by Megan Atwood
The house smelled delicious as always. Mr. G and Sarah’s mom traipsed into the kitchen, leaving Sarah to linger by the stairs. She wondered if she should hit the banister three times—if she did it now, would it bring bad luck instead of good luck?
A voice in the living room spoke. “Aren’t you going to hit the banister?” It was Lizzie. She walked into the light in the entranceway but stayed far away from Sarah.
Sarah shrugged. “I didn’t want to ruin luck for everyone else,” she said. Then she looked at the ground.
Lizzie didn’t say anything for a minute.
Then she took a deep breath. “Peter and Olive quit the stand.”
Sarah’s head popped up. “What?”
Lizzie looked at Sarah with an unreadable expression. “They think they’re causing too much trouble. So they quit.”
Sarah wanted a hole to swallow her up. Before she could respond, Ms. G’s booming voice announced dinner. Sarah began to say something, but Lizzie had already started walking to the table. Sarah had no choice but to follow.
Mr. G had made Sarah’s favorite dinner: spaghetti and meatballs. Plus, there were hummus and pita appetizers, samosas with potatoes, spring rolls, and a Spanish omelet. He’d cooked enough for twenty people.
They all sat down, the adults talking animatedly and Sarah playing with her food. She couldn’t taste anything, anyway. Plus, she and Lizzie had to tell them that the money was gone. Sarah wondered if the day could get any worse.
Lizzie’s and Sarah’s eyes met; Sarah knew that Lizzie knew it was time.
Lizzie cleared her throat. “Um . . . ,” she said. But the adults kept talking. “Um . . . ,” she tried again.
Sarah almost smiled. At least this was familiar. Only, it wasn’t funny. Lizzie should be able to speak. “HEY!” Sarah practically yelled. “Lizzie has something to say.”
Everyone stopped talking and looked at Sarah with surprise. Sarah caught a tiny smile on Lizzie’s face and smiled back, just a little. A small, almost undetectable warm feeling started spreading through her.
“Uh, yeah,” Lizzie said. “So, we lost all the money in the safe.” She looked down at her plate.
Sarah couldn’t stand to think that Lizzie felt bad. And she thought about Olive and Peter and how awful she’d been to them. So she sat up straight. “It was my fault. I’m sure I left the safe unlocked.”
Lizzie gave her a questioning look. She was about to say something when Mr. G spoke up.
“Oh, no! It can’t be too much, can it, though? I took the money to the bank around three thirty or so, and that left only a tiny bit of the day for you. I thought we should put that money in the bank since you’re doing so well! But, are there extended hours for the stand now? Hmm. Did you make that decision, Tabitha? That might not be a great idea, although if they’re already making so much money, then this is a big deal, wow! Also, that might be against the law, work-wise . . .”
“Dad,” Lizzie said loudly. She shrank back a little from the sound of her own voice, but Sarah got a zing of pride watching her take center stage. She cleared her throat. “Are you saying you took the money from the safe while we were working?”
Mr. G nodded. “Oh, yes. Didn’t you get my note?”
Sarah could hardly believe her ears. She felt like she was going to fall over with relief. Lizzie put her head in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking. At first Sarah thought she was crying, but then she saw that she was laughing. This made Sarah start too. The laugh began in her toes and came all the way up to her stomach, making her hold it to keep it from falling apart.
“Mr. G,” Sarah said through guffaws, “I think you forgot to leave the note.”
Mr. G said, “Oh, no! I’m positive I did. Because I used this little pencil here”—he rummaged around in his pocket—“that I found on the ground outside and I thought, ‘I wonder if we put together all the pencils that were lost somewhere end to end, how many times would it encircle the Earth—’ ” He stopped abruptly as he pulled up the pencil. Because with it was a crumpled piece of paper.
He opened the note and read it, then put it back in his pocket. “Whoops.” He smiled and shrugged. “Guess I didn’t leave it there! I hope that didn’t worry you.”
The more she thought about it, the more Sarah could not stop laughing. She thought about the past couple of days. And then everything that’d happened just that very day. They’d spent all day following some poor, unsuspecting kid because they thought he’d been stealing. And they didn’t even do a good job of trailing him! He’d figured it out long before they figured out how to do it in a way that he wouldn’t notice. They must have looked so silly.
Sarah’s laughs got bigger and bigger, until she was, much to her embarrassment, snorting. Loudly. She couldn’t stop. “I’m just . . . thinking about the antiques store . . . and outside . . . when I dove into weeds and Olive . . . and Lizzie . . .” She honestly couldn’t breathe.
Lizzie was now helplessly laughing too. She held her stomach and leaned over. “And . . . and . . . then we thought everybody in town stole . . .” This made Sarah start another round of laughing. She even hit the table a few times, making the spaghetti jump. When Sarah got ahold of herself, she managed to look up and see all three adults staring at her and Lizzie, dumbfounded.
Sarah wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked at Lizzie. It was time. “Lizzie, can I talk to you?”
Lizzie wiped her eyes too and nodded.
“May we be excused?” Sarah asked her mom and the Garrisons. They all looked at each other and shrugged, as if they’d planned it.
Sarah and Lizzie, without having to say anything out loud, walked through the kitchen and through the back door to the gazebo in back. The Garrisons had lit it with tiny white lights and had put mosquito netting around it. It was one of Sarah’s favorite places. There was a swing in there and a comfy chair. Sarah took the swing and Lizzie sat on the chair.
The only sounds were the crickets, which were getting loud. The sun was just setting, and Sarah thought she might actually think it was super-pretty, if she didn’t have to talk about how mean she’d been.
“Lizzie, I’m so sorry. I’ve been awful. I was so mean to Peter and Olive and it was for stupid reasons. I don’t know why I acted like that.” Although, really, she did.
Lizzie sat cross-legged and put her chin on her hands. “I don’t understand, Sarah. You’re normally the one who takes people in. Or, at least, fights for them. Remember in first grade when we cornered Tom Patel and told him he couldn’t pick on people anymore? You always help people who are getting picked on.” And here Lizzie started crying. “But this time, I watched you, my best friend, start picking on people who were just trying to be nice and to fit in. And I knew you were hurting, but I couldn’t help.”
Sarah swung furiously, trying not to cry, but it didn’t work. It was worse that Lizzie was disappointed in her. Way worse.
Sarah said through tears, “I know. I just . . . I got scared, Lizzie.” And then everything came pouring out. “Because it seemed like you had so much in common with Peter and Olive. And Gloria and her best friend just STOPPED being friends one day. So I was afraid that would happen to us! I don’t like old movies—and you don’t like sports or math. What if the only thing we had in common was the zombie hayride? And then Peter and Olive came along and you did your voices with them and Olive finished your sentences and they liked the zombie hayride too so it wasn’t just ours anymore and then they got to be in the ice cream stand too and then THAT wasn’t just ours anymore and I thought you were going to be like Gloria and not be friends with me anymore and I don’t know what I’d do if that happened, Lizzie. Because you are my best friend always and I will never not want you to be.” Sarah finished with a huge sob. All the stress of the past two weeks, all of the feeling left out, and the worry, and all of the disappointment in herself, came rushing through a flood of tears. She buried her head in her hands.
She felt the swing move and then
arms wrap around her. Lizzie was bear-hugging her and crying too.
“Mmgsdfffatowt,” Lizzie said.
Sarah said, “What?” and then sniffed so loudly, it startled Lizzie. They both giggled and sat back.
Lizzie said, “I am ALWAYS your best friend. I don’t care if you don’t like the exact same things I do. How boring would that be? I just want you to be you. You NEVER have to worry about that.” Her eyes teared up again. “I can’t believe you thought that.”
Sarah laughed. “Well, now it seems silly.”
In a British accent, Lizzie said, “Quite right, good fellow!” And then they were off snort-laughing again.
It felt good. The warm fuzzy feeling was back—Sarah felt like she could fly. She had her best friend back.
She had actually never lost her.
But there was still work to do. There were two more people she needed to make amends to. And she wanted more than ever to really be their friends.
“Lizzie, I really want to make it up to Peter and Olive. I have been so terrible to them, and you know what? I think I would really like them.” Lizzie nodded so hard, her head almost bumped up against the back of the swing.
“So I need to come up with some way, some big gesture to make sure they know they’re welcome here. . . .” Sarah looked out of the gazebo and tapped her finger on her mouth.
Lizzie’s eyes sparkled. “I think I have an idea. Can you stand watching some old movies?”
Sarah grinned. “I can stand anything as long as you’re my best friend and I get two NEW best friends soon too!”
Lizzie squeaked and then said, “Deal. Follow me.”
CHAPTER 13
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Plus All the Toppings, Plus Swedish Fish, Equals Please Come Back to the Stand
Sarah yawned. It was after midnight and she and Lizzie had been watching movies for hours. But they had finally come up with a game plan and Sarah was excited, as well as exhausted.
Lizzie blinked at her sleepily. “So, tomorrow we do some supercuts? I think Gloria could help.”
Sarah groaned and rolled her eyes and put on her best Gloria voice, which wasn’t that great. “Dear babies, why is it you cut up movies?”
Lizzie giggled and in a Gloria voice that was that great said, “Why do you bother me with such baby things? ACTING!”
Sarah yelled, “ACTING!” And then they collapsed in giggles. Sarah settled into her sleeping bag in Lizzie’s room. Lizzie was on the floor in her sleeping bag too, even though she had her bed right there. But they both liked to sleep in the bags on the floor, even though the floor was a little drafty in the old house. Still, this was what they always did. Though Sarah thought they could probably come up with something different soon—and it would be okay.
Lizzie fell asleep almost immediately, but Sarah was still thinking hard about things. She was nervous about tomorrow. The stand opened at eleven. She had to put all these clips together, and Lizzie had to talk Peter and Olive into coming to the orchard beforehand. She hoped against hope it wasn’t too late to make things better.
The next morning was a blur of activity. The first thing they had to do was wake up Gloria. Lizzie tiptoed into her room and Sarah stood by the door. Gloria had remodeled her room with huge, fancy curtains and had even made a paper chandelier and had put it over the light fixture up above. She slept with an eye mask on.
Lizzie gently shook her. “Gloria,” she whispered. “Wake up, Gloria.” Gloria grunted and rolled over, and Sarah thought she saw some drool. Gross. “Gloria . . . ,” Lizzie gently said.
Suddenly, Gloria sat straight up and said, “Stanislavski!” Lizzie looked back at Sarah with bewilderment. Sarah shrugged. She’d long ago stopped trying to make sense out of Gloria.
Lizzie cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to wake you up, Gloria. But we need your help.”
Gloria blinked at her.
Lizzie went on, “I mean, you’re the ONLY one who can help us. Can you come to the office?”
Gloria blinked some more. Finally, she said, “I will help you, as I am the only one who can.” Lizzie turned to Sarah and gave her a thumbs-up. While she was doing that, Gloria went back to sleep.
Ms. G appeared next to Sarah, a coffee cup in her hand. She put her hand on Sarah’s shoulder and said, “Oh, Lizzie. You know getting her up before twelve o’clock is useless. Can I help with something?”
Gloria had already begun to snore again.
Lizzie sighed and joined Sarah and Ms. G in the hallway, shutting Gloria’s door behind her.
“We need to splice some movie clips together,” Lizzie said.
Sarah nodded. “I’m trying to apologize to Peter and Olive. And we figured out how to do everything except put all the clips of the movies together.”
Ms. G enveloped Sarah in a hug. Sarah leaned into it. “That’s wonderful. And as a matter of fact, I CAN help with that. I’ve been working on some home movie stuff myself. Let’s get going.”
Sarah looked at Lizzie. “Are you going to call Peter and Olive?”
Lizzie nodded. “I’m going to help Dad out for a little bit, and then I’ll call. It’s only seven o’clock. I don’t want to wake them. I want them in the best mood when we talk.” She crossed her fingers. Sarah crossed her fingers too. Then Lizzie went to help her dad, and Sarah and Ms. G went to the office.
Two hours later, Sarah and Ms. G high-fived. They had spliced all the movies together and made an AMAZING supercut.
Lizzie came in almost at the exact moment they finished. She looked a little down. But she smiled at Sarah anyway. “Guess what?” she said.
Sarah’s stomach flipped. This had to be about Peter and Olive. “Did they . . .”
“YES!” said Lizzie. Sarah got up and grabbed Lizzie’s arms and they both jumped up and down, squealing.
Ms. G laughed and got up, stretching. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it.”
“Thanks, Ms. G,” Sarah said.
Ms. G put her hand on Sarah’s head and said, “You’re doing the right thing. I’m proud of you. And your mother is too.”
Sarah got a little teary but pushed the tears back. Now wasn’t the time.
“Should we make the flyers?” Lizzie asked.
Sarah nodded and grinned. “Definitely.”
At ten o’clock, Sarah stood near the counter in the ice cream stand, nervous and pacing. Lizzie was there too, chewing on her fingers. The stand was decorated with all sorts of glittery flyers and a huge homemade sign that said WELCOME on it. The TV/DVD combo they’d borrowed from Lizzie’s parents stood next to the cash register. Sarah was going to do this right. Now they just needed Peter and Olive to follow the signs and flags that she and Lizzie had planted all the way from Lizzie’s house to the stand.
If everything went well, they should be there any moment.
Lizzie suddenly squeaked. Sarah knew that meant they were on their way. She and Lizzie ducked behind the counter and peeked over it.
Olive and Peter came walking up, their faces full of confusion. They read the sign that said WELCOME, and then Olive said to Peter, “Are you sure those signs were for us?”
Sarah took the remote control for the TV/DVD combination and pressed Play.
The movie Sarah and Lizzie had put together started playing.
It started out with a clip from a movie that said, “Welcome!” and went on from there. Sarah and Lizzie had picked parts from twelve old movies. They’d put them together to say:
“Welcome! I am so glad you’re here. I am so sorry I was a rapscallion. A scallywag. A hooligan. A ne’er-do-well. A two-faced bucket of howdy-doody.
“I really like you. Please, can we be friends?
“Also, ZOMBIES!”
The last clip was from a black-and-white movie with zombies ambling toward people. At that, Sarah jumped up from behind the counter and did her zombie impression. Lizzie was supposed to too, but she didn’t move right away. When she did, her eyes were bright and shiny, but she groaned and walked l
ike a zombie.
“Brrraaaaiiinnnns,” Sarah said. Then she went into the back of the ice cream stand, went out the door, and walked to Peter and Olive, who were standing near the counter, facing the stand. Lizzie stood near her.
Peter and Olive were laughing. Olive pushed her glasses back up her nose and said, “That was amazing!”
Sarah swallowed and got serious. “I am really sorry I’ve been so awful. I was afraid I was losing Lizzie as a friend and I acted . . . bad. I am so glad you’re here. I really like you guys! Will you still work the stand with us? And . . .” Sarah looked down. “And maybe consider being my friend?”
For a second, nobody moved. And then Olive threw her arms around Sarah, and Peter did too. And then Lizzie threw her arms around all of them.
It was exactly how Sarah had imagined it.
When they split up, Peter said, “You put all this together for us?”
Sarah nodded. “I mean, it was the least I could do! And I plan on making this up to you all summer! And THEN. When we plan the zombie hayride, too!”
Peter high-fived Olive and then Sarah. He put his hand out to Lizzie, but she sniffled and looked down.
Sarah had a terrible thought—was LIZZIE jealous now?
But it was Lizzie, and Sarah didn’t think she had it in her. “What’s going on, Lizzie?”
Lizzie looked up and tears shone in her eyes. “I hate to ruin this moment, but . . . you should all probably know. This morning, our tractor broke. It’s been acting up and they’ve been getting it fixed over and over. But this time, it can’t be fixed. So any money we get from the stand HAS to go to a new tractor. Otherwise the orchard could go out of business if we can’t grow, you know, apples.”
The news hit them like an ice cream cone splatting on a sidewalk. Sarah slumped against the stand. Peter looked up and huffed out his breath. And Olive put her face in her hands and shook her head.
Sarah realized: this hayride wasn’t just important to her and Lizzie. It was important to Peter and Olive, too.