A bolt of pain zigzagged through Gaby’s foot, making her forget everything else—even the horrible Val and Chelsea. “Watch it!” she hissed at the boy who’d just stomped on her as he headed out of the room.
He just scowled at her and kept on going. Talk about un-nice. What was his problem?
Suddenly Gaby remembered where she was—Home Away From Home. And she got what the boy’s problem was. Somebody in his family was seriously ill. The movie night was supposed to be taking his mind off all the bad stuff in his life. And clearly it wasn’t working.
So the nice thing to do (and the whole point of being here was to be a nicer person) would be to go after him. Talk to him. Try to, to…comfort him. Gaby smiled. She was doing it.
She stood up, leaving Chelsea and Valerie behind to watch the movie. Like they were just here to enjoy themselves. She checked the kitchen, the dining room, and the office before she found the boy in the small library.
“What do you want?” the boy snapped. He was about Gaby’s age, maybe a year older, with longish sandy hair that flopped into his eyes.
“I want an apology. You stepped on my foot before,” Gaby shot back, before she remembered she was on a Mission of Mercy. She liked the sound of that. Mission of Mercy. “Just kidding,” Gaby added quickly. “I actually came to find you because I thought you could use somebody to talk to.”
The boy snorted.
It isn’t nice to snort when somebody is trying to be nice to you, Gaby thought. “What’s your name, anyway?” she asked.
“Leland. Now you probably want to know how I’m feeling,” he answered.
She’d already broken through to him. She was good at this. “I do want to know how you’re feeling,” Gaby told him. “I really do. I know you’re going through a hard—”
“You don’t know anything about me,” Leland interrupted. “And you know what else? You don’t care.”
“I do too,” Gaby protested.
“Uh-uh. I’ve been coming to places like this for years. I’ve seen your type before,” Leland said, shoving his hair out of his eyes. “You care like crazy what people think of you, and you’re here so everyone will think you’re such a sweet girl.”
“That’s not true!” Gaby cried. Even though he’d so nailed it. It was like her head was made of clear plastic and he could read her deepest, most secret thoughts. She’d wanted Ms. Jeunet to think she was a good person. Ms. Jeunet and everyone at the center, and her parents, and every friend she’d told about her volunteer work.
“Get lost,” Leland said. He grabbed a book off the nearest shelf. “I came in here to be alone. Not to help you score brownie points.”
“I’m here to help,” Gaby yelled. “You could be a little grateful. You’re the most inconsiderate person I’ve ever met!”
“If you leave you won’t have to be around me anymore,” Leland answered. He didn’t look up from his book. Like he was all involved in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Yeah, right.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m gone. You don’t deserve anybody being nice to you.” Gaby stormed out of the library and slammed the door behind her. Then she leaned against it, legs trembling.
She was horrible. She was completely, thoroughly horrible. She had to be the worst volunteer ever. She had actually just screamed at one of the kids she was supposed to be trying to make feel better.
Maybe I’m the kind of person who just can’t be nice, Gaby thought, tears stinging her eyes. Maybe I just don’t have it in me. Maybe I really am just a bad person.
“Hey, sugar cookie. How did it go tonight?” Chelsea’s dad asked when she came home from the movie night.
“Great!” Chelsea answered. “But my camp night is going to be even better. I’m going to have everyone make s’mores in the fireplace, and we’re going to have a singdown. That’s when you divide everyone into teams, then you call out a word, and the teams have to sing a song with that word in it. You just keep going from team to team to team, until a team can’t come up with another song. Then they’re out.”
“Sounds fun.” Her father took a long pull on his water bottle.
“It’s going to be perfection!” Chelsea answered. “Oooh! And I just thought of a way to make it perfection plus. Nametags! I’m going to make beautiful nametags for everyone.”
“Sounds fun,” her father repeated. His voice sounded a little flat, and Chelsea suddenly realized how tired he looked.
She flashed on an image of him during the worst of his chemo. He’d come home and go straight to bed, and he’d looked like…like he was partway dead.
“Long day?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
“Yeah. Your old man went to the gym after work. I know exercise is supposed to make you feel good, but I’m still at the stage where it makes me want to crawl straight into bed.”
Chelsea laughed, relief whooshing through her. He was looking bad because he was getting healthy!
“Poor dad,” she said.
“Poor old dad,” he agreed with a smile.
“I’m going to head to my room. I want to get started right away designing those nametags,” Chelsea told him.
Her father gave her a hug. “I’m so proud of you for doing this.”
“Thanks, Dad!” Chelsea answered. It felt so good hearing him say that. Having him around to be able to say that.
“My part of the activity night is going to be way more fabulous than Gaby and Valerie’s,” she promised him when he let her go. “I’m going to make sure all those kids who have sick people in their families have an awesome time!”
chapter
EIGHT
“Good morning, students. Today is Friday and this morning’s word is agrestic. Agrestic is defined as pertaining to fields or the country; rural; rustic.”
Brynn glanced around her homeroom as the morning announcements sounded over the PA system. Lots of people were writing down the word and its definition. She sighed. Would she ever get used to the constant stream of academics at this school? It was exhausting to feel like you should be learning something every single second of the day.
“…happy to announce the cast list for this fall’s Drama League production of Little Shop of Horrors,” the voice went on.
Brynn sat up straight. Now this was more like it!
“Playing the part of Seymour will be Drew Brody…”
Yay, Drew! Brynn thought. Her friend had landed the male lead, and she knew he would be perfect for the part.
“And in the role of Audrey, we have Brynn Collins.”
Brynn felt her cheeks flush with pleasure. “Yes!” she cried, pumping her fist in the air. She’d done it! She’d gotten the lead role! She looked around the room, wanting to share her happiness, wanting to receive some congratulations. That was how it had always worked at her old school.
But the other kids in her homeroom just stared at her like she was crazy.
“Yes! I’m a total geek!” somebody muttered. A couple of other kids laughed.
Embarrassed, Brynn lowered her hand.
“Wow, Brynn, it’s nice to have a big star in our room,” the teacher said politely. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Brynn murmured. She looked back down at her desk, where she’d been doodling pictures of Audrey II, the man-eating plant from the play. She couldn’t wait until homeroom was over so she could find her drama friends. At least they would be psyched about the play.
Just as she’d expected, Drew was waiting for her outside homeroom with a huge, excited grin on his face. “You got it!” he cried.
“You got it!” Brynn replied, laughing. They slapped a high five. “I can’t wait to start rehearsals,” she went on. “That’s one of my favorite things in the world, rehearsing for a play. I just love to see it all start to come together.”
“Me too.” Drew headed down the hallway, and Brynn followed. “It’s so much fun to spend all that time in the auditorium after school. I spend all day looking forward to it.”
&nbs
p; “How long are we going to rehearse?” Brynn asked. “At my old school we had two months.”
“Not that long,” Drew replied. “The play goes up in six weeks.”
“Wow, that sounds so soon.” Brynn felt a little thrill of anticipation. She could hardly wait to be up onstage again—the hot lights in her face, the energy of the crowd charging her performance…
“Do you think Candace will come see the show?” Drew asked, fake-casually. “I mean, since you guys are buds and everything?”
Brynn stopped walking and turned to Drew. As usual when he was talking about Candace, the tips of his ears were red. She smiled. “You know what? I’m going to do you a big favor,” she told him.
“Huh?” he asked.
“Candace is having a party tomorrow night, a big back-to-school thing,” Brynn said. “She invited me, and I can bring a guest. So I’m going to bring you.”
“Me?” Drew’s voice squeaked, but he seemed too excited to notice. “Really?”
“Really. That way instead of just asking me about Candace, you can actually talk to her yourself,” Brynn said. “Since you obviously like her.”
“What? I do not,” Drew answered quickly.
Brynn just raised her eyebrows.
“Oh, fine, I do,” he mumbled. “I like her.”
“I knew it!” Brynn cried. “You’re so obvious about it. It’s really cute.”
“You make me sound like a puppy,” Drew complained. “It’s not cute. It stinks. I’ve had a huge crush on her since last year and I’ve never even said more than two words to her. I’m such a loser.”
“You are not, you’re just embarrassed,” Brynn told him as they started walking again.
“I know. I can get up onstage and act in front of tons of people and not feel embarrassed at all,” Drew said. “But the second I see Candace, I get all nervous.”
“Once you talk to her, you’ll stop feeling nervous,” Brynn promised. “And that’s why this party is the perfect idea. You’ll come with me, you’ll have to talk to Candace because she’s the hostess, and then you’ll get over your nervousness. Plus, you’ll have a chance to actually get to know her instead of just hearing about her from other people.”
“Yeah.” A slow smile made its way across Drew’s face. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Brynn!”
“No problem.” Brynn turned toward her science classroom. “See you later.”
“Later!”
As Drew headed off in the other direction, Brynn smiled to herself. It felt good to do something nice for him. Now she had a reason to look forward to the party—she’d been a little worried about going to a place filled with all the popular, academic kids. Who knew if she’d find anyone to talk to? But with Drew there, she had an instant posse.
And besides, it will be good for Candace, she thought. She had seemed seriously stressed the few times Brynn had talked to her. Candace had never been the life of the party at camp, but she’d always been up for having fun. Here at school, though, she was like a completely different person. Brynn had barely even seen her smile.
Candace needs to have some fun so she can relax, Brynn thought. And Drew is fun.
It was the perfect plan!
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: I got it!
I got the part! I’m Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors! I’m so excited! And not only that, in addition to my flourishing acting career, I’ve also taken up a little matchmaking on the side. Pretty exciting stuff. I guess you could say things are looking up! Phew…I feel so much better.
Just wanted to share. Talk soon—
XO-Brynn
I wish it was August again, Candace thought on Saturday afternoon. Then I could be lying by the lake or hiking in the woods instead of doing stupid math homework.
She stared down at her notebook. The quadratic equation. Twenty problems, all to be solved using the quadratic equation. Candace sighed. This was supposed to be easy. She just had to plug the numbers into the equation and solve it, the same way every time. But somehow it didn’t work out. No matter what she did, something always went wrong.
Max would have no trouble with this, she thought, frustrated. He’d have solved every problem on this page and be on to his science homework by now.
It just wasn’t fair. How come her brother was so good at math when she was so bad? Shouldn’t there be a family math gene or something? He’d never gotten anything less than an A in math. She should be the same way.
“How’s it coming, sweetie?” her mother asked, leaning in the doorway of Candace’s room.
“Great!” Candace chirped, pasting a big smile on her face. “I’m almost done.”
Her mom smiled back. “That’s wonderful, Candace. I’m so glad math is easier for you this year.”
Candace felt a pang of guilt as her mother left. She hated lying to her parents. But she hated disappointing them even more. They were used to having kids who got good grades. She simply had to find a way to deliver.
But the numbers in her notebook seemed to swim in front of her eyes when she looked back down. Her mom had interrupted her in the middle of a problem, and now Candace couldn’t even remember what she had been doing.
“This is hopeless,” she sighed. She glanced at the clock on her desk. It was almost five o’clock. Her party started at seven thirty. She still had to shower, find a really cool outfit to wear, pick out CDs to play, and get all the snacks and sodas ready.
I might as well start getting ready now, Candace thought. I’m obviously not going to get my math done before the party.
She closed her notebook and trudged toward the bathroom to take a shower. It would be nice if she could look forward to her own party, but she knew it was just going to be a bunch of people talking about schoolwork.
Candace felt her stomach twist into knots just thinking about it.
Was she ever going to have fun again?
“Harvard. That’s really the only choice,” Joshua said three hours later. “It’s the best college in the country. Why wouldn’t you want to go to the best?”
“It’s not the best school for engineering,” Rowan argued. “You could go to MIT or…”
Candace glanced away, checking the front door to see if there were any new arrivals at the party. She really didn’t want to be part of this conversation. She’d expected her friends to talk a lot about school, but she hadn’t been expecting them to start talking about college! It was hard enough trying to survive eighth grade.
“What about you, Candace?” Rowan was saying.
“What about me?” Candace asked. She hadn’t been paying attention. Could they tell?
“What subject are you going to concentrate in once we get to high school?” Samantha asked.
“Concentrate?” Candace repeated.
“Weren’t you even listening?” Samantha teased. “Rowan read an article that said that colleges want to see a clear major in your academic record from high school. That way they know you’re a committed student.”
“Oh. Um…I don’t know yet,” Candace admitted. “Do we really have to decide so soon?” The very idea of it made her anxious. She obviously couldn’t concentrate in math. English was her best subject. But did she really want to make it the most important thing in her life for the next five years?
“No, I think it’s stupid,” Joshua said. “My older sister never concentrated in anything and she got into Yale. I bet that article was wrong. I bet as long as you have As in all your classes, the colleges don’t care what you concentrate in.”
Candace glanced over at the door again—and saw her mom greeting Brynn. She knew she should go over and say hi, too. But now that Brynn was here, it felt kind of weird that Candace had invited her. Brynn just didn’t fit in with the rest of the people at the party.
“Excuse me,” she told her friends. Then she headed for the door. Brynn had somebody with her, a guy from school. Candace had seen him around, but she didn
’t know him.
“Hi! Thanks for coming,” she said to them.
“Hi, Candace. Thanks for inviting me.” Brynn gave her a warm smile. “Do you know my friend Drew?” She gestured to the boy, who was running his hand through his thick dark hair.
“Not really.” She held out her hand. “Hi. I’ve seen you at school.”
“You have?” He turned red. “I mean, yeah, I’ve seen you, too.” He shook her hand. “I’m Drew. But Brynn just said that. So you already know it. I’m Drew.”
Candace glanced at Brynn. Was this guy being funny or weird? She wasn’t sure. Brynn was laughing, though, so he must be being funny. Candace smiled. “You’re Drew,” she repeated.
“Yeah.”
“Drew is in Drama League with me,” Brynn told her. “He’s going to be the star of Little Shop of Horrors.”
“Great,” Candace said. Not that anyone at the party would think so.
“I’m not the only star. Brynn is also a star,” Drew replied. “And really, the big star is the plant.”
“The plant?” Candace asked.
“Yeah. It’s a giant man-eating plant. So, you know, it’s much more interesting than I am.” He ran his hand through his hair again.
“A man-eating plant?” Candace said, frowning. “Is there such a thing?”
Drew’s eyes widened. “I hope not. I get freaked out just watering my mother’s regular old spider plants. I don’t even want to think about a plant that might look at me and wonder if I’d go well on a sandwich with some mayonnaise.”
Candace laughed, a real laugh that relaxed every muscle in her body. “Spider plants aren’t spiders, you know.”
“But they look like spiders. Hence the freaking out,” Drew replied. “I hate spiders.”
“Candace and I once battled a one-inch-long spider in our cabin at camp,” Brynn said. “Remember that thing?”
“Ugh, yes,” Candace said. “It was this big brown one with a yellow dot on its back, and it kept looking at me—”
Freaky Tuesday #17 Page 7
