by Cari Simmons
They stopped, then looked to the left and then to the right. Penelope whispered something to Allison in alien gleeps and gloops. Penelope pretended to open a bag and take something out. She made a twisting motion. Then pulled her arm back. Bailey thought she’d just opened a door.
Penelope crept forward, pretended to reach for something, and put it in a bag. Allison tripped. Penelope gave a “kwerp!” of alarm, then a string of words that sounded like angry scolding.
Allison pressed her hands over her mouth, mumbling what sounded like an apology. Then she pretended to reach for something.
“Burglars!” someone cried out.
“You got it!” Allison answered. She and Penelope gave a bow.
“Great!” Ms. Hardy told them. “I liked how you gave your words emotion. Nice job. Who’s next?”
Bailey raised her hand. Hannah tried to pull it back down. “It’ll be better to get it over with,” Bailey whispered, and Hannah let go.
“Okay, let’s get the cousins up here,” Ms. Healy said.
The cousins. Bailey liked that. Her grandmother always told stories about all the things she and her cousins did together, but Bailey had never had a relative her age living nearby. Still, she wished Hannah had skipped signing up for drama, since she clearly hated it.
Bailey and Hannah walked to the front of the room. Bailey turned to Hannah and waited for her to begin. She didn’t say anything. Bailey waited a beat. Hannah still didn’t say anything.
“Ilp tor oop ab yanyan?” Bailey put her hand on Hannah’s arm and tried to look concerned. She could feel Hannah’s arm trembling.
Hannah gulped but managed to make a few beeps. Bailey launched into what she hoped would look like intricate directions, pointing here, pointing there, squeaking and hooting and honking out words.
Her cousin blinked at her. Bailey tried to make the same gestures and say the same words again, like she was repeating the directions.
Hannah made a few more soft beeps, her face blank, her hands twisted together in front of her. Bailey decided she had to end the scene before Hannah had a full-on panic attack. She tugged Hannah forward, explaining to her in alien speak that she was going to take her home.
“Who wants to take a guess about what was happening between our two aliens?” Ms. Healy asked.
There was a long, long silence.
“It’s a challenging exercise,” Ms. Healy said. “Why don’t you tell us?” She looked over at Bailey and Hannah.
“She was lost, and I was telling her how to get home,” Bailey explained.
“I can see that,” Penelope said. “That’s why you were doing all the pointing, and why she looked so upset.”
“Right,” Bailey answered.
“Good effort. Who’s next?” Ms. Healy asked.
“Thanks, Bailey,” Hannah whispered. “You saved me up there!”
Bailey smiled. “What are cousins for?” she answered.
CHAPTER 5
HOW TO HAVE AN AWESOME PARTY
1.Choose a theme.
2.Make a guest list.
3.Send invitations.
4.Plan food that matches theme.
5.Plan a few activities, but leave time in between.
6.Buy supplies a few days in advance (including cleaning supplies).
7.Clean.
8.Ask parents for permission (should probably be #1).
9.Decorate the day before.
10.Choose music.
11.Ask for help if you need it.
12.Make sure no one ends up standing alone by themselves (especially Hannah).
13.Make sure to say good-bye to people when they leave.
“How’d Hannah do in school today?” Bailey’s mom asked when the family sat down for dinner that night.
Before Bailey could answer, the kitchen door opened and Gus came barging in. “We’re having fish. And they still have their eyeballs in their heads. I need to eat here. It’s that or starve.” He flopped down in the empty chair at the table.
Bailey and Gus had worked out the perfect way of getting out of eating dinners they didn’t like, by going to each other’s houses anytime fish (Gus) or eggplant (Bailey) was being served.
“Well, we don’t want to be arrested for aiding in child famishment,” Bailey’s father answered. He stood up and got an extra plate and silverware. As soon as he set them down, Gus served himself a pile of spaghetti and two pieces of garlic bread. Bailey’s mom added some salad to his plate.
“So, Mom, Dad, I think I need to have a party,” Bailey announced.
“Need?” Her father raised an eyebrow, but he was smiling.
“Yes, need,” Bailey answered. “Mom, you were asking how Hannah did at school today.” She looked over at Gus. “Hannah, in case you forgot to listen when I talk, like you do half the time, is my cousin who just moved to town.”
“Hannah, yeah.” Gus used his fingers to pop a meatball into his mouth, then closed his eyes and gave a dreamy smile. He loved meatballs.
“Hannah honestly didn’t do that great today,” Bailey continued. “She practically had a panic attack in drama. She only took it because she wanted to be in the same class with me. I asked Tess, and Vivi, and Olivia how she was in the classes she was in with them, and they all said she seemed kind of nervous. She needs to get to know more people, so she’ll feel more at home. So . . . party!”
Her parents looked at each other. They could have whole conversations without even opening their mouths. “I think that’s a great idea,” her mom said. Her dad nodded. “When?”
“As soon as possible,” Bailey answered. “I’m thinking this Saturday. It doesn’t give people a lot of notice, but I can call everybody tonight, then start working on a theme.”
“While doing your homework,” her father said.
“Of course!” Bailey promised. “Gus, you have to come,” she ordered. “And you have to bring a couple boys from your school.”
“Boys?” her mom asked. “Since when do you have boys at your party?”
“I’m not in elementary school anymore,” Bailey answered. “Gus, you’ve got your assignment, right?”
“Drag boys to your party,” he answered.
“Invite,” Bailey corrected. “Invite boys to my incredible party for Hannah.”
“Thanks for all your help, Dad. It looks awesome, don’t you think?” Bailey asked on Saturday evening. The basement glowed with neon colors under the two black lights her father had put up. Bailey had used glow chalk and a stencil to draw designs on the cement floor, and she’d hung neon posters on the walls.
“Totally awesome, dudette,” her father answered in a voice he thought sounded like an LA surfer dude.
Bailey had thought about going with a simple “Welcome Hannah” theme for her party, but had decided on a glow party instead. It just sounded more fun, and it was easier to plan food and games around “glow” than “welcome.”
The doorbell rang. “Somebody’s here!”
“I hope so,” she heard her father say as she raced up the basement stairs. She was almost to the top when she remembered she’d forgotten to turn on the music. She spun around and almost slammed into her dad.
“See, I remembered I was banned from the basement as soon as anyone gets here—unless I hear things getting out of control,” he said.
“Good. Thanks. Will you go turn my iPod on? It’s already connected to the minispeaker. Please!” Bailey turned around again and hurried up the stairs. “Then come back up again,” she called over her shoulder.
She flung open the front door, expecting to see Olivia. She’d promised to come over a little early, so nobody would feel weird about being first. Instead, it was Hannah on the porch. “You’re here! Great!” Bailey exclaimed. The whole point of the party was Hannah!
Bailey had begged until her parents agreed to let her invite twenty people. Even though they hadn’t had much notice, almost everyone she’d invited had said yes. She’d phoned, texted, and made a personal visit to Gus
to remind him to bring himself and other boys. Tonight was going to be so fun.
“I thought I’d get here a little early in case you needed help,” Hannah said.
“Thanks. That’s great. I like to be extraprepared, and you can assist.” Bailey told her. “I think I have everything pretty much ready to go. In—” She checked her watch. “In ten minutes, it will be time to start bringing food down. You could help with that.”
“Sure,” Hannah answered. “Oh, look. I got new sneaks. Do you like them?”
“Absolutely,” Bailey answered, smiling when she saw they were the same as the sneakers she had on, but in a different color. Her cousin continued to be her style twin. Except Hannah always added a personal touch. Like with the sneakers, she’d added a curlicue of rhinestones on both toes. She was really creative.
“You might want to take them off before you go downstairs, if you want to keep them paint-free,” Bailey said. She’d told everyone to wear only clothes they didn’t mind getting paint on.
“Right.” Hannah slipped them off.
The doorbell rang. This time it was Olivia. “Oh, hi . . . both of you.” She was clearly surprised to see Hannah there early. “I thought my assignment was to be here before anyone else.” Her eyes flicked to Hannah, then back to Bailey.
“I wanted to be here if Bailey needed help,” Hannah answered. “You’ve got to be extraprepared for a party.”
“Exactly!” Bailey exclaimed. “See, Hannah knows.” Olivia had said she thought every second of the party didn’t need to be planned in advance, but Bailey liked planning, and clearly Hannah did too.
“She sounds exactly like you,” Olivia observed.
“I know!” Bailey wrapped an arm around Hannah, then checked her watch again. “It’s getting close to go time,” she announced. “Oh, you go down to the basement, okay? Get people started on their T-shirts when they come down.” Bailey had gotten big white T-shirts that everyone could paint in neon colors. It would look so cool under the black lights. And it was a great icebreaker activity.
“Got it. Do you want to come, Hannah?” Olivia asked.
“I’ll stay and help Bailey,” Hannah answered.
Olivia raised her eyebrows, and Bailey thought she gave Hannah a weird look.
“Okay, I’ll be getting the party started downstairs,” Olivia said with a grin, and Bailey decided she was wrong about the weirdness.
A second later, the doorbell rang again. “I’ll start bringing down the food,” Hannah said. She started to scurry towards the kitchen, but Bailey caught her by the arm.
“Stay with me. I want you to meet everyone,” Bailey said. She opened the door. Yes! It was Gus, and he had two friends with him. Boy-type friends. “Hannah, this is my next-door neighbor Gus.” She stared at Gus until he remembered he should introduce her and Hannah to his friends.
“This is Bryce.” He jerked his thumb towards a tall, dark-haired boy. “That’s Steven.” He jerked his thumb towards a freckled blond boy.
“I’m glad you could come,” Bailey told them. “Gus will take you downstairs. That’s where we’re having the party. My friend Olivia is already down there.” She got an idea just as they headed off.
“Wait, Gus.” He came back. “Will you bring food down? Hannah said she’d help.” She turned to Hannah. “Gus is more like an honorary brother than a neighbor, so I get to put him to work.”
Hannah gave him a shy smile. “I guess if you’re Bailey’s kind-of-brother, that means you’re my cousin too.”
“I guess so,” he told her. He smiled back. He was a good guy.
Bailey squinted at the clock. It was hard to see the numbers with the black light. Almost six. She opened her bag of supplies and pulled out the glow necklaces she’d strung together. She was going to stretch the illuminated rope across the room so they could play volleyball with glow-in-the-dark balloons.
She looked around for Olivia and grinned. Oh and a bunch of other girls were doing model struts up and down the basement, showing off the T-shirts they’d designed with the neon paint. They were all trying to outdo one another with snappy turns, extreme poses, and exaggerated pouts or haughty stares. A couple of the guys had even joined in, and everybody else was yelling encouragement to their favorites.
But where was Hannah? She wasn’t doing the model thing, and she wasn’t part of the group cheering them on. She wasn’t over by the snack table or the drinks. Bailey hoped she hadn’t slipped upstairs. Her cousin wasn’t very comfortable in crowds.
She should probably go check. Bailey took a few steps towards the stairs, then saw Hannah and Gus sitting on the bottom step, heads close together. Excellent. She’d hoped having them bring down the food together would help them get to know each other a little, and it had worked! Gus could be a pain, but he could also be a good friend. He always showed up when Bailey needed him. Like tonight. It would be great for Hannah to have him for a friend too. She turned around. “Hey, Olivia!” Bailey called. “Come help me hang this up.”
Olivia didn’t answer. She kept on working the catwalk. It was probably too noisy for her to hear Bailey.
“I got it!” Hannah rushed over.
“Thanks,” Bailey said.
“I want to use this to make a volleyball net.” She held up the linked necklaces. “I put hooks up yesterday. Can you do this side while I go attach the other one?”
“On it.”
As soon as they got the net in place, Bailey got a couple glow-in-the-dark balloons out of the laundry bag where she’d stashed them, then crossed over to the minispeaker and turned down the music a little. “Time for volleyball.” She batted one of the balloons into the air. “We’re playing hands-free. You can use your hands when you serve, but otherwise it’s just feet and head.”
“Who wants to be on Team Epic with me and Hannah?” Gus called as he headed over.
Bailey smiled at him. He was really coming through. She’d have to use her mom’s recipe to make him as many meatballs as he could eat. Although that could take days.
Olivia stepped next to Bailey. “Do you feel like you’re playing Simon Says? I mean Bailey Says?” Olivia said into Bailey’s ear.
“What do you mean?” Bailey asked, half her attention on the volleyball game.
“It feels like Hannah’s imitating you sometimes, what you wear, what you think is funny,” Olivia explained. “Who you’re friends with. Like tonight, she’s been hanging with Gus almost the whole time. Doesn’t it kind of bother you?”
“We just have the same kind of style,” Bailey protested. “And I wanted Gus to—” Out of the corner of her eye, Bailey saw a glowing orange balloon coming towards her. She automatically bounced it off her knee, joining in the game.
When they’d played three times, people started heading to the drink table. Bailey headed over too.
“Why’d Olivia have to leave early?” Vivi asked as Bailey did a check on how much ice was left.
“She didn’t. She’s around somewhere,” Bailey answered. Olivia had promised to get to the party early and stay until the very end.
“She left right when we were starting the volleyball game,” Vivi answered.
Bailey looked around, then scanned the room more carefully. Vivi was right. Olivia was gone.
CHAPTER 6
HOW TO HAVE A GREAT FRIENDSHIP
1.Do fun things together.
2.Pay attention to what’s going on in your friend’s life.
3.Stay in touch—even when you get busy.
4.If you’re upset with your friend, talk about it. (Talk, not yell!)
5.Be supportive when your friend is going through something hard.
6.Don’t keep secrets from your friend.
7.Let your friend know you appreciate them.
Wr o wr is Oh?
Bailey hit send. It was the fourth text she’d sent Olivia since the party ended last night. So far, Olivia hadn’t answered any of them. What was going on with her?
“What color should the
dragonfly be?” her grandfather asked her and Hannah. He was painting a mural on the wall of Hannah’s bedroom, with Hannah and Bailey’s help. Bailey had told him once that she’d love a mural of a meadow, and he’d promised he would paint one on all four walls, so she’d be surrounded by flowers every time she slept over, but he hadn’t gotten to it. Until now.
He’d offered to paint anything Hannah wanted, but when Hannah had heard Bailey had wanted a meadow, she said she couldn’t think of anything better than that.
“What color do you think, Bailey?” Hannah asked.
“Turquoise,” she answered. She hadn’t needed to think about it at all. She’d pictured the meadow a million times. “But you should have what you want, Hannah,” she added quickly, reminding herself that this wasn’t her room anymore.
“Perfect!” Hannah exclaimed. “Do you have any silver, Granddad?”
“Silver?” Bailey asked. She hadn’t imagined any silver in the mural.
“I, um, thought the veins of the dragonfly’s wings might look cool in silver, just thin lines,” Hannah explained.
“That would be beautiful,” Bailey answered truthfully.
“You have the eye of an artist,” Bailey’s grandfather—make that Bailey and Hannah’s grandfather—told Hannah. “Turquoise and silver it is,” he said. He opened a small can of turquoise paint.
Bailey felt a little pang when he began filling in the dragonfly he’d sketched on the wall. She carefully closed the can of fuchsia she’d been using to fill in a giant tulip. “I’m thirsty. I’m going to go get something to drink.”
“I’ll come too,” Hannah volunteered.
“That’s okay. I’ll bring something up for all of us,” Bailey answered.
She wanted a few minutes by herself. She was being silly about the mural. It was great that her grandfather was doing it for Hannah. Hannah needed something special. Yeah, Bailey had just thrown a party for her, but it was great her granddad was doing something to make her feel at home here too. Just the way her grandmother had. She’d taken Hannah out shopping for a new comforter and matching curtains.
