Picture Perfect #5

by Cari Simmons

  “She can’t. My dad made plans for a mystery trip, remember?” Gracie brought the toiletries back into the bedroom and tossed them into Mari’s duffel bag.

  “I can’t even imagine your parents doing something spontaneous,” Mari commented. “Where do you think they’re going? Do you think they’re going to show up at our ski cabin and say they rented the place next door?”

  Gracie’s heart skipped a beat. They wouldn’t do that, would they? She knew her mom always wanted to be able to watch her . . .

  “I’m joking,” Mari said. “Wipe that terrified look off your face, Grace!”

  “I know, I’m joking too.” Gracie grinned, bouncing up and down on Mari’s desk chair. “I can’t wait to go!”

  “Gracie! Your mom wants you!” Jimmy bellowed, throwing open the door. “Gracie!”

  “You have to knock, dummy,” Mari cried, tossing a pillow at him.

  Jimmy completely ignored her. “Your mom wants you,” he told Gracie again.

  “Okay, I’m coming.” She shot Mari a smile and headed downstairs.

  “Have a wonderful time, sweetheart,” Ms. Hardwick said when Gracie got down to the kitchen. “I have to go—your father’s mystery trip starts in half an hour.”

  “Great. Have fun, Mom.” Gracie hugged her mother extra tight. She felt a little strange as she watched Mom walk out the door. Her mom was so overprotective that they’d never spent more than one night apart before.

  The O’Hagans were all over the house now—little Jimmy sliding on the wood floor in his socks, still wearing his pajama shirt; Robert and Jon playing catch in between the kitchen and the living room; Mr. O’Hagan wrestling a bunch of skis through the basement door; Ms. O’Hagan calmly drinking coffee at the table as if they weren’t all running late. It was crazy in here! For a moment, Gracie stood still and just took in all the chaos. An entire weekend with the O’Hagans was going to be so much fun!

  “Gracie! Heads up!” Robert threw the ball at her, and she caught it without thinking. She glanced down in surprise. It wasn’t a ball. It was some kind of cosmetics bag packed with stuff.

  “Nice catch,” Jimmy called.

  “Gracie, honey, will you bring that here?” Ms. O’Hagan asked.

  “Aw, why did you throw it to Gracie?” Jon complained. “You know she’s too nice to keep it away from Mom.”

  Gracie wasn’t exactly sure what to do. Would the twins really be mad if she handed over the cosmetics bag? But how could she disobey Ms. O’Hagan?

  “You guys are so immature,” Mari said, jogging down the stairs. She grabbed the bag from Gracie and brought it over to her mother. “Besides, we’ll never leave if you don’t let Mom finish packing.”

  The boys turned away and began wrestling. Gracie sighed in relief. She hadn’t wanted to start out making anybody mad at her.

  “Are we going soon?” she asked Mari, happy to see that she was dressed.

  “Of course,” Mari said. “Dad just has to load the car.”

  “I could use some help with that,” Mr. O’Hagan commented as he dragged another load of skis and poles up from the basement.

  “I’ll help,” Jon cried.

  “I’ll help faster!” Robert put in. Somehow they managed to race over to their father while still wrestling. Gracie laughed.

  “Mari, toast up some waffles for everyone and we’ll eat in the car,” Ms. O’Hagan said, pulling a turtleneck over Jimmy’s head as he tried to make a break for the living room. “Did you eat, Gracie?”

  “Yes, thanks,” she said. Her mother had woken her up in plenty of time to eat the scrambled eggs and toast she usually had on Saturday mornings. But when the sweet smell of toasting waffles began drifting through the house, her stomach rumbled. She was never allowed to eat in the car.

  “Do you think I can have one?” she asked Mari as her friend packed a bunch of hot waffles into aluminum foil.

  “Of course.” Mari grinned at her. “Road-trip food is the best!”

  “Hurry up!” Robert said, coming into the kitchen to steal a waffle. “We’re leaving.”

  Gracie and Mari shared an excited smile, then they hurried out to the driveway. Mr. O’Hagan was busy packing things into the big storage box on the top of the minivan, and Jon was handing up the suitcases and skis to be put inside it.

  “Mari and Gracie, will you go tell Jimmy we’re leaving?” Ms. O’Hagan asked, passing them with a box full of canned food.

  Mari stuck the pack of waffles on one of the car seats. “He’s probably playing a video game,” she told Gracie. They headed back inside to look for Jimmy, but he wasn’t in the family room where the Xbox was. “You stay down here,” Mari said. “I’ll go upstairs and try to send him down.”

  “Why do I have to stay here?” Gracie asked.

  “Because Jimmy will think it’s a game and keep hiding from us. He always does that when he wants attention. So you stay here and grab him when he gets down the stairs.”

  Before Gracie could answer, Mari bounded upstairs. How am I supposed to grab him? she wondered. She didn’t have any little cousins to practice on or anything, and it seemed weird to actually take hold of someone who didn’t want you to.

  Jimmy came flying down the steps with a grin on his face.

  Not knowing what else to do, Gracie reached for his arm. He ducked under her hands, scooted around her, and kept running. “Ha ha! You can’t get me!” he called.

  “What? Yes, I can,” Gracie cried. She took off after him, catching up as he reached the kitchen. This time she just grabbed on to whatever she could—so she ended up with his shirt in her hand. She held on tight while he twisted and pulled, and by the time Mari arrived to help, Jimmy was halfway out of his turtleneck. He was giggling and screaming, and Gracie laughed.

  “Got you!” Mari wrapped her arms around Jimmy and dragged him off toward the door. “Gracie, you hold his other arm. We won’t let him escape!”

  Jimmy kept giggling all the way out to the car.

  “Strap him in before he runs again,” Jon joked.

  Ms. O’Hagan crossed her arms, and Jimmy stopped giggling. He climbed into the minivan and got into his booster seat, then smiled like a little angel. Ms. O’Hagan chuckled.

  “Okay, let’s get going,” she said.

  “We can’t; Robert’s missing,” Mr. O’Hagan told her.

  Gracie looked around in surprise. “Wasn’t he out here a few minutes ago?”

  “Yup. But now he’s gone.” Mari’s dad took off his baseball cap and fanned himself with it. His face was red and sweaty even though it was cold out—Gracie figured loading suitcases and skis for seven people was hard work.

  “I’ll go find him,” Jimmy offered.

  “No!” everybody said at once.

  “I’ll go.” Mari went into the house. Gracie wondered if she should go along, but maybe it was better to stay where she was. She glanced at her watch. It was eight o’clock. Had she really been here for more than an hour? She’d been so busy watching Mari’s family run around that she hadn’t noticed the time.

  “Here he is.” Mari appeared at the front door with Robert.

  “What? I was in the bathroom,” he said.

  “Let’s go,” Ms. O’Hagan said again.

  “Wait! I forgot my phone.” Mari’s dad jogged toward the house. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

  “We should all get strapped in,” Robert suggested. “Then we can leave as soon as Dad gets out.”

  Gracie climbed into the minivan, then turned to ask Mari where she was supposed to sit. But Mari wasn’t there. “Where’s Mari?” she asked.

  Ms. O’Hagan and the twins all glanced at one another and shrugged.

  “But she was just here!” Gracie cried. How could this keep happening? Every time they were ready to go, somebody else disappeared.

  “Maybe she went back inside,” Robert said.

  “No, she went over to the Gerardis’ house,” Jimmy put in. “I saw her.”

  “Why would sh
e do that?” Ms. O’Hagan asked.

  “To pet their dog,” Gracie guessed. “She’s always talking about your neighbors’ puppy. Should I go get her?”

  “Sure,” Ms. O’Hagan said. “You’re the only one I trust to actually come back.”

  Gracie climbed back out of the minivan and hurried over to the house next door, which meant going around a huge hedge and letting herself in the back gate. It felt completely wrong—she was trespassing!—but she knew that Mari did it all the time.

  “Who’s a good puppy? Who’s the cutest girl? Who’s the best, best, best dog in the world?” Mari’s voice came from the corner of the backyard. Gracie went over and found her best friend on her knees, rubbing the belly of an adorable little mutt.

  “Um, Mar? We’re trying to get on the road, remember?” Gracie said.

  “I know, but I heard Miss Havisham crying and I had to come pet her,” Mari cooed. “Isn’t she the sweetest dog ever? Yes, she is!” Mari kissed the dog’s head. “Didn’t I tell you they found the cutest one at the shelter?”

  Gracie stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” Mari asked.

  “You! Your whole family,” Gracie said. “Every time we find one missing person, somebody else disappears! How do you ever get anywhere on time?”

  Mari chewed on her lip, thinking. “I have no idea,” she finally said.

  Gracie laughed and held out her hand to help Mari up. “The car is loaded, and we’re the only ones not in it—I think. Let’s go!”

  “I’m going to wipe the floor with you,” Robert said four hours later. They were parked at a restaurant along the highway, eating lunch. “I rule.”

  “You wish,” Mari replied, taking a bite of her burger. “I’ve always been faster than you.”

  “That’s just because you’re younger,” Jon pointed out. “You don’t weigh as much, so you go faster down the slopes.”

  “Nuh-uh,” Mari said. “It’s because I’m better.”

  “Gracie’s probably a better skier than all of you,” Mr. O’Hagan put in. “She’s taken lessons for years. Haven’t you, Gracie?”

  Gracie nodded. “We stay at the same ski place every Christmas, so I always use the same instructor. But I don’t know if I’m better than anyone else.”

  “Lessons are boring,” Jimmy said. “I just want to ski fast!”

  Gracie glanced happily around the table. The O’Hagans were so much fun. Ever since they had—finally!—left their house, the whole family had been busy telling jokes, singing along with the radio, and laughing. When she and her parents went skiing, the car ride was always the most boring part, with nothing to do for hours except read or sleep. It was only when she saw the huge stone lodge come into view that she felt like the vacation had started. But today, with Mari’s family, even the car ride felt like a vacation!

  “We should finish eating and get back on the road,” Ms. O’Hagan said. “I want to have time to eat dinner and get settled tonight so we can hit the slopes bright and early in the morning.”

  “My mom always says the same thing,” Gracie told her. She couldn’t wait to get to the cabin and settle in.

  “Race you to the car,” Jon said, taking off suddenly.

  Robert and Jimmy leapt from the table and ran for the exit. Mari rolled her eyes. “They’re so rude.”

  Mr. and Ms. O’Hagan exchanged smiles. “You can go too, girls,” Ms. O’Hagan said.

  To Gracie’s surprise, Mari immediately got up. “Come on!” she said, pulling Gracie to her feet. “If we go out the side door, we’ll still beat them because it’s so much closer to where we parked.”

  Mari was already rushing through the restaurant, so Gracie followed her, squeezing through the other tables on their way to the side door.

  “Sorry!” she cried as she banged into a lady lifting a bite of salad to her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

  The lady didn’t look too happy, but Gracie couldn’t help grinning as she and Mari reached the door. This was fun!

  They grasped the handle at the same time and pulled the door open together. Jon was just rounding the front corner of the restaurant, going slowly because both Robert and Jimmy were pulling on him.

  “They’re busy fighting with each other. We’re totally going to win,” Mari said. She didn’t slow down, though, as she ran toward the minivan.

  Gracie ran after her.

  “Hey!” Robert bellowed. He must have caught sight of the girls. “That’s cheating!”

  “You never said what exit we had to use,” Gracie called back.

  All three boys ran full speed toward them, but Mari’s hand was already on the car. Gracie reached it a second later.

  “Girls win!” Mari yelled. She and Gracie slapped a high five. Mari’s brothers all groaned in disappointment.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Robert said. “We’ll have a rematch tomorrow, and I’ll definitely win then.”

  As soon as they were back on the highway, Gracie pulled out her notebook. She really did have to write a paper about this weekend for Mr. Ferrone, so she figured she should do a little along the way—she didn’t want to forget any thoughts she had about her subject.

  Gracie smiled. It was funny to think of herself as a “subject.” Well, herself and Mari. And Mari’s family. This whole trip was going to be one long experiment, and it had already started. She had to get busy.

  She flipped to a blank page and wrote: Only Child vs. Multiple Children: A Case Study. Then she underlined it. Now she was ready to make some notes. She thought about what she’d noticed so far today. What were the differences between her family and Mari’s?

  Big Difference Number One: Only children have nobody to race with on family trips, she wrote. She chewed on the end of her pen, listening to the twins act out an entire scene from some robot movie in the backseat. Or to sing with, or play with. Only children don’t have anyone to make them laugh during boring car rides.

  “What are you writing?” Jimmy leaned over and tried to grab Gracie’s notebook. “Let me see!”

  “No. You’ll rip it.” Gracie yanked the notebook away just as he got his fingers on the paper. There was a tearing sound, and Jimmy frowned.

  “That was your fault, not mine,” he said. “You pulled it.”

  Gracie opened her mouth to argue but stopped. He was right—it was her fault. “Sorry, I just don’t want to lose my notes,” she said.

  She wrote again. Or to bother them, or fight with them.

  “I can’t believe you have to do homework in order to come on this trip,” Mari said. “I can help if you want. We came up with the sociology paper plan together, so it’s only fair that I do half.”

  “That’s okay, I don’t mind doing it,” Gracie told her. “It’s worth it to spend the whole weekend together.”

  Mari nodded. “This will be the most time we’ve ever had to hang out. And maybe once your mom sees that you’re okay being out of her sight, she’ll let you come sleep over more often.”

  “I can’t even imagine that,” Gracie said honestly. “But I hope you’re right! You and I are going to share a room, aren’t we?”

  “Obviously.” Mari laughed.

  “Good, because there’s something I need to tell you about,” Gracie said, lowering her voice. “Something you have to help me with. I’m too shy, and you’re the opposite, so you’ll know what to do.”

  “This sounds interesting. What is it?” Mari asked.

  Gracie shook her head. She couldn’t blurt out that she had a crush on Alex Parker in front of Mari’s brothers. They would never stop teasing her. “It’s private.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Mari yawned. “Then I’m going to take a nap until we get there. It’s another two hours.”

  “Sounds good.” Gracie rested her head against the window, but she knew there was no way she’d fall asleep. The twins were still doing their robot voices, and Jimmy was singing some little kid song in a high-pitched voice. About two minutes
later, Mari began to snore. Gracie stared out the window at the dense forest that had sprung up alongside the highway. She thought how much fun it would be to go exploring in the woods, and she tried to count the number of blue spruces mixed in among the greener trees.

  When the car went over a huge bump, she jumped . . . and realized that she had been asleep. Counting trees must’ve made her nod off. The forest was even thicker around them now, and they had left the highway. The minivan was bumping down a narrow road in the middle of the woods, bouncing them all around as if they were on a carnival ride.

  “Where are we?” Gracie asked.

  “We’re here!” Mari answered excitedly.

  “We are?” Gracie peered out the window again, looking for the rest of the town. Usually ski resorts had bigger driveways than this, and smoother ones! Or maybe they weren’t actually to the resort yet, and this little road was just the way there?

  Ms. O’Hagan turned the minivan into a dirt pathway and stopped. Right away, Mari and all her brothers unbuckled their seat belts and began whooping and pushing to get out of the car. Gracie sat where she was, confused. Why had they stopped? There were still trees everywhere, they were on a dirt road, and there was no sign of the town or a ski lodge.

  “Don’t be so lazy, Grazey,” Mari said. “Come on!”

  “That doesn’t really rhyme,” Gracie replied. She got up and climbed out of the minivan, not sure why they were getting out.

  Next to the dirt driveway was a small wooden cabin. It looked like something out of a fairy tale, with a high, pointed roof and a bright red front door—a door that Mr. O’Hagan was unlocking while Jon and Robert crowded around him.

  “What is this?” Gracie asked, baffled.

  “It’s the ski cabin,” Mari replied. “Isn’t it great?”

  “But . . . but where are the other buildings?” Gracie asked. “Is this part of the resort?” She glanced around, but all she saw were trees and a few other tiny houses scattered here and there along the dirt road.

  “What resort?” Mari replied, looking as confused as Gracie felt. “This is the cabin we rent every year.”