Girls Only!

by Beverly Lewis

  “Have you informed your face of that?” asked Uncle Frank. “You don’t look like you just won the Downhill Classic.”

  She grimaced. “I guess not.”

  “So what’s the problem?” His face was serious. “Why aren’t you eating up all the attention? You certainly worked hard for this moment.”

  She was glad Mom was upstairs and they were down in the living room. Most likely, Mom couldn’t hear any part of this weird conversation. “It’s hard to explain,” she said, choking back tears. “You’ll never understand.”

  “Try me.”

  Looking at her uncle, she knew there was no getting past him. Not without a good, long chat. Sooner or later, he’d want to know what was bugging her. And sooner or later, she’d open up and tell him. And be glad she did.

  “I’ve been a jerk,” she said softly.

  “Now, that’s hard to believe,” he said.

  “No, really . . . I have been.” She paused, thinking of Heather’s helpful comments weeks ago, Jenna’s observations of her at Girls Only meetings, and Livvy’s phone calls checking in on her. And then, there was nothing. And it was all her fault. She’d shut her friends out. No long talks at lockers or after school. No hanging out in the dressing room after ballet class. No sitting together at youth group at church. No nothing.

  They’d given up on her. They’d simply quit trying. And now she couldn’t even share her excitement with her dearest friends. “I reached my goal today. But my friends weren’t there to see it.”

  “Did you invite them?” her uncle asked, leaning his elbows on his knees.

  “No.”

  She thought he might chuckle or something. He was silent. “Why not, Manda?”

  “Long story.”

  “Well, in case you’ve forgotten, you’re stuck with me for a couple of days. So shoot. I’m all ears.”

  She shifted her position on the sofa, pulling her legs up under her. Did she dare bore him with the unpleasant details? There was no need to rehash everything, was there?

  “Manda . . .” His voice was more gentle now. “I’m here for you.”

  He’s always been here for both Mom and me, she thought. An amazing feat her own father hadn’t managed to pull off.

  “Okay, here goes.” She began to tell her uncle the whole story. How she’d snubbed her best friends, acted aloof at club meetings—skipped out on one—dropped out of too much just to win the race. “Instead of going to church, I skied. I even missed two days of school. But worst of all, I quit talking to God.”

  She’d almost expected to get a raised eyebrow over the final comment. But Uncle Frank sat calmly and quietly. He had never raised his voice to her in the past. Why would he now?

  “Manda, you aimed your sights on a goal. In the process, you turned your back on your friends.”

  It sounded downright disgusting. But Uncle Frank’s evaluation was completely true.

  He continued. “Something deeper is troubling you, kiddo. Something that’s been bothering you for a very long time. Am I right?”

  What’s he saying? she wondered. How could he possibly know what was eating away at her heart?

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “Every day of my life.”

  “Your dad’s gone, honey. Good or bad, he’s not coming back.”

  “I know.”

  Then they began to talk, sharing the good memories Uncle Frank had of her dad. Some of the not-so-happy ones, too.

  “My friend Heather Bock says I’m trying to get my dad’s attention by winning on the slopes,” Manda confided. “Sometimes, I think Heather might be right.”

  Uncle Frank frowned. “Well, is she?”

  “I thought I was over this. It’s been too long.” Her eyes blurred with tears.

  Uncle Frank moved to her side and put his arm around her shoulders. “God sees how you’re feeling right now, and how you’ve felt all these years,” he said.

  She knew that. “God could’ve made Daddy stay with us, couldn’t He?”

  “We can’t blame God for the decisions your dad made. Sure, God could have sent fireballs and lightning to stop him from leaving, but that’s not the way our Lord usually works.”

  She had to laugh a little at the image of her father dodging heavenly bolts of electricity as he tried to leave the house that last day. Uncle Frank was absolutely right.

  Then he said something that startled her. “Have you ever thought of forgiving him, Manda?”

  “Forgive . . . Daddy?”

  Her uncle nodded.

  “I don’t get it. Why should I?”

  Uncle Frank sat up for a moment, then continued. “It’s real important, kiddo. If you ever want to be free of this noose around your neck, you must forgive your dad. The Bible teaches that ‘if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.’ ”

  Manda took shallow little breaths. She’d read that verse many times. So many she’d memorized it. Why hadn’t she taken the verse to heart? Was she that angry at her dad?

  “I’ll have to think about it,” was all she could say.

  “Try praying about it, too.” Uncle Frank got up from the sofa. “See you in the morning,” he said.

  She looked up. Their chat shouldn’t end like this. Things felt strained between them. “Um . . . do you want a bedtime snack?” she asked.

  He grinned at her. “Thought you’d never ask.”

  Manda breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was to offend her uncle. They headed out to the kitchen, where she dished up a hefty bowl of chocolatechip ice cream for him.

  “Aren’t you having some?” He pulled out a chair at the table.

  She surveyed the ice cream.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “Your next race isn’t till the fall.”

  So she gave herself a medium-sized helping. “I’ve deprived myself for eight weeks,” she said.

  “Then it’s time to celebrate.”

  Thank goodness for cool relatives like Uncle Frank. She even felt like smiling now.

  Sitting down, she picked up her spoon. “You’re right . . . about everything,” she said.

  He grinned back at her. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  They enjoyed their ice cream without saying more.

  Later, Manda asked, “Any ideas how I can make up with my friends?”

  “Are you going to youth group tomorrow night?”

  “Sure. You coming to church with Mom?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.” He looked at her, a quizzical expression on his face.

  “What should I do when I see them?”

  “Sit with them, for starters,” he suggested.

  “Are you kidding? Just go up to them—barge in on them?”

  “No . . . not that.” He chuckled. “C’mon, Manda, you’re not shy. What’s the problem?”

  It was getting late. And the ice cream tasted so good. She really didn’t want to get into this now. Truth was, she hadn’t told Uncle Frank everything. She’d skimmed over the part about how demanding Jenna had become. Other stuff, too . . .

  There was no way she could waltz into the youth service and act like nothing had happened. Far as she knew, Girls Only had already voted her out on her ear last Saturday.

  Star Status

  Chapter Fourteen

  On the way into the church the next evening, several people stopped Manda to congratulate her. The youth pastor and his wife came up to her first. “Nice win, Manda,” they said, but not before greeting her with, “Hey, stranger, long time no see.”

  Inside the church foyer, the head usher stopped to get an autograph. The organist and several friends of her mom’s offered their congratulations. All of them had seen the article in the morning paper, it seemed.

  She’d read the paper, too. She had scanned it carefully for the story on her win. But she’d found only a scissor-made hole where the article had been. Mom had jumped the gun and cut up the front page of the Lifestyle section too quickly. “
It’s for our family scrap-book,” she’d said as an explanation to both Uncle Frank and Manda. This slash-and-snip session had occurred well before either of them had made it into the kitchen for breakfast.

  “Aw, sis,” Uncle Frank had said as he swigged down his morning coffee. “Leave the paper intact for others to read, then chop it up.” There was more than just a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

  Manda had found all of this banter amusing. But not her first encounter with Jenna Song in the downstairs hallway of the church. “Hey,” Manda said, forcing a smile when she spied the a ward-winning gymnast.

  Jenna replied, “Hey.” But she kept walking.

  So much for sitting together, Manda thought. Actually, she was glad Jenna wasn’t all warm and sociable. There was too much to work out between them for a fast and fakey comeback. Fact was, Manda wanted a chance to show Jenna what a good friend she could be. A reliable one. A friend who cared about relationship as much or more than claiming first place on the slopes.

  But how? What could she do to get Jen’s attention?

  Just then, Livvy and Heather came walking toward her. Here we go, she thought. How would they treat her?

  “What’s up?” Manda said.

  Heather slowed her pace a bit, smiling cautiously. Then she stopped, as though she might not mind talking a little. Livvy, on the other hand, seemed a bit distracted and kept going. It wasn’t until Heather called to Livvy that she wandered back to them. Then she turned to Manda and said, “Congratulations on your win, Manda.”

  “Thanks,” Manda replied.

  “Yeah, you were really great out there,” Livvy spoke up.

  Great? How’d Livvy know?

  “You looked awesome,” Heather piped up. “Especially when you came barreling down the final stretch. Man, it made the hairs on my arm stand straight up.”

  “How would you know that?” Livvy asked, laughing. “You had all kinds of layers on under your jacket.”

  Heather seemed to be jiving Livvy. “C’mon, you know what goose bumps feel like, even under two sweaters and a parka.” Weird. Heather was humoring Livvy, for some odd reason.

  But Manda was surprised at what she was hearing. “Were you two . . . uh, did you actually come to see the race?” she asked softly.

  Heather nodded. “Sure. Did you think we wouldn’t show up?”

  “To see our star skier?” Livvy added quickly.

  Our star skier. . .

  Now Manda really felt lousy. She didn’t say she’d looked for them, hoping they’d come. She didn’t want them to know how much it meant to her. Besides, she hadn’t offered them an invitation. Yet they had come anyway. Wow.

  “We’re friends, Manda,” Heather said. “We didn’t want to miss seeing you.”

  “Yeah,” Livvy said. “You cheer for us at our local events.”

  Manda was starting to feel better about things. “So . . . then you haven’t kicked me out of the club?”

  Livvy frowned. “Well, nobody said that.”

  Whoa. She was really confused now.

  “Guess you’d better talk things over with the club prez,” Heather said, squeezing Manda’s arm. “It’s time the two of you had it out, anyway.”

  Manda wasn’t so sure. She didn’t like the sound of this. But she followed them off to youth group and sat with Heather. Livvy went and sat with another one of her friends in the last row.

  Waiting for the worship leader to get things rolling, Manda felt awkward. Like she knew she ought to tell Heather she was sorry. Anything to smooth things over with her best friend.

  She was starting to lean over to say something, when Heather whispered, “Jen said there’s going to be a Manda Garcia Day at your school or something.”

  Manda cringed. “Yeah . . . tomorrow.”

  “It’s all over Alpine Lake . . . about you.” Heather seemed terribly excited. “The whole town’s jazzed.”

  She wanted to say she didn’t care about the whole town, not even the special recognition day. She only cared about one thing. Where did she truly stand with Heather, Livvy, and Jenna . . . and Girls Only?

  * * *

  On Thursday, the walls at school were cluttered with banners and streamers. There was even a blown-up picture of her mounted near the school office.

  Miranda Garcia . . . Ski Star, one poster read.

  You go, girl! another boasted.

  Kids she hardly knew came up to her in the hall-way. “How’d you do it?” they asked. “How’d you ski so fast?”

  When she finally made it through the crowd to her locker, Livvy was waiting. “Uh, Manda, hey . . . can I talk to you?”

  Manda felt a lump in her throat. “Sure, what’s up?”

  “I was a jerk about—”

  “No, I was,” Manda interrupted. “And I’m sorry.”

  “Then, you’re not mad at me . . . at all of us?”

  “You and Heather—why should I be?” she replied.

  “We just thought, well, we wondered if your sport was going to your head.” Livvy glanced at the ceiling, then she looked right at Manda. “You know what? I get that problem sometimes, too. But is anything really worth losing your friends?”

  Manda smiled. “Coming from you, that means a lot.”

  “Super cool.” Livvy hurried to her own locker. “Hey, my locker partner is on her way,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “Better nail Jenna now.”

  This wasn’t like shy, soft-spoken Livvy. Better nail Jenna? What did Livvy mean? Was she so eager for Manda and Jenna to patch things up?

  Squaring her shoulders, Manda took a deep breath. Yep, she was ready to be friends with Jenna again. Whatever it took.

  * * *

  Later, Manda sat in English class while the teacher talked about “Miranda Garcia Day.” She blushed at the teacher’s words. “One of our own students is on her way to Olympic fame. We have a terrific skier in our school . . . in this very classroom.”

  Enough already, thought Manda, wishing they could just get started on correcting homework. She had years of training ahead of her—and continuous wins, too—before she could even come close to making the cut for the Olympics. Sure, it was her ultimate goal, her dream. But today she wasn’t in the mood to have her future broadcast to a roomful of kids.

  Her mind was elsewhere. On Jenna’s strange reaction this morning.

  Manda had followed Livvy’s suggestion and attempted to talk to Jenna. But Jen seemed to be in a big hurry, never even making eye contact with Manda. So much for smoothing things over. Nope, Manda was beginning to see just what a mess she’d created. In time, she might be able to prove herself. Maybe. If Jenna gave her half a chance.

  Meanwhile, she felt lonely at the top of the ladder. Sure, everyone was asking her how it felt “up there.” And yes, it was great to be a winner. The VIPs at the race were wowed by her speed and poise. She was the hot new young skier in the west. And Uncle Frank had taken Coach to lunch to talk over her bright future before he left town.

  But once all the excitement died down, what was left? The memory, sure. Her awesome first-place medal. But what about her friends?

  Star Status

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next day after school, Manda and her mom drove to Kansas to visit Manda’s grandparents for the upcoming Easter weekend.

  Meanwhile, Girls Only Club members were presenting the spring play to their parents, complete with ballet encore. Manda wondered if Jenna might think the. Kansas trip was an excuse for Manda not to be in the play.

  * * *

  On Monday, after returning to Alpine Lake, Manda found out exactly what Jenna thought of her.

  Livvy seemed to scowl when Manda ran into her at their lockers between classes. “Guess I’d better warn you,” she began. “Jenna says if you’re a no-show at the regular meeting this coming Friday, the remaining members will have to do some serious talking.”

  “That’s not fair!” Manda blurted. “Any other member would—” She stopped. She did not want
to battle with Jenna Song’s best friend. But the way Livvy’s solemn face had turned to an absolute frown—a sad frown—Manda wasn’t sure whose side Livvy was on anymore. Was she just passing along info to a soon-to-be-defunct club member?

  Their president’s attitude was really the pits. Manda decided then and there, she’d had it with Jen’s pushy attitude about attendance at club meetings. The four of them had taken time to write bylaws for exactly this reason. Wasn’t there a rule that addressed this very issue? Livvy and Heather, after all, were just as involved in skating and ice-dancing events as Jenna was in gymnastics. No one would ever think of harassing them for missing club meetings either before, during, or after a major competition. This was absolutely insane!

  “It may not be fair, that’s true,” Livvy said, softening a bit. “But Jenna’s really ticked.”

  “That’s her problem.” And with that, Manda walked away.

  * * *

  Things slowed to a crawl at the ski academy the week following Easter. The days were consistently sunny, warmer now. Less snow. The ski season was fast coming to a close.

  Manda deliberately skipped Girls Only that Friday, in spite of Jenna’s warning. She was lonely, but didn’t want to admit it to herself. She had actually walked over to Jenna’s house and stood sadly on the opposite side of the street, watching Heather and Livvy go inside. They hadn’t seen her, of course. Even if they had, she felt she was a member not in good standing. She didn’t deserve their friendship.

  With Uncle Frank long gone, there was no one to dump on. Mom wasn’t a good choice, not with her so caught up in Mr. Greenberg’s move. Kind woman that she was, Mom was helping the Greenbergs organize and pack for Utah.

  It’s crazy, thought Manda. Especially because Mom would never see Matthew Greenberg again. Wasn’t that how things always went?

  She was sure Mom cared deeply for the man. She’d seen it in her mother’s eyes, heard the softness in her voice when she spoke his name. So why was Mom helping them pack? It made no sense.