11 Birthdays

by Wendy Mass

  “I have an idea,” Leo says. I step away. Leo pulls on the drawer above mine and it slides out easily. Now we can easily reach behind the bottom one!

  “You can do the honors,” Leo says.

  I take a deep breath and stick my hand down there. At first all I feel is a thick layer of dust. Then my fingers land on something smooth. I feel around until I find edges that I can grab.

  “What is it? What is it?” Leo is bouncing around like a little kid.

  I brush off the dust and find myself holding a small black notepad.

  “Is it the founder’s journal?” he shouts, then covers his mouth with his hands.

  Able to read the words on the cover now, I slowly shake my head. “Even better, it’s your great-great-grandfather’s journal!”

  Chapter Twenty

  He gasps and reaches for it. I place it in his hands. “It must have been stuck back there all this time. I bet you jarred it loose when you opened the drawers.”

  I sit next to him as he rubs his fingers over the embossed letters. They’re very faded, but the words PROPERTY OF LEONARD FITZPATRICK are still legible.

  Suddenly there’s a banging on the front door. We jump up so fast I instantly get dizzy. The Girl Scouts have arrived for their tour. Guess they didn’t know the place was closed on Fridays, either! “Duck,” Leo says, pulling me down behind the desk. “I don’t think they saw us.”

  We stay crouched while the knocking continues. Then the phone rings. The answering machine clicks on and we hear, “Thank you for calling the Willow Falls Historical Society. We are closed every Friday until further notice. Please try us again at another date.” The Girl Scout troop leader leaves a not very nice message about how hard it is to coordinate such visits.

  The scouts finally leave. We get up and move over to the couch, which is well hidden from the front door. “Here goes,” Leo says, opening the small book. The ink is faded to a dull blue. I lean over and he moves the notebook between us. The first few pages are filled with rows of numbers. Then there’s a long list of items to get at the shop — tools, wood, milk. Leo flips through the rest until he finds a few pages filled with tiny block letters. He finds the beginning and reads out loud: “I do not scare easily. I did not act when the strange woman darkened my door with her threats of consequences if Rex Ellerby and I did not end our feud. He and I have never seen eye to eye and I did not imagine we ever would. This is not the place to list my grievances against the man. Suffice to say they are long and varied. It was Harvest Day and I had bigger things on my mind. I have started to record these words many times, only to have them disappear the next day. I have learned to keep them on my person. It is only that way they survive.”

  I gasp when Leo reads that part. “That’s like us! How we have to keep things on us when we sleep or else we lose them!”

  “Do you really think that’s what he means?”

  “I don’t know, keep reading!”

  He turns back to the book. “For endless days now, I have been harvesting my apples. Each time Harvest Day ends, it starts again.”

  “I knew it!” I shout, not caring who hears me. “I knew it!”

  Leo keeps reading, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. “It’s always the same. Josephine fixes my eggs, the buggies arrive with the baskets, the men line up in the fields. Why does no one else realize this is happening? It is enough to drive a man mad. And of all people, it seems Ellerby is involved in this thing, too! It took five days until we understood what happened to us. It was that strange old woman. She did this to us. Some kind of enchantment. We searched high and low. She has disappeared. Our mutual situation has forced us to mend our fences. We spent the day helping the townsfolk undo what our ridiculous feud did to the town. We undammed the river so others’ land will no longer suffer, told the local businesses we would no longer boycott their goods if they took apples from the other. One hour ago we shook hands like gentlemen and raised our glasses to a successful harvest. Josephine and Amanda were witnesses to it. Almost knocked ’em over, it did.”

  A new section starts on the next page. “It happened! It is now the day AFTER Harvest Day. Ellerby and I ran from our houses and embraced by the river. We jumped around like children while our wives and the townsfolk stared in amazement. We have agreed never to speak of this to anyone.”

  Leo flips the rest of the pages, but they’re blank. He lets the book fall closed on the floor. When he looks up, his eyes are bright. “Now we know why this happened to us!”

  “We do?”

  “Don’t you see? They ignored the old woman’s warning and kept fighting, then after the one-year-mark passed, they got stuck in the loop. You and me got into a fight last year on our birthday, so this year on our birthday the enchantment or whatever it was, kicked in. I guess ’cause we’re related to them?”

  I jump up, almost hitting my head on a low shelf. “You’re right!” Relief floods through me. The pieces of the puzzle are finally coming together.

  “Okay, so somehow we’re reliving the same thing our great-great-grandfathers did,” Leo says, starting to pace. “We know they eventually broke out of the loop. What we don’t know is how.”

  “Yes, we do.” I pick up the small book and wave it in the air. “Leonard told us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He wrote about how he and Rex made up, and then how they helped the townspeople and made everyone happy, right? So that’s what we have to do!”

  “But we made up a week ago,” he points out, “and it’s still happening. And I tried to fix things with Vinnie, but nothing changed. You tried to help your mother and she still got fired.”

  “That’s true,” I admit, my hope deflating.

  “Then again … you did help that kid with his science project, and your sister with hers, and those worked out, right?”

  I nod. “Yeah. Maybe some things you can change, and some you can’t.”

  “So tomorrow we help everyone we come across, whether we think we can make a difference or not.”

  “Deal.” We shake on it. “I have a really good feeling about this.”

  “Me too,” he says.

  Then the two of us look at each other, let out a whoop, and bounce around just like old Rex and Leonard did. We’re so busy high-fiving and whooping and jumping on the couches, we don’t hear the knock on the door until it turns into more of a pounding. We were supposed to meet Leo’s mom at the dress shop, but we must have lost track of time. We hurry over to the door and unlock it. She points to the sign.

  “How come it says closed on Fridays if you’re inside? And why was the door locked?”

  I have to catch my breath from all the jumping before coming up with an answer. “The lady who worked here? She had to um, step out, so she locked the door behind us so no one could come in.”

  Leo nods in agreement.

  “Oh,” his mom says. “Well, did you find what you were looking for?”

  “And more!” replies Leo. “I just need to put a book back.” While he re-hides the journal, I keep Mrs. Fitzpatrick occupied by showing her the stuffed raccoon, which grosses her out as much as it does me.

  As we walk to the car Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s eyes fill with tears. She looks from Leo to me and back again. Leo’s eyes narrow. “Mom,” he warns, “you’re not going to cry because Amanda and I are friends again, are you?”

  “I might,” she says, laying her hand on her chest. “It’s just so wonderful. Does your mother know yet, Amanda?”

  It honestly takes me a few seconds to remember if, in this version of our birthday, my mother knows or not. I shake my head. “Not yet.”

  “She will when I bring you home!” she says, linking her arm in mine.

  “She won’t be there. Big day at work.”

  “Oh.” She frowns. “Well, we’ll all get together tomorrow and talk about old times.”

  “Tomorrow, definitely!” I say as sincerely as I can muster. I have to kick Leo to keep him from laughing
.

  When we get to the car Leo starts to open the front door. “In the back, kiddo.”

  Leo groans and mutters, “It’s up to us to save the world from repeating the same day over and over, but we’re still not allowed to sit in the front seat.”

  “Is that what we’re doing?” I whisper as he slides in next to me. “Saving the world or saving ourselves?”

  “Maybe it’s the same thing,” he whispers back.

  I think about that while Mrs. Fitzpatrick rambles on and on about how we need to celebrate the renewal of our friendship. Could we actually be saving the world? I never thought turning eleven would bring such responsibility. I would have stayed ten!

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I turn off my alarm with a new sense of purpose. Today I must pay close attention to what’s going on around me. I don’t want to miss a single opportunity to help anyone. I grab an extra notebook from my desk and title the first page: THINGS I DID TODAY THAT HELPED PEOPLE. By first period, this is what my list looks like:

  1. Untwisted one of SpongeBob’s streamer arms. He looked uncomfortable. I’m sure he would have thanked me if he wasn’t. you know, a balloon.

  2. Brought Dad a goody bag full of sick-person stuff — tissues, lozenges, bags of tea, a Peanuts anthology (he loves Charlie Brown and I heard laughing when you’re sick helps you get better), and pink eye-shades. He was very grateful and said I was an excellent daughter.

  3. Exchanged posters between Mom and Kylie. Mom hugged me, and Kylie grunted. I’m pretty sure I heard a “thank you” embedded in the grunt. I told Mom that I hope her presentation goes well, but that she’s a great person and her job is not a measure of her worth. (I came up with that after looking online last night for “things to say when someone you love gets fired.”)

  4. When Ruby climbs on the bus I offer to help her with her large duffel. She does not accept my help.

  5. When Stephanie gets on the bus I offer to help her, too, and she says, “sure,” and then gives me a birthday hug.

  6. When I get to my locker I pick up the lollipop and ask everyone in the vicinity if it is theirs. Vinnie Prinz says it’s his! I give it to him and he says, “Sucka!” so I guess it really wasn’t his after all.

  7. When Suzanne Griggs announces she doesn’t have a pen for the test, both Leo and I jump up to give her one instead of letting Ms. Gottlieb do it, which is what has happened every other time.

  I’m about to stick the notebook back in my bag and start the quiz when Ms. Gottlieb appears at my side. She holds out her hand. “The rest of the class removed their belongings from their desk for the pop quiz when I asked. Yet still you scribble. What are you writing so intently, Miss Ellerby? Not planning on cheating on the quiz, are you?”

  “No, of course not,” I reply shakily. I’ve never been accused of cheating before.

  “I’ll be watching you,” she says. She walks away slowly, her eyes never leaving mine.

  “Yikes,” Leo mouths from across the room. I sink into my chair. Just to be on the safe side, I get a few answers wrong.

  Bee Boy is as happy today as yesterday when I give him the periodic table. Happier even, because this time I drew it in black pen. At lunch I make sure to do a better job of cutting the cupcake so it doesn’t crumble. A small thing, I know, but I’m not taking any chances. After the last bell rings I force myself to go to the gym and change back into my gym clothes. I know that if I made the team, it would be helping out Stephanie, so I have to do this for her. When I see Ruby in the locker room and she asks me in that snide way of hers if I’m excited about tryouts, I answer honestly that I’m not likely to make it, but that I’m sure she will. Instead of telling me about other girls freezing up like she did in the past, this time she actually gives me a small smile.

  As I’m standing up there with Stephanie cheering me on, I suddenly understand something. I can do a back handspring. And not only because I’ve practiced over the past few days. I probably could have done it the first time. I was just scared. But it would take a lot more to scare me now, after everything I’ve been through. So I swing my arms a few times to get momentum, and then fly backward, my hands landing perfectly behind me. Well, not perfectly, exactly, but at least they land and I don’t fall. Stephanie and some of the other girls clap for me, and I return to the bench with a spring in my step.

  “That was amazing!” Stephanie squeals, grabbing my arm. “I’ve never seen you do that before!”

  “Oh, I’ve been doing that for years,” I reply, laughing. Instead of running out to wait for her mom to pick us up, I sit with the other girls. Coach Lyons consults her clipboard for a few minutes while we grasp hands. Mena, Heather, Jess, and the other girls who are already on the team stand with her while she reads off the list of the girls who made it. Ruby’s name is called first, then two other girls who I don’t know very well, then the transfer student Jana Morling, then Stephanie, and then last of all, me! I made it! I’m kind of stunned. I used to love gymnastics. Maybe this will be a good thing? Stephanie’s really happy and on the way home her mom takes us all for ice cream.

  When I get home I tiptoe in so I don’t wake Dad on the couch. He’s wearing the pink eye-shades I gave him this morning. I carefully tuck his blanket around him. Instead of hiding up in my room, I finish setting up the basement for the party. If all goes according to plan, this will be the last time I have to do this.

  Instead of only eight kids, this time thirteen show up! All the other kids who made the gymnastics team are here! They came with Stephanie. Everyone’s having a good time dancing (I replaced Dad’s CD selection) when the phone rings. It’s too early for Mom to get her bad news, so I can’t imagine who it could be.

  “It’s Leo!” Mom says excitedly, shoving the phone at me. She motions for my dad to turn off the CD player. Everyone crowds around. Leo and I had kept our distance all day so as not to complicate things. Now I’m going to have to pretend this is our first conversation in a year.

  “Um, hello?” I say.

  “I’m not on speaker, am I?” Leo says quickly.

  “No, but everyone’s hanging on to my every word,” I warn. My friends grin and move even closer. I cup my hand over the phone. “So, um, what’s up?”

  “I think we better have our parties together,” he says. “The journal says they celebrated the harvest together. Maybe we have to do that, too, or it won’t work!”

  Loudly, I reply, “You say you’re really sorry for everything you said? You have a big present for me and want me to bring everyone over?” The crowd squeals in delight.

  On the other end of the phone Leo groans. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Just get everyone over here.”

  “Okay, I’ll try. Happy birthday to you, too!”

  “Oh, right, happy birthday.” He hangs up and I hand the phone back to Mom who looks like she’s going to burst.

  Everyone’s watching me expectantly. “Um, how would you all like to see a really great band?”

  It’s unanimous. Everyone wants to go. I suggest to Mom that she invite Mrs. Grayson, who is surprised but seems excited to come. Between the three cars we’re able to fit everyone.

  On the way there Stephanie keeps pestering me. “So exactly what did he say? Are you guys friends now?” I give her my standard reply, “I’ll tell you tomorrow.” Then I realize if this works, I’ll actually have to make good on that promise!

  “Nice shoes,” Leo says as soon as I step out of the car.

  “You haven’t spoken to me in a year, and that’s the first thing you say?”

  He looks around at the crowd surrounding us. “Um, sorry, I mean, hey, great costume!”

  I look past him and can’t stifle my gasp. Tiki torches line the path from the driveway to the whole backyard, where a huge tent has been set up, complete with hanging strobe lights. I even spot a cotton candy machine! I grab Leo by the sleeve and tell the group, “Go have fun, Leo and I have a few things to talk about in private.” I drag him to the far side of the yard.


  “A tent? Cotton candy? I think you left out a few details about your party. You could have just told me. I’d have found out anyway.”

  Before he can answer, a boy holding cotton candy in one hand and a snow cone in the other calls out, “Great party!”

  I grit my teeth. Leo gives a halfhearted wave in return and says, “I figured if tomorrow never came, no one would tell you about it.”

  I watch as some huge guy in an orange-and-black football uniform — who could only be Paul the Ball — teaches a group of adoring boys how to properly hold a football. I know it shouldn’t matter after everything we’ve been through, but it does. To think that this is how he was celebrating his birthday without me really hurts.

  “Look,” he says quietly, “I told you I didn’t ask for this. It only made me feel worse, not better, that you weren’t here.”

  I kick at the grass with my red shoe. I wish I’d gone upstairs to change before coming over.

  Leo steps a little closer. “You’re here now, right? So this is OUR party, not my party.”

  At that moment Bobby Simon walks by. “Cluck, cluck!” he says with a wave.

  I can’t help but smile. “Guess I missed the hypnotist?”

  Leo nods. “Yup, poor Bobby. He doesn’t have a clue. The hypnotist said it will wear off by tomorrow.”

  I watch Bobby greet Mena, Heather, and Jess with clucks. They laugh at him. He slinks away, confused. “If we can’t make tomorrow come, he’ll be clucking for the rest of his life!”

  “There you are,” my mom says, reaching out her arms and giving Leo a big hug. “I’ve missed you, you little rascal!”

  Leo grins and lets my mom ruffle his hair and pinch his cheeks. My mom’s not usually the cheek-pinching type. Dad comes up from behind and slaps Leo on the back. He might have been a little over enthusiastic because he almost knocks Leo over. Dad starts to apologize but ends up in one of his sneezing fits. Across the yard the band is starting up. Raising his voice over the twang of the electric banjo, Leo says, “Run, save yourselves. Trust me, you don’t want to hear this.”