“Well, what about Patrick?” she asks, sitting down in the bleachers. “Why did you paint him like the most handsome kid ever?”
“Because I don’t know anything about who Patrick is. All I know is what he looks like.” I sit down near her, but not right next to her. “I know a lot more about you. I feel like … I feel like I know the real you.”
Calista turns to look at me. “You should have told me what you were doing.”
“I was too nervous.”
“For good reason.”
“I’m really sorry,” I say.
We sit there and don’t say anything for about five minutes. Suddenly she stands up. “Okay. Let’s go back.”
I feel myself blinking. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” she says. “Now hurry up, before I change my mind.”
We prop the door open, and we’re halfway down the hall toward the cafeteria when Calista stops me. “Your jacket. You left it on the bleachers.”
I hesitate, and my heart skip a few beats. Then I keep walking.
“It’s okay,” I say. “Leave it.”
Damian and I walk back to the cafeteria. His shirt is soaked through, but he doesn’t seem to care. Maybe because I’m sweating, too.
A bunch of people see us coming and come flying toward us. Ellie and Ella barge their way to the front.
“Calista!” says Ellie. “What’s going on? Are you upset?”
“Do you want me to be?” I ask her.
Ellie pouts. “Of course not!”
“Can we be best friends again?” Ella asks. “You look gorgeous tonight, by the way.”
“Do you guys know Damian?” I ask. “He’s a friend of mine.”
Ellie looks shocked as her eyes dart from Damian to me. “Seriously? He just painted you to look like a total ugly hag.”
“Yeah, but a complicated ugly hag with a lot of interesting feelings,” I say.
“Oh,” says Ellie, thoroughly confused.
“Excuse me,” Damian says. “Do either of you two want to pose for my next painting?”
“Um,” says Ella, before Ellie interrupts her with, “Yeah, uh, we’re gonna go get some punch. Calista, find us later? You look so amazing. Did I say that already?”
“Yup, you did,” I say. “So do you.”
After they walk away, Damian and I look at each other and smile and shake our heads.
“I need you to do me a favor,” I tell Damian. “Can you get something for me?”
He cocks his head. “Depends on what it is.”
I tell him, but I don’t think he believes me.
The music is playing, but no one is really dancing or doing much of anything. Everyone seems to be waiting. I don’t blame them. I’m waiting, too.
Finally I see Calista and Damian coming down the hall, heading toward the cafeteria. I start walking over, but Ellie and Ella get to them first. Of course they do. I stop in my tracks.
“Waiting your turn?” Rachel asks. I didn’t even realize she was standing there.
“I just want to make sure she’s okay,” I say.
“That’s nice.”
I turn to look at Rachel. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to the dance with you tonight. The whole thing was a big misunderstanding.”
She takes a sip of her punch. “I guess life is a big misunderstanding, isn’t it? That’s what makes it interesting.”
“Ha! I guess so.” I turn to her. “That dress is gorgeous, by the way.”
“Thanks,” she says, laughing. “Better the dress than nothing.”
“Stop it, you look gorgeous, too.”
“So do you.”
“Yay us!” I say, and we hug.
For the moment, that’s good enough.
I glance up and see Ellie and Ella walk away, then Calista whisper something to Damian. He walks away, too, which leaves Calista standing there alone.
“Can you excuse me for a minute?” I ask Rachel. She nods, and I walk quickly over to Calista. She sees me coming, and I expect her to look stressed. But instead, she gives me a little smile.
“Laurasaurus,” she says.
“Hey, Callie.” We hug. It’s the thing to do tonight, I guess. “Are you okay?”
She nods. “I’m okay.” She smiles, a bit shyly. “I guess I kind of made a mess of things.”
“We made a mess of things,” I correct her. “It was a crazy week. Things happen.”
“They sure do.” Calista is staring up at the poster. I follow her eyes and stare at it, too. “What do you think?” she asks.
“I think it’s a work of art,” I tell her.
Damian returns. “Here you go.” He hands her a magic marker.
“It is a work of art,” Calista says. “But it’s not quite finished.”
And she walks up onto the stage.
I walk up to Dr. Michener and tell her what I want to do. She tells me it’s okay. Then I nod at Damian, and he tells the A/V kids to cut the music. The lights get turned on and everyone falls silent. All eyes turn to me as I pick up the microphone.
“Hey, everyone,” I say. My heart is racing a hundred miles an hour and I can feel the blood pumping in my ears. But I manage to plow ahead.
“I have always been judged by how I look,” I say. “And I’m a really lucky person. I totally get that.” I see Laura in the crowd and I smile at her. She smiles back.
“But the funny thing is, when people think you’re pretty, they also think other things. Like, you shouldn’t play sports. Or, you can’t be smart. Or, you shouldn’t have friends that might be different from you.”
“You mean ugly!” someone yells, and everyone laughs.
“No, I DON’T mean ugly,” I say, raising my voice. “I mean different.”
The room is quiet again.
“This week, I learned a lot about myself. It was hard. But it was good.” I walk over to the poster. “Damian White is an incredible artist and this poster is beautiful. But it doesn’t quite show who I really am.”
“That’s for sure!” That one was Will Hanson, I can tell. This time, I laugh along with everyone else. Then I take out the magic marker, and I draw a giant black dot right in the middle of my single-nostril nose.
“There,” I say. “Now it’s the real me. Pimples and all.”
I put the microphone back in the stand, hand the magic marker to Mrs. Henshaw, and jump off the stage. People are still quiet. No one is sure quite what to do. I hear a couple of people clapping, and I see that it’s Laura and Rachel.
“You guys rock,” I tell them.
I feel a hand on my shoulder, and it’s Patrick. He looks so handsome in his suit, and his perfect haircut, and his blinding smile.
“I was wondering,” he says, “if you would dance with me?”
“Of course I will, just not yet, okay?” I say. “I’ll find you later.” Then I turn and look around until I see Damian, who’s talking to his friend from the lunch table. I walk over to them.
“Hey, Damian,” I say. “Hey, Jeffrey.”
Damian elbows Jeffrey in the ribs. “She remembered your name.”
“Cut it out,” Jeffrey says, but I have to admit—he looks pretty excited.
I look at Damian. “Will you come with me for a second?”
“To where?”
“Not far.”
I take his hand and we walk over to Laura and Rachel.
“Can I borrow your friend for a second?” I ask Rachel.
“Sure,” she says.
“Wherever we’re going, I want Rachel to come, too,” Laura says. “I’m here with her.”
Rachel’s eyes are shining, but she shakes her head. “You go ahead,” she says to Laura.
Laura puts her head on Rachel’s shoulder for a second, then nods at me. “Okay.”
I pull Damian and Laura out to the middle of the cafeteria, where the dancing is supposed to happen. The dance floor is empty, though, for obvious reasons.
Damian’s hands are a little wet.
“Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” Laura asks.
I nod. “I think we should dance.”
Laura laughs. “You’re serious? There’s no music playing.”
“I couldn’t be serious-er,” I tell her.
“I’ve never danced in public before,” Laura says.
“I’ve never been to a dance before,” Damian says.
“Well,” I say, “I’ve never gotten a pimple before. I guess there’s a first time for everything, huh?”
We all laugh and decide to go for it. Laura turns out to be a much better dancer than me. Sadly, I can’t say the same about Damian.
“This is painful,” he moans.
“Just relax, and be yourself,” I tell him. “If I can be the real me, then you can be the real you.”
Damian raises his eyebrows. “So we’re the real us?”
“Yup, that’s who we are,” Laura says. “The real us.”
We all laugh and start jumping around like crazy people. After a few seconds, the lights suddenly go down, and the music gets cranked up.
Soon, the dance floor is full.
Acknowledgments
Books are always an us, never a me. Thanks to Lauren Burniac for shepherding this book from afar, and the incredible team at Roaring Brook for shepherding it from anear.
Also by Tommy Greenwald
Pete Milano’s Guide to Being a Movie Star
Katie Friedman Gives Up Texting! (And Lives to Tell About It)
Jack Strong Takes a Stand
The Charlie Joe Jackson Series
Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading
Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Extra Credit
Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Summer Vacation
Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Making Money
Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Planet Girl
Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Growing Up
About the Author
Tommy Greenwald has enjoyed reading all his life, which is why he’s appalled that his kids Charlie, Joe and Jack, would prefer getting a dental check-up to checking out a book. After years of pleading, threatening, and bribing, Tommy finally decided the only way to get his kids to read was to write a book about how to get out of reading. The result was Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading. And they read it! (So they say.) The Executive Creative Director at SPOTCO, an entertainment advertising agency in New York City, Tommy lives in Connecticut with his wife, Cathy; his non-reading sons, Charlie, Joe and Jack; and his dogs, Moose and Coco. You can sign up for email updates here.
About the Illustrator
J. P. Coovert is the illustrator of the Charlie Joe Jackson books by Tommy Greenwald. You can sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this
Roaring Brook Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on Tommy Greenwald, click here.
For email updates on J. P. Coovert, click here.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
MONDAY
Calista
Damian
Calista
Damian
Laura
Calista
Laura
Calista
Damian
Calista
Damian
Laura
Calista
Damian
Calista
TUESDAY
Calista
Laura
Damian
Calista
Laura
Calista
Laura
Calista
Damian
Calista
Laura
Damian
Laura
Calista
Damian
Calista
Damian
Calista
Laura
Calista
Damian
Laura
Calista
Calista
Laura
Calista
Laura
Calista
WEDNESDAY
Damian
Calista
Laura
Calista
Laura
Calista
Damian
Laura
Calista
Damian
Calista
Damian
Calista
THURSDAY
Laura
Damian
Calista
Laura
Calista
Damian
Calista
Laura
Calista
Damian
Calista
Damian
Calista
Damian
FRIDAY
Laura
Calista
Damian
Calista
Damian
Laura
Calista
Damian
Laura
Calista
Laura
Calista
Laura
Damian
Laura
Damian
Calista
Laura
Calista
Damian
Calista
Damian
Calista
Laura
Calista
Acknowledgments
Also by Tommy Greenwald
About the Author and Illustrator
Copyright
Text copyright © 2017 by Tommy Greenwald
Illustrations copyright © 2017 by J.P. Coovert
Published by Roaring Brook Press
Roaring Brook Press is a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
mackids.com
All rights reserved
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Greenwald, Tom, 1962– author. | Coovert, J. P., illustrator.
Title: The real us / Tommy Greenwald; illustrated by J.P. Coovert.
Description: First edition. | New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2017. | Summary: Told from different viewpoints, everything changes when Calista Getz, always known as the prettiest girl in school, gets a pimple shortly before the big eighth-grade dance.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016039883 (print) | LCCN 2017011426 (ebook) | ISBN 9781626721715 (hardback) | ISBN 9781626721722 (Ebook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Beauty, Personal—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Middle schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Humorous stories. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Friendship.
Classification: LCC PZ7.G8523 Re 2017 (print) | LCC PZ7.G8523 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016039883
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by e-mail at [email protected].
eISBN 9781626721722
First hardcover edition, 2017
eBook edition, August 2017
iv>
The Real Us Page 12