Mom had on a brand-new emerald-green silk blouse with flow-y pants and a chunky green and gold necklace. I don’t remember what she wore last year, but I do remember I heard her complain on the way over about how she hadn’t had time to get her highlights touched up and Mrs. Lee and all the other women would look perfect. This year, she did, too.
When we got to the party, Mrs. Lee opened the door. I examined her jewelry and let out a long, relieved breath. No swirly silver bracelet on either wrist. I hadn’t seen her wear it for a long time, but on the drive over, I’d convinced myself that tonight she might.
But I couldn’t feel relieved for long, because Mrs. Lee pulled me in for a hug and held on tight. She smelled the same way she always smelled—like vanilla mixed with some kind of flower.
“We’ve missed you around here, Lauren,” she told me. “I was so disappointed when Audrey said you can’t join us for the ski trip this year.”
“I just don’t want to be gone when Ry’s home,” I said, but my throat got a little tight. I always go with the Lees on their trip to the Poconos over New Year’s. It’s not like I thought Audrey was going to invite me, but the fact that she hadn’t asked and lied to her mom about it still made me sad.
Mrs. Lee nodded. “I can understand that,” she said. “I was hoping he’d be back in time to play the piano for us again today.”
Then somebody else arrived and rang the doorbell. “Make sure you get some chicken fingers,” she told me before she greeted the new guests. “We got that honey-mustard dipping sauce again.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Lee,” I squeaked out past the tightness in my throat.
Dad had already wandered away to find one of the waiters passing trays of pigs in blankets and cheesy pastries, and Mom accepted a bubbly red “house cocktail” when another waiter offered it to her.
“I think I see my friends,” I told Mom, even though the only people I saw were Audrey and Emma, who wore matching sparkly earrings, and Max Sherman with a couple of other boys. Carl had some kind of meeting at the co-op where he works, so Sierra wouldn’t be there for half an hour at least, and Audrey hadn’t invited the whole grade. There was no chance somebody like Mariah would show up to talk to me.
Audrey whispered something to Emma when she saw me, and then the two of them scurried upstairs. I couldn’t get anywhere near her mom’s room with Audrey and Emma across the hall, so I took a seat on the couch next to Max.
His hair was combed and a little bit slick looking, and he had on a sweater over a collared shirt. He was bouncing one leg up and down hard enough that the soda he was holding sloshed around in the cup and came close to spilling.
“So what happens at these things, Loco?” he asked. “I see the Lees haven’t started setting up menorahs or putting out dreidels for their Jewish guests.”
“Yeah, not so much,” I said. “Not the most PC holiday party ever.”
Max shrugged. “I’ll get over it if you tell me we still get to fish for presents.”
I laughed, because I’d forgotten about the present fishing. This was the first year boys had been invited since we were in second grade, and back when we were little, Audrey’s mom decorated a sheet to look like water with fish swimming around in it. She and my mom held it up, and Dr. Lee brought out his fishing pole. All the kids got to take turns “fishing,” and Dr. Lee had to kneel behind the screen and slide little presents onto each kid’s hook.
“Sorry, Max. The present fishing stopped a while ago.” I gestured around the room. “It’s pretty much just this. There’s a big buffet in the dining room once it’s dinnertime. And usually there are Christmas carols. Dr. Lee will probably play the piano.”
Dr. Lee always used to play before Ryan took over last year. He’s not as good as Ryan, but he’s not bad.
I glanced at the Lees’ piano across the room, where Ryan had sat on their cushiony black leather bench with his back perfectly straight and his face serious, rocking toward the keys and back as his fingers flew and notes rang out.
Everybody at the party had clustered around, applauding after each song and calling out requests. People requested holiday songs at first: “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” and “Winter Wonderland.” And then harder stuff, once they realized he could play pretty much anything he’d heard.
“Do you know any Rachmaninoff concertos?” one of Dr. Lee’s friends asked, his voice a little too loud and jolly.
I could tell he was trying to stump Ryan, and I clutched Audrey’s hand. But it turned out I didn’t have to worry about Ry.
He just nodded. “My aunts have a ‘Best of Rachmaninoff’ CD,” he said, and then he was off.
“Go, Ryan!” Audrey cheered, and Ry’s mouth curled into a smile, even though he didn’t look away from those black and white keys.
Now Max took a sip of his soda and then set it down on the coffee table. “Ah, well. Do you think Dr. Lee knows any Hanukkah songs? I’d better start to warm up my vocal cords just in case.”
He started singing some shrill “la-la-las.”
I shook off the memory of Ry at the Lees’ piano and Audrey being nice.
“Sounds like you need a lot more warming up,” I told Max, and the other guys laughed.
At the edge of the room, somebody made a clinking sound, silverware tapping a glass.
“Oh, and Mrs. Lee always starts the party off by telling the story of Audrey’s first Christmas,” I said. “That’s our cue to gather around and listen.”
I figured Max would groan the way he had when he picked a name out for the Favor Swap, but instead he nodded.
“I remember the story. They all fell asleep because they were so tired from taking care of Audrey and the food all burned, right? And three fire trucks came because their fire alarm went off?”
“That’s pretty much it, yeah.”
“Welcome, welcome!” Mrs. Lee called.
“It’s a funny story,” Max told the other guys. “C’mon.”
They headed over to Mrs. Lee, and Audrey and Emma came back down from Audrey’s bedroom to stand next to Audrey’s dad.
I took a deep breath. This was the best chance I was going to get.
Mrs. Lee was right next to the front stairs, but I could walk around to the kitchen and go up the back way. I went nice and slowly, so I wouldn’t look suspicious. In the kitchen, the caterers were so busy stirring sauces and piling appetizers onto trays that nobody even looked at me as I passed through. I was going to tell them somebody was in the downstairs bathroom and I really needed to go, but I didn’t even have to say anything.
I went up one step, two steps, three steps, and nobody noticed me. When I got to the top of the stairs, my whole body was thrumming with adrenaline. I was really going to pull this off!
I went to Audrey’s room, and, sure enough, neatly folded piles of laundry sat at the foot of her bed. Audrey’s housekeeper does all the laundry, but Audrey’s supposed to put hers away, and she never does. Sometimes her housekeeper caves and does it for her, and sometimes Audrey’s mom notices and makes her do it. But most of the time, Audrey just ends up moving the clean piles down to the floor and picking out what she wants to wear from there.
We shared clothes for long enough that I know where everything goes, so it only took me a minute to put away her T-shirts, jeans, and pajamas. I left the underwear on the bed because it seemed too weird to touch that, and I paused for just a second when I put away the pajamas, because that’s how Mom had ended up finding all the stuff I’d hidden.
Audrey would probably hate this favor. But it was my alibi for being upstairs in case somebody noticed I was gone, and I couldn’t waste any more time taking everything out and putting it all back on the bed. I had to get to Audrey’s parents’ room. So I left an I hope you like your favor note on Audrey’s bed where the clothes had been and tiptoed across the hallway.
I hadn’t been in Dr. and Mrs. Lee’s room since Audrey and I stopped playing dress-up with Mrs. Lee’s fancy things, but ev
erything looked the same as I remembered. Same soft beige comforter and big floral pillows on the bed. Same tall dresser next to the windows and same paintings on the wall. I walked over to the smaller dresser, with tiny drawers for necklaces and bracelets and earrings, and I stopped when I noticed the framed pictures lined up on the top.
One of Dr. and Mrs. Lee at their wedding, and Audrey’s school picture from first grade—I recognized both of those. But there were three new photos I hadn’t seen. One of Audrey and her parents at the beach, maybe two years ago. A more recent one of just Audrey, standing in front of the big tree in their front yard. And then one from last New Year’s. My last Poconos ski trip with the Lees. Audrey and I had our arms around each other, and I was wearing a pointy party hat. Dr. Lee was next to Audrey, and Mrs. Lee was next to me, and they both held out champagne glasses as if they were toasting the person taking the picture.
I picked up the photo. We looked so happy, Audrey and me. That night, we’d met two kids from New York City and convinced them we were sisters but I was adopted. We told them our names were Simona and Jade. And we went back for seconds on ice cream sundaes at the resort’s buffet, and we got so hyper from the sugar high that we couldn’t fall asleep for ages, even after midnight. It was our best New Year’s Eve ever, and it was less than a year ago. If someone had told me that night that Audrey and I would stop being friends this fall, there’s no way I would have believed it.
But Audrey and I don’t have anything in common anymore. And she tried to leave Sierra out when Sierra obviously needed friends. And she barely wanted to talk about Ryan after he left even though she was Ry’s friend, too.
And, yeah, her mom gave me a nice hug and still smells the same and probably ordered honey-mustard dipping sauce just because she knows I like it. But her mom also has more jewelry than she could ever wear, even if she wore something different every day. She probably wouldn’t notice the bracelet was gone, just like Audrey didn’t notice her bracelet was gone. She’d probably be happy that I could help someone by selling it. She organizes lots of charity events for people who don’t have enough.
But she keeps a photo with me in it on her jewelry dresser. And she really seemed sad that I’m not going away with them this New Year’s.
Maybe $733 could be enough? Or maybe I could get Worship and Ministry to do another fund-raiser in the spring and find a way to have the money go to Jenna and other OTs like her?
But my fingers itched to open the drawers, and the idea of leaving this room without getting that bracelet—just giving up a chance for $300—made my hands shake and something ugly rise in my gut.
Downstairs, Dr. Lee started playing “Joy to the World” on the piano, and the doorbell rang. I’d been up here way too long now. I needed to make up my mind and get out of there.
I’ll open one drawer, and if the bracelet’s there, that means I’m supposed to take it, I decided. If it’s not, I won’t check any other drawers. I’ll go back downstairs and try to forget it.
I slid open the second drawer from the top on the right side on the dresser, and there, right on top, was the swirly silver bracelet with gold coiled around the edges and two blue stones facing each other.
So I took it. I had to.
I felt that same old easy-to-breathe adrenaline rush as I left Audrey’s parents’ room. My last year’s dress might be a little short on me now, but the good thing is, it has pockets. I held my hand over the left pocket, pressing the bracelet in place against my hip as I jogged toward the back stairs.
Once I got the money for it and sent it off on Monday, I’d get to see the look on Jenna’s face when I delivered more than $1,000. And then, if I ever started worrying that Jake might find out what I’d done and stop thinking I’m a good person, I could just remember that look.
I was practically skipping when I got to the stairway, until I saw Audrey, starting to come up.
Her chin stuck out so far, it must have strained her neck muscles. “What are you doing up here, Lauren?”
I closed my fingers around the bracelet in my pocket.
“And don’t lie and say you came up here to use the bathroom, ’cause I was standing right near the one downstairs, and nobody’s been in it since Mom’s big speech,” she added.
I gripped the bracelet tighter through the fabric.
“Check your bed, Audrey,” I told her, offering up a silent thank-you to the universe for giving me that little piece of paper with Audrey’s name on it when I reached into Ms. Meadows’s bowl. “I was doing you a favor.”
I didn’t show Sierra the bracelet until the very end of the night, when I had to give it to her so she could hide it at home. I wrapped it in one of Mrs. Lee’s gold-rimmed paper napkins, even, so Sierra wouldn’t have to know what it was if she didn’t want to.
“This is it,” I told her. “The last thing I’ll ever ask you to hide. You can bring it to school on Monday, and I’ll take it to the post office right after.”
I thought she’d be happy, but she let out a long, shaky sigh as she held out her hand for it. She didn’t say anything—she just nodded once and then followed Anne and Carl out to their car.
I was happy, though, because I took a picture of the bracelet when I went into the downstairs bathroom at the Lees’, and the guy who wanted it for his girlfriend paid me right away. And Sierra would be OK as soon as I took the bracelet back from her. I could even think of an extra special favor to do for her, to help her have an OK Christmas. Who cared that I didn’t pick her name?
But then the next morning, Mom knocked on my door.
“You didn’t see any kids going upstairs at the Lees’ house, did you?” she asked. “Any of those boys who were running wild by the end of the party?”
I’d been about to start my English reading, and I dropped my book onto the floor.
“I . . . I don’t think so. Why?”
Mom shrugged. “I got an e-mail from Audrey’s mom. Looks like something went missing during the party, and she’s trying to figure out if anybody knows anything. She thinks it might have been one of the caterers, but she doesn’t want to make any accusations if she’s wrong.”
I could barely hear the end of what Mom said over the echoing pounding of my heart.
Mrs. Lee knew the bracelet was gone already? What if she blamed the caterers and somebody got in trouble—fired, even—for something I did?
But Mom hadn’t said anything about the bracelet, specifically. Maybe something else was missing, and one of the caterers did take it.
“Lauren?” Mom said. “You look pale. Are you OK?”
But suddenly, I wasn’t OK at all.
SIERRA
Dulled
When Lauren handed me the bracelet
my body washed blue
like when I would pour Mom’s bottles out
but then she would buy, find another.
There was always another.
When I went to hide it,
the box
under Amy’s bed,
the silver bracelet
looked blue, too,
all its shine rusted
cold.
Fate
Anne asks me
if I know anything about a missing bracelet.
She got an e-mail saying
Audrey’s mom’s in a panic.
I tell her no.
As she leaves, though,
I know what I need to do.
The stealing, the hiding
is bad
but it’s worse
to have it there,
with Amy.
I wait until Anne’s footsteps fade
press my door
back open.
Chance
Standing in the hall,
I hear Anne put on the teakettle,
Carl cough as he turns the newspaper.
I take my chance.
Open Amy’s door quietly,
crawl back under the bed.
Hand on the box, then ar
ound the bracelet.
Pulling it toward me.
When I hear Seeger barking.
Sniffing at my feet.
I’m sliding back out
hand still on the bracelet
when I hear Anne say:
“Sierra!
What are you doing?”
Disappointment
I don’t need an 8 Ball now to tell me
what to do.
I’m going to leave here.
Lauren has to stay.
There’s only one person
here
I need
to protect.
I tell Anne it is my fault.
I took it.
I tell her I’m sorry
for hiding it with Amy,
it was the only place
I thought
no one would look.
As I say it,
my eyes focus on one of
Amy’s unicorns—
it looks like it’s in a parade
prancing
flags flying from its horn.
Carl comes in then,
puts his hand on Anne’s back.
She rubs her temples.
She doesn’t lecture me,
or yell
Carl shakes his head,
says softly they need to discuss this,
together.
They will come back
to talk to me.
They leave me there
with the proud unicorn.
I think about going to the closet.
Getting all the money, too.
Showing it all to Anne.
But I see Lauren watching then
from the window.
I’ve already disappointed them.
How can I disappoint her, too?
Leave the room, the unicorn
and his proud prancing.
Focus
Back in my room,
I ignore a GIF Cassidy sent me
of our old Disney Channel crush
smashing his face into a pie.
Every Shiny Thing Page 16