Promises, Promises

by Annie Bryant

  “Things getting a little rough between you and your pal?” Her father looked at her sympathetically.

  Katani almost felt like crying and sharing the whole horrible election mess with her dad. But she didn’t have time, and it was way too complicated anyway.

  “It’s fine, Dad. Really, it’s fine,” she said as she jumped out of the car.

  “Thanks for the ride,” Katani said as she pulled her wheelie bag from her father’s van and slammed the door. She really didn’t want her dad to think she was upset. She had taken the remaining foam boards home last night and finished them. She’d talked her dad into dropping her off at school today on his way to work. Of course, her grandmother would have brought her early to school, but that would have upset Kelley’s routine. Just a few minutes early or late could throw her into a tailspin that could last the rest of the week.

  Poor Kelley, Katani sympathized. It must be hard sometimes to be so different. She wondered if Kelley dreamt about what she wanted to be when she grew up. She would have to ask Kelley about that sometime.

  Katani hurried to put her poncho and books in her locker so she could start hanging the posters. At home, she had tested hanging the foam board with masking tape. It hadn’t worked too well. So, she convinced her father to get duct tape. The rolled loop of duct tape was strong enough to hold the posters and would come right off when they were finished. She could even save it to use another time. “Whoever invented duct tape,” Katani marveled, “was a certified genius.”

  Katani congratulated herself on choosing foam boards and on Isabel’s innovative idea to use collage. The boards were a little heavier, but they looked very sharp! It was worth the extra expense. By making lots of small ones that fit beside the classroom doors and hung at eye-level, she had increased her exposure. Her posters would really stand out.

  Katani had only five more signs to hang up by the time her grandmother and Kelley came down the hall.

  “My goodness,” Mrs. Fields said. “You certainly have made a bright impression on the hall. What slogans did you come up with?”

  Katani read off the first, “Feather the budget.”

  “I’M KELLEY SUMMERS AND I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE!” Kelley shouted.

  Mrs. Fields smiled at her granddaughter. “I do as well.”

  As Katani read off the remaining slogans, Kelley shouted the tagline she had picked up from the many political commercials on TV.

  Each time she said it, Katani felt like cracking up.

  “It’s a good effort,” Mrs. Fields said. “I wish you luck with your campaign.”

  As Kelley walked with her grandmother toward her locker she pointed at every poster she saw hanging on the wall. When it was a Katani poster, she would say the now all-too-familiar line. When it was any other poster, Kelley would say, “I’m Kelley Summers and I DON’T approve THIS message.”

  Katani smiled. There were times when having Kelley around made her feel so good. But then Katani realized that if the hall had been filled with her classmates instead of empty as it was now, Kelley’s shouts of approval and disapproval might make her feel embarrassed. If only everyone could see Kelley as she did!

  After Katani hung the last poster, she walked back down the hall and scrutinized each one to make sure it was hanging straight and there were no hot glue stringies hanging around.

  Katani glanced up to see one of Avery’s posters hanging overhead. This one read, “Avery the GREEN candidate,” which was funny since it was in big, orange letters. What a drippy mess! She wouldn’t be surprised to find Avery totally covered in orange paint today. In spite of her sense of competition, Katani giggled. Avery’s artistic talents, or the lack of them, were really something else. Her posters looked like a third grader did them. And the really funny thing, thought Katani, was that Avery probably didn’t even care. Suddenly, she missed her spunky friend.

  However, Katani was still a little annoyed with Isabel for rushing to Avery’s rescue when she had promised to help her! And then, she’d taken off to help Betsy count her posters as soon as they were finished cleaning up. What was that about? Like Betsy, the most organized person in the world, who wasn’t running against anyone, needed help?

  Katani caught sight of another of Avery’s posters hanging above the lockers and rolled her eyes…it looked so sloppy!

  Katani saw one of Betsy’s glossy posters and remembered how upset she’d been when she burst into the art studio yesterday. Betsy’d had her posters professionally printed. She didn’t blame Betsy for being upset. Katani would be really angry if any of her posters were missing. However, it wasn’t as if Betsy had put all the time and effort that Katani and Isabel had put into the foam boards.

  When she reached the end of the hall, Katani was surprised but thankful that Henry Yurt had taken down his vile green banner that hung between the seventh-grade hall and the eighth-grade hall. The hall looked much better without it. Still, it was strange. Why would he take his banner down weeks before the election? Katani wondered.

  “Hey, Katani,” Maeve said, coming up behind her. “Your posters are fabulous! The colors! The sequins! The feathers! It’s so…fabulous!”

  “Isabel helped,” Katani said wanting to share the credit. She really wouldn’t have been able to do them without Isabel’s help.

  “Wow! You two are so creative! I’ve never seen campaign posters quite like those! Such style! So sophisticated! The colors are simply smashing,” Maeve gushed enthusiastically just as Avery walked up behind her.

  “Yeah, that’s why people vote for candidates. It’s because of the colors they choose for their campaign posters,” Avery said, rolling her eyes.

  “That’s funny from someone who calls herself the ‘green’ candidate,” Katani said.

  “In this case, green is an issue, not a color,” Avery retorted. Katani rolled her eyes, but inside she admired Avery’s quick-witted comment. Avery really was a natural politician. The thought that maybe Avery could win this election suddenly made Katani nervous.

  “Speaking of green…,” Maeve said, pointing up. “What happened to Henry’s banner?”

  Katani shrugged. “Guess he took it down.”

  “That’s funny…I saw it when I left last night, and I haven’t seen him yet this morning,” Avery said.

  “Did you hear that someone stole Betsy’s posters yesterday?” Katani asked Maeve. “The three that were right here between the seventh-grade hall and the eighth-grade hall.”

  “No, really…what happened to Yurt’s banner?” Avery asked. “It was hanging here at the beginning of the hall right where your posters are now, Katani.”

  “Yeah, Avery’s right,” Maeve said. “I kinda miss it.”

  Kids were milling around, disappointed that the banner wasn’t there, which Katani totally didn’t get!

  “How could anyone miss that toxic green monstrosity? It was so tacky!” she said.

  “It was gone when you hung your posters up?” Avery asked.

  “How could I put my posters up if the banner was there?” Katani asked.

  “I’m just asking!” Avery said.

  “Asking or accusing?” Katani wanted to know.

  “Lighten up, Katani. I never said you took the banner down,” Avery said, exasperated with her sensitive friend. “But it’s gone, and your posters are there. It’s a little mysterious…”

  Henry Yurt came rushing down the hall at that moment—a vision in a purple bow tie and red suspenders. He’d been wearing bow ties and suspenders every day since he announced that he was running for class president. Katani wondered if he planned to wear bow ties and suspenders every day if he were elected. If he did, Katani was convinced this was yet another good reason for her classmates NOT to vote for Henry and to vote for her instead! Really, who wanted a president that acted like a cartoon character?

  “Hey, Henry,” said Maeve.

  “Good morning, worthy opponents and lovely ladies,” Henry said, flashing a big politician grin at the girls.
r />   “What’s with the bow ties and suspenders, Henry?” asked Avery.

  “It’s my campaign uniform,” said Henry. “I was inspired by Harry S. Truman, thirty-third president of the United States. He’s my Grandpa Bob’s favorite president. He said Harry Truman was honest and fair. He liked to wear bow ties, and he was little, just like me!”

  “What do you think about his Cold War policies?” asked Betsy.

  Henry kept talking as if Betsy didn’t say anything.

  “Grandpa Bob was in the Navy in World War II. That’s when Truman became president…”

  All of a sudden, Henry Yurt stopped talking. He had finally noticed that his green banner was gone.

  He stood there for a moment with his mouth open, but nothing came out. Katani thought that maybe this was the first time she’d ever seen Henry Yurt without a smile on his face. Finally he managed to stammer, “Wh-where’s my banner?”

  Betsy put her hand on her hip. “Missing! Just like three of my posters,” she said.

  “Someone STOLE my banner?” Henry asked.

  “AND my three posters,” Betsy added.

  A woeful look passed over Henry’s face. He swallowed hard and then tried to smile. “Hmm! I didn’t realize how popular I am. I guess my campaign materials have already become collectors’ items,” he said.

  Always trying to make everything into a joke, Katani thought. But she didn’t laugh. No one else did either.

  No one said anything else about Katani’s posters hanging where Henry’s banner used to be. Avery sure made it seem like she was the one who took the banner down. Well, maybe Avery would be willing to touch Henry Yurt’s toxic green monstrosity, but Katani wouldn’t sink that low.

  The lunchroom was buzzing when Katani arrived at the BSG table. Somehow between homeroom and lunch, a few more posters went missing.

  “Did you hear?” Maeve asked. “More posters are gone. I think this is getting creepy. Maybe we’ve got a serial poster thief around here.”

  “Two more of Henry’s and one of Dillon’s,” Charlotte said.

  “Who could be doing it? Who’s wandering around the halls during class time?” Isabel asked.

  “Not that many people have passes during class,” Katani said.

  “Only the kids that go to Speech,” Charlotte said.

  Speech! Katani hadn’t thought of that. Charlotte was right. And now that she thought of it, Katani realized that the speech classroom was right where the seventh-grade hall stopped and the eighth-grade hall began. Right where the first posters disappeared. Katani only knew one person who took speech…every day. Every morning.

  Before she could think about this any more, Anna and Joline drifted up to the BSG table.

  “So…this candidate business is getting kinda nasty, huh? Really dog-eat-dog.” Anna smirked at this comment and looked knowingly to Joline. “How fitting.”

  Joline giggled at Anna’s joke. They shared meaningful looks.

  “How tragic that candidates have to stoop to stealing other candidates’ posters in order to get ahead,” Anna continued. “Personally, I can’t understand that kind of behavior,” she added for good measure.

  Katani looked around the table. Isabel looked down at her salad. Charlotte seemed totally interested in her tuna fish sandwich. Maeve glared at Anna, and Avery kept on eating as if nothing was happening.

  Katani was about to open her mouth, because wasn’t it just a couple of weeks ago that Anna and Joline pulled a fast one at the Abigail Adams Talent Show and stuck the dancing hippo tape in the Hip Hop Honeys’ act? They almost ruined the show with that one. She couldn’t believe how hypocritical they were. But Isabel spoke first.

  “You think one of the candidates is doing this?” Isabel asked. “What makes you think that?”

  “To get the advantage, of course,” Anna said.

  “But who would do that?” Isabel asked.

  “Well, I’ve noticed that neither of you has lost any posters yet,” Anna said, looking at Avery and Katani.

  “I just got mine up today,” Avery said, before she tossed a handful of sunflower kernels into her mouth.

  “So you think by taking other people’s posters down, you’ll get equal time?” Anna asked Avery.

  “I didn’t say anything about taking any posters down. I just said I put posters up!” Avery said.

  “Banners then?” Anna asked.

  “That’s more your style, Anna!” Avery quipped as she slurped down the rest of her milk.

  Anna turned then to look at Katani and raised an eyebrow. Joline, chief assistant to Anna, mimicked her leader’s moves. All except the eyebrow raise. Neither said anything, but Katani knew what they were insinuating.

  Katani was furious. How dare Anna and Joline hint that she would be so devious as to take other posters down! “We’re not interested in any of your warped theories, Anna.”

  “It’s not a theory, Katani. Posters ARE missing. Every presidential candidate has posters missing—except for two.”

  Then she turned on her heel and left, Joline following after her.

  “You know, if somebody ever ran a ‘mean girl of the month’ contest, I would nominate those two. They are so annoying,” Maeve whispered loudly after the Queens of Mean.

  Katani felt like she had been punched in the stomach. She hadn’t taken any posters down, but what if someone else she knew had? What if someone who wanted her to be president, who didn’t “approve of” some of the other candidates and who had speech class every day, every morning…What if THAT someone had taken the posters down?

  A Dose of Pink

  After school and before her hip hop class, Maeve headed for Razzberry Pink’s shop, Think Pink!, on Harvard Street. She needed a good dose of pink today. Something to lift her spirits. The atmosphere had been downright tense in the lunchroom today. Maeve wasn’t sure which was worse, Anna and Joline—the Queens of Mean—hinting that Avery or Katani had been snatching rival campaign posters off the walls, OR the intensely competitive energy that filled the room every time Avery and Katani were together. It was horrible! Maeve knew a quick side trip to Think Pink! would make her feel so much better.

  Charlotte had run into Ms. Pink in the park a few weeks before when Marty instantly fell in love with Razzberry’s pink poodle, La Fanny. That was when the group found out about Think Pink! And it had quickly become one of Maeve’s favorite shops.

  Maeve pushed through the door and took a big breath. How was it that it even smelled pink? What was that scent? Strawberry or cotton candy? Whatever it was, it smelled delicious!

  The walls were painted with broad vertical stripes of every shade of pink imaginable. There were pale pinks, deep pinks, and neon bright pinks. Along the edges of the wall, strings of pink lights lit up the room. There were pink flamingo lights and pink globe lights. Overhead, a dazzling array of pink umbrellas pointed down from the ceiling. In the center of the room hung an impressive pink chandelier.

  And that was just the décor. Think Pink! was crammed with all kinds of delightful, interesting, and desirable merchandise that was all pink, of course! There were pink notebooks, pink pens, and an assortment of pink stationery and note cards. There were bins of pink candies and shelves filled with pink jams, jellies, and sauces. Pink candles. Pink glassware. Pink fashion accessories—purses, hats, earrings, scarves, and necklaces. Ms. Pink even had a bookshelf with titles of books that all included the word pink. Titles like: Murder of the Pink Elephant and Priscilla and the Pink Planet. Naturally, the covers of the books came in a wide variety of pink shades. It might have been too much, but Ms. Pink had placed beautiful green palm trees throughout the store. The effect was one of a lovely pink forest.

  Maeve took in another deep breath and smiled. She thought perhaps this was a store decorated and stocked just for her. Of course, it would be a problem for anyone who didn’t like pink…someone like Avery, for example.

  “How are we today?” asked Ms. Magenta, the salesgirl. “May I help you find so
mething to put you in the pink?” All of Think Pink!’s staff wore outrageous pink outfits and had the store name printed on their name tags.

  Maeve wanted to find out how old you had to be to work at Think Pink! As soon as she could, she was applying for a job. She’d already picked out her Think Pink! name—Ms. Blushing Rose. She smiled at Ms. Magenta as if she were Blushing Rose and already worked here. “I’ve come to visit that feather boa again! I’m saving up for it. One of these days, it’s going to be mine.”

  “Go ahead and try it on again,” Ms. Magenta said. She took the boa from the shoulders of the one mannequin in the store and draped it over Maeve’s shoulders.

  Made from a combination of dark pink feathers interspersed with silver tinsel, Maeve thought this feather boa was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. She ran her hands down the length of the boa, then tossed one of the long ends over her shoulder.

  “Breathtaking,” Ms. Magenta said, clapping her hands together.

  When Maeve put on the feather boa, she felt so special—like she was an Academy Award winner or something. If Maeve were running for class president, she would be known as the pink candidate! She would wear this boa in the hall every day to remind everyone to think pink and act pink. She took a practice stroll down the middle aisle of the store as if it were the red carpet at some movie premiere. When she turned to walk back, she saw a flyer on the checkout counter.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “Oh, the contest. Ms. Pink just announced it,” Ms. Magenta said. “Take a flyer.”

  “‘My Pet Looks Perfect in Pink,’” Maeve read. “What a great idea! I can just see how cute Marty would be in pink!”

  “It’s for a wonderful cause, too. All the entry fees benefit the local shelter. You know how fond Ms. Pink is of animals,” Ms. Magenta added.

  “I love a good cause,” Maeve said, twirling one final time with the boa.

  “Well, be sure to tell your friends.”