking for something for Morgan’s birthday,” said Emily.

  “That’s so sweet of you,” said Cleo.

  “We’re having a surprise party for her tomorrow—in the clubhouse—and I wanted to give her something special.” Emily reached down to pat the small purse that was hanging over her shoulder. She still had most of her share of the people’s choice winnings, but she’d need to save enough to buy birthday cake ingredients too. “Do you know of anything she’s been wanting?”

  Cleo rubbed her chin as she considered this. “Hmm …” Then she snapped her fingers. “I do!”

  “What is it?”

  “Come over here and I’ll show you.”

  Emily hoped it wouldn’t be too expensive as she followed Cleo over to where some wooden boxes were stacked. They looked really nice. Then Cleo picked up one of the larger ones and opened it. “Morgan’s been wanting something just like this to keep her beadwork in.”

  “It’s beautiful,” said Emily, running her hand over the smooth surface of the wood. “How much does it cost?”

  “Well,” said Cleo, “how about if I give it to you at cost?”

  Emily wasn’t sure what that meant, but she nodded.

  “That would be ten dollars.”

  “Really?” Emily couldn’t believe it. How could a box this nice be that inexpensive? “Are you sure?” she asked. “I mean, I don’t want you to—”

  “I’m sure, Emily. You see, all my things are imported and I get some amazing buys. And, as I recall, cost on these boxes was really about ten dollars.”

  “Well, I’ll take it,” said Emily.

  Cleo smiled. “Want me to wrap it for you?”

  “Oh, yeah,” said Emily. “I don’t think we have any wrapping paper at home.”

  “Go ahead and look around the shop,” said Cleo as she carried the box back to the counter.

  Before long, the gift was wrapped and paid for and Emily was happily carrying the brown bag through town. She stopped by the little grocery store to get the cake things, including birthday candles, then headed on home.

  “Watcha doing?” asked Morgan as Emily came into Harbor View with her bag.

  “Just some shopping,” said Emily, wishing she’d remembered to use the other entrance. “For my mom,” she added, feeling a little guilty for the lie. But maybe it was okay under the circumstances.

  The four girls got together to hang out in the afternoon, but no mention was made of the upcoming birthday, and Emily suspected that Morgan was feeling a little bummed that no one seemed to remember her big day. Then everyone, except Morgan, made up excuses to go home early. Emily knew it was so they could take care of their parts of the party preparations. Carlie was in charge of decorations, and she was going to make a mini-pinata. Amy was taking care of napkins and plates and things, promising that it would be really pretty.

  “You guys coming over tomorrow?” asked Morgan as they went outside.

  “I can’t come over until one,” said Carlie. “I have to babysit.”

  “And I promised to help at the restaurant tomorrow morning,” said Amy.

  “Why don’t we just get together at one then?” suggested Emily, knowing full well that the three girls would be there sooner. And she’d already arranged with Morgan’s grandma to sneak the bus key out and into the mailbox while Morgan was still asleep.

  “Okay,” said Morgan. But she looked disappointed.

  “See ya tomorrow,” called Emily as she left Morgan still standing by the abandoned bus.

  T
he next day, Emily, Carlie, and Amy sneaked over to the bus at noon. Carlie had gotten the key out of the mailbox, and they let themselves in and quickly went to work setting up their surprise party. Shortly before one, the three girls stepped back to look at their accomplishment.

  “The decorations are fantastic, Carlie,” said Emily.

  “Yes,” agreed Amy. “So colorful. Morgan will love it.”

  “And the dishes and things you brought …,” said Emily. “They’re perfect too, Amy.”

  “That cake looks yummy,” said Carlie.

  “It’s almost one,” said Emily. “We should hide in the back of the bus.”

  “What if Morgan doesn’t come?” asked Amy. “She might be worried about the lost key.”

  “I think she’ll come,” said Emily. “She’ll have to explain to us why we can’t get in the bus.”

  “But we won’t be here,” said Carlie. “If we’re hiding.”

  “I’ll leave the door open,” said Emily. She ran up to open the door then back to where Amy and Carlie were waiting.

  After about five minutes, they heard someone coming in the door. And sure enough it was Morgan. They all jumped out and yelled, “Surprise!”

  “Whoa!” said Morgan, almost falling backwards out the door.

  “Happy Birthday!” they yelled.

  It was obvious that she was totally surprised, and this made the three girls even happier.

  “You’re a teenager now!” said Emily, giving Morgan a quick hug.

  Morgan grinned. “And you guys aren’t.”

  “I will be in November,” said Emily.

  “I won’t be thirteen until next April,” said Carlie.

  “And I won’t be thirteen for almost two years,” admitted Amy. “How come you’re so old anyway, Morgan?”

  Morgan laughed. “My mom and I were living in Thailand when I was six, and she didn’t start me in school.”

  “So you weren’t held back?” said Amy.

  “Amy!” said Emily in a scolding tone.

  But Morgan just laughed even harder now. “No, Amy, I wasn’t held back. I just didn’t start first grade until I was seven. But I never really minded. I actually think it’s pretty cool being older than everyone.”

  “I think it’s cool that you got to live in Thailand,” said Emily. “You’ll have to tell us more about that.”

  “Not right now,” said Morgan, eyeing the cake and presents.

  And so Emily lit the thirteen rainbow-colored candles, they sang “Happy Birthday,” and then Morgan blew them all out in one big breath.

  “You’ll get your wish!” exclaimed Emily.

  “I already did,” said Morgan, smiling at her three best friends. “It seems like my prayers and wishes just keep coming true.”

  About the Author

  MELODY CARLSON has written more than 200 books for teens, women, and children. Before publishing, Melody traveled around the world, volunteered in teen ministry, taught preschool, raised two sons, and worked briefly in interior design and later in international adoption. “I think real-life experiences inspire the best fiction,” she says. Her wide variety of books seems to prove this theory.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Other books in the growing faithgirlz!Tm series:

  Bibles

  The Faithgirlz! Bible

  NIV Faithgirlz! Backpack Bible

  Bible Studies

  Secret Power of Love

  Secret Power of Joy

  Secret Power of Goodness

  Secret Power of Grace

  Nonfiction

  My Faithgirlz Journal

  The Faithgirlz! Handbook

  The Faithgirlz! Cookbook

  No Boys Allowed

  What’s A Girl To Do?

  Girlz Rock

  Chick Chat

  Real Girls of the Bible

  Faithgirlz! Whatever

  My Beautiful Daughter

  Beauty Lab

  Body Talk

  Everybody Tells Me to Be Myself, But I Don’t Know Who I Am

  Girl Politics

  Fiction

  From Sadie’s Sketchbook

  Shades of Truth (Book One)

  Flickering Hope (Book Two)

  Waves of Light (Book Three)

  Brilliant Hues (Book Four)

  Boarding School Mysteries

  Vanished (Book One)

  Betrayed (Book Two)

  Burned (Book Three)

  Poisoned (Book Four)

  Sophie’s World

  Sophie’s World

  Sophie’s Secret

  Sophie Under Pressure

  Sophie Steps Up

  Sophie’s First Dance

  Sophie’s Stormy Summer

  Sophie’s Friendship Fiasco

  Sophie and the New Girl

  Sophie Flakes Out

  Sophie Loves Jimmy

  Sophie’s Drama

  Sophie Gets Real

  The Girls of Harbor View

  Girl Power (Book One)

  Rescue Chelsea (Book Two)

  Raising Faith (Book Three)

  Secret Admirer (Book Four)

  The Lucy Series

  Lucy Doesn’t Wear Pink (Book One)

  Lucy Out of Bounds (Book Two)

  Lucy’s Perfect Summer (Book Three)

  Lucy Finds Her Way (Book Four)

  Check out www.faithgirlz.com

  ZONDERKIDZ

  Girl Power

  Copyright © 2007, 2012 by Melody Carlson

  Mystery Bus

  Copyright © 2007, 2012 by Melody Carlson

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