Freestyle with Avery

by Annie Bryant

  Plenty of people? Did she not miss her dad anymore because now she had MY DAD? I suddenly had a thought. If Andie and Dad got married, then Kazie would be my sister … or stepsister. Whoa. Wait till I tell the BSG about this one. I had a sudden image of a Farkle/Marty war in the bathroom.

  “Kazie! There you are!” called a girl as tall as Kazie with long red hair. She popped out from a video store in front of us with another shorter, blonde friend.

  “Crazieeeee!” the blonde one hollered.

  “Hey girls! What’s crack-a-lackin’?” Kazie said.

  “How was your dinner with the new girl?” asked the red-headed one.

  “Yeah! What’s the Snurfman’s daughter like?” asked the other.

  Helloooo! Was I invisible? Time to take matters into my own hands. “Hey guys! I’m Avery.” They stared at me blankly. “The Snurfman’s daughter …” I clarified.

  “Oh, yeah. Avery, these are my friends, Siobhan and Tessa,” Kazie said.

  “You’re the Snurfman’s daughter?” asked Tessa, the girl with red hair.

  “Yup.”

  Siobhan looked me up and down. “How old are you?”

  “Twelve. How old are you?”

  “Thirteen,” they said at the same time.

  “Well, do you race?” Siobhan asked. By looking at Siobhan I could tell that she did. Her style was like something out of a snowboarding magazine. Her streaked blonde hair was super short and all spiky. Like Farkle, I thought.

  “Yeah, I race. I’m gonna be in the Snurfer,” I told them.

  The girls started to giggle. “That’s not what she means,” Kazie said. She looked at the two girls and winked. “Last one to The Sweet Life is a rotten eggplant!”

  Before I knew what was happening, the three of them took off sprinting. But so did I. Running was one of my specialties. Even though Kazie and her friends had a head start, I passed them all in seconds and didn’t look back.

  I got to The Sweet Life and collapsed onto the front step. “Winner!” I cried and looked around for the girls. Siobhan and Tessa were a block behind and not going all that fast. Kazie was even farther. They jogged over to me at a mellow pace … not even out of breath.

  “Winner!” I cried again and put my hand out for them to slap.

  The girls were laughing hysterically. “Congratulations, Avery. You’re officially the ice cream cleaner-upper for the night,” Tessa proclaimed.

  My throat felt dry. Since when did winning a race make you the loser? I glared at Kazie, who shrugged. “Chill, Avery. It’s just a joke. Consider it … your initiation.”

  Tessa, Siobhan, and Kazie, still laughing, tumbled into the store.

  Was this what it was like to be the new kid in Telluride? Definitely not what we did to Charlotte and Isabel when they were new to Brookline. Who did this Kazie girl think she was?

  CHAPTER

  8

  Melon

  When I walked down the stairs into The Sweet Life I could feel everybody staring at me. Good thing I wasn’t a blusher like Charlotte or my face would be big-time red. Kazie, Tessa, and Siobhan were already in line at the counter. Everyone was trying to talk to Crazie Kazie. Boy, was she popular in Telluride—it didn’t take me long to figure that one out.

  Kazie got her ice cream—a banana split—and turned to find a table. Then I couldn’t believe my eyes. The huge crowd of kids in the store parted just so Kazie could have a path to walk through. Tessa and Siobhan followed. A few younger girls sitting at the big corner booth scrambled to get up, and Kazie and her friends settled right into their places. I’d never seen anything like this, except in movies.

  “Yo, Avery!” Kazie shouted. “You coming?”

  I squeezed through the crowd (no one moved out of the way for me) and went over to their booth, which was now totally filled with people. “I need the money,” I said.

  Kazie cupped her ear. “I can’t hear you. Everybody be quiet!” she commanded.

  All the kids instantly stopped talking.

  “I need the money,” I repeated. Now everyone was listening. I was suddenly really mad at Dad for giving Kazie the money to hold.

  “Oh, yeah!” Kazie reached into her pocket and scrunched some bills into my hand. “I totally forgot. Soooorry. Here it is.”

  “Don’t sweat it,” I mumbled and turned to go back. I wished Kazie wouldn’t make such a big scene over everything. She seemed all laid-back, but it looked to me like underneath it all she was really a total drama queen.

  “Do you even eat ice cream?” Kazie called with a smug laugh. I didn’t answer, but I could hear her quietly telling her friends about what happened with the root beer floats.

  “Can I help you?” asked the boy behind the counter.

  “Do you still have fruit smoothies?” I asked him. (It just so happens I did eat ice cream. But fruit smoothies were definitely my fave.)

  “You bet.” The boy smiled and pointed to a sign that listed smoothie flavors. “What kind?”

  There were so many yummy fruits to choose from, how could I decide? “Hmm … eenie, meanie, miney, pineapple! No, mango … no, melon … no—”

  “How ‘bout all three?”

  “Excellent!”

  I got my smoothie and went back to the table. It was completely packed. Did every kid in Telluride want to hang out with the great Crazie Kazie? What was so great about her, anyway? Kazie was telling a story about the time her board unhooked on the middle of a chairlift and she had to shimmy up a double black diamond to get it back. “Wanna hear the best part? One of my boots went down with it!”

  “That’s sick!” a boy exclaimed.

  “Let’s put it this way—they don’t call her Crazie Kazie for nothing!” said Tessa.

  “You guys think that’s crazy,” I began. “Two years ago I got stuck on this trail that was blocked off because of an avalanche warning. I had to find my way through the woods in the middle of a monster blizzard … and I wasn’t even glading!”

  The crowd got quiet again and suddenly all eyes were on me. I was the center of attention now, and for some reason it didn’t feel too cool.

  “Who are you?” asked the girl beside me.

  “I’m Avery. Avery Madden.”

  “Why does that name sound familiar?” asked someone else.

  “Her dad’s Jake Madden … aka the Snurfman … aka MY BOSS!” Kazie explained.

  Everyone nodded and “ohhed.” Aka your mom’s boyfriend, I thought.

  I was about to explain that although I usually lived in Boston, I wasn’t really a new kid at all … when the bell over the door jingled. Everyone looked to see who was coming down the stairs.

  It was a boy about my age. He was tall, taller than Kazie even, with dark curly hair and bright red cheeks, probably from being outside. The girls around me were all staring and whispering … including Kazie, Tessa, and Siobhan. I’d been friends with Maeve long enough to know what those kind of looks meant. This kid—whoever he was—must’ve been THE cute boy of Telluride. I guess every town had one.

  I thought he’d probably go right over the table and join the Crazie Kazie Fan Club, but he didn’t. Weird, I thought. Then I saw something really weird. The front of the kid’s jacket was moving. “Whoa!” he cried suddenly. I couldn’t believe my eyes. A ferret popped out of his collar, leaped onto his shoulder, and then crawled to his head.

  “Check it out! Jason brought his ferret. Hey, Jason, come here!” Kazie called. “Can I pet him?”

  Jason slowly reached up to snatch the ferret off his head. Just as his hand was about to clamp down on the furry dude, the ferret scrambled back onto Jason’s shoulder and took a flying leap onto a nearby table before disappearing underneath it. Jason groaned. “Radley, no!” he exclaimed, kneeling under the table and looking around for the escapee.

  The store manager hurried toward Jason shaking a finger. “What did I tell you about bringing that rodent in here? Health regulations strictly prohibit animals!” That really made my blood boi
l. Ferrets weren’t rodents. Seriously. It says so in the encyclopedia. Suddenly a table of girls across the room screamed, and Jason’s face turned even redder than before. “Come on, kid! Now find that rodent and get it outta here,” the manager growled.

  “Yes sir. I’ll do that.” How he was going to do that was the question. Jason looked terrified as he stood up and surveyed the room, but actually the screams were good news—now we knew where the ferret was. I decided to use a little Avery Animal Mastermind.

  “Okay, everybody, stay calm!” I instructed. Jason looked confused. “Don’t worry,” I told him. “I’ve done this thousands of times before.” Okay, that was a lie. I had done it once before. And it hadn’t been a ferret so much as a guinea pig. And it wasn’t so much my guinea pig—it was Maeve’s … the time I was baby-sitting for it. And I didn’t actually catch the guinea pig. But hey, close enough, right?

  I put my smoothie on the table by Kazie and tried to spot the long, furry animal.

  “Radley, Radley, come back here,” Jason called. Everyone was giggling a little, except for the group of girls who were shrieking with their legs curled up on the benches. People could be so silly—ferrets were totally safe and cute. Poor Jason though. He looked way embarrassed. Good thing I was on the case.

  I heard a clinking sound by the radiator, and I quickly grabbed half a banana from Kazie’s sundae. “I’m going to have to borrow this,” I said. Ferrets went nuts for bananas.

  “Hey!” Kazie cried.

  “Do you want me to catch the ferret or not?” I asked.

  That made her quiet. She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and went “Hmph!”

  I got down on my hands and knees, scooted under the table, and wiggled the banana near a tiny crack under the radiator. “Here, Radley, want a snack?” I made my voice very soft and soothing. Talking to animals was a specialty of mine. “You know you’re hungry, little guy. You want a bite?” I waved the banana then pulled it back again.

  “Look! It’s working!” shouted one of the kids.

  Radley’s nose twitched as he inched toward me. I kept pulling the banana back more and more until Radley was all the way out. Just as he got close enough to nibble, I reached under the radiator and grabbed. Game over! Mission accomplished! Ferret captured!

  “Wow, that was awesome, Avery!” said Tessa. Actually, the whole Kazie-crew was smiling at me … except for Kazie. I hoped she wasn’t mad that I nabbed her banana.

  Just then, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I was so startled, I almost let go of Radley. It was Jason. “Thanks,” he said, looking very relieved. “That was close.”

  “No prob. Here you go!” I slid Radley into his hands.

  “How many ferrets do you have?” he asked.

  I laughed. “Zero. But I do have a snake and a frog, and a dog that I share with my friends.”

  “So then how did you … ?” Jason held up Radley. His face was still pink. Charlotte would laugh when I told her that guys could be wicked bad blushers too.

  I shrugged. “I’m pretty good when it comes to animals.”

  I waited for him to say something, but Jason just stood there totally zoned out. “I shouldn’t have brought Radley in here,” he mumbled finally. “I gotta go.” He put the ferret in his pocket and dashed out the door.

  “Hey, wait a sec!” I cried. I really wanted to talk to this kid. I mean, who brings a ferret to an ice cream store in Telluride? It was so random and very, very cool.

  I started to follow him out when I felt someone grab my arm again. Yikes. Kazie took a giant step to position herself between me and the door. “I wouldn’t, Avery,” she warned. “Jason’s new here and he’s really shy. He probably just wants to be left alone.”

  “But—”

  Siobhan folded her arms and stood beside Kazie. “Seriously. I’ve been trying all month to talk to him. Just forget it. He doesn’t even like Kazie.” She giggled and Kazie elbowed her in the side.

  “We all know you think he’s cute, Avery,” Tessa added, “but just give it up.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at that one. “You guys, I don’t think he’s—”

  “Come on,” Kazie said. “I’m gonna tell the story about the time I took the worst digger at Deer Valley in Utah.” But she didn’t sit back down and ignore me like she had before. She was waiting for me to … to what? To go back to the table and NOT hang out with Jason? Kazie, Tessa, and Siobhan had pretty much formed a wall in front of me. Hmm … how to escape?

  “Hey, everyone! Is that Donnie Keeler?” I pointed to a table in the back.

  “Where!?” Kazie and her friends shouted at once. The second they turned, I pulled my ear warmer over my ears, slipped between Kazie and Tessa, and ran out the door.

  “Catch you on the flip side!” I was off.

  CHAPTER

  9

  Ollie

  Hey, Jason, wait up!” Jason was already a few blocks ahead, so this time my sprinting came in handy.

  Now Jason was the one who was startled. “Hey! Ferret-catcher girl.”

  “Right! Ferret catcher girl! That’s me. Otherwise known as Avery. And you’re Jason.” He shook my hand quickly and looked at the ground. Oops … Kazie mentioned that he was shy. He was probably wondering why some random girl was chasing him down the street. “That ferret escape was the only funny thing that’s happened all night,” I explained.

  To my relief, Jason laughed. “Really? I guess taking Radley in there was not my smartest idea ever. Usually he stays inside my shirt—no problem. He was going crazy tonight, though.”

  “He probably smelled all the delicious goodies in there! FYI, ferrets love sweet stuff, but a lot of sugary snacks are really bad for them.”

  “Wow,” said Jason. “How do you know so much about ferrets?”

  I shrugged. “I’m sort of a whiz when it comes to animal trivia. How long have you had this guy?”

  “Just got him. I’ve had tons of pets, but this is my first ferret. I’m still getting used to Radley.”

  I reached out and patted Radley’s wiggly little nose with my finger.

  “Hey!” Jason said. “You wanna hold him?”

  “Sure!”

  Jason carefully handed me the ferret and I cuddled him in both hands. Then I unzipped my jacket and tucked him inside in case he was cold. I giggled when he squirmed around in there. Finally Radley curled into a ball and stayed still.

  The streets of Telluride were so calm at night. Way different than with the daytime traffic. It wasn’t scary-quiet, though. Just peaceful.

  “So how come you call him Radley?” I asked finally. “It’s a cool name.”

  “Short for Boo Radley. He’s a character from the book To Kill a Mockingbird. That’s my favorite book. You ever read it?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, we read it earlier this year. Everyone in the seventh grade at my school has to. What grade are you in?”

  “Eighth,” he answered. “So I take it you aren’t from around here?”

  “Nope. Boston. My dad lives in Telluride though, so I’m visiting for the week.”

  “Boston? Whoa … that’s so far. I’ve never been further east than Nebraska.”

  “Nebraska? What’s in Nebraska?” I asked.

  Jason smiled. “Not much, actually. My parents used to live there … in Omaha. Then I moved to Durango, Colorado, with my grandparents. And then I moved here about … hmm … I guess two months ago now.”

  “Do you like Telluride?”

  Jason shrugged. “I dunno. It’s okay, I guess. My foster family is nice, though.”

  Foster family? I wondered what that was all about. Jason was the second kid I’d met in two days who had a different kind of family than mine. I wanted to ask him more about it—where his real parents were, why he’d moved around so much—but I didn’t know if those were the type of questions you asked a new friend. And I didn’t like it when people asked me too many nosy questions.

  “Do you—” We both started talking
at the same time, then we burst out laughing.

  “You go,” I said.

  “Do you like the Red Sox?” Jason asked. “They’re my favorite team. My grandpa’s originally from Boston, and I mean, you’re from Boston, right? So I figured—”

  “Like the Red Sox?” I interrupted. “DO I LIKE THE RED SOX?”

  “Umm …”

  “I LOVE THEM!” I cried. “Seriously! I am a Red Sox superfan. I follow every game. I’m obsessed.” Jason stared at me with huge eyes, but I couldn’t stop. Once I heard the words “Red Sox” there was no turning back. “One time, I even got to meet Robbie Flores … Rookie of the Year. He’s probably, like, THE COOLEST player of all time.”

  “You met Robbie Flores?” Jason was definitely impressed—I could tell. We walked down Main Street, and I told Jason all about Marty running away and how Robbie Flores found him and thought he was good luck. I knew I was getting farther and farther from my house but I didn’t really mind. It was so exciting to talk to someone from so far away who loved animals and the Red Sox, just like me. “And so the BSG—that’s what me and my friends call ourselves—we got to go Fenway and meet Flores! It was sooo cool!”

  “Wow,” Jason said. “Did you get Marty back?”

  I nodded. “Sure did. He’s here with me right now. Well, back at my dad’s house. If you like animals, you’ll loooove Marty. Sometimes I feel like he’s really a person trapped in the body of a dog. I know, I know, it sounds really weird … but when you meet him you’ll understand.” I shivered and rubbed my hand over my jacket to make sure Radley was warm enough in there.

  “No, I know what you mean,” said Jason. “That’s how it is with Ollie.”

  “Who’s Ollie?”

  Jason smiled. He kind of reminded me of Nick Montoya. Something about the way he just did his own thing without caring too much about what other people thought. “Ollie’s …” Jason started to explain. “Hey! You want to meet him? We’re almost at my house. It’s right on Townsend—the yellow one on the corner. And I don’t know about you … but I’m freezing!” He pulled his winter hat over his ears and blew on his hands. “My foster mom makes the best hot chocolate.”