Promises, Promises

by Annie Bryant

  The candidates had gathered ahead of time to draw numbers to decide the speaking order. Katani had hoped for the last spot, but she got third. Avery had won the last spot. She acted as if she’d just stopped a corner kick to win the World Cup. She threw her arms up in the air and cheered.

  At least I don’t have to go first! Katani thought.

  Henry was first, followed by Dillon, then Katani, and then Avery. Katani wished that the two of them weren’t right after one another. It felt too close. What if one of their speeches was noticeably better than the other’s? How bad would Avery feel? What if Avery got more cheers than she did? This election was really getting on her nerves.

  Katani brightened when she thought about what she was wearing for today’s big event. She had needed an outfit that looked good on her tall frame and also made her look a little more mature. Last night she’d spent an hour going through her closet, trying on this and that. She almost wore her yellow chiffon shirt, but she thought the ruffled cuffs might be distracting. She’d finally settled on black pants, a white shirt, and her short-waisted, red jacket. She looked like a president in that outfit, and the red, Isabel told her, projected confidence.

  Henry got up when Ms. Rodriguez introduced him and walked up the three steps to the platform. Henry obviously thought bow ties were what politicians wore. Katani still thought it looked more like what a clown would wear. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he wore a carnation that squirted water. “Good afternoon, ladies and germs…,” Henry started.

  Katani rolled her eyes. That might be a great way to start a humorous speech, but Katani didn’t think it was appropriate for a presidential campaign. As Henry went on, Katani tuned him out, going over her own speech in her head. She’d written the key lines on cards and had memorized the rest.

  “Eye contact. Remember to use eye contact,” her sister Patrice had told her as she was practicing last night. Usually, Katani thought Patrice was the bossiest sister on the planet, but she had actually been very nice last night and had helped Katani practice. Kelley did her best to help, too. Each time Katani finished her speech, Kelley clapped loudly and shouted out, “I’m Kelley Summers and I approve this message!”

  Katani and Patrice busted out laughing every time Kelley announced her approval. It was funny last night, but Katani was happy this was a seventh-grade ONLY assembly. If Kelley shouted out her approval at the end of her speech today, Katani was positive she would absolutely wither and die!

  She was going over the first half of the speech in her head when she was jerked back into present time by lots of laughter and clapping. Henry was finished with his speech. He held up two fingers for victory as he walked across the stage. He motioned to the crowd at the top of the stairs, pointing first to his neon sticker and then putting his hand to his ear. The crowd responded, screaming out, “Smile! It’s a Yurt Alert!” Henry applauded and thanked the group as he trotted down the stage steps.

  Katani clapped politely. Okay, she thought. She had to give Henry credit, he was certainly entertaining, but she was also sure no one took the Yurtmeister seriously.

  Ms. Rodriguez announced the next speaker. Dillon Johnson stood and walked confidently up the steps and across the stage to the podium. Pete Wexler and a few others started chanting, “Vote for Dillon. One in a Million! Vote for Dillon. One in a Million!” At least Dillon looked like a presidential candidate in his khakis and long-sleeved blue shirt.

  When Dillon started talking, Katani went over the last half of her speech in her head. She couldn’t wait to see Charlotte’s face. Last night when she was practicing, she had decided the end of the speech was a little flat. At the last minute, she had changed the ending. She was sure that Charlotte would love it as much as she did. Suddenly, the student body burst into applause. Pete Wexler started chanting, “Vote for Dillon! One in a million!”

  Ms. Rodriguez let them go on for a minute before she hushed them.

  “Katani Summers.” Katani heard Ms. Rodriguez announce her name, but she was so nervous, she really didn’t hear anything else. Had anyone clapped for her? She couldn’t be sure. She took a deep breath, threw back her shoulders, raised her chin, and plastered a huge smile on her face even though she didn’t quite feel like smiling at that moment.

  She seemed to float up the stairs. She didn’t remember walking across the stage, but suddenly she was at the podium, looking out on the sea of students in the auditorium. The first words of her speech flew out of her head. Then…blankness. Fortunately, she remembered Maeve always said to breathe when you are nervous. So, she took a deep breath and looked down at her cards. The first words that Charlotte had helped her write jumpstarted her brain. Once she began the first few words, the other words followed just as they had planned. All those hours of practice had paid off! She tried to remember Patrice’s suggestion of scanning the room by looking right and then middle and then left.

  She was into it. It was happening. Before she knew it, it was time for the big finish!

  “But enough talk. As Abigail Adams said, ‘We have too many high sounding words and too few actions that correspond with them.’ Vote for me and you can count on action. Thank you!”

  Katani couldn’t help looking at Charlotte, who looked pleasantly surprised. She was sitting directly behind Avery. Avery’s mouth had dropped open, and she looked like one of those fish at Wulf’s Fish Market.

  As Katani finished, the students clapped. She couldn’t tell how the crowd’s response compared to how they applauded for Dillon and Henry, but it was clear who was NOT applauding…Avery Madden. Instead she was glaring at Katani in fury as she came down the steps from the stage. Dillon and Henry were at least making a polite attempt to clap. What was with Avery? Even if she didn’t like Katani’s speech, couldn’t she at least be polite and clap anyway? Well, Katani would show some manners. Even if Avery wouldn’t clap for her she would applaud for Avery.

  Scramble

  Avery listened to the end of Katani’s speech in total disbelief. She looked at the neatly typed speech in front of her. That was how she had planned to end her speech…using the same quote from Abigail Adams. Charlotte and Katani…two of her best friends…had betrayed her.

  “Avery?” Ms. Rodriguez said from the podium. The students were clapping. She’d already been introduced and here she was in a fog trying to figure out what to do next. Avery rolled up her speech and trotted up the steps.

  She’d read her carefully written-out speech over and over and over again last night. It took exactly four minutes and thirty-five seconds for her to read. As Avery stared out at the crowd, she was stumped, totally stumped. How would she end? She had been so excited about going last. Not now. Now, she wished she had gone before Katani. But she couldn’t think about that. She had to start her speech.

  She had been nervous while she was listening to the first three presidential candidates and had rolled and unrolled her speech as she waited for her turn. She tried to smooth it out as she stood at the podium, but was having a hard time keeping the ends from rolling up. Her palms started to sweat, and they felt gooey. Focus, she told herself. Focus.

  She flattened her paper and started reading her speech. By the second paragraph, she’d settled in…focusing in on the words in front of her rather than the crowd beyond the podium. It was only when she got to the end and the words about Abigail Adams slipped out and she stopped. She looked out, and there in the second row behind her empty chair was Charlotte, looking horrified. Charlotte looked much worse than she felt. Then there was Katani, who had a scowl on her face. What was she so mad about? She was the one who had stolen Avery’s idea!

  Avery had already said half of the quote, so she figured she might as well finish it. She paused. She couldn’t just end like that. Avery had no idea what to say next. So she just opened her mouth and said the first thing that came out.

  “I mean, Katani is right,” she said, and immediately cringed. What was she saying? She shouldn’t mention Katani in her speech! How wo
uld that sound? Like she thought Katani should be president?

  “I mean, about this…it’s one of the few things I could agree with…” No! She didn’t want to slam Katani either, at least not in front of the whole class! Avery hated trash talkers, even if they deserved it.

  “What I mean is…” Avery paused and looked around. “I mean, there are two girls running for office. Wouldn’t Abigail Adams be proud…and…uh, she wouldn’t even imagine that we could play sports, too.” Avery wished she could sink right through the podium floor. What did sports have to do with anything?

  She unrolled the speech, looking for the words to end her speech. Not finding any, she rolled it up again as she watched kids squirm in their seats, uncomfortable for her. Oh, this was bad, Avery thought. Very bad. Her mind was blank. She went with what was in her hands. She picked up the rolled speech and held it up to her eye. “I’m looking…”

  What am I doing? she thought breathlessly. “What am I doing?” she asked out loud. “I’m looking for leadership in the seventh-grade class,” she said in a rush as she put down her rolled-up speech.

  She paused. What was she going to say next? She had no idea. Besides, she wanted to be the leader of the seventh-grade class.

  “But I can’t find it out there…do you know why?”

  She was scrambling now…looking for anything that would make sense and sound like a logical ending to this botched speech.

  “Because the only leader for the seventh-grade class is right here standing behind this podium and looking out at you. I’m the best leader for the seventh-grade class.”

  Avery didn’t wait for applause. She bolted for the stairs, taking them two at a time and popped back in her seat.

  Sparse applause started after she hit the seat. Avery crossed her arms in front of her and wished that she could die.

  “Let’s give a hand to all the candidates,” Ms. Rodriguez said.

  She invited them all back on the stage, starting with the two candidates for class secretary, then Betsy, the lone treasurer candidate, then the vice-presidential candidates, and one by one the candidates for president, starting with Henry, then Dillon and Katani and finally Avery. Avery was almost expecting kids to boo her for the strange ending to her speech, but they cheered. It occurred to Avery that maybe it wasn’t as bad as she thought. Maybe, somehow what had seemed a hodgepodge had actually worked. She wondered, was that actually possible? A tiny seed of hope started to grow.

  Avery smiled and waved at the crowd as she went down the stairs. She posed at the end and scanned the crowd with her makeshift spyglass. The crowd cheered. Avery filed out of the auditorium behind all the other candidates. It was over. OVER! And she had somehow survived.

  “Good job, everyone. One week down, and two weeks to go,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “I’ll see you all again right before the debates.”

  As soon as Ms. Rodriguez left the candidates, Katani turned to Avery. “I can’t believe you did that!”

  “Can’t believe that I did what?”

  “Stole the end of my speech!”

  “Me! You’re the one who stole the end of my speech!”

  “Charlotte!” they both shouted when they saw her approaching.

  “How could you do that?” Katani asked.

  “Do what?”

  “Give us both the same ending to our speeches,” Avery said.

  “Wait a minute. That’s not fair. I didn’t suggest that ending to either of you.” Charlotte turned to Isabel. “It’s a quote I put up on the wall of the Tower. I didn’t know either one of you would see it or use it.”

  “Great minds think alike,” Isabel said.

  Katani scowled. “I’m nothing like this immature goof-ball,” she said angrily, moving away from Avery.

  Not one to back down, Avery took two steps toward Katani. “And I’m nothing like this superior snob.”

  The two stormed off in opposite directions, leaving Isabel, Charlotte, and Maeve wondering if the BSG would survive the seventh-grade class election.

  Part Two

  Miles to Go

  CHAPTER 12

  The Endless Weekend

  Charlotte, I’m sorry that I can’t take you to the football game Friday. My students would camp outside my office en masse if I didn’t get them their papers by Monday,” Mr. Ramsey explained.

  As a result, it had been a long, lonely weekend for Charlotte. Her father, who taught English and creative writing at Boston University, had been buried beneath a stack of papers he was grading for mid-terms.

  So Charlotte had spent the night writing in her journal, playing with Marty and Happy Lucky Thingy, and catching up on assignments. She hadn’t been able to reach any of the other BSG, but hadn’t really felt like going out anyway.

  Charlotte’s Journal

  I wonder if real politicians get as angry at each other as Katani and Avery. It seems like they have both lost sight of their friendship and only care about winning. I mean, we all like to win, but I don’t think I would want to lose a good friend over something like this. It’s all so confusing. How do you compete over something and still stay friends? I certainly don’t have the answer!

  All day Sunday, Charlotte had traipsed up and down the stairs of the stately Victorian house on Corey Hill, in hopes of finding the sliding panel door to Miss Pierce’s apartment ajar. She was hoping that the two of them could have a cup of tea and chat about Miss Pierce’s research on comets for NASA’s Deep Impact mission. But it was tightly closed, and Charlotte couldn’t drum up the nerve to knock.

  Charlotte hadn’t heard a sound from Miss Pierce’s apartment all day. It was almost as if she had gone out, but Charlotte didn’t think that could be true. Miss Pierce hardly ever went out. She was what her dad called a recluse.

  Charlotte loved the way the word “recluse” sounded. She’d added it to her Word Nerd list. It meant “somebody who lives alone and deliberately keeps away from other people.” It made her think of a lighthouse on a lonely cliff—far, far from any human. It was a lovely image, but to imagine someone being a recluse in the middle of the city was kind of sad.

  Miss Pierce and Mrs. Fields, Katani’s grandmother, had been the original Beacon Street Girls—Sapphire and Ruby. Charlotte thought it was so great that the two friends had used the Tower for a clubhouse, and created the original BSG OATH of LOYALTY.

  It was just too bad that Miss Pierce had withdrawn from the world. Being a little shy herself, Charlotte knew how hard it was for shy people to reach out. But she never wanted to hide away like Miss Pierce. There were too many adventures to be had, she reasoned.

  Although, after what had happened at the speeches on Friday, Charlotte felt like she might want to be a recluse, too. The idea of closing herself away in her room with her two constant best friends—books and stars—sounded heavenly. It was certainly less complicated than having two friends running for class president.

  But after one weekend of being a recluse, Charlotte had had enough. She was ready to be with people again. Especially the BSG. Charlotte felt just horrible about the whole speech fiasco. She’d been thrilled when Katani ended her speech with the Abigail Adams quote. But when Avery followed with the same quote, Charlotte was mortified!

  And she was so hurt when they both blamed her! She hadn’t known that they were both using the quote. She’d only been trying to help!

  Without anyone else to turn to, Charlotte sat down at her computer to send an e-mail to her friend Sophie in Paris. If only she could shrink down and electronically follow her e-mail across the Atlantic Ocean to France.

  To: Sophie

  From: Charlotte

  Subject: Class Election

  Bonjour sophie—

  I miss you. Comment ça va? how is paris? Have u been to deux garçons? I want so much to have a café au lait and walk along the Seine. Lots going on here. We are having class elections. Katani and Avery are both running for president. It is hard to support either of them without making the other angry. Quel pr
oblem! I will only be able to vote for one. How can I choose between friends? To make it worse, I helped both of them write their speeches. Somehow, they ended up with the same ending. It was affreux! I was as embarrassed as they were. It was almost as bad that time I walked into the boys’ bathroom! Even though I didn’t give either of them the ending, they both blamed me. Wish I could run away to Paris! Miss you so much. Au revoir, BFFAE love, charlotte.

  A Stitch in Time…

  Katani carefully pinned the empire bodice to the sleek A-line skirt. If she finished stitching the major pieces together tonight, that meant she would have a week to do all the handwork—hemming, tacking, sewing on the hook and eye, and voilà…she’d be finished!

  She had set up her sewing corner as soon as she had come home from school on Friday. She kept her sewing materials tucked out of sight behind a folding screen. She loved the piles of neatly folded fabric and the containers of thread and sewing notions stacked and organized on the shelves above her sewing table. She’d spent most of the weekend designing, snipping fabric, and piecing together a dress for the upcoming dance. It was so much fun! She couldn’t wait until she was a grownup fashion designer.

  Unable to find the perfect pattern, Katani bought two—one with the neckline that she wanted, and another with the A-line skirt that she wanted. She’d had a few frustrating moments when she tried to meld the two patterns together. Thankfully Grandma Ruby had been there. Between the two of them they had figured out how to make it work. Katani glanced at the sketch she had made of the completed outfit. The dress was stylish enough for the dance, and yet when she added the burgundy jacket she’d made last month, it would be dignified enough for making her acceptance speech.