The Pages Between Us

by Lindsey Leavitt

  Note passing. It’s been done that way for centuries, and it was the primary form of communication during the Renaissance period. That’s Shakespeare . . . Romeo and Juliet, all that. It’s more romantic, don’t you think?

  So I went through our notes on that letter to Jackson and made a revised-revised-revised version. And it’s not really so much “revised” as “brand-new.”

  J~

  Let me know if you ever need help with math class. I totally know my positive and negative integers. It’s kind of my thing.

  And I had NO IDEA you were in LEGO Club, too! Hope you liked what I made. I’m thinking of adding a new wing to the house. Wanna help? You could come over tonight!

  I like you. (heart drawing)

  (a cute one, not a textbook one)

  Olivia

  So bold, right?! I think I’ll give it to him just before the club ends. That way he can think about it overnight. No sense in pressuring him to answer me right then and there. Hopefully he’ll tell me if he likes me too, and I can always play it cool if he doesn’t like me, like “Oh, I didn’t mean I LIKE like you.” So there is still an out. And the J is the right mix of casual and friendly, don’t you think?

  You know what? Forget about me saying I’m not ready for this. I have a feeling that today is going to be the day that everything changes, Piper! I’ll make new friends at LEGO Club . . . you’ll find all the guests you need for your party . . . Jackson will admit he likes me more than a friend . . . I’ll create a LEGO house that blows everyone’s mind. . . .

  Sigh. (The happy kind.)

  I take back all my worries above. Because right now, at this moment? I am loving my life.

  I’ll meet you this afternoon outside the door for LEGO Club. I’ll have my note to Jackson in hand.

  This is it, Piper. LET’S DO THIS.

  Hopefully yours,

  Olivia

  Grateful:

  1. Cool-looking bruises

  2. Gummy Bear vitamins (the red ones are good too, actually)

  3. You—dear Piper—for being the one to walk into that club with me today and give me all the confidence I need

  4. My neighbor (that boy with an unusually high number of missing teeth) who let me borrow his LEGOs last night for practice

  5. Our heart-shaped rock at our sacred tide pool spot

  P.S. Just remember . . . me making new friends doesn’t mean they will come between us. We’re best friends forever. And that means FOREVER. We will sit on the same bench and feed seagulls when we are ninety-two. Cool?

  P.P.S. Jackson Whittaker . . . here we come.

  BETHANY’S BUSINESS

  HOME NEWS EVENTS ABOUT CONTACT

  Bethanites!

  It’s been an amazing week, right? Before I get to the good stuff, please keep me in your thoughts. I’ve lost my favorite paisley-print headband. It was last seen on the soccer field so PLEASE keep your eyes out for it.

  And now, moving on to my weekly installment . . .

  THE RUMOR-MILL ROUNDUP!

  I heard Mr. Marsdale—the math teacher—is now the proud owner of a Labrador puppy named Bones. Weird name, but keep complimenting him on those puppy pictures so he stays in a good mood.

  SOMEONE apparently wrote a poem on the boys’ bathroom wall making an attempt at rhyme. Nothing rhymes with SKATEBOARD, guys.

  I heard that NO ONE has joined the Yo-Yo Club and they’re going to replace it with a Minecraft gaming club. Have fun, Creepers!

  Speaking of clubs, there’s one last rumor running around out there that I just HAVE to share. Emmy Carter heard from her cousin who heard from her neighbor that there was this guy in LEGO Club who said there was a HUGE fight that broke out today. Emmy was screaming all this to me over the phone—something about the nurse being called in and two girls were fighting—I don’t know names—and then there was an explosion! Well, I’m not totally sure about that last part because my phone died and I had to fill in the blanks. But if you heard ANYTHING about what happened in LEGO Club, leave a comment! This type of thing is Bethany’s Business!

  Peace out, peeps!

  Bethany

  5 COMMENTS

  * * *

  QueenJenny21: OMG, I heard there were some broken bones. Or maybe it was broken LEGOs? And then a bucket of paint spilled and the LEGOs went flying everywhere. I am totally joining this club.

  DjTyler: Naw, y’all. You got it all wrong! This one chick was flirting with a dude and then another chick was all, “WHUT?” and then someone got a bloody nose. Just normal stuff. Calm down, peeps!

  GigiBarstow: Bethany, can you give me a shout-out?! I followed you, please follow me. You are super cool and awesome.

  MaggieZ: I wasn’t there, but I was next door practicing for Spelling Bee Club and the crashing sound was so loud that I actually put an extra h in the word “rhythmically.” TOTAL. DISASTER.

  Bethanyblogs: I still need more details! I’m dying to find out who got hurt! (And WHY, of course.) Get out there and find some answers, Bethanites!

  To: loveanddeceptionfan@gmail.com

  From: westonfamily706@yahoo.com

  Subject: OMG! Are you okay??

  * * *

  Piper,

  I’m so worried about you! All I remember was a big scuffle, some squeals, LEGOs flying in the air, and then Ms. Benson having to put a wet cloth on your nosebleed before she escorted you to the nurse’s office. Please tell me you’re not dead.

  If you’re not, then that’s great because I need you to fix my life—the one that just fell apart. I can’t believe that I went into LEGO Club this afternoon, simply trying to make a few friends and get a note to Jackson . . . but then I end up accidentally getting Jordan Goldberg—that guy with the plaid shirt and thick-rimmed glasses—to fall in love with me.

  My life is over.

  But really . . . are you okay? Please don’t be dead. I need you. But also, don’t be dead because you are awesome.

  —O

  To: westonfamily706@yahoo.com

  From: loveanddeceptionfan@gmail.com

  Subject: RE: OMG! Are you okay??

  * * *

  Liv,

  I am still alive, but only barely. I have never seen my parents get so red-faced before. They’ve never talked to me that long without stopping to get a sippy cup for the twins or run my older siblings to another activity. I finally had uninterrupted one-on-one time.

  And it was awful.

  DAD: I just don’t know what you were thinking, Piper.

  MOM: We were so excited that you suddenly had interest in new activities—

  DAD: And then come to find out that your real interest was vandalism!

  ME: Come on, I don’t know of many vandals who go to an Extreme LEGO Club. Don’t let the extreme part fool you, those guys are puny.

  MOM: And then to drive down to the school to find you—

  DAD: With a bloody nose! You still haven’t explained where you got the bloody nose.

  ME: It’s honestly not what you think. I was trying to help someone, I was being NICE.

  DAD: Who were you trying to help?

  ME: Tessa! From church. Her and Danny were LEGO partners, and then they got in an argument. I think it had something to do with the pink horse stable Tessa chose for them to build. I had to make a Winnebago with this kid named Gus. What kind of name is Gus?

  MOM: Piper.

  ME: So Danny asks if they can build a knight’s castle instead, and Tessa said she hates anything to do with battle because she’s a pacifist. Whatever that means. They went on like that for a while. Not that I was eavesdropping, because I was super into my Winnebago. Makes me sad I had anything to do with them going out. I should have known, because Georgina Davenport is this psychic on Love and Deception, and she would say that it’s a bad combo since Danny is a Capricorn, and I’m pretty sure Tessa is a Leo—

  DAD: Sweetie. Focus. Is this because you’re doing so many clubs? Is it too much too soon?

  ME: What?! I was having f
un until . . . the incident. All the clubs I’ve been doing are fun. Next week, in LARP we get to—

  MOM: What’s a LARP?

  ME: I told you. The role-playing club! You and Dad thought I was perfect for it. It even made the family white board! How can you not remember? (How could they not remember??) And anyway, it’s been good for me to get out and meet new people.

  DAD: We are happy that you’re meeting new people. But look what happened. Danny Moss’s parents are really upset.

  ME: That’s because Danny is a big fat liar! You haven’t even let me explain the nosebleed yet.

  MOM: Then explain.

  ME: Okay, so Danny and Tessa have their lovers’ quarrel. Then I ask them if they have any of those long green pieces for our Winnebago. You know, to distract them. Then Danny says, “Look, Piper, no offense, but I’m trying to talk to my girlfriend.”

  Then Tessa said, “I’m not your girlfriend anymore.”

  Then she threw a LEGO.

  “That’s real mature to throw a LEGO,” Danny said. Which I do agree with. LEGOs are painful weapons. So then Tessa started tearing apart their horse stable! It was bonkers. Then Danny tried to stop her and he knocked into me and I fell over. Then Tessa yelled, “Don’t push my friend!” So I, uh . . . kind of knocked into him and he fell into my Winnebago and my partner Gus started throwing LEGOs. Then EVERYONE was throwing LEGOs and I took a window right to the nose and . . . yeah. It was extreme. But not WAY extreme.

  DAD (sighs): We’re going to discuss punishment. For now, let’s take a little break from the clubs.

  ME: But I HAVE to do clubs. I’ve made, like, an oath!

  MOM (very quietly): Piper, you should not have shoved Danny. There has to be a consequence—maybe we should cancel this birthday party. If this is what happens around a room of LEGOs, then what’s going to happen with pottery and paint?

  ME: No! NO. Please, please don’t cancel the birthday. (I swear my soul jumped out of my body and curled up on the floor. That’s how sad I must have looked, because Mom said . . .)

  MOM: Well, maybe we’ll do your party somewhere else then.

  ME: But there has to be a party. I’ve already started writing out subplots! I’ll babysit the twins for the rest of my life, I promise. This whole thing is just a misunderstanding. Why won’t you guys just listen?

  MOM: Piper, we are listening. Your dad and I need to talk. For now, go to your room.

  ME (very dramatic exit with lots of stomping and slamming doors because I just got INJURED and it wasn’t my FAULT and my parents never have time to LISTEN to me and if they take away my birthday party now it will be the end of my LIFE.)

  Liv, I’m so sorry today didn’t go how we wanted it to. Stupid Tessa and stupid Danny and their stupid breakup! I can’t even think about my parents taking away my party. I would die. And who’s going to want to come now? Who is going to like me enough to celebrate my birthday when Danny hates me like he does? Even if I hate him back.

  Do I even need a soap opera-y birthday after all the DRAMA of today anyway?

  I won’t worry about it. I can’t fix it now. Deep breaths, that’s what you always say to do, right? So . . . tell me what was up with Jordan Goldberg? I think you’re right that he’s in LEGO love with you. I saw the way he looked at you—just after you gave him that note. Wait . . . why were you giving him a note? Weren’t you going to give a note to Jackson? I was pretty confused with the bloody nose so maybe I saw it all wrong.

  My nose really hurts, so I’m going to go lie down. You were right. LEGOs are cursed.

  UGH!

  P

  Grateful: absorbent tissues, that look on Danny’s face, how far you got on that project with Jordan (what was that thing?), Tessa calling me her “friend” when she started fighting with Danny, and lollipops (No reason. I just like lollipops.)

  To: loveanddeceptionfan@gmail.com

  From: westonfamily706@yahoo.com

  Subject: Breathe, breathe, breathe

  * * *

  Piper,

  Your parents are thinking about canceling the party? And no more clubs?! Take a deep breath. And another one.

  Use your calm, hypnotizing skills to change their mind. You can do this. You HAVE to—it’ll be the party of the year!

  Now. Let me just say this . . .

  Jordan Goldberg is a name that I do not want to ever hear again. Yes, there was a note-passing incident that occurred. And no, it wasn’t to Jackson as planned. This is what you would define as “a tragedy.”

  Here are the bullet points of my now-tragic life.

  • I was fully prepared to work on my two-story house alongside Jackson but Mr. Osaka put me over with Jordan Goldberg, despite all my throat-clearing and head-jerking motions toward Jackson, making it OBVIOUSLY clear that Jackson was my future husband and this would be a pivotal point in our relationship, but NOOOO, I had to sit across from Jordan who was already mid-project.

  • That project was not my choice.

  • That project was . . . the Death Star.

  • THE DEATH STAR, Piper.

  • It’s the most complicated LEGO project one can undertake; no cute little square house with adorable windows.

  • I couldn’t even figure out how to hold one of the spaceships right-side up so I got flustered and next thing you know my fist ended up smashing through the panel he’d just finished and HE SCREAMED LIKE HIS HOUSE WAS ON FIRE.

  • This explains why absolutely no one else around us would talk to me or even give me eye contact and all I could do was hope and pray that Jackson hadn’t heard all our commotion.

  • Apparently he didn’t hear it because he was too busy working on his farm scene with Dana Huffington.

  • I am not a fan of Dana Huffington.

  • But you knew this.

  • She does that thing where she laughs and then punctuates it with a double-snort, like she’s a cartoon character.

  • But back to my tragic life . . .

  • I figured that I had to make my move and give Jackson the note.

  • So when I saw Dana go get a drink of water, I got up, the note stashed in my front pocket, and approached Jackson.

  • When I was in front of him, I smiled, crinkled my nose all cute-like, then reached for the note in my pocket.

  • But it wasn’t in there. It was gone. The note had fallen out next to the Death Star! And guess where it was? In Jordan Goldberg’s hands.

  • He was reading it and smiling and his face looked flushed and OHNONONO he thinks I wrote the letter for HIM!!!

  • It hit me that I never actually wrote Jackson’s name on it. I wrote J to be all cool and casual. And, as you might have noticed, Jordan’s name ALSO starts with J. Why couldn’t I have had a crush on an Xavier?

  • All of a sudden he wouldn’t stop talking to me and shrugging and stuffing his hands in his pockets and then kicking at rocks when he walked me out of the building and then smiling from ear to ear as he opened the car door for me.

  • IT WAS A DISASTER.

  I don’t want to say it, but I have to. I think our lives are over. You got a bloody nose and your birthday might go back to frosted-fruitcake oblivion. I managed to get the wrong boy to fall in love with me and didn’t find a single friend.

  I’m starting to wonder if we’ll ever be normal. It could be that it’s just me and you and our dogs at the shelter. Maybe Blinkie and the twins when they are in the mood. You can knit and I can play chess. And that’s the best we can hope for in life.

  Your move, nerd.

  That’s not all that bad, is it?

  Don’t answer that. It’s bad, I know. I promise Trigger will not be the only guest at your party (other than me, but a BFF doesn’t really count as a guest, right? I’m like family—family who listens).

  Well, I hope not.

  Olivia

  Grateful (really? How can I be grateful at a time like this?? But I guess that’s the point.):

  1. I’m grateful that I didn’t ge
t a bloody nose too because I don’t think I can take one more After-School Club injury

  2. The color blue

  3. The color green (am I done yet? Two more . . .)

  4. The color turquoise (yes, that’s just blue and green)

  5. And every letter besides the letter J

  Chapter 15

  Olivia,

  Let me start off with goodish news so I can pull you from the depths of despair.

  I can still do some clubs! All is not lost! My mom was going through all my graded schoolwork and found the sheet from spelling club shoved in there.

  “You went to Spelling Club?” She might as well have asked if I flew to Mars, that’s how shocked her voice sounded.

  “Of course.”

  “Wow, you’re so talented with other things, honey. Like your movies and how you treat others. I didn’t know spelling was your thing, though.”

  I shrugged. It kind of stung that my mom said that. I don’t know why. “It’s not. Birthday parties are.”

  Mom set down my folder. “Your dad and I talked. We think we might have overreacted a little.”

  You’ll be so proud, Liv. I didn’t roll my eyes or snort. “Yeah?”

  “We talked to Danny’s parents again. It seems like it was a bit of a misunderstanding. Danny insisted it wasn’t your fault at all.”

  Right? Danny-rhymes-with-fanny defended me? Seriously? I mean, it wasn’t my fault. Clearly. But I was surprised that he would say anything positive. “So . . . I’m good? I can do clubs too?”

  “Well, there still needs to be some sort of punishment. . . .”

  “Clubs teach me new things,” I said. “I’m all about learning.”

  Maybe I went too far with the “all about” part, but Mom’s face got a little flushed, and she started humming. I think she’s excited that I’m choosing to sPEll for fUn. Although I hope she doesn’t think that I’m going to be good at spelling now.

  I wonder if she ever thinks about that anyway? Like if she worries about me not being in all this stuff like Talin or Luke, or is she relieved that I’m not in activities because I would be one more stop on her chauffeur list, and also she would lose me as a babysitter?