by Annie Bryant
“I brought pink ginger ale to celebrate,” she said, and carefully poured it into five plastic glasses.
“I’d like to make a toast,” Maeve announced with a flair that only she could get away with. “To Marty—otherwise known as Klondike Pink.”
The five clinked their plastic cups together. “To Klondike Pink,” they said in unison.
Avery giggled because the ginger ale tickled her nose.
“Klondike Pink?” she asked when she recovered from her giggle fit.
“Marty’s Think Pink! costume,” Charlotte explained.
“You didn’t make him look ridiculous—you know, like a girl, did you?”
“There’s nothing wrong with looking like a girl,” Katani told Avery.
“There is if you’re a guy!” Avery replied.
“That’s right! You two never saw the photo. Hang on!” Charlotte said. She ran to her room and returned with a photo.
“Aww!” Katani crooned. “Marty, you’re such a cute little boy.”
“Let me see,” Avery said, tugging at the picture.
“Awesome!” she said when she spied the snowboard. “Where’d you get the mini-snowboard?”
“It’s poster board,” Maeve said.
“Really? From this angle, it really looks like a puppy-sized snowboard. So, did he win?”
“Well, yes and no.”
“Huh?” Katani said.
“Well, I thought it was a contest, but it turns out it was just ‘an invitation’ for Think Pink! customers to be creative.”
“What’s up with that?” Avery asked. “What exactly does that mean?”
“All that work for nothing?” Isabel asked.
“Well, not exactly nothing,” Maeve said. “Everyone who submitted a photo got this!” Maeve showed them the gift certificate. “And Marty’s picture is blown up and in the center of the Think Pink! window. And he helped raise $10 for the Pet Shelter.”
“Cool,” Avery said, clapping.
Charlotte added, “We should walk down and see it tomorrow.”
“The money goes to the BSG…unless you want to buy something pink for Marty with it.”
“NO!” Avery said.
“Snacks? Décor for the Tower?” Maeve suggested.
“I think the money should go to Maeve to replace the slippers she sacrificed,” Isabel said.
“Here, here,” Avery called out, taking the certificate from Maeve and holding it in the air for all to see. “The motion on the floor is to let Maeve have the twenty dollars to reimburse her for the loss of her pink slippers. All in favor say ‘aye.’”
“Aye!” the entire group said loud and strong.
“Motion carries,” Avery said.
“Thanks,” Maeve said. “But if you don’t mind, I had my eye on a boa.”
“Constrictor?” Avery asked.
“Eewww,” Isabel said with a full-body shudder.
“No, Avery—a feather boa,” Maeve said. “A pink one.”
This time, it was Avery who shuddered. “I’d rather have a boa constrictor,” she said.
“Now that THAT’s out of the way…,” Katani said. “I have news, too. Avery, this is for you.” Katani handed Avery a business envelope.
“What’s this?”
“Open it and find out,” Katani said.
Avery ripped open the envelope, quickly scanned the letter inside, and jumped to the bottom of the sheet to see who it was from. “Haley Yurt! Haley Yurt was the Red Pen?! What? How!” Avery sputtered.
“HALEY Yurt!” the other BSG exclaimed.
“I can’t believe it,” Maeve gasped.
“Poor Henry,” said Charlotte.
“Poor Haley,” Isabel said quietly.
Isabel, Charlotte, and Maeve chorused, “Poor Haley.”
“Well…she must be pretty mad inside to do something like that. What if no one ever talks to her again?” Isabel asked.
The girls were silent.
Then Katani took a breath and started in with the story. “My grandmother somehow found out—she wouldn’t tell me how—that Haley Yurt was behind all the election nastiness. Haley’d made a big stink about the eighth-grade elections, saying they were stupid and just a big popularity contest. So when her little brother Henry decided to run…I don’t know, I guess she just snapped or something,” Katani said.
“I really thought it was those two Queens of Mean—Anna and Joline!” Avery said.
“Me, too,” Maeve said.
Charlotte nodded. She had been so convinced that Anna and Joline had something to do with the zingers in the hall that she actually felt a little guilty knowing it was Haley.
“Anyway, my grandmother made Haley write a letter of apology to every candidate,” Katani said.
“Is that all?” Avery asked indignantly.
“No,” Katani said in hushed tones. “She was suspended for two weeks.”
The BSG gasped. They had never known anyone who was suspended before.
Charlotte was relieved that it wasn’t anyone she knew very well. She was even glad that it wasn’t Anna and Joline. It was hard enough to be around girls like that every day without adding one more reason to distrust them. Everywhere she had lived there had been girls like Anna and Joline. Girls who thought they were better than everyone else and weren’t happy until they made everyone else feel small and unworthy. Charlotte was glad she didn’t have to face girls like that alone. She was glad she had the BSG.
“I have a surprise,” Charlotte announced. “I had tea with Miss Pierce the other day and she told me an old Chinese proverb: ‘At home one relies on parents; away from home one relies on friends.’ I’m so glad I have all of you to rely on. And so you never forget, I made bracelets to remind you who you can depend on.”
Charlotte took the five bracelets out of a bag and passed them out. The beads were on a coil of wire that circled the wrist four times. She made a different color for each girl: yellow for Katani, pink for Maeve, green for Isabel, blue for Avery, and purple for herself. Interspersed between the beads and spaced so they could easily be read in the correct order were the words “BSG Forever” written on shrink plastic.
Delighted, her friends murmured their thanks. Maeve gave Charlotte a huge hug.
“And now…for the big news of the evening,” Charlotte said. “Remember how I said that Isabel needed her own equal space, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it? Well, Isabel did! Wait till you see this!”
The group rushed up the ladder steps to the Tower.
“Wait for me at the top of the ladder. No turning on the lights until we’re all up there!” Charlotte told them.
Charlotte was the last up. There was a quiet energy in the Tower. Charlotte fumbled along the wall feeling for the light switch. When she threw it, there was a collective gasp from the group.
Over the center of the room hung a hoop about the size of a hula-hoop. Hanging from the hoop was fabric, the most beautiful shade of blue—dark and deep, but still true blue. “Corners, everyone,” Charlotte said. Everyone went to her different corner of the tower, while Isabel disappeared inside the ring of fabric.
“Pull the cords now,” Charlotte said. Each girl pulled the cord that was hanging in her corner, and the ends of the fabric that were really triangular pieces opened like five petals on a flower when they were pulled up to the corner of the room.
“Wow!”
“Awesome! It’s like a BSG flower,” marveled Katani.
Maeve threw her arms in the air dramatically and sang out, “It’s BSG Flower Power.”
“Look at this!” Avery called rushing to the center where Isabel stood. Avery pushed aside a beanbag chair to look at the brightly painted compass rose on the floor. Each direction had one of the girls’ names written on it.
“You painted on the floor? Miss Pierce is going to flip out!” Avery said.
“No,” Isabel said, reaching down and raising an edge. “Look, everyone…it’s painted on canvas and cut out and shellacke
d. It’s really just a floor cover, even though it does look like it’s painted on the floor. I can move this wherever we want and that will be my space.”
“Isabel,” said Katani in a burst of awed enthusiasm, “you are just so…so…artistic.”
Isabel bowed and with a flourish directed each girl to her petal.
Each girl sat down where her name was painted and looked up. Above them, inside the hoop, Charlotte had used a rope of lights to write Isabel’s name, just like she had written their names on their windows.
From the hoop hung three of Isabel’s papier-mâché birds.
“Inspirations for your cartoons?” Maeve asked.
Isabel nodded.
Their eyes were all drawn to the petals or wings of fabric that stretched from the center hoop to the corners of the Tower. On the inside of the fabric, Charlotte and Isabel had painted stars with metallic silver paint.
“Wow! Our own stars show no matter what the weather!” Avery said.
“It’s Persius,” Isabel said. “The constellation known as the Seven Sisters—the brightest constellation in the sky. Charlotte helped me paint it on this afternoon.”
“The Seven Sisters?” Katani asked.
“Yes. Seven stars that travel the sky together,” Charlotte said.
“Just like the five of us!” Maeve said.
“…and two more stars—Ruby and Sapphire—the original Beacon Street Girls,” Charlotte said.
“…moving through the universe together…,” Katani said.
“…forever and always…,” Isabel promised.
“Woof,” Marty barked, as if adding the exclamation point.
Charlotte’s Journal
We made a friendship promise tonight. Isabel said that the BSG would be friends “forever and always.” I hope that is a promise we can keep, no matter where we go or what other friends we meet. But one thing is for certain—some promises are really, really hard to keep. So, I guess you better make sure that when you promise something, you keep to your word. Otherwise, the word promise won’t mean much. And I don’t think I want my life to be full of empty promises. The other day, I read this anonymous quote in a magazine…“Say what you mean—mean what you say.” I’m going to add it to my quote wall because I think it’s a really great motto. And no one knows who wrote it…I think that makes it even more special. It’s a reminder to all of us—no matter if we’re famous, or just a regular person—to keep the promises we make.
To be continued…
Promises, Promises
BOOK EXTRAS
Book Club Buzz
Charlotte’s Word Nerd Dictionary
Trivialicious Trivia
5 QUESTIONS FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS TO CHAT ABOUT
Do you think that Avery and Katani made the right decision to run against each other for class president?
What were some of things that caused the competition between the BSG to get out of hand?
If you were running for class president…what important school issues would be part of your campaign?
Why was Isabel so worried about her cartoons for The Sentinel?
What are the qualities of a good leader?
Charlotte Ramsey
Charlotte’s Word Nerd Dictionary
BSG Words
Fantabulous: adjective–so fantastic…so fabulous.
Chillaxing: verb–chilling out and relaxing–a cool combo.
Kludgy: adjective–awkward.
Zinger: noun–a sticky note that has a nasty message written on it.
French Words & Phrases
Croquettes: noun–ground up pieces of meat breaded and fried into yummy cakes…like French chicken fingers.
Comment ça va?:–How’s it going?
Garçons: noun–waiters, boys.
Café au lait: noun–coffee with hot milk.
Quel problem!: –What a problem!
Affreux: adjective–awful.
Voilà: exclamation–like Ta-dah!
Bisous: noun–kisses.
Chérie: noun–my dear.
Papier-mâché: noun–glued together pieces of paper that can be molded and dried into cool shapes.
Other Cool Words…
Ferocity: noun–a fierce, strong, and rough way of handling something.
Paparazzi: noun–photographers from magazines and newspapers who follow famous people around relentlessly.
Mayhem: noun–total craziness and confusion!
Optimistic: adjective–always seeing the good side of a situation.
Obsessive: adjective–being really concerned that things should be a certain way.
Mandatory: adjective–someone makes a rule so that something has to happen–no matter what.
Gimmicky: adjective–getting other people to believe you by having a slick phrase or plan.
Tagline: noun–a short phrase that companies or organizations use so that people will remember their message.
Hodgepodge: noun–mixed up and jumbled together.
Recluse: noun–someone who lives alone and keeps away from other people.
Bodice: noun–the top part of a dress.
Enthralled: verb–being full of enchantment about something or someone.
Q&A: nouns–question and answer.
Contentious: adjective–characterized by arguments and disagreements.
Dastardly: adjective–really mean; planned by someone who is too scared to confront other people.
Diatribe: noun–a long explanation or speech.
Impromptu: adjective–something happening without being planned.
Promises, Promises trivialicious trivia
What part of Maeve’s wardrobe becomes Marty’s Perfect Pink Costume? A. Her favorite pink T-shirt
B. Her pink fuzzy slippers
C. Her pink nightshirt
D. Her pink polka dot socks
What class office does Betsy Fitzgerald run for? A. President
B. Secretary
C. Vice President
D. Treasurer
Avery LOVES which kind of pizza? A. Mushroom
B. Hawaiian
C. Spinach
D. Extra Cheese
What is Henry’s catchy campaign slogan? A. Yurtmeister for President
B. Yurt Alert
C. Yurt for Prez
D. Vote Yurt
Whom does Katani suspect is responsible for the missing campaign posters? A. Avery
B. Henry
C. Ms. Rodriguez
D. Kelley
ANSWERS: 1. B. Her pink fuzzy slippers 2. D. Treasurer 3. C. Spinach 4. B. Yurt Alert 5. D. Kelley
