You're Invited

by Jen Malone

  “Omigod! Get them out of there! Where are the bodyguards? Hey, girls, back off the talent!” Becca’s trying to part the sea of girls to get to Ryan and the others.

  I look at Sadie and we both burst out laughing.

  “Maybe we should help her,” I say between giggles.

  “Probably,” Sadie says. But before we can take a step, Becca emerges from the pack of girls, arms out to each side, protecting the guys as they run off toward the bathrooms.

  “Whew,” she says when the moms finally step in and guide the girls toward Lauren and the Make Your Own Band T-Shirt table.

  “Um . . .” I point to her hair, which was in this nice slicked-back ponytail and is now in a not-so-nice sticking-straight-up mess.

  Becca pats her head and makes a face. “Be right back.”

  The party’s going really well. The T-shirts are a hit, the girls eat pretty much all the food and cake (and I’m kind of proud to say that my meatballs went first), they drink gallons of pink Jilly-ade, Jilly’s opened all her presents, and Sadie’s kept the Five Alive music pumping through the stereo. Becca brings the guys back so the girls can get their autographs.

  Sadie’s just about to restart the Five Alive album when Jilly taps her on the shoulder.

  “Hey, do you have any other music?” Jilly asks.

  “I’m sorry, all we brought was Five Alive,” Sadie says. “I thought you and your friends loved the band?”

  I’d say they more than loved the band, considering the way they lined up for the guys’ autographs and giggled every time Ryan or Lance said a word to them.

  “We adore Five Alive,” Jilly says. “But all their songs are about love and kissing and stuff.” She makes a face like this is just totally gross.

  “So, what do you want to hear?” I ask her.

  “I don’t know. A song about friends, maybe?”

  “I’ll scroll through my phone and see if I can find anything,” Sadie says. She flicks on her phone, and then turns it off. “Wait. I just had the best idea.” She runs off toward Becca.

  Jilly looks at me, and I shrug.

  Sadie’s talking to Becca, and Becca’s shaking her head. What in the world? Sadie grabs Becca’s hand and drags her over to me and Lauren.

  “Okay, so here’s the deal,” Sadie says. “Becca—”

  “Shh! It’s a secret.” Becca’s eyes are huge and she looks like she wants to clamp a hand over Sadie’s mouth.

  “What’s going on?” Lauren asks.

  “Becs, these are your best friends. No one’s going to laugh at you. Just tell them, already!” Sadie says as she gathers her hair up in a ponytail.

  Becca eyes the ponytail—Sadie’s getting-down-to-business one—which pretty much means Sadie’s not going to give up until Becca spills the beans.

  She gives a huge sigh and then mumbles, “Iwrisngs.”

  “What?” I ask.

  Becca’s face matches her hair by now. “I. Write. Songs.”

  None of us says anything for a couple of seconds.

  “Ugh, why did you make me tell?” Becca asks Sadie. “They think it’s stupid.”

  Not exactly. Lauren has this look on her face like she couldn’t be more impressed.

  I shake my head. “It’s not stupid! It’s really cool, actually. But, um, Sades, what does this have to do with Jilly and the playlist for the party?”

  “Becca told me—” Sadie starts, but Becca takes over.

  “Oh my gosh, if everyone has to know everything, then fine. Sadie gave me this great idea to write a song about friendship, and so . . . I did. And then I kinda, mighta shown . . .” Becca trails off.

  “Shown . . . ?” Lauren prompts.

  “Ryan, okay? I showed Ryan.” I’ve never seen Becca look more embarrassed. Ever. I didn’t think she was actually capable of being embarrassed. It’s So Not Becca.

  But then again, maybe a lot of us are more than what we show the world.

  “You did?” Lauren squeals. I also did not know Lauren could squeal.

  “And he loved it,” Sadie adds, looking all proud of Becca. “So . . . don’t y’all think it’d be great if Becca and Ryan performed the song here?”

  “Yes!” Lauren and I say together.

  “No. No way. Nuh-uh,” Becca says.

  Ryan appears behind Becca. “Wait, are you talking about Becca’s song? I’ll sing it with you,” he says to Becca.

  “No, I don’t—”

  “No excuses! Come on, let’s get our guitars. Which guy was pretending to play yours in the show?”

  Becca’s eyes are wide as she murmurs, “Lance, but . . .”

  Ryan doesn’t wait for her to say any more. Looking so excited to perform, he runs off to grab both instruments.

  “You can thank us later,” Sadie says as she pushes Becca toward where Ryan is headed onto the stage. “Izzy, heads up. You’re gonna want your camera ready for this!” she calls to her sister.

  Becca stumbles forward. “I’m never talking to you again. Any of you.” But when Ryan holds out her guitar, she sighs and goes to join him.

  Sadie runs after her and grabs the mic. “Hey, everyone, we have a special treat for you. This is the world premiere of, um . . . the, uh, Becca and Ryan Experiment.”

  Behind her Becca makes a face, and Ryan flushes so much you’d think someone just outed that he still plays with his Thomas the Tank Engine trains or something.

  The girls crowd around. Lauren and I push our way over to Sadie after she leaves the stage to Becca and Ryan.

  Sadie’s beaming as Becca strums her guitar. The song is slow and mellow. It’s nothing like the Five Alive pop songs, but none of the partygoers seem to mind. They’re wholly focused on the stage. I flick on my phone and hold it up to capture the whole thing. Ryan joins in with his guitar, and then Becca starts singing, really quietly:

  “You can blow out the candles on your cake,

  Close your eyes and make a wish.

  You can meet for your reunion once a year,

  Pass around your favorite dish.”

  “I didn’t know Becca could sing or write songs,” Lauren says. “And I thought she was too embarrassed to even talk to Ryan, never mind play music with him. Although they did kind of have a moment at Illumination Night.”

  I can’t say anything. I’m just standing there, my phone in the air, staring at my boy-crazy, kind-of-over-the-top friend, carefully singing this song that she wrote.

  Ryan picks up the next verse:

  “You can tick off days until you reach it,

  Make your lists and check them twice.

  You can send out invitations,

  Buy the costumes and the ice.”

  “I didn’t know Ryan could sing,” Sadie says.

  Invitations. Costumes. Ice. “Is this about parties?” I ask. But no one has an answer.

  Becca sings,

  “But I’ll be celebrating

  All the ordinary Tuesdays,

  I’ll be holding out for

  Laughs along the shore,

  We’ll be singing

  La la la la la la la la,

  ’Cause life is so much more

  Just shared among us four.”

  “Wait . . .” Lauren turns toward Sadie.

  At the same time I put it together. “Becca wrote this about us, didn’t she?”

  Sadie’s smiling. “I think she totally did. It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it?”

  “It’s about us,” Lauren repeats softly.

  Ryan takes up the next verse.

  “You can have your parties and your presents,

  I don’t need no occasion to commend,

  No holidays, no anniversaries,

  Just a random day to be with friends.

  And I’ll be celebrating

  All the ordinary Tuesdays,

  Holding out for

  All the laughs along the shore.

  We’ll be singing

  La la la la la la la la,

  ’Cause life is
so much more

  Just shared among us four.”

  The girls around the stage are swaying in time to the music, but I can’t take my eyes off Becca. She wrote a song. About us. My heart feels so full it could burst. I grab Lauren’s hand, and she takes Sadie’s, as Becca and Ryan sing together,

  “If I didn’t have you to bump through life with,

  It wouldn’t be any fun at all.

  And sometimes the thing I take for granted,

  Is having you there whenever I call.

  And we’ll be singing:

  La la la la la la la la,

  ’Cause life is so much more

  Just shared among us four.”

  Becca gives her guitar one last strum, and she finally meets our eyes. I clap and cheer, and everyone else joins in. She smiles, and both she and Ryan take a bow. Someone sniffles next to me. I turn just in time to see Lauren swipe at her eyes.

  “Are you crying?” I ask her.

  “No!” But she won’t look at me. I grin at Sadie over Lauren’s head, and when Becca appears in front of us, we all grab her in one huge hug.

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything before this?” I give her a fake punch on the arm.

  “I don’t know. I guess I was just searching for the right song,” she says. “So . . . you liked it?”

  “Of course we liked it! We loved it,” Sadie says.

  “Becca!” Lauren grabs her into another bear hug.

  “Are you crying?” Becca asks through a faceful of Lauren’s hair.

  “No. Maybe. Who cares? You’re the best best friends ever! I can’t believe I almost missed out on all of this.” Lauren rubs at her eyes again. “Ugh! Let’s stop with this and dance! Sadie, where’s that Living Five music?”

  Becca bursts out in laughter while Sadie motions to Ryan to turn on the music. “I’m a Hot Potato” echoes through the speakers. Lauren grabs our hands and we dance, right alongside half the eight-year-old population of Sandpiper Beach.

  • • •

  We’re helping Jilly’s mom load the gifts into her car when Sadie looks across the parking lot and sighs.

  “Sades, I’m so sorry your mom was a no-show again. You okay?” I ask her.

  Sadie shrugs. “Actually . . . I didn’t even mention it to her this time.”

  Whoa. “How come?”

  Another shrug. “I don’t know. All summer part of every party has been spent watching the door for my mom or being upset when she’s texted me saying she couldn’t make it. I didn’t want that hanging over today. RSVP might have started out as a way to prove myself to my mom, but it means something different to me now, you know?”

  I balance the presents on my right arm and wrap my left around Sadie’s shoulders. “If she’d been here, you could’ve taught her a thing or two about party planning.”

  “Yeah,” Becca chimes in. “This was one seriously ah-mazing party.”

  “We probably made Jilly the most popular almost-third-grader in the history of Sandpiper Beach,” Lauren adds.

  “And now we have our own theme song. Thanks to Becca,” I say.

  Sadie smiles. “I have the best friends ever. And, you know, my mom doesn’t have a theme song for her business, so . . .”

  “Reason number 657 that RSVP is better,” Lauren says.

  “Hey, um, Vi?” I turn around to see Lance, wearing his JJ Jenkins clothes and silly slicked-back hair.

  The presents in my arms shift a little, and I have to tighten my grip around them.

  “Here.” Lance holds out his hands. “Let me take those.”

  “That’s okay. I’m fine.”

  Becca jabs me with her elbow full of extra goody bags. “Let him,” she whispers, sort of.

  “Um. Okay. I guess.”

  Lance takes the boxes and toys. He walks with us the rest of the way to Jilly’s mom’s car. And doesn’t say anything.

  We load everything inside, and then he smiles at me, all awkward-like.

  “So, see ya at school this week?” he asks.

  “I’ll be there.” Because I can’t not be there.

  “Okay. Great.” He tries to shove his hands in his pockets, but the giant basketball jersey is in the way. “So, um, yeah.”

  “Yup,” I say.

  “All right. Bye.” And he walks off toward home.

  Sadie bursts into laughter while Becca shakes her head.

  “Vi, you need some coaching in making actual conversation,” Lauren says.

  “Forget conversation. She needs flirting lessons,” Becca says.

  “No and no.” I’m so embarrassed, I could melt right into the boiling pavement under our feet.

  “Girls!” Jilly’s mom comes running up from the picnic area. “Thank you SO much for this party. You were great. And that song about friendship was genius.” She pulls some bills from her wallet and hands them to Sadie. “This is what I owe you, plus a little more. Jilly will be talking about this party for the next year. Speaking of next year, can I book you now for her ninth birthday party?”

  We look at each other. None of us has brought up what’s going to happen with RSVP once school starts this week.

  “Can we let you know?” Sadie asks.

  After we load up the sound system and empty food containers into Becca’s mom’s SUV, we count and split up the money, setting aside enough to pay the guys. Adding it to what I already have, it’s more than enough to buy Vi’s Most Wanted. No matter what I think about his new job, Dad completely deserves something good. And while I guess he thinks being the janitor is something good, new kayaks are way better and definitely less embarrassing.

  “I feel like we should celebrate,” Lauren says.

  “Don’t you need to study?” Sadie asks.

  Lauren waves a hand. “I’m good. We’ve been so busy planning parties for everyone else, it’s our turn to have one. To celebrate the end of summer. Let’s get snacks and meet at the Purple People Eater in one hour.” She swipes at her forehead. “I’ll bring a fan.”

  That is So Not Lauren, but none of us are going to argue with her.

  Sadie

  TODAY’S TO-DO LIST:

  ■ dissolve RSVP

  The air is sticky as ever and the setting sun still bakes the wooden planks of the dock as I drag my wagon along it. There’s nothing in the weather that screams, “End of summer!” but I feel it anyway.

  Tomorrow Bubby and Lauren’s mom are taking us all back-to-school shopping and I’ll be trying on sweaters and pants and coats (and trying to steer clear of Bubby’s fashion suggestions). Yesterday my new backpack came in the mail. School starts in four days and summer is over.

  Just like that.

  The wagon wheel catches in the space between two planks and I have to tug it free. I make my way to the very last slip, where the Purple People Eater bobs with the waves.

  “I could use a hand!” I call to whoever’s inside. Lauren pokes her head out.

  “Hand with what?”

  “ICE!” I proclaim triumphantly. “I thought the occasion called for actual cold beverages.”

  Lauren grins and steps out onto the deck of the PPE. “Vi, get ready. I’m tossing this in to you.”

  We form a bucket brigade and hoist the giant bag of ice into the boat. Next up I pass over pink lemonade mix and a jar of crushed-up rock candy and climb down into the boat’s cabin. “Who says only movie stars can have signature drinks? I thought we deserved our own to toast the summer and the end of RSVP.”

  Lauren must’ve nabbed the battery-operated fan from the marina’s office, because there’s actually a breeze inside the cabin. Vi’s trying to arrange a plate of her homemade pita chips but Lauren keeps sneaking them off the plate and into her mouth as fast as Vi puts them out. She swats Lauren’s hand away and glances at me.

  “So, are we really calling it quits?” Vi asks. “I mean, I assumed, with school starting and everything, but we never actually said it, so . . .”

  There’s a loud thud outside and Lauren
uses the railings on either side of the stairs to pull herself up. She pokes her head out, then drops back in. “Becca’s bike. It’s like she’s allergic to her kickstand.”

  Becca’s shadow appears in the hatch and then she does. “Hey, gorgeous people.” She heads down the stairs, perches her butt on the second step, and grins at us. “What’d I miss?”

  “Nothing yet. We were just getting ready to toast the end of a perfect summer,” Vi says.

  “And a perfect company,” I add, dumping lemonade mix into four glasses and stirring, while trying not to knock off any of the rock candy I’ve coated the rims with. I probably should have done the lemonade in a pitcher first, since I’m not having too much luck with it.

  “Toasting RSVP or saying good-bye to it?” Becca asks.

  “Saying good-bye, I guess.”

  We all look around at each other, but no one speaks. Finally Vi says, “Which is probably just as well. I mean, I have soccer starting soon and then I’m going to go pick up the kayaks. I can’t wait to see my dad’s face! But, yeah, I guess it makes sense to be done. . . .”

  She sort of trails off and Lauren takes a deep breath. “Yeah. My after-school tutoring starts up in two weeks and—”

  “Seriously, y’all!” Becca looks the same way she did when she was yelling at Jilly’s friends to make more noise for Five Alive. “How can we be done just like that? RSVP was the best part of the summer. Remember Bubby’s jeggings and me on the plantation house floor covered in fake blood and—”

  “The moss dress!” Lauren giggles.

  Vi rolls her eyes and says, “Don’t remind me. I think I still have a rash from that.”

  “Becca’s song,” I add, and all the girls turn to Becca, who covers her eyes with her hand. It’s so far from a typical gesture from her that I have to hold in a laugh.

  “Best song ever,” Lauren says. “Really.”

  Vi holds up her phone and jiggles it back and forth. “I captured it all for easy playback whenever we need a pick-me-up.”

  “I need a pick-me-up right now,” Becca says with a sigh. “No more summer, no more parties. Nothing but boring seventh grade to look forward to.”

  I know what she means. Even though I’m kind of weird and tend to get really excited about new school years (all those perfectly perfect blank organizers and new pens and Post-it notes and a fresh, clean wipe board for my locker that doesn’t have remnants of old marker smudges), I’ll miss this summer. Everyone gets so busy with their own stuff once school starts.