Snapstreak

by Suzanne Weyn

  Chapter 21

  OMG! OMG! OMG! I ride my bike all the way to school in the pouring rain. I finally get there, totally DRENCHED. But at least I’m there. Leaning my bike against the school, I yank on the glass doors at the front. LOCKED!!!!!!!!!!

  A streak of lightning crackles and then thunder. This storm is right on top of us. I splash through puddles around to the side door. Also locked. BANG! BANG! BANG! “Anybody there? Let me in!” BANG! BANG! BANG!

  I see through the glass that there’s a classroom with its door open and a light on. After more banging, Mr. Sweeney, a seventh grade social studies teacher, steps out and walks to the door. He lets me in. “Lulu, you’re soaked. What’s wrong?”

  “I left my backpack in my locker. Thanks for opening up.”

  “What’s in there that’s so important?” he asks.

  “Believe me, it’s important,” I say as I trudge down the hall, trailing a stream of rainwater behind me. “It’s more important than you can imagine.”

  As I’m taking my backpack out of my locker, Madison and Bella walk by. They stop by my locker. “What happened to you, Lulu?” Madison asks. “How did you get so wet?”

  “I rode my bike here,” I tell them.

  “Why would you do that?” Bella asks.

  “I felt like it,” I say, sounding as annoyed as I feel. Why are they so nosy? “Why are you two here?”

  “Pep club,” they answer at the same time.

  “How’s Megan?” Bella asks. “We heard she slipped on the wet floor.”

  “She broke her arm.” They both gasp and say how terrible they feel. They’re okay girls, really. Not exactly my type, but okay anyway.

  “You didn’t leave Vee’s phone in that backpack, did you?” Madison asks.

  “Maybe,” I say.

  “You’d better check it,” Bella says, sounding worried. “What if Gwynneth sent a Snap?”

  There would still be time to answer it. To make them happy, though, I take the phone out of my pack to check it.

  “Don’t get that phone wet,” Madison says. “That’s an extremely valuable phone.” Annoying as that is, she’s right. “Let me check,” Madison says, lifting the phone from my hand. She dries it on her sleeve before turning it on. “There’s a Snap here from Ethan Myers,” Madison says, sounding impressed. She looks to Bella, her eyebrows raised meaningfully. “Ethan Myers.”

  Bella nods. “Ethan Myers,” she says. “Wow!” Ethan Myers might be happy to know he’s so well approved of. Vee will also be thrilled to hear that he sent her a Snap.

  “But nothing from Gwynneth,” Madison reports. She slips the phone into the Boys Being Dudes tote bag she has slung over her shoulder. “You’d better let me take charge of this for now. If you get moisture in there, you could ruin the phone. And then where would we all be? Nowhere, that’s where. Snapstreak broken. Pfft! Just like that. Over and out. No BBD for any of us. You’d better go home to dry off. I’ll give it back to you tomorrow. Don’t worry. I’ll keep the Snapstreak going until then.”

  It all happened so fast. One minute I had Vee’s phone in my dripping-wet hand—and the next Madison and Bella were trotting off with it.

  Why didn’t I run after them to demand they return the phone?

  I guess in my heart I thought Madison might be right. I’ve ruined more than one phone by getting it wet. Once, I had it in my back jeans pocket. When I got up from the toilet, plunk! It fell right in. I tried to use the blow dryer on it. I even stuck it in a bowl of rice like they tell you to—nothing. Another time I was out on a friend’s boat. A Jet Ski went by and sprayed us all just as I was calling Mom to tell her I’d be late. That phone went kaput, too. And she did say she’d return Vee’s phone to me tomorrow.

  The only thing is, the next day I’m really sick. I mean, I can hardly lift my head off the pillow sick. I’m burning hot, and my throat feels like someone is shooting off a flamethrower inside of it. “I’ll bet you picked up some germ in the hospital,” Mom says. Being out in the wet, cold rain couldn’t have helped, either. Megan calls me but I feel too awful to even answer.

  I guess I should be happy that Madison has the phone. Neither Megan nor I are able to do much with it now. Still, weak as I am, I can’t stop worrying. I can’t quite believe that things have gotten so out of control.

  Chapter 22

  THERE’S NO REAL reason that I need to stay home from school the next day. I’m left-handed, so I’m not going to be able to write or type, not in a way anyone else will be able to read. Still I should go, I guess.

  When I get on the bus, Lulu isn’t there. I text her, using my right thumb as best I can. “U OK?” Everyone is interested in signing my cast, so the bus ride is fun, fun, fun, and the time flies by. Before I know it, we’re almost at the school and I still haven’t heard back from Lulu. I figure I’d better call, which I do, but the call goes right to voicemail.

  I’m nearly at my locker when my phone buzzes.

  Lulu: You have to get Vee’s phone. I’m sick.

  “I THrB U IT,” I type. Its the best I can do one-handed. Autocorrect changes it to “I throw bats.”

  Somehow Lulu guesses what I mean.

  Lulu: Will explain later. Madison has it.

  Madison has it?! What? How did that happen?

  “IWLLGFRAMHR,” I type, which is as close to “I will get it from her” as I can manage. Autocorrect changes it to “I’ll willingly frame her.”

  This time Lulu doesn’t guess correctly.

  Lulu: Tie her up with a bow while you’re at it.

  Madison isn’t on my bus, so I set out to find her as soon I get into school. This isn’t that easy because everyone wants to sign my cast. By the time the buzzer for the start of first period sounds, I still haven’t seen Madison. At the end of first period, on my way to my second class, pre-algebra, I see her friend Emma and hurry up behind her.

  “Hey, Emma. Have you seen Madison?” I ask.

  “She has a dentist appointment this morning,” Emma says.

  “Oh. Does she still have Vee’s phone?”

  “I think Bella has it,” Emma tells me.

  “Thanks,” I say. I know Bella is in pre-algebra, so I don’t worry too much. I stand by the classroom door waiting for her. “Hey, Bella, Emma says you have Vee’s phone?”

  “I did have it, but Maria Scelza wanted to send a Snap to Gwynneth so I let her take the phone.”

  “Did you hear from Gwynneth? Is the Snapstreak still going?” I ask, feeling a little bit panicky.

  “Yep. Madison and I answered her last night. Can I sign your cast?”

  Maria is in the seventh grade, so I’m not so sure where to find her, and we only have four minutes to get from one class to the next. After pre-algebra I have academic skills. I get a pass to the library, but instead of going, I walk around the school peeking in windows looking for Maria. As I’m peering into a science lab I sense a presence looming behind me. I turn and discover our assistant principal, Mr. McCarty, staring down at me. “What’s going on, Megan?” he asks.

  My mouth opens but no sound comes out.

  “I’m waiting,” Mr. McCarty says.

  “I’m looking for Maria Scelza. She has Vee’s phone,” I reply. He doesn’t smile, not even a blink, and I realize that this isn’t as important to him as it is to me. “For the Snapstreak contest,” I add. “For the school to win a free concert.”

  Nothing. He totally doesn’t care.

  “And where are you supposed to be?” he asks.

  “The library.”

  “I’ll walk with you to the SAP room,” he says.

  “Aw, please,” I say. “My parents will be super mad at me. They told me no SAP for the rest of the year.”

  “You should have thought of that before you decided not to report to the library.”

  I point to my cast. “Don’t you think I’ve suffered enough?” I’m desperate.

  A flicker of a smile crosses his face and I have a moment of hope, but it doesn�
�t last long. “Let’s go,” he says. The SAP room is on the other side of the school and it seems to take a hundred years to get there. Every so often some kids pass by and they look at me with big sympathetic eyes, like I’m a prisoner about to be sent to the gallows. Despite the misery of the situation, when I arrive at the SAP room, I have to smile.

  Maria Scelza is there, too!

  As soon as I sit, I pull a sheet from my spiral notebook. I want to ask her if she has Vee’s phone. My right-handed writing is just scribble-scrabble though. Finally at the end of the period, I catch up with her at last. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I can’t believe I found you in here,” I say.

  “It’s all because of Vee’s phone,” she says. “I was checking it for a Gwynneth message and I got caught and sent to SAP.”

  This isn’t good. “Who has it now?” I ask.

  “I handed it to Emmett Maloney just before Ms. Pate sent me to SAP,” Maria says.

  “Where is Emmett Maloney now?”

  “Band, I think.”

  Can I get to the band room and back to my next class, Spanish, in four minutes? I have to try. There’s no running allowed in the halls, so I racewalk to the band room to wait for Emmett. When he shows up I practically pounce on him. “I need Vee’s phone,” I say. He looks at me like I’m nuts, which I can understand.

  “Oh, I sent that Gwyn girl a video of Rae Gonzalez playing the tuba,” Emmett says. “She got right back to me. She loved it.”

  “Great!” I say. The Snapstreak is still going. “Can I have the phone?”

  “I gave it to somebody.” He looks at the ceiling, thinking. “I don’t remember who it was though.”

  “Think!” I say.

  Again he gazes up. “I wasn’t even looking. Someone’s hand shot out for the phone and I just handed it off after I sent the video.” He shrugs. “Hey, can I sign your cast?”

  In Spanish we’re conjugating irregular verbs, but I don’t hear much of the lesson. Who could have that phone? How will I get it back? What would Bilbo Baggins do?

  Chapter 23

  V-Ness

  Hi G! You looked gr8 on TV. My friends Madison, Bella, Emma and I love pep club. This is our pep club room.

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  You have so many friends! And you do so many activities. Here’s our Mathlete trophy.

  V-Ness

  Hi Second Power. How do u like 8th gr? I can’t wait to get to 8th gr.

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  Aren’t you in 8 now?

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  V-Ness

  Oh yeah! I forgot. I’m V. Sure! I’m in 8.

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  Strange.

  V-Ness

  That’s me. Strange.

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  Lol. How’s this for strange?

  V-Ness

  Way strange! Lol!

  it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is this your brother?

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  I didn’t know you can draw, too. Wow! When did that happen? It does look a bit like my brother. Lol! Here’s another strange one.

  V-Ness

  Here is a video of Rae Gonzalez playing the tuba.

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  it!

  V-Ness

  Vee is a v nice girl. We all like her a lot.

  V-Ness

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  Wait! Isn’t this V?!

  V-Ness

  No! It’s Tony Ellis. Didn’t you know Vee has a concussion? She can’t use her phone.

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  Really? I once had a concussion too. It’s the worst.

  But if Vee hasn’t been using her phone, who have I been talking to?

  Chapter 24

  “YOU LOST MY phone?!” I cry out once it sinks in what Lulu and Megan have been trying to tell me. They stand at the end of my bed looking like they’d rather be anywhere else in the world.

  “It’s not actually lost, in fact,” Lulu says. “Someone has it.”

  “We just don’t know who,” Megan adds. “Yet. We don’t know yet.”

  “It keeps moving.” Lulu sits at the edge of my bed. “And . . . sooner or later we will catch up with it.”

  “How long has it been gone?” I ask.

  They look at each other guiltily. “About three days,” Megan says in a little, squeaky voice.

  “Three days! I can’t believe you guys!” I shout. “I trusted you! I’m stuck here at home and now my phone is lost.”

  Megan steps closer to me. “You’re not the only one having a hard time, you know,” she says. “I broke my arm and Lulu’s had a very high fever. Lulu rode her bike all the way to the school in the pouring rain to get the phone. And I got sent to SAP for the SECOND time because I was looking all over the place for that stupid phone, so I think you might want to give us a break.”

  When someone tells you you’re acting like a jerk and you realize they’re right, it’s not the greatest feeling the world. So I don’t answer Megan right away. There’s an awkward silence. “If you know what I mean,” Megan says, finally.

  “Sorry,” I say.

  “We’re sorry we lost track of your phone,” Lulu says.

  “We are,” Megan agrees. “We never meant for it to happen. We kept thinking we were about to find it, but we never did.”

  The front doorbell rings. I figure Eric will get it, but when it rings again, I get out of bed and hurry down the stairs. I’m feeling a lot better. The doctor says I can go back to school, but not gym. Or sports. I can’t risk getting hit on the head again. Plus less electronics. In bed by ten every night. It’s not forever, just until they’re sure my brain has healed.

  I check the side window to see who’s outside and I panic. Ethan!

  Lulu and Megan are on the stairs. “Ethan,” I whisper.

  They race upstairs and instantly return with a hair-brush, lip gloss, and even a breath mint. “One second,” I call as they frantically fix me up. It’ll have to do. I don’t want him to leave.

  “Hi,” I say cheerily, opening the door. Then my eyes go wide when I see what he’s holding. “MY PHONE!” I cry out happily.

  “HER PHONE!” Megan and Lulu cheer.

  Smiling, he hands the phone to me, stepping inside the house. “I thought you’d be happy to get this.”

  “Happy is not the word!” I say. “How did you get it?”

  “A kid at lunch handed it to me,” he says. “When I saw it was yours, I just put it in my pocket.”

  “Thanks so much!” The first thing I check is the Snapstreak.

  “It’s still going!!!!!” I shout.

  “She knows it’s not you,” Ethan says. “Apparently Tony Ellis came right out and told her. That didn’t stop her, though. She kept answering.”

  “Good old Gwynneth,” Lulu says. “What a trooper!”

  “Wait a minute,” I say, checking the calendar app on my phone. “Today is the last day!” I notice the hourglass. Only a half hour left!

  V-Ness

  GQB2the2ndpwr

  Chapter 25

  SO WE FINALLY get to meet Gwynneth in person. She’s not wearing all that eyeliner. “I was just trying something,” she tells us. We’re at the shared Pleasant Hill/Shoreham Middle Schools Boys Being Dudes concert, standing in the lobby of the Shoreham High Performing Arts Center. The schools decided to hold the concert here since it’s big and new. The place is PACKED because the tickets are cheap and everyone loves BBD.

  “Why did we have to buy tickets if we won a free concert?” Megan asks.

  “Did you forget? It’s a fundraiser,” Vee says. She and Gwynneth look at each other and smile like they have a secret. “Gwynneth and I got to decide what the money will be used for.”

  “Tell us,” I say.

  “You’ll find out,” Gwynneth says.

  “No secrets!” Megan says.

  “I’ll tell you a secret right now,” Vee says. “I told Gwynneth a lot of lies about all my great accomplishments—that I was a model, and a star
athlete, and super popular.”

  “Those are lies?” Gwynneth asks.

  “Yes,” I say. I’m nervous. Will she hate me?

  Gwynneth bends forward, laughing hard.

  I’m happy she thinks it’s so funny. “That’s hysterical,” she says. “I wanted you to think I was super cool. But I’m not cool at all!”

  “You’re not?” I say at the same time as Vee and Megan.

  “No!” Gwynneth says. “I wanted you to think I was, but I’m not.”

  I like her better right away. “Thank goodness!” Megan says. “I never liked cool kids very much.”

  “That’s so funny,” Vee says.

  “I’ll tell you another secret about myself that no one knows,” Gwynneth says. “I write fan fiction. I write episodes of Vampire Diaries.”

  “Too scary,” Vee says with a shudder.

  “I write fan fiction, too!” Megan shouts. “I write about Lord of the Rings.”

  “You never told us that!” I say. I turn to Vee. “Did you know that?” I ask.

  “I didn’t know that,” Vee says. “Can we see it?”

  Megan doesn’t answer because she’s talking intently to Gwynneth. I assume they’re talking about fan fiction. I’m amazed. I guess we think we know the people closest to us but there’s always more to find out.

  I glance across the lobby and see Megan’s parents talking to Mom and Vee’s dad. Mom holds Vee’s dad’s hand!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!