When it was time for dinner, my mom came into my room with a bowl of soup and some crackers. I thought I might get tired of staying in bed. But I didn’t feel like that at all. I found the time alone relaxing.
“You don’t have to finish the whole bowl,” my mom said, setting it on a TV stand next to my bed.
“Okay,” I said.
“Do you mind if we sit and talk?” she asked.
I shook my head and she sat down next to me.
“Is there something you need to tell me?”
I shoved a cracker into my mouth. “I don’t think so.”
“Mint seems pretty upset,” my mom said.
“She got sick and is probably canceling the party,” I said. “That’s upsetting.”
“Yeah,” my mom said, reaching up and pressing her hand against my forehead. “I think this might be about Jagger.”
My eyes got really big. I couldn’t believe I was going to have a conversation with my mom about Jagger and Mint.
“Mrs. Evenson caught them kissing,” my mom said.
Holy crap! It was sort of a good thing that I wasn’t talking to Ava anymore. Because she would have become completely unglued when I told her this information.
“Wow,” I said. “I didn’t know that.”
“She’s twelve. He’s twelve,” my mom said. “These things happen.”
I nodded, but I didn’t know if I wanted this conversation to continue.
“Jagger is friends with your friend Todd, right?” my mom asked.
I decided to stop this conversation before it started.
“I am not kissing Todd, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly worried about it, but it does relieve me to hear that,” my mom said. I watched her stand up and walk to my doorway.
“Don’t be in too much of a hurry to grow up,” my mom said. “You’re at a wonderful stage in your life.”
“Sure,” I said. I really wanted my mom to leave. I hated it when she started talking sappy like this.
She left and quietly shut the door. I thought I would have time to read my magazine, but instead Mint came into my room.
“I’m still pretty mad,” she said as she walked to my bedside and sat on the floor. “But I don’t want to leave hating you. That would be a huge waste of my energy.”
I agreed with that. I didn’t want Mint to leave hating me either.
“Do you feel bad about what you did?” she asked. “I mean, I know we hadn’t become best friends or anything. But don’t you feel rotten that you invaded my privacy like that?”
I did feel rotten. But not for those reasons.
“It’s awful this has happened. But I never touched your diary,” I explained.
Mint frowned. “Then how did it happen?”
“It was that day in my bedroom when Todd held up my underwear,” I said.
“Did Ava take pictures of my diary with her phone?” she asked.
I nodded. “But I didn’t know about it.”
“That’s the lowest thing I’ve ever heard of,” she said.
“I know,” I said. “But I had no idea what she’d done until after she’d put the lists in people’s desks.”
“Well, I believe in karma, and one day she’ll get hers.”
“Ava doesn’t keep a journal.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t either,” Mint said.
And I didn’t argue with that, because clearly journals were dangerous.
“I notice everything,” Mint said. “It’s a blessing and a curse. I never meant for anybody to see any of my observations.”
“Um, are things okay with you and Jagger?” I asked.
“Oh yeah,” Mint said. “I smoothed it out. We have so much in common. I bet we stay friends for years.”
I was impressed by how confident she was about this. Things with me and Todd always felt so fragile. “What about you and me?” I asked. “Are things okay between us?”
Mint looked up at the ceiling as she spoke. “I was so excited to come here. I had all these hopes for how it would be. I thought we’d be like sisters, studying together, sharing clothes, going to the movies, shopping at the mall.”
“I rarely shop at the mall,” I said.
Mint frowned. “Yeah, I learned that.” Mint got off the floor and moved closer to my bed. “But you already had this big life. It was pretty obvious that you didn’t really want me around.”
Mint was making me feel terrible. The truth was, whether she was normal or not, I never really wanted Mint to fit in. And so I never gave her a chance.
“So I tried to get out there and make my own friends. And I tried to give you your space and stuff.”
This month could have been so different. But now it was too late. The time was gone. There was no way to get it back.
“I’ve never had a cousin come and stay with me,” I said. “I probably should have handled it better.”
She nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.”
“I understand if you want to stay mad at me forever,” I said.
She shook her head. “I don’t want that. I wish there were a way we could leave it that we’re friends.”
After everything that had happened, how was that possible?
Mint extended her hand like she wanted me to shake it. And I thought that was a very generous gesture considering our month together. So I extended mine. And we shook.
“Friends,” she said.
“Friends,” I agreed. It was such a relief to feel this way.
“I’m going to go hang out with your mom,” she said. “Is that cool?”
I nodded. “It’s cool with me.”
I think I drifted off for a bit, because the next thing I heard was the sound of Jagger’s voice waking me from a light sleep. It was coming from the living room. I crept to my door and opened it. I couldn’t believe what I saw. A bunch of people from my school were there: Lucia, Rachel, Paulette, Kimmie, Jagger, Todd, Felipe, Tuma, Wyatt, Wren, and Bobby. They were all grouped around Mint, chatting and drinking what looked like lemonade. Mint had decided to let the party happen. She was so brave. It felt so weird seeing everybody from my school at my house.
My mom walked out from the kitchen and saw me. “If you’re feeling better, why don’t you hang out with everyone for a while,” she told me, walking over and smoothing my hair back. “Dad’s grilling hot dogs outside.”
“Okay,” I said. But as I watched these people mill around my cousin, it sort of seemed like maybe I should stay in my room. They hadn’t come to visit me. They’d come to say good-bye to her. Did Mint want me out there? Or did she want her own space? She’d worked really hard to make these friends. I stood frozen in the doorway. But she’d also worked really hard to make sure we were friends before she left. I decided to risk joining the party. So I walked into the backyard, grabbed a hot dog, and stood next to Todd, because that was where I truly wanted to be.
“It’s been a rough week for you,” Todd said. “Are you feeling better?”
I took a big bite of hot dog and nodded. “Much.”
Then he started laughing. And I think he was laughing at me.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked.
And then he did this awful thing. He pointed at me.
“You’re laughing at me?” I asked. I could feel myself blushing.
“You’ve got mustard on your ear,” he said.
How had I done that? I tried to wipe if off with my napkin, but this made Todd laugh harder.
“It was a huge glob,” he said. “You smeared it.”
“I better go look in a mirror,” I said.
But Todd reached out and stopped me from going. “I can get it,” he said.
It felt almost magical the way Todd brushed his napkin against my ear and removed the mustard glob. “There. Perfect,” he said.
I smiled like a huge dork when he said that.
Finally, things seemed mostly repaired, and sixth grade felt exciting again. But th
at feeling went away when I saw who was waiting in the hot dog line. Robin, Leslie, Fiona, and Derek!
“Cool,” Todd said. “The other class captains are here.”
My heartbeat sped up.
I didn’t want to tell anybody I was on probation. I took a step closer to Todd and watched as all four of them collected their freshly grilled dogs. I didn’t know how to react when Derek spotted me and flashed me the peace sign. So I waved. Then they all started walking toward me. Sixth grade was a total roller coaster.
“Hi, guys,” Leslie said.
“Hi,” Todd said.
My mind kept trying to figure out the best thing to say under these conditions. But I ended up speechless.
“Can we talk to Lane alone?” Robin asked.
No!
“Sure,” Todd said. “I was about to get some chips.”
I watched in sadness as Todd abandoned me.
“This week has been totally crazy,” Robin said.
“Never in the history of Rio Chama Middle School has so much drama affected so many people,” Leslie said.
A cloud darkened the sky overhead and I knew what was coming. They’d decided to get rid of me. They wanted to protect the reputation of the class captains, and that meant cutting me loose.
“Mint called us and explained the situation,” Robin said. “And things are cool.”
What? “Cool?” Did that word mean what I thought it meant?
“I’m not on probation?” I asked.
“You heard her,” Derek said. “Things are cool.”
He smiled at me and looked deep into my eyes. Everything was forgiven. Even the pool puking. That was what his smile told me.
“I brought back a bunch of chips,” Todd said, passing around a half-full bag.
“Look,” Fiona said. “They’re organic corn chips.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Leslie said.
Soon the other class captains drifted off.
And for the rest of the party I stayed in the background. Mint flitted around and talked with everybody. And I mostly talked to Todd. I was a little surprised that people could move past the insult list so quickly, but I guess deep down they really liked Mint. And if they had a choice to be mad at her until she left or forgive her before she left, they wanted to do the latter. Which I thought was cool. Because that was what I wanted too.
26
Not everybody forgave Angelina Mint Taravel before she left Santa Fe. But I did. She hugged me at the airport and said, “I hope you come visit me.”
My mom overheard her. “We’ll try to make that happen this summer.”
“It would be great to finally meet Clark,” my dad said.
I hesitated. “Is summer really the best time to go? Shouldn’t we visit in winter, when the bears are hibernating?”
Mint smiled at me. “You have the best sense of humor.” Then she threw her arms around me and squeezed me so tightly that she started to put pressure on my internal organs.
“Thanks,” I said.
“I am going to miss this place,” she said.
And then I said something that really surprised me. “Yeah. This place is going to miss you.”
“I knew it!” Mint said as she entered the security line. “I knew you’d miss me.”
Even though that wasn’t exactly what I said, I thought I’d be nice and let Mint think it was. And then, watching Mint walk away, I realized that I wasn’t just being nice. I really was going to miss her. Not in the same way I would miss a best friend. But I’d miss her the way you miss a cousin who shows up for a little while and shakes up your world.
The farther away Mint got, the more I waved. When I finally stopped, my dad put his arm around me and said, “Don’t worry. You’ll see each other again.”
The whole time Mint had been in Santa Fe she’d driven me nuts, and all I’d wanted was my life back. And now I had it. My life. Except it didn’t feel like my life exactly. It felt different. I could feel the tears coming. Why did I want to cry?
We watched as an airline attendant helped Mint pass through the metal detectors. Even though she was on the other side of a glass wall, I could see her perfectly. And finally she saw me.
“I still want to teach you how to lick a glacier!” Mint yelled as she sat on a gray metal bench and retied her shoes.
After all the trouble Ava had caused her, I was glad she still wanted to teach me how to lick a glacier. Even though I really didn’t want to do that.
“Sounds good!” I yelled.
Mint broke into a smile and stood up and waved to me one last time. “I’m not even joking,” she called to me.
“Neither am I,” I said.
And I meant it.
27
I had never been so nervous for a sleepover before. Rachel, Lucia, Ava, and me. Just like old times, except Ava and I had barely been speaking. I wanted to change that. I wanted to be friends again.
Rachel arrived first, and she had a plate of cookies for us.
“Yum,” I said. “These look great.” Actually, they were multicolored and multitextured and looked totally weird.
“Mint gave me the recipe. They have gummy worms in them,” Rachel said.
Why would anybody want to eat cookies with gummy worms? But I didn’t ask that. “It’s cool that you keep in touch,” I said. It surprised me that I felt that way. But I did.
“Look at the picture she sent me of her new bookcase,” Rachel said.
I took Rachel’s phone and looked at the photo. Mint’s bookcase was actually a series of shelves that were cut to look like heartbeat lines. They looked super weird and barely practical.
“Her new dad made them for her,” Rachel said.
I was relieved that Clark was the kind of new dad who would build Mint heartbeat-line shelves.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I jumped a little. I was really excited but also nervous to see Ava. Except it wasn’t even Ava. It was Lucia. I burst out laughing when she walked through the door, because she wasn’t wearing a normal shirt. She was wearing one of Mint’s old shirts. It said NORTH DAKOTANS CAN DANCE!
“You are so funny,” I said, giving her a hug.
“She dared me to do it,” Lucia said.
It did bug me a little bit that Lucia was taking dares from Mint, but I had to admit it was hilarious.
“She gave you a shirt to keep?” Rachel asked.
“She mailed it to me last week when I told her that Mr. Guzman’s class felt extremely vanilla without her,” Lucia said.
“Has she told you what’s going on with her and Jagger?” Rachel asked.
“They still totally like each other,” Lucia said. “They’re trying to make the long-distance thing work.”
That was crazy. There was no way that could last. “Let’s not talk about this in front of Ava,” I said. I was pretty sure she still had strong feelings for Jagger and his laughing styles.
Lucia and Rachel looked at each other with surprise.
“What?” I asked.
“Haven’t you heard?” Lucia asked.
“What?” I asked again.
“Ava is basically going out with Tuma,” Rachel said.
“No!” I said. “Tuma from our class?” There had to be a different Tuma.
“Yep,” Lucia said. “Turns out his parents have made him take viola lessons since he was five, so he and Ava have that in common.”
I could not imagine Tuma playing any instrument except the drums.
“Is she totally over Jagger?” I asked. Lucia talked to Ava a lot more than I did.
“Pretty much,” Lucia said. “Mr. Guzman actually asked her if she wanted to switch Julie of the Wolves parts and take Mint’s spot since she left, and Ava said no.”
“She turned down the chance to be in Jagger’s group?” I asked. That seemed unbelievable.
“She’s over him big-time,” Rachel said, nibbling on one of her gummy cookies.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
It
was Ava! As soon as I saw her standing on my porch, I was flooded by how much I’d missed her.
“Thanks for coming,” I said.
“Thanks for inviting me,” she said.
I really hoped she was being sincere.
Ava caught a glimpse of Lucia’s joke shirt and winced. I guess it was too soon to start making jokes about Mint.
“Put your stuff down in the living room,” I said, leading Ava to an area that was littered with pillows and blankets and several bowls of popcorn. Lucia and Rachel trailed us. But things felt a little awkward.
“Hey, Rachel,” Lucia said. “Let’s see what kind of ice cream they have in the freezer.”
“Good idea,” I agreed. “I bet we have at least three kinds. Plus some gelato.”
“Gelato!” Rachel cheered.
Rachel and Lucia left Ava and me alone in the living room. We needed to mend things. But neither one of us knew how. Luckily, Ava started.
“I’m not proud of what I did,” Ava said. “I really lost my mind.”
I nodded. “It’s almost blown over.”
Ava plopped down next to a pillow and began eating popcorn. I joined her.
“She was so weird,” Ava said. “I hated her. I’ve never hated anybody like that before.”
I wasn’t sure this was the best way to mend things.
“Most people want to be my friend,” Ava said. “Is it snobby for me to think that? Because I think it’s true. I think most people want that.”
I looked into her eyes. It was true. Most people at our school wanted to be Ava’s friend.
“Mint didn’t care,” Ava said. “In fact, I think she didn’t like me from the moment she met me.”
What was she talking about? Ava was the one who never gave Mint a chance. So I reminded her of that. “Um, the way I remember it was that you thought she was weird and we needed to ditch her.”
Ava tilted her head upward and considered this. “Yeah. I guess that was the way it happened. Maybe I’m more of a snob than I realized.”
Would it help or hurt this situation for me to agree with Ava?
“How is she doing?” Ava asked. “Back in Alaska?”
“Really good,” I said, smoothing my hair and smiling. “She’s actually at a new school and she’s made a bunch of friends.”
Too Cool for This School Page 19