Lily finally stopped crying when Augustine Dupre promised they would come back in the afternoon. "An revoir, Grace," said Lily, waving. It was the first French thing she had said.
After they left I could tell that Mom was in love with Lily.
"Isn't she just the cutest thing? Little girls are so sweet. I bet playing with Lily makes you excited about Mimi's new sister. You're going to have so much fun with her," said Mom. She smiled and looked at me. I nodded my head but didn't say anything. I wasn't sure my brain believed her.
WHAT I WAS WORRIED ABOUT ALL OF A SUDDEN
I had never thought of it before, but now all I could think of was one big scary question. What if Mimi's new sister was just like Lily? A sister like that could change everything.
WHAT MIMI CANNOT WAIT TO DO
Mimi was disappointed that I had already seen Lily. She said she could hardly wait to get started on our new job. I tried to tell her that it was probably not going to be as easy as she thought it was, but she said she didn't care. She spent all morning looking out the window and walking around in the front yard hoping to see Lily.
While we ate lunch I tried to tell her about all the games Lily wanted to play, and how playing with a four-year-old was really tiring and hard, and not at all easy like I thought it was going to be. Mimi looked at me like I was crazy. "Mimi, you have to believe me. Just wait—you'll see." I kept trying to warn her, but it was too late. Augustine Dupre and Lily were already coming up the sidewalk.
HOW TO INTRODUCE YOUR BEST FRIEND IF YOU WANT A FOUR-YEAR-OLD TO LOVE HER
"Bonjour, Grace!" Lily ran up and hugged me before I could do or say anything. It was nice. I felt a little like Crinkles must feel every time Augustine Dupre sees him. Mimi was just standing there, so I unwrapped Lily's arms from my middle and introduced her to Mimi. "Lily, this is my best friend in the whole world. Her name is Mimi. Mimi loves to play all sorts of girl games. She is really fun." Mimi said, "Hi, Lily. I'm so happy to meet you." But Lily just ignored her and hid behind my legs.
Augustine Dupre made Lily say hi to Mimi. It was a very small hi and it was in English. I think Mimi was disappointed.
THINGS YOU CANS TRY TO DO TO MAKE A FOUR-YEAR-OLD LIKE YOU
Make a silly hat out of paper.
Set up a game of knock down the stuffed animals.
Offer up a really long piggyback ride.
Have real costumes out and ready to play fairy princess.
Mimi tried everything, but nothing was working to make Lily want to be with her. I tried to be super boring and was sitting with a magazine so Mimi could try to get Lily interested in her, but Lily just said, "No, thank you. I want to look at the magazine with Grace."
Poor Mimi. I couldn't tell exactly what she was thinking, but I knew it was not happy thoughts.
CAN YOU SAY NO TO A FOURT-YEAR-OLD?
When Mimi went to the bathroom Lily said, "Let's play unicorn princess. You can be the unicorn and I am the princess." "That's so cute!" said Mom. She was totally listening in. "No, thanks," I said. "I don't feel like it." I did not want to be a unicorn. A unicorn is a horse with a horn. Horses carry people around, and I just knew that in about two seconds the princess would definitely be wanting to jump on the unicorn's back for a big long ride. I looked over at Mom. She was frowning with her hands on her hips. This was not a good sign. I knew that look. It was the beginning of her You're about to get into trouble look. It was a look I needed to make go away, fast!
"Okay, Lily—I changed my mind. I'll be a unicorn." Lily was filled with joy. In about two seconds she had even made me a costume. And that is how Mimi found me when she came back. I was Pinky Twinkle the galloping unicorn.
You cannot say no to a four-year-old. At least not when your mom is standing right there.
WHAT IS NOT FAIR
It is not fair to be getting into trouble for being Pinky Twinkle when I never wanted to be Pinky Twinkle in the first place. Mimi said, "You waited until I had to go to the bathroom, and then you took her away from me with your being a super-fun unicorn!" I tried to tell her I didn't want to be a unicorn, that she could be Pinky Twinkle, and that being a unicorn was not so super fun, but she didn't listen.
Of course Lily could hear us fighting, because even though I didn't want her to be, she was still on my back. Suddenly she started squishing my ribs with her legs and bouncing up and down. "I know, I know!" squealed Lily. She pointed at Mimi and said, "You can be the evil troll!"
Mimi looked over and gave me a look I had never seen her do before. It was mean, scary, and frightening. It was the kind of look that stops heartbeats and gives shivers. It only lasted a second, but both Lily and I saw it. Then Mimi turned around and walked right out the door without saying a word.
"She did a real good troll face," said Lily. "She was scary." "Yeah, she was," I said. And because Mom was not around anymore I said, "Let's play something else."
Finally it was time for us to walk over to Mrs. Luther's house to meet Lily's mom. She was getting Mrs. Luther's house ready for the big move-in. Now I was suddenly not looking forward to the job anymore, and there was not even one idea in my head about how to solve the new Mimi-mad-at-me problem. Augustine Dupre said she and Lily would walk over first, and Mimi and I could come over when we were ready.
Augustine Dupre was smart. She knew I was having a problem. I was wishing she could be super smart and magic and know how to fix it, but that kind of thing only happens in movies—a twirl of the finger and then everything is okay.
WHAT LILY WAS NOT
Lily was not fabulous or fancy like I thought she was going to be. In one day she had almost gotten me in trouble with Mom and had made Mimi mad at me.
Now I was wondering if French kids started out just like regular normal kids and the fancy-fabulous part was maybe something they learned later on.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
I decided to stand around outside in my front yard while I tried to think of what to do. I did not want to go to Mimi's front door and have her yell at me. I was hoping that maybe she'd notice me and come outside to talk—somehow that seemed easier.
It was a good plan for getting noticed. First Crinkles saw me, and then Lily almost saw me. I did not want to go over to Mrs. Luther's house yet, not without Mimi. I needed more time. Luckily Lily didn't see me, and that was because I hid behind the big tree in the front yard before she could look over.
The only person that actually saw me was Sammy. He was holding a big glass jar full of white things, like cotton balls but smoother. "Are you hiding from the cat?" He saw me peeking around the tree and Crinkles sitting at the other end of the yard. Sammy does not like cats, so this was a normal kind of question from him. "Shhh," I said. "Don't talk so loud. Whisper."
Of course now Sammy was full of questions. "Are you hiding from that lady over there?" He pointed to a lady who was holding Lily's hand—it was probably Lily's mom, Yvonne. "No, stop pointing! They'll see you." Sammy was not good at being sneaky. "The little girl," I whispered. "I don't want Lily to see me." Sammy started to laugh. "The little girl? You're scared of her?"
I had to do something fast or Sammy was totally going to ruin everything with his loud laughing. Lily would hear him, look over, and then be running over to make me carry her all over the yard again. When you want someone to stop what they are doing, it is sometimes a good idea to try to change the subject really fast.
THINGS MY BRAIN WAS THINKING IT COULD DO (NOT ALL GOOD CHOICES)
Kick Sammy in the leg.
Pretend-faint.
Climb tree.
Grab the jar from Sammy's hand.
Start dancing.
Handstand.
The handstand would have been good except that I don't know how to do one. I have tried and tried but I just can't hold myself up. For sure Sammy would have forgotten all about Lily if I was suddenly doing an excellent handstand right in front of him, but Lily might have seen that too. A good handstand is pretty noticeable.
W
HAT MY BRAIN PICKED
I grabbed the jar out of Sammy's hands and said, "What's this?" It was a good choice because Sammy forgot all about Lily in about a second. "Hey, that's mine. Don't break it. It's a present from Mrs. Luther. She left it for me." At first I thought it might be something totally disgusting. Mrs. Luther once let Sammy borrow a jar of lion poop, so disgusting things were not surprising for them.
"It's rocks," said Sammy. "Each rock is from a different place. And on the bottom of each rock is the name of the place where Mrs. Luther found it. Isn't that cool?" Sammy is the kind of boy who loves collections. This was a perfect present for him. All the rocks looked the same to me. They were small, round, and white. Sammy said he had a favorite, and it was from a place called Squamish in Canada. That sounded like a made-up name, but I didn't want to argue with him, so I didn't say anything about it not being real. I gave him back the jar so he could find his favorite and show me.
For sure Sammy was going to miss Mrs. Luther. I felt a little sad for him. Not that many people in the world understand Sammy as perfectly as she does. I'm pretty sure she is the only person in the world who was truly happy, and not only pretending to be happy, when Sammy said she could borrow his summer art project for a few months and hang it up in her house.
THIS IS WHAT SAMMY SAID AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SUMMER
"Every time I see the ice cream truck I'm going to try something different."
THIS IS WHAT SAMMY MADE AT THE END OF THE SUMMER
Mrs. Luther loved it, and she really did borrow it and hang it up in her kitchen for two whole months. Sammy said he might give it back to her for keeps when she gets back from her trip. Partly because she really loves it, and partly because his mom says it's taking up too much space in his room.
WHAT SAMMY SAID NEXT
"Okay, you don't have to hide anymore. She's gone." He said it without smiling, without laughing, and without making fun. My brain said, Thank you, Sammy. You really are a nice boy. My mouth said, "If I find any cool white rocks I'll save them for you." He seemed happy with that.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
I saw Mimi coming out of her garage with a bunch of stuff. "Should we take jump ropes?" she shouted. She did not look one bit mad or unhappy, which was a big surprise. Even if my leg had been broken I would have said, "Yes, we must skip," because more than anything, I wanted us to be friends again and for Mimi not to be mad at me.
"Lily might like to play with this stuff," said Mimi. "Should we ask her mom if she wants it?" I was surprised and shocked and couldn't believe my ears, but I said, "Sure! Good idea." Mimi was amazingly still liking Lily.
LILY'S MOM
A few minutes later Mimi and I were standing on Mrs. Luther's porch. It was nice to have Mimi with me. On the way there I made myself a big promise, no matter what, this time I was not going to be a dolphin, a unicorn, a turtle, or any other kind of creature that could give a ride on its back. Sometimes you just have to make rules! Even if it makes you sound like a mom.
WHAT FEELS GOOD
Five minutes after we met Yvonne, who was very nice, the biggest part of me that was feeling good was my stomach. Lily's mom is a fantastic cook. We sat on Mrs. Luther's porch and ate fresh muffins and homemade strawberry and apricot jams. It was super tasty. Even Lily was not so much of a bother. I guess it's hard to be pesky when your mouth is full of food. I'm going to have to remember that. Mimi tried to sit next to her and talk, but Lily was being shy and mostly wanted to sit in her mom's lap. From far away, she actually looked kind of cute, but that was probably because she was sitting on someone else that wasn't me.
THE PLAN FOR SUNDAY
Lily's family is moving into Mrs. Luther's house tomorrow at lunchtime. Mrs. Luther is letting them use all her furniture and kitchen stuff, so mostly they only have to move in their clothes. Yvonne asked us if we could watch Lily from eleven-thirty until two p.m. Of course we said yes.
Mimi was much more chatty than I was. She was totally organized and ready. If there was a mother's helper crown she would have been the one wearing it. She showed Yvonne a list of games, crafts, and fun activities that she had written down. Yvonne was very impressed. I was very impressed too, but secretly I was most glad that there wasn't one single unicorn thing on the whole list.
WHAT I WAS HAPPY ABOUT
After the little meeting Mimi and I went back to her house. That was a huge relief. I was glad not to be staying at Mrs. Luther's and playing with Lily for the rest of the afternoon. Mimi and I did not talk about the morning and how Lily had wanted her to be a troll. I was glad about that too. Sometimes if things are happy and good, it's not the best idea to talk about something sad and upsetting.
Mimi really wanted us to work on her new sister's room, so I tried to help and keep everything smiley. Even though it was going to be pink and frilly, which is not so much my style, I still wanted to be filled with energy about it.
THE BEST PART OF THE NEW ROOM
While we were drawing what the room was going to look like Mimi's dad came in to see how it was going. When he saw the plan he said, "Wow. That's a lot of pink." That's exactly what I was thinking too, but I had not said it out loud. "I'm not sure all that pink is going to look good," said Mimi's dad. "What if you just make one of the walls pink?" "Oh, Daddy! This is a girl's room! Girls love pink!" Mimi was getting upset.
Mimi's dad tried to get her to be calm. "Mimi, you're a girl. Your room isn't all pink." But Mimi wasn't wanting to change her mind. "Daddy, that's because I'm not little. Little girls like dolls, and princesses, and pink! It's a fact!"
Mimi's dad was not giving up. He said, "Mimi, that's silly. You never loved pink or even dolls when you were a little girl. Remember? Listen, if you tone down this room and have just one wall of pink, I'll make you a deal. I'll let you paint it yourself. Think about it. Okay?" Mimi was beaten. "Okay, Daddy," she said. She sounded sad and unhappy, but as soon as her dad was gone, she jumped up and down and said, "Grace! Did you hear that? We get to paint the room ourselves!" I was pretty excited about that too. Not all parents let you paint a room all by yourself.
WHAT I DID AS SOON AS I GOT HOME
After dinner I went upstairs to draw a new Not So Super comic. I wasn't in a bad, sad, or even unhappy mood, which is when I usually draw them. This time I just had a really funny idea.
That night before bed I flicked my lights on and off for Mimi. She did it to me too.
This is our good-night signal, and it was nice to have everything feeling regular and happy again.
WHAT I HAD FOR BREAKFAST
I have a little bit of a superpower. It's called empathy. Having empathy power means I can 100 percent tell when someone is sad, even if they are acting and pretending to be happy. When this happens I always use my energy to try to find a way to make them feel better. Usually when I feel my empathy power working I like to eat French toast. It's kind of like my superhero breakfast.
This morning was different though because I was not feeling anyone's sadness. Instead, I was feeling like maybe I was going to be needing the extra energy for me. And that was mostly because I was worried about Lily. I was even wearing my good luck Super Girl underwear. Sometimes it's a good idea to be as ready as possible, just in case.
WHAT WAS SURPRISING ABOUT MIMI
I was just finishing off my breakfast when Mimi walked in. She was looking like I had never seen her look before. Normally Mimi and I do not wear pink, but today we were both being different. Me a little, Mimi a lot! My Super Girl underwear had a little bit of pink writing on it, but Mimi was an explosion of pink. I had hardly even ever seen pink-lovers wear so much pink. Sometimes if you are super surprised it's hard to think of what to say. And even if you don't mean to, you might just look at the person who is surprising you with your mouth open.
I was glad Mom walked in the room, because I was still being quiet. "Mimi, aren't we cheerful today," said Mom. "And what's that you have there?" Mom was pointing to a bag that Mimi was carrying. I hadn't eve
n noticed it, mostly because I was so surprised about the pink. "It's balloons," said Mimi. "I've been practicing balloon animals." "Balloon animals? Wow, Mimi—that's so cool." I was glad to have something I could talk about. "What can you make?" "Not so much yet," said Mimi. "It's a lot harder than you'd think. They keep popping."
WHAT MIMI COULD MAKE
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER BREAKFAST
I decided not to say anything about Mimi's outfit. I knew exactly why she was wearing it, so what was there to talk about? I was only hoping it was going to work.
Mimi and I practiced balloon animals for a while, but she was right: it was hard. In the end we were not much better than when we started, but it was fun!
WHAT HAPPENED ON MOVING DAY
On the way over to Mrs. Luther's house I started to get kind of nervous. Mimi seemed totally fine and happy. I was wishing I could feel like that too. The minute I saw Lily I knew that Mimi was going to be sad. Lily was wearing a tutu just like before, but instead of it being pink it was bright blue.
Lily's mom was standing next to Lily. "Bonjour, les filles," she said. It was cool that she was speaking French to us even though I didn't really know exactly what she was saying. I don't know French so I just said, "Hi, Yvonne. Hi, Lily." Lily's mom was one of those moms who wants you to call her by her first name. "Grace! Grace! Grace!" Lily grabbed my hand and started jumping up and down. "Guess what my new favorite color is? Guess?" I know that little kids like it when you give them wrong answers. So I said, "Yellow? Green? Purple?" even though I knew the answer was for sure going to be blue.
Just Grace and the Terrible Tutu Page 3