“That’s wonderful news.” He sounded excited.
“There’s only one problem,” I said.
“What’s that?”
“The tour is during spring break.”
There was a short pause. “I guess we could plan your visit for another time.” Disappointment seemed to leap into his voice.
“What about this summer?” I suggested.
“Sure, that’s a possibility.” His voice revved up a bit.
“The tour will take us to L.A. So maybe you can come hear us sing during spring break.”
“You can count on it. We’ll be there.”
We’ll…That meant I’d have to share him with Saundra. Even the way he pronounced her name gave me the creeps. Could prayer change my attitude toward her?
I wandered downstairs, looking for Mom. She was in the family room, curled up reading a book. “Daddy said he’d come to hear me sing with the choir…and he agreed that maybe I could visit him this summer instead.”
Mom merely nodded. “We’ll talk things over.”
“By the way, where’s Carrie’s last report card?” I asked.
“In the desk in my room. Why do you want it?”
I sat down beside her on the couch. “I thought Carrie could send it to Daddy. I feel funny about Carrie being left out of things with him. She’s his daughter, too.”
“How does she feel about it?” Mom asked, reaching over to loosen the clips in my hair.
“I’m not sure. I hope she doesn’t feel jealous. Jealousy is a miserable thing.”
Mom paused. “Now that your father has shown an interest again, maybe Carrie will want to know him better, too.” She brushed one side of my hair while I did the other.
“Why didn’t Daddy keep in touch with us more than just a note on a birthday card or tons of presents at Christmas?” This question burned inside me.
“Honey, I don’t understand that, either. But I do know he has paid his support money to the court registry faithfully every month all these years. That’s something lots of dads don’t do.”
She braided my hair in one thick braid.
“It’s still so hard,” I said, deep in thought, “but I’m more concerned with his salvation now.” It was true. Very few nights had passed recently that I didn’t say his name in my prayers.
“I feel very close to you tonight, Holly-Heart,” Mom said, giving me a hug.
“Me too.” Again, I felt sorry for Stan, Phil, Mark, and little Stephie. “Mom?” I said, thinking of their loss.
“Yes, honey?”
“I really do love you. Even though I can get sassy sometimes…always remember?”
“I’ll remember.” She hugged and kissed me, and I headed for bed.
At Wednesday night choir rehearsal, I was assigned a spot on the risers next to Jared! I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to lash out at him, but I kept my mouth shut except to sing, my hands firmly gripped on the music folder.
“What a relief,” Jared said between the first and second songs.
“You’re here. It’s like a miracle.”
“The only miracle I know is you haven’t been found out before now,” I blurted out.
“What do you mean, Holly-Heart?” He sounded so innocent.
“Don’t call me that.” I felt sick inside. Crushed. And fooled into thinking he was too good to be true.
We practiced five more songs for our tour repertoire before Mr. Keller dismissed us. Andie came right over to Jared, ignoring me. She acted like a mother hen, holding his crutches, helping him with his jacket.
I couldn’t watch this. In the strongest voice I could muster, I said, “Jared, you’re not welcome at my birthday party. I’ve thought about this a lot, and I’m sorry.” Heading for the church foyer, I waited for Mom, holding my breath and willing the tears away.
On Thursday morning I got up really early. Quietly, I pulled a purple folder out from between the box springs and mattress of my canopy bed. I’d told Andie about destroying our original Loyalty Papers, but she didn’t know there was a duplicate copy.
It was time to confront Andie with the truth about Jared. I cut out the paragraph referring to one of us backing away from a guy to save our friendship. In a hot pink marker, I circled it and wrote, I’m willing. Jared’s not worth the destruction of us!
There, that should speak loud and clear. I folded it neatly and slipped it into a business-sized envelope. Licking it shut, I labeled the envelope, IMPORTANT! PRIVATE! I would slide it into her gym locker during warm-ups.
With my birthday party only two days away, things just had to work out between Andie and me. And soon.
BEST FRIEND, WORST ENEMY
Chapter 15
On the snowy walk to school, I couldn’t stop thinking about Andie. Would she accept my note? What could I do to make her see what a two-timer Jared was?
I was heading up the sidewalk to school when I heard someone call my name. I turned to look.
It was Jared. He sat on the brick wall surrounding the courtyard leading to the school’s main entrance. His bum leg was sticking out, supported by one crutch. In his hand lay a single long-stemmed rose.
“Holly-Heart,” he called again. “This is for you.” He held it out.
“Give it to Andie,” I shot back.
He ignored that. “I know it’s a little late, but happy birthday.
And…I’m sorry about your aunt.”
“Not sorry enough.” I folded my arms.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “But things aren’t the way they seem.” He shifted his bad leg off the crutch.
“You must think I’m totally dense, Jared. I don’t want any of your explanations. What you did was unforgivable. I thought you were better than that.” I turned to go.
“Honestly, Holly, Andie and I are just friends,” he insisted, holding the rose out farther.
“Is that what you told her about me?” I glanced around. “Where is she, anyway?”
Jared frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me. You’re the one with a problem.” I remembered, with a twinge of pain, how perfect things were…just a week ago, before I’d left for Aunt Marla’s funeral. The outside temperature added to the cold, painful reality of seeing Jared for who he really was. I shivered, pulling the collar of my coat against my neck.
“C’mon, Holly.” He held the sweet-smelling rose out to me again. “I want you to have this.”
The rose—his attention—was so hard to resist. But I had to. “Don’t do this,” I pleaded, turning to go, leaving him sitting alone. Opening the doors to the school, I refused to look back.
During PE I found time to slip back down to the girls’ locker room. Quickly, I opened my locker and found the long envelope with the copy of the clipping from the Loyalty Papers. I hurried to Andie’s locker and slid the envelope through the slits in the door. Now she’d have something to think about. Maybe she’d even call me and request a face-to-face meeting. I was desperate to get my best friend back!
After school, I noticed Jared in the stairwell. He’d cornered some girl. I couldn’t see who, but it wasn’t Andie. Whoever it was, I could tell they were involved in animated conversation.
Way to go, Jared. Fool someone new. Peering around the corner at them made me hurt all over again.
Billy Hill zipped past, nearly knocking me over. “Excu-use me,” he said. Together, we walked toward the front entrance. “You look depressed.”
“It’s Jared. Mr. Flirt himself is attempting to charm yet another girl,” I said, referring to the stairwell scene. “Why did I fall for his empty words?”
“Don’t be hard on yourself,” Billy said, “Jared’s just some guy, that’s all.”
“But he’s two-timing Andie. If she only knew!”
“If I were Jared, I’d stick with Andie,” he said, and then, realizing he’d let something personal slip, he blushed.
He likes Andie! I thought. Perfect. I shifted my books from
one arm to the other.
“The way Jared was talking in class, you’d think he was stringing you along, too.” Billy was covering his tracks.
I scuffed my shoe as hard as I could. “His brain’s definitely warped.”
Just then a fabulous idea struck. “Wouldn’t it be fun to catch Jared at his own game? You know, teach him a lesson?”
“Yeah,” Billy laughed. “Like how?”
We pushed the front doors open. The smell of woodsmoke filled the air.
“I have an idea, but let’s talk later,” I said. We headed home in opposite directions.
Cutting through the school yard, I noticed Marcia Greene making fresh footprints in the snow. She wore a heavy tan parka. The hood was tied tightly, framing her face, and in her mittened hand she had a single, long-stemmed red rose.
So that’s who Jared had cornered. Marcia Greene and I were destined for a heart-to-heart talk. Andie too. Wait’ll she heard about this—precisely what I needed to convince Andie of the truth. I decided to wait until after supper to phone her. That would give her a chance to get finished with homework before I dumped the bad news on her.
When I got home from school, Carrie had stacks of artwork and old report cards piled on the table. She must’ve heard about my chat with Mom last night. That Daddy might like to see some of her progress.
“Carrie,” I called to her, opening the fridge.
She bounded up the stairs and into the kitchen. “You’re home.
Good.”
“Want to make a package to send to Daddy?”
She showed off two pages of artwork. “These are my favorites. Think he’ll like them?”
I nodded. “If you want to keep the originals, Mom can make color copies at work.”
Carrie seemed to like the idea. So I spent the rest of the afternoon helping her compose a letter to Daddy.
After our supper of chicken chow mein—yum!—I settled down at the dining room table to do some homework. I was finishing up my algebra assignment when the phone rang. I flew across the kitchen to get it.
“Hey, Holly.” It was Billy.
“Hey,” I said.
“I was thinking about what you said today. I saw this show on TV about a guy who wasn’t happy unless he was dating at least two girls at once.”
“And?”
“He not only two-timed every girl he went with, but he got messed up trying to keep things straight with the girls he’d lined up dates with.”
“That won’t happen to Jared,” I said, determined. “Not when the word gets out about him to every girl in Dressel Hills. Beginning with Andie.” I took a deep breath. “I have a fabulous scheme. Wanna help me pull it off?”
“Absolutely,” Billy said.
“Here it is.” I told him what I’d dreamed up on my way home from school.
Billy laughed when he heard my plan. “You’re right,” he said. “Your birthday party will be the perfect place to set Jared up. Whoa, Holly, you’re good.”
“So…I’ll talk to you later.” Excitement jitters were building inside me. I could hardly wait for the perfect moment to get Jared good.
After I hung up, I grabbed my notebook of secret lists. There were important details to plan, involving Andie, Marcia Greene, and Jared.
First, I phoned Marcia. She seemed a little hesitant, maybe a teeny bit taken in by Jared’s attention (the rose probably did it), but she was willing to go along with the plan…for a price. I had to let her wear my purple-and-pink jacket to some ski party next week.
I agreed. That was easy.
Next, I called Jared. He seemed surprised but thrilled that I’d changed my mind about including him at my party. I didn’t tell him who was coming, of course.
Getting Andie to show up at my party would be much more difficult. I called her last.
“Hey. It’s Holly. Please don’t hang up,” I said.
“What can you possibly say that I’d want to hear?” she said sarcastically.
Praying for courage, I said, “Andie, I really want you to come to my party Saturday night.”
She hesitated. “Uh, I don’t know.”
“Did you find the note I stuck in your locker with the clipping from the Loyalty Papers?” I persisted. “Did you read it?”
“Sort of, but I’m not—”
“Jared’s coming to the party. I thought you’d want to come with him.” It was my last ploy.
“Okay…sure. If he’s coming, I’ll be there.”
I stifled the urge to do backflips. “Perfect,” I said. “I’ll see you Saturday night.”
We said good-bye. Then I clenched my fists and jumped up and down. Mom looked at me funny when she came through the room hauling the vacuum cleaner and its attachments.
I picked up the long vacuum hose. “Here, let me help.”
“Looks like we have spiders again,” Mom said, waving her feather duster in the corner of the ceiling and whisking away a few cobwebs.
I shivered at the thought of the creepy things. “I don’t see any spiders now,” I said, fluffing up the sofa pillows.
“Not now maybe, but the proof’s in the webs they spin.”
It sounded like a bit of poetry and reminded me of the miniwebs I hoped to spin for Andie this Saturday night. To help her see the truth. At last!
Friday after school Billy walked me home. “Your plan to expose Jared is so cool,” he said, stomping the snow off his boots.
“If we all do our part, it should be as smooth as vanilla pudding.” Then I set things straight with Billy. “This whole thing is not about revenge, just so you know. It’s about getting my best friend back.”
“And there’s no way it won’t work. You and Andie will be friends again by tomorrow night, you’ll see.” His smile was so big I was curious about his motive.
At choir rehearsal Saturday morning I went out of my way to be nice to Jared, which wasn’t easy. After all, I had been nuts about him last week. The wounds from his deception were still fresh.
“Thanks for inviting me to your party,” he said, sliding over on the riser to make room for me. “I thought you didn’t want me to come.”
“I changed my mind.” I didn’t say I’d had a change of heart. That would’ve been a lie.
Mr. Keller chose several kids to sing in an a cappella group. Danny Myers was one of the tenors. I listened as they sang, admiring Danny’s performance.
After choir, Mr. Keller congratulated us on our good blend. “When we achieve unity with our voices, our music is that much stronger—more powerful. The same is true in our lives when, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we have unity of mind and heart. United, we can accomplish more for the kingdom of God.”
I thought about his words. Even though we were both Christians, there hadn’t been much agreement between Andie and me lately. I hoped my plan would help restore some of that unity—and give me back my best friend.
BEST FRIEND, WORST ENEMY
Chapter 16
Pastel streamers and paper cut-outs dangled from the ceiling of the dining room, creating a festive atmosphere for my birthday party. The table was covered with Mom’s special white-lace tablecloth. Pink napkins were lined up beside pink plastic bowls. In the middle of the table, there were ten kinds of ice-cream toppings: strawberries, caramel, butterscotch, hot fudge, chocolate sprinkles, nuts, gummy bears, sliced bananas, maraschino cherries, and—best of all—whipped cream.
Mom rearranged the silverware, lining the forks up symmetrically. “We’re all set, Holly-Heart,” she said. “Why don’t you go get yourself ready?”
I stood back and surveyed the table. “It’s beautiful, absolutely beautiful.” Impulsively, I hugged Mom. “Thanks.”
“Hurry along, now,” she said, chuckling like it was her party!
I rushed upstairs and slipped into new jeans and a hot-pink wool sweater with a white T underneath. Then I went into the bathroom to do my hair. I brushed it vigorously, then parted it down the middle and made two big braids, on
e on either side of my head. I finished the outfit off with a pretty beaded bracelet featuring every conceivable shade of pink. Perfect.
At seven o’clock sharp, the doorbell rang. I greeted my first guests, Joy and Shauna, two girls from youth group and my home ec class. Two boys from the basketball team showed up next. Later, Jared and Andie arrived…together. I smiled and welcomed them, but neither of them looked me in the eye. I offered them seats in the living room, where the other kids waited for the ice-cream bonanza.
The doorbell rang again. I hurried to get it.
“Billy!” I gasped. “What happened to you?”
Billy, his right leg in a cast and crutches under his arms, wobbled into the living room. Marcia Greene followed close behind, watching him and holding his arm so he wouldn’t slip.
Everyone circled Billy, firing questions at him. “Clear the way,” I said. “Let him sit down.” I led Billy to a chair and propped his leg on a footstool.
“How’s that?” I asked, sneaking a look at Jared. He was sitting next to Andie on the couch, wearing a puzzled look.
“It was a skiing accident,” Billy told us. “Yesterday after school. I was skiing fast down a black slope when I hit this mogul and boom—I wiped out.” He described how his sister had screamed, how the ski patrol had taken him down on the snowmobile. “Lucky my mom’s a doctor. She made sure I didn’t go into shock,” he said.
I stole another look at Jared. He was listening to Billy with interest. So far, so good.
“Ice cream’s ready,” Mom called.
All of us trooped into the kitchen, where my mother, the perfect hostess, announced the flavors. We lined up at the kitchen bar, and Mom dished out the ice cream. Then we gathered at the dining room table and picked out our favorite toppings.
Andie hovered near Jared. “What ice cream would you like?” she asked. “I can get it for you.”
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