by Cari Simmons
“So you felt kind of how I did when you did the school musical and didn’t even ask me,” Alice said. “I guess I was worried that you didn’t think you needed me anymore, with all your other friends from the musical and in your classes.”
“See,” Cassidy said, “in a weird way that makes me feel better—that it’s weird for you too when I do something separate.”
“I guess . . . ,” Alice said, toying with one of the wooden toggles on her coat. “Isn’t it kind of a good thing, that we can still be best friends and do different things and have separate relationships too?”
Cassidy nodded. “It’ll give us more things to talk about. Even if we don’t see each other quite as much, we’ll still find a way to catch up. And also, Alice? I need to tell you this more, but I’m proud of you for being in honors classes. I love that my best friend is so nice and pretty but also so smart.”
Alice felt warm all over. “I feel like we needed to have this talk way earlier.”
“True,” said Cassidy. “Let’s just be honest with each other from now on.”
“I’ll try,” said Alice.
“And I promise not to just assume that you may or may not want to do something I’m doing,” said Cassidy. “No joke, you would have had fun doing stagecraft for the musical. Everybody was messing around and having fun while they were building sets. It was awesome!”
“I could have done that,” mused Alice. “As long as it didn’t actually mean going onstage.” After a moment, she asked Cassidy, “What’s it like being onstage, in the spotlight?”
“It’s terrifying,” admitted Cassidy. “But I love it. It feels like jumping off the high dive. Once I’ve done it, I feel so proud of myself.” Alice thought to herself about the one time she had climbed up the high dive at the community pool, only, in shame, to walk backwards back down the ladder, too chicken to take the plunge. It was amazing that Cassidy could be so brave about some things but still be insecure about others.
“Can you promise me one more thing?” asked Alice.
“What’s that?”
“Will you try to just meet Nikki?” Alice asked. “You don’t have to be good friends with her, but just give her a chance.”
“Yes. This is the new and improved Cassidy,” Cass said, pointing to herself. “I would like to hang out with the new and improved Alice.”
“She’s getting there,” Alice said. She leaned her head on Cassidy’s shoulder, and they looked at the moon again, which now was rising higher into the sky, getting smaller and lighter.
Back at Alice’s house, her mom just “happened” to be getting a mug of hot chocolate when Alice got home. Alice pretended her mom wasn’t just waiting up for her.
“Oh, hi,” her mom said. With her makeup still on from the workday, but in her white pajamas and blue terrycloth robe, her mom looked like a model from one of the catalogs Alice and Cass pored through. “Your dad filled me in on everything. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” said Alice, getting one of the painted blue ceramic mugs from the cabinet for herself. “Finally. Thank goodness.” Alice tore open an envelope of chocolate powder, and her mom poured her some hot water. Alice blew impatiently on the liquid. The worst thing about hot chocolate was that you couldn’t just drink it right away.
“You were right,” Alice admitted while waiting for her hot chocolate to cool. “I should have just been honest with Cassidy from the get-go.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” said her mom. “I understand what it’s like to be afraid to hurt someone’s feelings.”
“You do?” Alice asked.
“Sure,” her mom said, and smiled. “Why do you think moms know best? It’s from experience!” While Alice finally drank her hot chocolate, her mom told her a few stories about fights with friends when she was younger. Alice was amazed. It sounded like friendships really didn’t change that much over the years.
After brushing her teeth and washing her face and putting on her pajamas, Alice was exhausted, but she wanted to do one last thing before falling into her fluffy white comforter.
She booted up her computer. Just as she had hoped, she saw that Nikki was online.
AISFORALICE: Hi.
NKWLCX: Hey.
AISFORALICE: So . . .
AISFORALICE: I already said it, I know, but I’m really sorry I missed your big win tonight.
NKWLCX: And I already said it’s fine!
AISFORALICE: No, it’s not. I told you I would be there and I wasn’t. I was trying to be in two places at once.
NKWLCX: Well . . .
NKWLCX: Thanks for saying that.
AISFORALICE: And also . . .
NKWLCX: ?
AISFORALICE: I know Cassidy feels bad about blowing up at you the way she did.
NKWLCX: Oh.
NKWLCX: It’s fine. Whatever.
NKWLCX: . . . I know she’s not my biggest fan.
AISFORALICE: Hey, I wouldn’t tell you that Cassidy felt bad if she didn’t feel bad. I would like you two to try to be friends.
NKWLCX: Do you think it’s possible?
AISFORALICE: I think it’s definitely possible. Cassidy is going to try.
NKWLCX: Cool.
NKWLCX: Then I will too. ☺
Alice finally crawled into bed. She spent a few minutes awake trying to figure out what the best way to get Nikki and Cassidy to bond would be. Maybe a walk along the lake? But it was getting cold. Lunch at Walker Bros.? It was kind of noisy there. Maybe a movie? But you can never really talk at a movie. Despite her buzzing mind, Alice fell asleep and, for what seemed like the first time in weeks, slept soundly.
CHAPTER 19
COME TOGETHER
A week later, Alice still hadn’t figured out the perfect way for Cassidy and Nikki to discover their common ground, but at least she didn’t feel like she was living a double life anymore. Cassidy said, “Hi, Nerd Herd!” to the entire honors group (including Nikki) when the classes switched rooms between periods, and in the notebook, she told Alice that Nikki had started spending a bit more time after ballet.
She’s not saying a lot, but I think she’s just warming up to us. It’s nice that she’s part of the group, Cassidy wrote. With the musical over, they now had more time to write and to fill up the last few pages of the notebook.
But how could Alice get Cassidy and Nikki to get to know each other the way she knew them?
“All right, guys, this is a tough one,” Mr. Nichols announced in English. “If you don’t cry, I’m probably going to mark you down a grade.” He passed out the latest book they were to study: Old Yeller.
“Oh jeez,” said Aaron Woolsey, looking at the cover, which featured a very sad-looking yellow Labrador. “I’m worried I’m going to cry right now.”
“Crying gets you extra credit,” said Mr. Nichols, and soon the room was filled with the exaggerated boo hoos of everyone pretending to cry.
Alice grinned. No matter how sad the book was, she had a feeling that her dog allergy would probably make it easier for her to read than everyone else.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. Why hadn’t she thought of this before? It was so obvious!
“Hey,” she said, tapping Nikki on the shoulder. She was joking around with Todd Tian as they stood up to head to the next class. “Heads up. We’re heading to Cassidy’s house after school today.”
“Oh, we are, are we?” asked Nikki, raising one eyebrow.
“Yes,” said Alice.
“Are you sure?” Nikki asked again.
“Trust me,” Alice said, flashing a grin. She was super excited and quickly scribbled a note to Cassidy in the notebook.
It’s a Nerd Herd invasion at your house after school today, and I want to invite a very special, slobbery guest. P.S. I hope that’s okay. P.P.S. Hi!
“What’s the word, Herd?” Cassidy called out as her class and honors classes switched rooms for the period.
“Here,” said Alice, handing her the notebook, which was almost full by now. “Make su
re you read it before the end of the day. Promise?”
“Sure,” said Cassidy. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s going to be!” said Alice, smiling mysteriously, before heading into biology.
Nikki and Alice had agreed earlier in the month to volunteer to wash out the lab equipment after school, so they took the late bus home. There was only a half sun left over the horizon by the time they reached Alice’s street and started walking to Cassidy’s house.
“Wait, you live right across the street from Cassidy?” asked Nikki.
“Yep,” Alice answered. “It’s pretty awesome.”
“No wonder you two are so tight,” said Nikki. “Okay, so just one more time . . . are you sure it’s all right that I’m coming over?”
“Why won’t you trust me?” Alice asked. “I don’t say things I don’t mean. Anymore.” With a smile she rang the doorbell. Immediately Alice heard Bagel yipping and scrabbling about on the foyer’s wooden floor.
Nikki turned to Alice, her face alight. “Cassidy has a dog?” she exclaimed. “Oh my gosh, I love dogs.”
“I know,” said Alice. “Friends tend to remember these types of things.”
Nikki stared down at her booted feet bashfully but then looked up when she heard the key turning in the lock. There stood Cassidy, smiling and wearing an oversize moss-green sweater over pale pink jeans, and holding Bagel, who was wiggling around like he wanted to take flight.
“Come in!” she said. “Here, take this,” she told Nikki, once they were in from the cold. Cassidy dumped Bagel into her arms like she’d done it a thousand times before. “I hear you like dogs,” she said. “That’s good, because Bagel likes people who like dogs. You’re not allergic, are you?” she said, casting a sly look at Alice, who stuck out her tongue.
“I don’t think so,” Nikki said, crouching down on the Oriental rug so she could give Bagel belly rubs. “And even if I was, I wouldn’t care. Oh, I love him!”
“If you keep giving him attention, he’ll love you right back,” Cassidy said.
“I can’t stop petting him. He’s so soft!” said Nikki. She petted Bagel so much that a tuft of his hair wafted up in the air, which made Alice sneeze. Nikki and Cassidy laughed. Alice grinned, even though she really wanted a Kleenex. Maybe this would go okay after all.
The girls spent the last hour or so of daylight in Cassidy’s big backyard while she and Nikki threw toys for Bagel to fetch. Alice marveled at how energetic he was: he ran after tennis balls, rings, even a plastic bagel. Each time he ran back to Nikki or Cassidy, they had to jump out of his way so he didn’t get muddy paw prints on their legs. Alice, of course, had to sit a little ways away from the two of them, because the telltale itching on the underside of her forearms meant that she wasn’t that far away from a full-blown allergy attack. She didn’t mind, though. She liked listening to Nikki and Cassidy talk about dogs and ballet.
“When’s the next musical?” Nikki asked.
“Next semester,” answered Cassidy. “I think they’re doing Grease.”
“I love Grease!” said Nikki, hurling the ball to the opposite end of the yard. “Although to be honest, I always secretly wanted to be a T-Bird more than a Pink Lady. Is that weird?”
“I feel exactly the same way!” said Cassidy. “They had better songs and also, I look much better in black than pink.”
“I didn’t know you sang, Nikki,” Alice called out.
“Well, a little,” said Nikki. “In choir at church.”
“But if you do Grease, what about the math team?” Alice asked.
“I’m not sure yet!” Nikki said. “I kind of told my parents I’m thinking about quitting the team and trying something else.” She shrugged. “And believe it or not, they actually didn’t keel over.”
Alice was filled with pride for her new friend, who seemed to be getting better every day at coming out of her shell and reassuring her parents that she would be okay if she did her own thing.
“What if we started a writing group?” Alice pondered aloud. “We could ask Mr. Nichols to help us start it. And it doesn’t have to be just people from the Nerd Herd.” She was surprised when this idea fell out of her mouth—she had never actually thought of that idea before—but it could be fun. She had enjoyed Mr. Nichols’s class and writing to Cassidy in the notebook so much. Maybe she could take it further. Alice felt like it was maybe time for her to try something new again.
“I think that’s a great idea,” said Nikki.
Alice heard a shriek and looked over to see Cassidy gasping. Bagel had finally gotten the best of her and put his black paw prints all over her light-colored jeans.
“Oh gosh!” Alice said, standing up, ready to help Cassidy into the house and throw her jeans in the washing machine as fast as possible.
“You know what?” said Cassidy, looking down and laughing. “It doesn’t matter.” She jumped around and held Bagel’s front legs as if they were dancing.
Alice felt like she didn’t have to worry anymore—about honors, about Cass, or Nikki. They could all just be together. What mattered was that they were friends.
CHAPTER 20
A NEW CREW
A sky-blue notebook to signify a brand-new day. Okay, just kidding, it was the first one I saw. Nikki, welcome to the notebook.
Pop quiz time!
What is the most delicious fruit?
What’s the last thing you watched on TV?
Where was the last scar you got? How did you get it?
What’s your favorite song from Grease?
Fill it out and pass it on to Cassidy!
“Hey, bookworm, aren’t you going to go outside?” Alice, sitting on the cushioned window seat in the kitchen, looked up from her reading. Her dad had just come in from a jog, his gray T-shirt dark with sweat, his hair sticking up above the silly white sweatband he wore on his forehead. “It’s freakishly nice out. In the sixties at least.” He helped himself to a glass of water from the sink and then lay down on the kitchen floor to stretch, taking up nearly the entire room. Alice’s mom came in from hanging the winter-themed wreath on the front door.
“I hear it’s supposed to be in the thirties tomorrow,” she said. “Honey, I hate to say it, but the weather might not be nice again until May.”
“Try June,” said Mr. Kinney.
“Why do we live here again?” asked Mrs. Kinney. Mr. Kinney pointed to the backyard, where the lawn was a bright green-and-gold carpet thanks to the tiny leaves that had finally finished falling off the trees.
“Oh yeah,” said Mrs. Kinney. “That helps.”
Alice put her book down next to her and stretched her legs. “I know, I know,” she said. “I need to go out before it gets dark.”
“Which isn’t in that long, by the way,” said Mr. Kinney. “Daylight savings and all.”
“It’s just that I’m really into this book,” she said, casting her eyes back down to the cover of her book, which featured a boy, not much older than her, from the chin down, wearing a white T-shirt and a black leather jacket. She was totally engrossed by The Outsiders and been trying hard not to develop little crushes on the tough but sensitive Greaser boys. And she wasn’t the only one.
When Cassidy spotted Nikki’s copy on the lunch table at the cafeteria, she was instantly intrigued—the guys in the book did resemble the T-Birds from Grease, after all. So Cassidy decided to read the book too, and was totally engrossed. During the past week, the girls had discussed what they read. When Xia, Evie, and April saw that Nikki, Cassidy, and Alice were all reading the same book, they wanted in on the action too.
Once they were all finished, Nikki had promised to host an epic sleepover so they could all watch the movie version of the book. Xia’s copy featured the poster on the cover, and the girls could not get over what young Tom Cruise used to look like. In the meantime, Alice couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that the book’s author had been only eighteen years old when the book was published. It made her think about try
ing to start writing her own novel over winter break. So, yeah, she was into The Outsiders. But maybe she should go outside while she had her chance.
Ding-dong! As if by magic, the doorbell rang to distract her from her conundrum. Mr. Kinney had started doing walking lunges from the kitchen to the front hall and opened the front door.
“Alice, it’s for you!”
When she got to the front door, she saw that it was Cassidy and Nikki—Cass in her red-and-black jacket, Nikki carrying her army-green one over her arm as she tried to control Bagel, who was squirming desperately on the other end of the leash she was holding. Apparently he wanted to come inside and shed all over everything the Kinneys owned.
“What are you guys up to?” Alice asked.
“We were going to take Bagel to the beach and let him run around because, as you can see, he has way too much energy. Want to come with?”
“Cassidy invited me over,” Nikki said almost apologetically. “I hope it’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay!” Alice said.
“Oh, um, I meant about your allergies,” said Nikki. “I hope it’s okay for you to hang out.”
Alice laughed. She realized she didn’t have to worry so much about Nikki—or herself. “Yes, it’ll be fine,” she said. “Nikki, you just pet Bagel for me.”
“Done and done!” Nikki said, squatting down to give Bagel some love.
“Well, hi, Nikki; hi, Cassidy,” said Alice’s mom.
“Mom, Nikki and Cassidy were taking Bagel for a walk. Can I go with?”
“Of course, get outside while the getting’s good,” she said. “Just stop letting the leaves get inside the house. I don’t feel like vacuuming again.”
“Okay, good point,” Alice said. “I need to get my jacket. Meet you guys in the back?” She shut the door so Nikki and Cassidy could take Bagel round to the backyard.
“I’m proud of you, honey,” Mrs. Kinney said, putting her arm around Alice’s shoulders as they walked back to the kitchen.
“Why?” asked Alice, pulling on her light denim jacket for probably the last time until spring next year.