Secret Keeper Girl Fiction Series

by Dannah K. Gresh

  My mom’s Crunchy Mexican Casserole is my most favorite meal ever, but it didn’t taste the same that night because I was so nervous about giving my parents the pink slip.

  While I was getting up the nerve to break the news, Dad said, “Katie, I thought that tonight I would take you on a little Daddy-Daughter date.”

  I just stared at him, completely freaked out.

  Mom broke the silence. “That’s a great idea! Go on and get ready, Katie.”

  In a fog, I went upstairs to change. I put on my lime-green baby-doll style dress with my pink leggings. And since I was having a not-so-great hair day, I stuck my denim newsboy hat on over my braids. I also wore the little pearl necklace my parents got me for my twelfth birthday. Maybe if Dad got upset about the detention he might see the necklace, remember how much he loves me, and forget all about being mad.

  We had a good time over a piece of Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake. He put a big blob of icing on the end of his nose and pretended he didn’t know it was there. He even left it there when the guy came to refill our drinks! Dad’s pretty funny … I mean for a grown-up. But the whole time I kept thinking that I needed to tell him about detention. When we were done with the cake, I just blurted it out.

  “Dad, I got detention for writing Zachary Donaldson’s name on the bathroom wall,” I said. I stared at the empty cake plate, hoping a tornado would come and take me to the Land of Oz.

  “I know,” he said. “Principal Butter called today and told me.”

  I looked up at him and said, “You do? Then why did you take me out for dessert if you knew what I did?” My eyes were starting to tear up.

  “Katie, what you did was very wrong and I hope you’ll never do something like that again, but I think I understand why you did it. I don’t believe your intentions were to deface the school’s property,” he said.

  “Definitely not, Dad! I just wanted to get Zachary’s attention, and that’s all I could think of to do. Now I see that it wasn’t such a hot idea after all,” I said. “So … what’s my punishment going to be?”

  “Your mom and I think detention is probably enough,” he said. Then he reached across the table, grabbed my hand, and said, “Honey, you’re a pretty incredible girl. If you just keep on being your incredible self, someday, when you’re old enough, an incredible guy will find you and you’ll have an incredible life together. But for now, just have fun being twelve.”

  “It’s so majorly hard! Zachary’s so amazing! He’s like all I think about!” I told him.

  Dad gave my hand a squeeze. I looked around hoping no one saw me holding hands with my dad. He said, “I know Zachary’s great, but for now, why don’t you let your dear old dad take you out on dates?”

  “Dad, no offense, but you are so cheesy sometimes,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  When we got back home, a shiny BMW convertible was parked in our driveway. I walked in and saw Danika McAllister and her mom sitting in the living room.

  Danika’s one of the most popular girls in school. We see each other sometimes and say “hi” and stuff, but we don’t really hang out like we used to. Our moms have been good friends ever since we were babies. Sometimes her mom comes over to ask my mom for advice.

  “Hey, Danika. Hi, Mrs. McAllister,” I said.

  My mom looked at me and said, “Sweetie, why don’t you and Danika go in your room for a bit while we talk?”

  “Sure. Come on, Danika,” I said.

  After I shut my bedroom door and turned some music on, we sat down on my blue fuzzy beanbag chairs and Danika told me she got a pink slip, too.

  When she was throwing her lunch away, a container popped open and her mom’s Purple Flurp dessert splashed all over Mrs. Hefty’s face.

  Mrs. Hefty is one of the cafeteria ladies and she’s totally bizarre. The rumor around school is that Purple Flurp actually stained Mrs. Hefty’s face blue. Danika told me that wasn’t true.

  “That’s pretty bad,” I said. “I wrote Zachary Donaldson’s name on the bathroom wall, but I did it in pencil so it wouldn’t really be graffiti.”

  “Wow. You’re totally crushing on him, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Totally. I just know we were meant to be together. It’s like … destiny,” I said with a sigh.

  We both leaned back on the beanbags and stared up at the glow-in-the-dark planet stickers on my ceiling, wondering what we should do.

  “Maybe if we had a club just for girls, we could promise not to let each other do stupid things anymore. It could be a club where we can totally trust each other because we won’t blab everything to anyone else,” she said.

  “That could be cool. We could promise to be friends that really stick together and don’t lie to each other and stuff,” I agreed.

  Danika got really wound up. She hopped up and announced, “We’ll call it the Secret Keeper Girl Club!”

  She remembered too. “Like that really cool show our moms took us to a couple years ago!”

  When we were ten, our moms took us to a Secret Keeper Girl show in Cleveland. It’s this crazy, fun thing just for girls our age. There were tons of balloons, loud music, and even a fashion show. We had a blast.

  I hopped up and ran over to my dresser and pulled out a blue box. When I opened it, Danika squealed.

  “Oh my goodness! You still have the friendship bracelets they gave us!” Her beautiful Asian eyes were all sparkly with excitement.

  After sharing some good memories of what it was like to be friends before Danika got in with the popular crowd, we knew we needed to protect our friendship in a girls’ club … the Secret Keeper Girl Club.

  “Let’s have our first club meeting this week,” Danika suggested.

  “We have detention this week,” I answered flatly.

  “Oh, yeah,” she remembered. Then sarcastically she said, “Oh, boy!”

  “A boy’s what got me into trouble to begin with,” I reminded her.

  I am really hoping the Secret Keeper Girl Club will help me figure out all the crazy things I feel for Zachary Donaldson. Only time will tell.

  CHAPTER 4

  Love Lessons

  Wednesday—my first day of detention. When people at school asked me if I was nervous about it, I was like, “Whatever” and “No big deal,” but inside I was way panicky. What would it be like? Besides me and Danika, who else would be in there?

  To keep my mind off going to detention, I spent a lot of time thinking about the Secret Keeper Girl Club. It was good to be friends with Danika again. Having a good bud could help me make some better choices. My idea to get Zachary to notice me was obviously a major disaster.

  At the end of the school day, Mr. Milton told me to go to the Art Room for detention. Mrs. Hefty is normally the detention monitor, but she was taking the week off. So Mrs. Velasquez, the art teacher, was going to be our detention teacher, which was awesome. She’s the youngest, coolest, prettiest teacher in our school. Even kids who don’t like art love her class. She even lets us call her Mrs. V. I walked into the art room and there she was, washing out some paintbrushes.

  “Hi, Mrs. V,” I said nervously.

  “Good afternoon, Kaitlin. Oh wait, you like to be called ‘Kate,’ don’t you? Good afternoon, Kate,” she said as she signed my pink slip.

  I relaxed a little and said, “Yeah. Thanks.” I stood by her desk wondering what to do.

  She must have noticed my awkwardness because she said, “I guess you can just sit anywhere.”

  After I sat down Danika came in and sat next to me. We both watched as Toni Diaz walked in. Toni’s super cute and she’s totally into sports. She said “hey” and took a seat. Next a girl came in that I didn’t really know. Her family just moved to Marion. She gave a shy smile and sat in the back of the room. Mrs. V said her name is Yuzi.

  Mrs. V went over a few rules and encouraged us to work or read. She didn’t mind if we talked quietly. Then she sat down at her desk.

  My pencil tip was broken so I walked up to the sharpen
er at the front of the room. While I was there, I scanned over the items on Mrs. V’s desk: a jar full of paintbrushes, a carousel packed full of markers, stacks of sketchbooks, and a Barbie that had been painted green with flower petals glued around its head. But the thing that really caught my eye was her wedding photo in an artsy-beaded frame.

  “Mrs. V, when did you get married?” I asked.

  “Three years ago. Why?” she said.

  “How did you know you were in love?” I asked.

  She took a deep breath and said, “Well, let’s see. Donny and I were good friends for quite awhile. And one day while we were laughing and sharing a bag of animal crackers, I knew I wanted to laugh with him for the rest of my life. It was like this natural, easy thing. I could just be myself and he loved me.”

  I sighed and said, “Oh.”

  “Do you think you’re in love with someone, Kate?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I just have this boy bud who’s really cool and I’m in here because I wrote his name on the bathroom wall hoping somehow it would get his attention. I know I shouldn’t obsess about him, but I just can’t help it!”

  Mrs. V was quiet for a second and then said, “Maybe instead of writing your thoughts on the bathroom wall, you could put your pencil to better use.”

  I didn’t understand. “What do you mean?” I asked. She said, “I think I can help you get over your boy craziness with a little bit of writing.”

  “What kind of writing?” I asked.

  She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a plain green notebook. She handed it to me and said, “I want you to ask three people what true love is and write their answers in this journal. Then let me know what you come up with.”

  I took the notebook and held it to my chest and said, “That’s a great idea, Mrs. V! Do you think it would be okay if I wrote other things in here, too?”

  “Absolutely, Kate,” she said with her amazing smile.

  In that second I decided that she was a teacher we could totally trust.

  “Mrs. V, Danika and I were talking about making better choices and stuff. And we figured that since we both got detention, we need to try and help each other out. So she came up with a great idea about a club. Wanna hear about it?” I asked.

  “You bet,” she said.

  “Hey, Danika! Come up and tell Mrs. V about the Secret Keeper Girl Club!” I said excitedly.

  “Shh,” Mrs. V reminded, but she was smiling.

  While Danika filled Mrs. V in on the details of the SKG club, I sat down and began writing in my journal.

  Dear Diary,

  What I’m about to write is a major big deal. This is my first official journal entry. I’ve never really kept an actual diary before, but I think this will be a great way to get all my thoughts and ideas all in one spot. Besides, when I become president, my journals will be worth a TON of money.

  Mrs. Velasquez gave this journal to me with an assignment.

  ASSIGNMENT: Ask 3 people what true love is.

  Mrs. V’s answer (not included in the 3): “It was a natural, easy thing. I could be myself and he loved me.”

  Danika called me back up to Mrs. V’s desk and we all decided to ask Toni and Yuzi to be in the Club with us. They were really into it. Mrs. V even told us that we could have club meetings in her room on Wednesdays after school!

  Walking out of detention with my new BFFs, I had a tingly feeling of excitement that started in my little piggy toe and traveled all the way up to the top of my ponytail, and it didn’t have anything to do with Zachary. It was all about being a Secret Keeper Girl and the great new journal Mrs. V had given to me!

  As I walked down the hall, I wondered who I should interview first to find out about true love.

  Oh, yeah! I said under my breath. I’ve got the perfect person.

  CHAPTER 5

  Question and Answers

  Andrea Dorkelson. That’s my sister’s name since she married Barry Dorkelson this summer. They live in Malibu now, which stinks. California is so far away from Ohio. I figured I would give her a call and ask her my journal assignment question.

  “Andrea DORKelson? This is your sister, Kate, who still has a normal last name,” I said. I love making fun of her last name.

  “Katie! I’m so glad you called! And you better be careful—you might end up with a strange last name someday, too!”

  “Doubt it,” I said. Besides, I already knew that someday my last name would probably be Donaldson. “Hey, my teacher gave me an assignment and I need your help with it.”

  “All right. What do you need?”

  “My art teacher gave me a journal assignment when I was in detention today to ask three people … ”

  “Detention?!” Andrea interrupted me. “What in the world were you in detention for?”

  “For defacing school property … so anyway, I need to ask three people—”

  She interrupted me again. “Defacing school property?! Are you nuts?! You’re only twelve!” Andrea was obviously confused, but I was too pumped about the assignment to fill her in.

  “It’s kind of a long story. Please just let me ask you the question,” I said impatiently.

  She was frustrated, but agreed to help me.

  “Okay. Here goes…. What is true love?” I asked.

  She answered right away. “We have a saying on our bedroom wall, ‘You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.’”

  “Andrea, no wonder your last name has the word dork in it, because that’s like one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard,” I said.

  “Come on, Katie! Dr. Seuss said it. Isn’t that cool?” she said.

  “Dr. Seuss?! As in the Green Eggs and Ham guy?” I was not impressed. Andrea used to be a total brainiac. She should know that a guy who writes kids’ books wouldn’t know anything about true love.

  After I hung up the phone, I sat with my head in my hands for a little while. I got out my journal and wrote.

  PERSON #1: Andrea’s answer to “What is true love?” was totally lame, but I have to write it down anyway. It’s a quote that says “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” What in the world is that supposed to mean? She used to be really smart.

  NOTE TO MYSELF: Stay smart … even if you get married.

  Pete was in the basement playing a football video game. Maybe he would have a good answer.

  “Pete,” I interrupted, “can you pause that for a sec so I can ask you something? It’s kind of important.”

  “Yeah, hang on. Let me finish this play,” he said as he tilted the controller back and forth. Then he started yelling at the screen, “Go! Go! Go! Go!!! Dude!! That was so righteous!!”

  After he paused it, he turned to me and said, “So, whussup? Are you in need of my never-ending supply of wisdom, young Skywalker?”

  I said, “Uh … sure … whatever. I just need you to answer a question for me, ’k?”

  “Cool. What’s the question?” He lifted his cup to take a drink.

  I cleared my throat and said, “What is true love?”

  Pete made kind of a choking sound and spit orange soda all over the place. “Yo! What kind of a messed-up question is that?”

  “It’s an assignment I have from school. Why are you so freaked out?”

  “Well,” he said, “it’s just that the big ‘L-word’ is a totally off-the-wall thing. I don’t think anyone really gets it, especially not me!”

  “Can’t you just please try to come up with an answer, Pete? I need to have something to write in my journal!” I had resorted to whining a little.

  “Okay. Okay. Don’t get all crazy on me,” he said. “Just let me chill for a sec.”

  He leaned forward and kept wringing his hands together. Then he took a deep breath and said, “I guess I’ve always thought true love will be one of the easiest things I’ll do. Like I won’t have to try to do it. So maybe my an
swer would be: If you’re trying something and it’s totally non-easy, then it’s not the real thing. It’s just you trying to make something work that wasn’t meant to be.”

  There was a really long silence after he said that. We both kind of just watched each other. I don’t know what he was thinking, but I couldn’t believe my brother just said four sentences without saying “dude” or “sweet.” This love thing must be really serious.

  Back to my journal:

  PERSON #2: Pete basically said he thinks true love is something that should be easy. My question is, if it’s so easy, why did he spit his soda all over the place when I asked him about it?

  NOTE TO MYSELF: There must be some kind of a secret about love that no one’s telling me.

  I had one more person to ask. I decided to IM Danika. Since she’s my new BFF and the official founder of the Secret Keeper Girl Club, I figured we should start asking each other important things. I love Danika’s screen name: TeenyPopGirl. She always wins some new title at the Miss Teeny Pop contest at our town’s annual Popcorn Festival.

  FuturePrez: can u talk?

  TeenyPopGirl: ok whussup?

  Future Prez: wut do u think tru luv is?

  TeenyPopGirl: idk … I guess if u put ur hand over ur heart and say a boy’s name and ur heart beats faster, then u luv him

  FuturePrez: cool

  TeenyPopGirl: gtg cu L8R

  FuturePrez: CU

  PERSON #3: Finally something that makes sense! Danika said that I should put my hand over my heart. If my heart beats faster when I say a boy’s name, that means it’s true love. I’m gonna try it now.

  I went upstairs and lay on my bed beside Sharkey. I took a deep breath and put my hand over where my heart is. I said “Zachary Donaldson” very slowly and seriously and waited.