Picture Perfect #4: Between Us

by Cari Simmons

  “Thanks!” Bailey’s heart was beating a little faster than usual, and she hadn’t even left the house. So much for the relax part of her list. She checked her backpack to make double sure that the copies she’d made were in there. Yep.

  She stepped out into the sunlight. “You’re going as Chucky?” Gus called from his driveway. “I thought you were supposed to be part of a pair.”

  If he was too dumb to get who she was, Bailey wasn’t going to explain it to him. She hoped no one at school would think she was that doll from that horror movie Gus loved. The only thing that was even a little the same was the red hair.

  “Better be careful. I think Chucky went after his next-door neighbor first,” Bailey answered. She’d watched one of those movies with Gus once. Mainly because he had said she’d get too scared if she did. She hadn’t gotten scared at all.

  “No, he didn’t,” Gus told her. “First he went after the—”

  “Got to go to school. Unlike you, I don’t have a chauffeur.” Bailey turned and waved as she started across her lawn.

  “Did you see Hannah’s costume? It rocks,” Gus yelled after her.

  Bailey spun around and strode over to him. “You saw it?”

  “Yeah, I helped her and Tess with one little part,” he answered.

  He helped Hannah? “You said you didn’t have time to help me,” she accused.

  “That’s what you wanted the other day?” he said.

  “Yeah. And you said no.” How could he turn her down and not Hannah? Bailey had known him a million times longer.

  “We had some time when we were riding between the different dog washes,” Gus explained. “She told me what she was thinking, and it was pretty easy. I brought some stuff to the park on Sunday and worked it out between dogs.”

  “Well, thanks for nothing,” Bailey said, then started away again, not bothering to wave this time.

  “You’re welcome!” Gus shouted after her.

  He was such a pain. Hannah could have him.

  Bailey walked to school by herself. Hannah had texted that she was going over to Tess’s for a little while before school to finish up their costumes, and Olivia said part of her and Vivi’s costume was big, so her mom was driving them.

  She hesitated for a moment at the edge of the lawn in front of school. The judges for the costume contest were going to be stationed in the hallway between the principal’s office and the cafeteria. Everyone who was entering had to walk down that “runway” before homeroom. The winners would be posted on the bulletin board outside the caf by lunch.

  Would they even let her enter? Or would they tell her not to bother since she hadn’t followed the rules and didn’t have a partner?

  Partner or not, she had come as a pair. Bailey straightened her shoulders, walked straight to her locker, dumped her stuff, except for the copies she’d made, then walked directly to the end of the runway. There was already a line of kids stretching around the corner.

  “Bruce Banner! Hulk! Nice!” she exclaimed when she got in line behind two sixth-grade boys. Encouraging people in her grade was part of her MVP strategy. She would have said it anyway. It was a cool idea.

  “What about us?” Bailey heard Olivia call.

  Two girls dressed in all green inched out of the line ahead of her and slowly turned around. When they did, Bailey saw they were Oh and Vivi. They had their faces painted green too. Their heads poked through two holes cut in a large peapod, made out of what Bailey thought was plywood covered with some kind of shiny green cloth. Two stuffed pea heads were attached on either side of their faces. They were perfectly sewn, of course.

  “Peas in a pod!” Bailey cried. “Excellent! You look amazing!”

  “You look—”

  Olivia was interrupted by the sound of wheels on linoleum. Bailey turned around and saw Hannah and Tess roller-skating towards the line, hand in hand. Blinking lights flashed in their wheels, and on their jerseys, helmets, and knee pads. The lights had to be Gus’s contribution. He was good with electrical stuff.

  Tess’s jersey said THE PRIM REAPER and Hannah’s said THE GLITTERATOR. The names were spelled out in sequins and fake jewels. Hannah’s work, for sure. Bailey could hear kids repeating the names and laughing. She forced herself to clap. “Love the eye, Hannah!” she called. One of Hannah’s eyes had been covered in black makeup. “And the teeth, Tess!” Three of Tess’s teeth had been blacked out.

  She noticed the line moving forward, so she turned around and moved up too. Olivia and Vivi were just turning the corner to start down the runway. Three more teams, then it was Bailey’s turn.

  Confidence, attitude, face, posture, work it, relax. Confidence, attitude, face, posture, work it, relax. She silently chanted the words until she was up. Then she strode around the corner with what she hoped was a cocky smile on her face. Kids who weren’t competing or who had already finished lined both sides of the hall leading to the judges’ table.

  Bailey turned to the left and handed one of the flyers she’d made to the closest girl. “Fred Weasley. Co-proprietor, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. Come by the shop, love,” she said in her best British accent. She handed another girl one of the copies. Bailey had created an ad for a blowout sale at the fictional joke shop on the computer.

  She took a few steps, then turned to the right. She shook the hand of a boy who had to be in the eighth grade, because that was demonstrating attitude with a capital A. “George Weasley, mate. Come by the shop.” She handed him a flyer, and he grinned at her. Yes, grinned!

  She took a few more steps, then turned to the left again. “Fred Weasley, friends. Come to the shop. Why are you worrying about You-Know-Who? You should be worrying about U-No-Poo—the constipation sensation that’s gripping the nation?” she called, quoting the sign in front of the Weasleys’ shop. It had been in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

  She kept going, being the first part of her pair—Fred—whenever she was facing left, and the second part of her pair—George—when she was facing right. Her mom had given her the idea when she’d pretended she was talking to Bailey’s evil twin. Bailey had realized if she dressed as identical twins, she only needed one costume. And the Weasley twins didn’t even need sparkles. No glue necessary.

  Principal Lopez laughed when Bailey handed her a flyer. Bailey thought that was a good sign. At least she hadn’t gotten kicked out of the competition!

  Bailey edged closer to the scoreboard outside the cafeteria. Everyone was checking it out before they went in to lunch. She stood on her toes and was able to see who had won first place—a team of seventh graders.

  She spotted Penelope right at the front of the crowd. “Did sixth grade win anything, Pen?” she called.

  Penelope looked over her shoulder and gave Bailey a thumbs-up. “Your cousin and Tess came in second. That’s twenty-five points for our grade! And you! You got a special award—Most Original. That gives us ten more points. So we’re in second place.”

  “Woo!” Bailey cried. She’d contributed ten points by herself. She’d call that valuable!

  She gave out the last of her Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes flyers as she walked into the cafeteria for lunch. The tables had been rearranged, leaving a large empty space in the center of the room.

  She found Tess and Olivia and sat down. “Hi, there, Most Original,” Olivia said with a smile.

  Bailey smiled back. “And here’s to you, Miss Second Place.” She bowed toward Tess, then said, “I wonder what the first challenge will be.” Each lunch period during Spirit Week, there would be challenges where the grades could earn points. They weren’t announced in advance, so there was no way to prepare.

  “If it involves knocking somebody down, I’m ready,” Tess answered, slapping one of her knee pads.

  “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it,” Olivia teased. “And the next challenge will be who can stop a wound from spurting blood the fastest.”

  Bailey cracked up. It felt like it had been forever since she’d laughed with her
friends.

  Hannah rushed over to the table, Vivi right behind her. “I found out what the challenge is!” she exclaimed. “Josh, this seventh-grade boy who wants to be in my dog club, is on the student council, and he gave me a heads-up. Only a couple minutes heads-up, though. They’re going to announce it in a sec.”

  “Tell us, tell us,” Olivia begged.

  Hannah knew someone on the student council? Hannah hadn’t even been at the school that long! It wasn’t really fair. Although Bailey had only been in the school two weeks longer. But she’d lived in town her whole life. Hannah shouldn’t know people Bailey didn’t know.

  That was what you wanted to happen, that little voice, that truly annoying little voice, in Bailey’s head whispered. You wanted her to meet people. You wanted her to make friends. And now you’re mad because your plan worked!

  “You know that game Taboo? Where you have to get your partner to say a word without using a list of other words? Like if you got ‘blue’ as your word, you wouldn’t be able to say things like ‘water’ or ‘sky,’” Hannah said. “It’s going to be like that. We’re going to compete with our partners from the costume contest.”

  “I should win then,” Bailey joked. “Since my partner happens to share my brain.” Then it hit her. She wouldn’t be able to compete. Her two-in-one costume idea had worked great, but she couldn’t play the game by herself.

  “Oh no! You’re not going to be able to play!” Hannah cried.

  “It’s okay. Maybe I can be a timekeeper or something,” Bailey answered. That would be a good way to be valuable.

  Hannah gave a little frown. “When I was talking to Josh, it sounded like all that was already organized by the student council. They’re having teachers and administration do it.”

  Bailey nodded. “I’ll be your cheering section, then.” She had to try really hard to smile, but she did it.

  If Hannah hadn’t moved here, I would be Olivia’s partner, she couldn’t help thinking. Oh wouldn’t have teamed up with Vivi, because she wouldn’t have thought I was going to be partners with Hannah.

  And Bailey and Olivia would have triumphed at this challenge. They were BFFs. That meant they could pretty much read each other’s minds.

  CHAPTER 14

  HOW TO BE A GOOD LOSER

  1.Smile when someone else wins.

  2.Congratulate the winner—still smiling.

  3.Listen to the winner describe the feeling of winning—still smiling.

  4.It’s okay to have a tantrum—just not in public.

  5.It’s okay to cry—just not in public.

  “I need a ride to the drugstore,” Bailey called when she walked in her front door that afternoon.

  “Words like hello, hi, greetings,” her father said. The restaurant where he worked was closed on Mondays, so he was home.

  “Hello, hi, greetings,” Bailey obediently parroted. “Can you drive me to the drugstore, please, por favor?—” She tried to think of another way to say please, but couldn’t. “And I’m out,” she admitted.

  “‘Would you oblige me, favor me, accommodate me with a ride?’” her father suggested, going into crossword-puzzle mode.

  “So would you?” Bailey asked.

  “It would be my pleasure,” he answered. She trailed him when he went to get his car keys off the hook in the kitchen, then followed him out to the car, walking so close she stepped on the heel of one of his shoes.

  “A little impatient, are we?” he asked.

  “I guess. I just need some stuff for tomorrow’s costume competition,” Bailey told him.

  “Not a staple gun!” he said in mock horror before he got in the car.

  “No, the sixth graders have to dress like babies. The eighth graders have to dress like senior citizens, and the seventh graders are dressing like moms and dads,” she explained when she was settled in the seat next to him.

  “Poor seventh graders.” Her dad gave a fake shudder as he pulled out of the driveway.

  “Um, how do you feel about making a contribution to a sixth-grade victory?” Bailey asked when they pulled up in front of the drugstore a few minutes later.

  “How much are we talking?” he replied.

  “Enough for maybe twenty of those suckers shaped like pacifiers,” Bailey said. “We don’t get judged on costumes tomorrow, but we get points depending on how many people participate. I wanted to give suckers to people who don’t bother to dress up or who forget.”

  Her dad handed her a twenty. “You can buy however much school spirit this will give you.”

  “Thanks, blessings—” Bailey thought for a few seconds. “And I’m out again.”

  “One thanks is plenty,” her father said.

  Bailey almost skipped into the store. And she almost gave a cheer when she spotted the bag of brightly colored pacifier suckers. How valuable were they going to be tomorrow? Very, extremely, remarkably, exceedingly, greatly, and all the other ones she couldn’t think of right now!

  Bailey felt like she was walking through a bouncy house when she entered the school the next morning. She was so happy, she felt springy. She couldn’t wait to start giving out the pacifier suckers.

  “I have a surprise,” she announced to Olivia and Hannah. She opened her backpack and pulled out the bag of suckers. “These are for anyone who didn’t dress up. We’re going to rack up the participation points!”

  “Brilliant!” Olivia exclaimed. She tightened the ties of her baby bonnet. It kept slipping off her head.

  “I brought something too!” Hannah opened her backpack and pulled out a wide, shallow plastic box. She opened it so they could see that the inside was divided into little sections, and each section held pink beads, blue beads, or beads with letters on them. The beads without the letters had tiny rattles and diapers glued on them—more of Hannah’s DIY stuff, definitely. “They’re to make baby bracelets. I already made some for us, and Tess, and Vivi, and a few other people.” She handed one to Bailey and one to Olivia.

  “Oh, it’s so adorable,” Olivia crooned. She held out her wrist. “Tie it on me.” Hannah did.

  “They’re really cute,” Bailey said. Her voice came out sounding kind of flat. “What a great idea,” she added, because it really was. She held out her wrist so Hannah could tie on her bracelet; then she tied on Hannah’s for her.

  “I got the idea from you,” Hannah said.

  “Huh?” Bailey didn’t get it.

  “Not for the bracelets,” Hannah explained. “But to do something for people who didn’t dress up. Your mom told my mom about the suckers, so I decided to do something too!”

  Bailey couldn’t believe her mother had done that. Her suckers were a way for her to get chosen MVP. But now that Hannah had brought something for the class too, they weren’t special anymore.

  If she was truthful, Hannah’s bracelets were cooler than her suckers. Bailey knew for sure every girl was going to want one.

  “Between the two of you, we’re going to triumph.” Olivia gave a little clap. “We’ll have to get more participation points than the other grades.”

  Bailey managed to smile. That was the whole point. She’d wanted to help her class win. And at least her costume was better than Hannah’s—not that they were getting points for best costume today, only points for each person who dressed up. Hannah had on a pale blue T-shirt with a yellow ducky appliqued on it. Bailey had borrowed her mom’s baby-doll pajamas. They were too big, but she’d pinned the waist of the adorable little bloomers with the tiny ruffles on the legs, and it didn’t matter that the top was oversized.

  “Maddy!” Hannah called to one of her classmates. “You need to be wearing something baby for the competition.”

  “I know!” she answered. “I had dance last night, and my mom said it was too late to go find something after.”

  “Not a problem,” Hannah said. “I’ll make you a bracelet.”

  “Can you hold this?” Hannah held the plastic box out to Bailey without waiting for her to answ
er, then started picking the beads she needed to spell Maddy’s name. Bailey hadn’t even had the chance to offer a sucker.

  Ash wandered over. “I love those bracelets.” She fingered the one on Hannah’s wrist. “Will you make one for me?”

  “Sorry. Sixth graders only,” Hannah said with a smile.

  Ash gave an exaggerated pout, then smiled back. “We need some people like you in my grade.”

  “Hey, Brian! You need something baby. Take one of these.” Olivia waved a boy in their grade over. She took one of the pacifiers out of the bag and tossed it to him.

  “Nice.” He unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth as he wandered off.

  Bailey hadn’t been able to give it to him herself because she was holding Hannah’s stupid box. And Olivia hadn’t bothered to tell Brian that the sucker was from her. It wasn’t fair.

  Don’t be a baby, she told herself, as Penelope dragged a boy over and asked for bracelets for both of them.

  Bailey gave a fist pump when she checked out the scoreboard at lunch. The sixth grade had gotten fifty points because they’d had the most people participate in the costume contest. She knew that win was partly due to her. And Hannah.

  The important thing was that Bailey had helped. Yeah, it would be cool to be chosen MVP, and she still wanted that. But having the sixth grade win the whole Spirit Week competition—that would be awesome.

  “I found out what the contest is going to be today, thanks to my student council source,” Hannah said when Bailey joined her friends at their lunch table.

  “I love getting the inside scoop,” Olivia said. “You’re the man, Hannah.”

  “I’m so the man,” Hannah agreed with a laugh, something she never would have said when she first got to town. She really had gotten comfortable at the school and with Bailey’s friends.

  We’re only getting the info a few minutes early, Bailey thought. It’s not like she found out last night. She shoved the thought away. Things with Hannah were getting better. They really were. For starters, she no longer felt like she was hanging out with a demented parrot. Hannah didn’t just repeat Bailey’s opinions anymore. And she was making new friends, the way Bailey had hoped she would.