“Good night, McGowan.” I heard her say.
Sitting on the dining table was a massive pile of filled envelopes. They hadn’t used all of them, but close to it. I grabbed one of the empty envelopes and one of the tiny blank invites and slid them both into my back pocket.
“Veri?” Dad called from the living room.
Time to face the music.
I plunked down on the couch next to him and rested my head on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Not cool, you know?”
“I know. That was very rude. And childish.”
“Sure was. Did you apologize?”
I cringed. “Kinda? I will tomorrow,” I promised.
Dad wrapped his massive arm around my shoulders and rested his hand on the top of my head. “Things change, kiddo. Not much you can do about it. All you can control is how you react to the change.”
He was right, of course, but I wasn’t the only one who was going to have to accept change in relationships.
CHAPTER THREE
UNINVITED
The next morning, I got up super-duper early to go to the mall. It wasn’t open yet, but I needed some specialized assistance, which I knew would be there. First, I needed to slip past the big man downstairs.
“Well, good morning,” Dad said, surprised to see me up, dressed, and ready long before my alarm would normally even go off.
“Hey, morning! Heading out early today,” I told him, hoping he wouldn’t push.
“Where ya off to?”
Pushy Papa was alive and well.
“Uh, just some wedding stuff. Secret wedding stuff.”
“Can it wait until after breakfast?”
“I believe that’s why they invented to-go cups and granola bars.”
“Love you,” he said over his newspaper.
“Love you. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in time for Operation Wedding Stuff,” I reassured him as I filled an insulated cup with orange juice.
“Perfect. We can’t wait to listen to all of your invaluable input,” he said, obviously referencing my meltdown from the day before.
I waved at him, pretending not to have heard. Dads.
* * *
It was a long bike ride to the mall, and unfortunately, it gave me a lot of time to think. As I rode, thoughts started racing through my head. What if now that Ms. Watson was around, Dad wouldn’t need me to be his backup? What if I was just forgotten? And what was this whole thing with Charlie and Betsy? What if Charlie had moved on, too? As my thoughts raced, so did my anxiety. Faster and faster these scary thoughts pulsed through me until suddenly I felt the air whipping through my hair and stinging my face! Looking down, I saw that my legs were pedaling so fast that they were a blur! My stupidpowers had activated and sent me speeding impossibly fast down the road!
“Ahh!!”
I tried to slow down, but my legs had a mind of their own. All I could do was steer, and not very well. The houses whipped by as I tried to get a better idea of where I was. I was going so fast that it was hard to see!
I spotted a familiar brick corner market. State Street! I was on State Street! I needed to make a right turn soon and go into the mall parking lot the back way. But how was I going to turn at this speed without completely wiping out?! There was no way! I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm myself down. If I just stopped thinking about Dad and Watson and Charlie and Betsy I could get my powers to chill out. Problem was, the more I tried not thinking about my problems, the more I couldn’t get them off my mind. Judging by the blur of houses, I was going even faster now than before. I had to turn. I had to stop. I had to crash. My brain took a second off from reminding me how pathetic my life was and told me a useful, if not disgusting, tidbit: It was trash day.
Ugh. I could see a pile of full garbage bags right on the corner where I needed to turn. They were a blur, but unmistakable: big, black, grody.
“Eeeee!” I heard myself squeal as I careened into the stinky abyss. The bike stopped, but I didn’t. I flew hard into the mountain of garbage.
The sound of plastic tearing and the scent of weeks-old leftovers filled the air.
“Oof,” I groaned as I turned myself right-side up. My bike was lodged perfectly straight between two gigantic leaf bags. I, on the other hand, was lodged between two bags of human sadness in waste form. “Yuck.” There was an open carton of moldy shrimp fried rice spread across my lap. I shook my exhausted legs free. At least my powers had worn themselves out.
After a heavy dust-off, I got back on my bike and finished the short trek to the mall. There I found a white big-rig truck parked with its back doors wide open. Standing in the opening was exactly who I was looking for.
Who woulda guessed you had to get up at the crack of dawn to sling canned cheese? I thought as I pulled up next to the delivery service entrance. Ted didn’t notice me. He was deep in thought, something that was pretty common for him. He managed to keep up his zen-like demeanor and unwavering ability to speak in riddles even when he was wearing a polyester hat shaped like a dinosaur. Sure, he sold pretzels at the mall, but he was also the guy to go to when you needed something or someone. Everyone knew Ted and Ted knew everyone.
“Ted!” I called.
Ted, apparently, wasn’t expecting visitors. My shout had startled him and he dropped one of the giant cans of cheese right on his foot.
“Ahh!” he cried out, cradling his mildly crushed appendage. “I mean, hi, Veronica. I mean, what are you doing here?”
“I was hoping you could help me find my mom,” I said, cutting to the chase. The truck driver looked impatient.
“That don’t sound like a wise to-do, little one,” Ted advised, playing with his puka shell necklace.
My brain buffered for a few seconds while I decoded what he said. “I want her to get an invitation to the wedding,” I explained.
Ted scratched the tip of his nose with a box of napkins. “You’re telling me this is something Rik wants?”
I ignored him. “You know where she is, right?”
“I know a lot of things.”
“Well, yeah, that’s why I assumed you knew this, and would help me without giving me a hard time.” I paused. “Sorry. I’m cranky in the morning.” I pulled the invitation out of my pocket and handed it to Ted. “Could you get this to her? It’s really important to me.”
He looked at me for a moment before answering, “Will do.”
“Thank you!”
“What’s normal is not always normal.”
“Uh, okay. Thanks, Ted!”
Beep beep!
“Keep your pants on, Keith! We’re learning life lessons out here!” Ted grinned at me. “Gonna be a wedding to remember.”
“Yeah, I really think it will be.”
I said goodbye and left Ted to his cheese unpacking. My superlegs had gotten me to the mall twenty minutes earlier than I had planned, but getting to school early actually sounded good—I could try to get some of this garbage stank off me. Plus, I could already feel my legs cramping up from their unexpected workout.
* * *
I had told Charlie I wasn’t going to walk with him that day, so chances were pretty high I wouldn’t see him until the end of the day. I needed to leave him a stupidmessage, but I was pretty beat. There was a familiar shape already at Charlie’s locker and it wasn’t Charlie.
“Hey, Betsy,” I said, sidling up to her. “Can I help you with something?”
“Nah,” she said as she began turning the dial on Charlie’s lock. “My geography crap is in here.”
I watched in disbelief. Right, left, and right she spun the dial, hitting each of the numbers.
“Charlie gave you our lock combination?” I asked.
“Yeah, well, we made it my combination, too,” she said. “My locker is down by the band room, so this makes it easier.”
“Oh, we do that, too. Actually, we’ve done that forever.” It came out way snobbier than I would ever have intended.
“Cool,” she said flatly. She was completely unimpressed. “You can lock up then.”
Betsy grabbed her book and left. It was just me. Alone. With Charlie’s locker. I had thought I was too tired to have any more powers, but I was wrong. I was starting to feel desperate that Charlie not forget me. He couldn’t forget me, right? Right?!
That’s when she popped into existence. On the edge of Charlie’s open locker was a little me. She was about four inches tall, with about three of those inches composed entirely of head. Yes, okay, she kind of looked like a bobblehead. I checked over both my shoulders to make sure no one had seen. Then I heard a very frustrated “Hmmph!” from behind me. I whipped my head back to Lil Me. She looked very annoyed. I turned away, but she grumbled again, only louder! This time she looked at me expectantly and tapped her foot. She freaked out any time I wasn’t paying attention to her! Well, that was one way to keep Charlie from forgetting me. I fished around in my backpack until I found a fun-size candy bar and gave it to her. She was so pleased that she didn’t mind when I closed the door and locked her in. Now I would just have to remember to change my mood in a little bit so she would disappear. I hoped I had another little candy bar in my backpack; that could change my mood, too.
During art class I enlisted the help of Lizzie and Dean to make some party favors.
“They’re called crackers,” I explained. “You each pull on an end and they kinda burst open.”
“Oh, yeah,” Lizzie recalled, “I’ve heard of those. British thing.”
“Something like that. Charlie introduced me to them last Christmas. Usually they’re filled with toys and riddles and a little paper crown. I want to fill them with confetti and wedding-themed stuff.”
Lizzie’s eyes sparkled. “I think traditionally they have a little bit of gunpowder in them, so they pop when you pull them!”
“Ooh…” Dean shared an excited look with his sister.
“I don’t think ours will.”
They both groaned disapprovingly.
“Anyway,” I giggled, “thanks for helping me out.”
We got to work cutting rectangles of paper but were interrupted when Hun Su entered the room.
“Hello,” she said to Mrs. Brannon. “Message from the office.” Hun Su handed her a note. Mrs. Brannon read it and then started digging around on her desk for something that was not a paintbrush.
“Just a second…,” she said. “I know I have a plain old pen around here somewhere…”
“Hey!” Hun Su quietly greeted us as she waited.
“Hi! How’s it going?” I asked her.
“It is what it is,” she said cheerfully. “I probably should be asking you what you think of the news.”
“News?” I asked.
“Yeah, about Charlie?” she said like she was refreshing my memory.
“Is he okay?!” A spike of fear drove through me.
“Oh, he’s fine!” Hun Su said quickly.
Lizzie, Dean, and I shared a relieved look.
“I’m just talking about him and Betsy. Word on the street is that it’s pretty serious.”
“Does not compute,” Lizzie said.
“No, I heard something about that,” Dean remembered. “They’re a thing, right, Veronica?”
“Uh … unconfirmed.”
“Hmm…” Lizzie and Dean looked at each other.
It was awkwardly silent.
“I mean, how could they be a couple? We’ve only been back at school for a millisecond,” I reassured myself.
“Maybe it started at camp?” Dean wondered.
“Listen. This is love. We can’t question it. It’s like when a pony turns into a unicorn,” Hun Su said. “Magical.”
“I’m not sure that’s how unicorns work, mythologically,” Lizzie suggested.
“Hun Su,” Mrs. Brannon called her back over.
She gave us a little wave and took the note with her.
Lizzie and Dean were staring at me. Expecting something. My brain felt like a bowl of scrambled eggs, so I decided to change the subject until I had a moment to think.
“So, I’m having this problem,” I started slowly until I noticed both the Tech Twins looking at me expectantly. “Ms. Watson doesn’t seem to have many real friends, so I don’t know what to do about her party. Who do I invite?”
“Having a party all your own? That must be fun. I’m stuck with her every stupid year,” Dean teased Lizzie.
“Double the party, double the joy, dear brother.”
“That’s it!” I squealed.
The realization that I could combine both of the parties for Dad and Ms. Watson was such a happy revelation that I didn’t even care when I got to English class and the chalkboard read, “Welcome Imagin-Amy!” I just quickly erased it before too many of my classmates could see. My brain had become laser focused, and I wanted to spend the entire period thinking about the party. Now that we were just having one party, I wouldn’t have to worry about finding friends for Ms. Watson or neglecting my duties as maid of honor.
I mean, pending Dad and Ms. Watson’s approval, of course.
* * *
“That sounds perfect, kiddo,” Dad said.
“I appreciate the effort, McGowan, but I’m still unsure why we need all these parties,” Ms. Watson reminded us.
“Because you should never turn down a party,” Charlie chimed in.
We had met Dad and Ms. Watson at the Mansion House, which was exactly what it sounded like: a mansion. Not sure why it also had house in there. Are there mansions that aren’t houses? Anyway, it was a big old Victorian mansion that was popular for weddings and, wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what we were gonna use it for.
“I think she’s ready for us,” Dad said to Ms. Watson, motioning at the woman who had shown us the ballroom we would be using. Dad was now worried there wasn’t enough room and wanted the guests to be able to spill out into the hallway. The woman had gone to call the Mansion House’s owner to see if putting chairs on the marble floors in the hallway would be acceptable. There was a little bit of tense talking, and then we overheard Ms. Watson having a moment:
“Listen, if I can affix a microchip to the bottom of a submarine in Antarctic waters while an orca is gnawing on my foot, you can sticky-pad some felt on the legs of some chairs.”
“Do you think one day she’ll actually tell us some of these stories?” Charlie asked.
I shrugged. “It’s like she only remembers them when she’s annoyed.”
Charlie snorted. “Speaking of annoying, perfect supermessage today, V!”
“Lil Me hung around that long?”
“Oh, she was so done with me! She got so annoyed that she exploded and coated the walls of my locker in glitter. Looks pretty good, actually. But you must have had a really irksome day!”
I thought about what Hun Su had said in art class.
“It was definitely something.”
Dad and Ms. Watson came back. Dad had a big smile on his face.
“All settled!” he said.
“And you’re sure John is properly certified to marry us?” Ms. Watson asked him.
“Yes. It’s totally legit. He did the online certification thingy,” Dad said, trying to reassure her. It didn’t really work.
“I’d like to see that paperwork.”
“Ms. Watson,” Charlie started as we walked to the car, “what were you saying about a submarine?”
“Well, Charles, if I told you that story, I’d have to kill you.”
Charlie laughed. Ms. Watson didn’t.
CHAPTER FOUR
LET THEM EAT CAKE. ALL THE CAKE.
It was Saturday. A very important day in the world of wedding prep. With only a week to go until the big day, the scramble was on! But there would be no scrambling today. At least not in a literal sense. There would be only chomping.
“Cake day!” Charlie bellowed happily when he opened his front door.
“Cake day!” I echoed. “You rea
dy?”
“I was born ready for cake day.”
Somehow Charlie had convinced Dad that he needed to come with us when we did taste testing on wedding cakes. We turned back toward the driveway, where Dad and Ms. Watson were waiting in the car. Dad rolled down his window.
“Got a jacket there, bud?”
Charlie stopped in his tracks.
“The cake will keep me warm,” he insisted.
Dad motioned for Charlie to go back in the house. I went with him. There wasn’t a lot of fun to be had in the car, and besides, it was always nice to see Charlie’s moms. They were both unbelievably smart scientists who tried to help me with my powers. His mom Lucia was one of the nicest people I’d ever met, and his other mom, Dr. Weathers, was pretty cool, too, even if you did have to call her “Dr. Weathers.”
Lucia was in the entryway when we went back in. Charlie flew up the stairs to his room.
“Veronica!” She greeted me before wrapping me in a hug.
“Hi! Just grabbing Charlie a jacket before—”
“Cake day!” she laughed.
“Yeah,” I giggled.
There was a muffled crashing noise upstairs.
“I’m fine!” Charlie called down.
“This might take a while.” Lucia motioned for me to sit down on the sofa while we waited. “You know we are trying to get Charlie to take better care of his things, so I had to stop helping him find stuff.” She twisted her hands. It was obviously hard for her.
I tried to take her mind off of it. “He can be really good at finding things. One time I couldn’t find one of my sketching pencils for hours and Charlie found it right away.”
“Where was it?”
“In my hair,” I confessed.
She covered her chuckle. I liked talking to Lucia. There was something about her that made me feel comfortable saying anything.
“Well, it’s not the weirdest thing he’s seen from me, so…,” I joked.
Lucia sat up straighter. A flicker of recognition swept across her face. “How have you been doing? Your abilities, I mean.”
All the Feels Page 4