The Friendship Bracelet

by Arlene Stewart

  I’ll never tell anyone about Carl, she thought, not even Alex. Mu Mu is so strong. I’m not sure I could do that…

  Her phone started to beep. She looked down to find a text from Ethan. Can u ask Mu Mu 2 b in threads?

  OK, she texted back right away. Only now she was not exactly sure Mu Mu would want to.

  Chapter 24

  Brown is confident, light purple is beautiful, and yellow is happy.

  Well, thought Olivia, picking up the mirror to examine her blue-and-white braces again. Confident, beautiful, and happy, that wouldn’t be bad. Tomorrow after camp, I’ll get some embroidery flosses and make myself a really big brown, purple, and yellow wristband, one that will last a whole year, or at least as long as I have to wear these braces.

  “Ollie, come. Come downstairs,” Olivia’s dad called from the foot of the stairs. “Time for dinner.”

  What will this be like? Olivia thought, heading down with Sullivan at her heels. Will Mom and Dad give me lots of pep talks? Or will Dad keep singing, “Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you”? Mom says he’s just being sweet…but wow!

  Much to her surprise, dinner went by in a kind of a normal way, and her mom made Olivia’s favorite pasta, linguine with clam sauce, which Olivia and Alex had fallen in love with in Nantucket long ago, except that night, her mom chopped up the clams into tiny, tiny pieces.

  Later, as Olivia snuggled into bed with Sullivan resting on the floor in his cozy dog couch, she knew that the next day would be her big test. But big as that was, she couldn’t shake thoughts of Mu Mu and the puppy and of Zoe and all the times she and her mom had to move. With her eyelids growing heavy, she realized, They faced way bigger hurdles than new braces and didn’t choke. I won’t either.

  She leaned over the edge of the bed and said, “Right, Sully? Right, Sully?”

  His belly was rising up and down as he snored away with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out the side. “Sully is lucky,” she said to herself in a drowsy voice. “His teeth look perfect…but what if he had a crossbite? A dog with braces, blue-and-white braces… That’s silly. Silly Sully…”

  Chapter 25

  Skype service was out only temporarily, but it was long enough that Olivia had to leave for Camp Monroe before showing her BFF the new braces. She was really hoping to get a boost from Alex, a “they look cool” pat on the back. Well, I’ll just have to handle the reaction, she thought, riding up the hill toward the park.

  At camp, nobody even noticed. Or at least, no one said anything, except for Mu Mu, who screamed out, “They’re so cute!” The rest of Team Unicorn, Elin and Kennedy, were nowhere to be seen.

  Olivia was almost disappointed—she’d built the braces thing up so much in her head. But soon she told herself that flying below the radar was a good thing, and her mood improved.

  At snack break, Mu Mu was totally her old self, making jokes and giving out tips, especially about which Chinese foods were OK for braces.

  “Wonton soups, OK. Spareribs, uh-uh. Spring rolls, they’re a definite maybe, depending where you get them,” she pointed out. “The ones at Golden Panda don’t have a lot of sticky things.”

  Olivia nodded and thought, Mu Mu is in a good mood. Maybe now would be a good time to mention THREADS?

  “So, let me tell you about this great idea Ethan just came up with,” she started saying.

  “Ethan Fleckman, you mean?” asked Mu Mu, taking out a mirror from her backpack to check that her braces were clean.

  “Yup, Ethan Fleckman,” Olivia continued and then sketched out the idea.

  Mu Mu seemed interested, and Olivia made a big point of mentioning Ethan’s text. “Sounds cool,” she said. “Who else is in it? Just Austen and Zoe and you?”

  “Right,” replied Olivia.

  “Sure. When is the next meeting?”

  “Friday afternoon. Is that OK?” And then, trying to be totally up front about the puppy, Olivia added, “But, Mu Mu, we’re probably going to meet at Zoe’s because she doesn’t want to leave Carl yet. Is that OK too?”

  “Yeah, yeah, why not? I’ll make a couple of bracelets. Do you have Ethan’s phone number? I’ll text him,” Mu Mu casually replied and then asked, “Hey, Olivia, BTW, did you see Elin and Kennedy this morning after roll call?”

  “Nope.”

  “Me either. Do you think they dropped out? Will Team Unicorn be down by two?” she joked.

  Olivia shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Their conversation was cut short. Ashley the counselor started clapping her hands. “OK, everybody, listen up. Elin Pierson and Kennedy Washington won’t be here for a few days. Now I want you all to pay strict attention. In case you don’t know, this is a photo of a poison ivy plant,” she started explaining to the campers.

  Parker, the counselor-in-training, walked around the group holding up the photo for everyone to see.

  Ashley continued. “Before you step into the woods or anywhere there is undergrowth, watch where you are walking. Avoid this plant or, to be safe, any plant with three leaves. Teach yourself, ‘Leaves of three, let it be.’ Let’s all say that: leaves of three, let it be. OK, good. Remember, poison ivy is a vine, and it also can climb up trees or wind itself around shrubs. Any questions?”

  Nobody said anything for a few moments. Then Mu Mu asked, “So, is this why Elin and Kennedy aren’t here? Did they get poison ivy?”

  “I really can’t discuss other campers,” Ashley replied, “but let’s say I want all you girls to be safe rather than sorry.”

  “Gross!” whispered Mu Mu to Olivia. “Have you ever had poison ivy? It’s the worst! I did last summer, and I itched for weeks. It was so bad I didn’t even want to think about food.”

  “Wow! That’s really bad,” Olivia whispered back. “I’ve had it too. It’s super yucky!”

  Chapter 26

  “OK, everybody,” Ethan started saying. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  Friday turned out to be rainy, so camp was canceled and the afternoon meeting of THREADS at Zoe’s was moved indoors. A few minutes earlier, she had arranged chairs around the bamboo table in the long, screened-in back porch and set Carl’s crate next to her chair.

  Ethan and Austen were the first to arrive and immediately attacked the bowl of tortilla chips and salsa Zoe had put out on a nearby coffee table.

  When Olivia rang the front doorbell, she was trying to stay focused on THREADS. But it was the first time she had actually been back inside her old BFF’s place since Zoe had moved in. She was OK when she went through the family room and kitchen, places where she and Alex had spent countless hours, but when she got close to the porch, her eyes immediately went to the doorframe. Oh! she thought. It’s still there.

  On the left side was the growth chart where Alex and her brothers, and Olivia too, had their heights measured and recorded. Stopping to look, Olivia was amazed. Can it be that the last entry was only two months ago?

  Zoe noticed how distracted Olivia was. “You know what? Let’s add my name and Carl’s? Look, here’s a pencil and a tape measure,” she said, reaching over to her supplies on the table. “I’ll get Carl out of his crate. Can you measure us?”

  “Sure, that’s a great idea,” said Olivia, making a mark on the frame between her height and Alex’s. Can this be right? Zoe is only two inches shorter than me? She was surprised. She thought Zoe was a lot shorter.

  When they were done, Zoe asked, “So, do you like these bracelets I made?” She pushed up the sleeve on her sky-blue top and held out her arm.

  “Wow! Super,” said Olivia looking down at four bracelets, all done in different patterns.

  Zoe pointed to each bracelet. “This blue-and-gray one is fishtail braid. This is heart. This pink, black, and white one is diamond, and then I made this chain stitch with a button.”

  Ethan was sitting at the round table unpacking his shark backpack. “A
button? Let me see, Zoe.”

  “OK. Here, you hold Carl,” she said, plopping the puppy in his lap. Ethan seemed flustered when Carl started licking his face, but Zoe just laughed. She was busy showing him her bracelets when Mu Mu burst in.

  “Hello, THREADS!” she shouted from the doorway, brushing the raindrops off her orange tank top. “Your dad let me in, Zoe. Sorry I’m late. Heavy rain out on Route 35. How did you get here, Austen?”

  “Rowboat,” he joked. “No, seriously, my brother, Ryan, dropped me off earlier. Yeah, it’s really bad out there!”

  “Sure is, so check out my bracelets,” she said, digging into her pink-and-black backpack. She took out a plastic baggie, slid open the zipper, and put a handful of bracelets on the table. “Here’s watermelon slices, candy corn, pretzel, and chocolate chip.”

  Olivia had to laugh, but only to herself. All of Mu Mu’s patterns were about food. The braces must be driving her crazy, she thought.

  “Mu Mu, these are really amazing,” she said, handing them around so the other members could see.

  Ethan examined each one carefully. “Yeah, they are. So, uh, here’s something for you.” He slid over a THREADS bracelet.

  “Wow! This is super! This is mine? Wait, all of you have them? OMG!” Mu Mu said, checking out the other members’. “Wait, why do I have an orange bead?”

  “Uh, that’s for energetic,” answered Ethan.

  “OK, I’ll take that,” said Mu Mu with a laugh. “Tie it on for me?”

  Ethan made a strong knot and then started drumming his fingers on the table. “So, Austen, how did you do with your projects?”

  Austen appeared a little shy. Actually, Olivia thought he looked adorable.

  “Hey, OK, nobody laugh,” said Austen, reaching into his khaki backpack for three bracelets, all done in a simple arrow pattern, just like the blue-and-white one Olivia’s mom had given her. No one made a comment. “You said to do easy, right?” he asked.

  “It’s important to have a range,” pointed out Olivia, rising to his defense. “So what do you guys think of these charts I made up?” she asked, handing everyone a What Colors Stand For chart, like those she and Mu Mu had given out at camp.

  “And here’s the THREADS flyer,” she added, passing around copies. “If it’s OK, maybe Austen can show it to his mother? And then we can find out what the next step is? Don’t forget, Miss Ruth Ann at Katonah Crafts said she would help us too. I told you she volunteers at the hospital.”

  Quiet filled the sunporch while they checked out Olivia’s materials.

  Ethan finished first and said, “Sounds like you covered everything. We’ll make bracelets for the kids, or they can choose from what we already have made up, or we’ll come to the hospital and work with them.”

  “Yeah, Olivia, good job,” Austen said. “OK, everybody? OK to show my mom?”

  They all nodded. Ethan packed up the bracelets in small plastic bags according to level of difficulty, adding his own samples to the advanced group, and handed them to Austen.

  “So after I show everything to my mom, I’ll text you all, OK?” Austen said.

  “Here are a few extra copies of the flyer,” said Olivia, sliding a folder to Austen along with a big plastic baggie for all the smaller baggies of the bracelet samples. He carefully placed everything in his backpack and zipped it closed.

  “Anything else?” he asked.

  Before anyone could reply, the front doorbell rang. Three times, right in a row. “Who’s that?” said Zoe.

  Carl started to bark, and it was such a loud bark for a little puppy that they all started to laugh.

  “Good dog, Carl, good watchdog,” Zoe said, scooping him up and heading to the front door. “I’ll be right back.”

  When she returned a few minutes later, Elin Pierson and Kennedy Washington were with her. Olivia noticed that Elin’s hair was even longer and wavier than before, only now it was topped with twisted-back braids and what looked to be a delicate crown, just like a princess.

  Trying not to stare at Elin’s hairstyle, Olivia glanced down at her legs instead. Yuck! Both girls had splotchy, reddish patches covered with calamine lotion. But as painful as that sight was, Olivia didn’t give a hoot about the poison ivy mystery now. She had much bigger things to worry about. What if these two find out about THREADS and Ethan asks them to join? Or worse, what if they just push their way in? We have to end this meeting right now.

  Elin wasted no time sizing up the room. “Hi, Austen,” she said, slipping into the chair next to him, where Zoe had been sitting.

  Right away, Kennedy reached into her pocket for her phone. “Hey, Elin and Austen, let me take a pic! Sooo stellar!” Elin fluffed up her hair and then leaned in close to Austen.

  Then, Kennedy turned her attention to Ethan. “Hey, Ethan, let me take one with you,” she squealed.

  He jumped up. “I have to be going,” he said, grabbing his backpack and skateboard.

  Mu Mu nudged Olivia.

  “We do too,” Olivia said, her voice tight.

  “Uh, bye,” muttered Mu Mu over her shoulder as they bolted through the family room.

  Ethan pushed open the front door. The porch was, like, ten degrees colder and soaked from the heavy rain. Before she could stop herself, Olivia stumbled over two open umbrellas blowing around the wet floor. She chased one and Mu Mu the other. On them in large, purple letters was written MAGIC TRESSES.

  “Guess we know who these belong to, but yipes, this rain. We’ll get soaked!” cried Mu Mu, snapping the umbrella shut. Olivia glanced over at Ethan.

  He looks like he could care less about the rain, she thought.

  “See you,” he muttered, pulling the hood on his black-and-white Windbreaker low over his head and zooming off on his skateboard.

  “Maybe we should wait here for a minute until it lets up?” suggested Mu Mu.

  “Good idea,” replied Olivia, leaning against the front door. “Only the sky looks really dark. We may be here for a while.”

  Mu tried to change the subject. “So, Elin and Kennedy… Didn’t that look like poison ivy on their legs?” she said, wrinkling her nose.

  “Maybe,” muttered Olivia with a shrug, still bummed out by the idea of Elin worming her way into THREADS.

  Mu Mu shrugged too. “Hey, is that your phone?” she asked.

  Olivia looked down at a text. “OMG! I have to go. The roof at Katonah Crafts is leaking! Miss Ruth Ann needs help.”

  “Come on!” cried Mu Mu, racing into the rain.

  The sign in the shop door window read Closed when the girls came panting in. Soggy boxes were piled every which way on the floor and tables. Much to their amazement, Ethan hurried in from the supply room with a large carton.

  “Everything has to come out now,” he shouted. “The roof inside is leaking!”

  All three ran to the back. Olivia’s heart sank when she saw Miss Ruth Ann trying to pack up everything. She looked overwhelmed, her face red and exhausted.

  “We’ll do that!” Olivia immediately cried out. “Mu Mu, can you take Miss Ruth Ann to the front?”

  “No, no, I’ll do this,” protested Miss Ruth Ann. “But I still can’t reach your mother.”

  “Please. Please, let us do it,” said Olivia in a gentle voice while guiding her to the crafts table. “You keep trying Mom, OK?” she added and then dashed back to the supply room.

  Ethan ran in for more cartons, and Olivia handed him one as drops of water fell on her head and shoulders.

  It was gushing in from beneath the pressed metal panels of the old tin ceiling. Worried that the roof would give way, she started to work even faster.

  A step stool was in the corner. She grabbed it and then reached up for the highest supplies, struggling with a carton marked Bracelet Instructions when a voice said, “I’ll get that. You get the lower ones.” />
  With a jerk, Olivia turned around to see Austen. She jumped down and started carrying out boxes of beads and wires.

  “Olivia, I keep trying and trying to reach your mother and your father,” Miss Ruth Ann called to her in a worried voice.

  Olivia realized how important it was to stay calm. This was a real emergency, and going to pieces would make it worse. “We know they went to White Plains for some supplies. Maybe there’s bad reception on the Saw Mill Parkway?” she explained, stacking the boxes of beads and wires in a dry spot near the register. “They should be back soon. Don’t worry. Everything will be OK.”

  The bell on the front door jingled, and Zoe hurried in. “I got Ethan’s text. I had to wait for Press to get off his blog and watch Carl,” she explained breathlessly. “What can I do?”

  Olivia pointed toward the back of the shop.

  “OK, let’s make a line,” Austen said when he saw his cousin had joined them. “I’ll be on this end. Ethan, you be on the counter and tables?”

  “Right,” said Ethan, nodding.

  “Olivia, you’re next to me,” Austen said while handing her a carton. “Then Mu Mu and Zoe.”

  It took only a short time before the last of the cartons and supplies were passed down the line.

  “Good work,” said Austen, jumping down from the step stool.

  Olivia looked up at him. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Before Olivia could reply, Ethan popped his head in. “Got everything?” he asked, looking around.

  “Yup,” Olivia and Austen said together.

  “Sure?” Ethan persisted.

  Austen shot him a look that said, “lighten up.”

  “Let me check on Miss Ruth Ann,” Olivia said, sliding past them into the main part of the shop.

  Miss Ruth Ann seemed more like her old self, busy showing everyone how to dry off the supplies and where to stack them. What a relief! They were almost done when thunder and lightning crackled through the skies. The overhead lights started flickering on and off.