by Annie Bryant
“Wait, Maeve. Want to go to a movie with me tomorrow night?” Tim grabbed Maeve’s arm and pulled her to a corner, away from the other kids.
How funny for Tim to invite her to a movie, since she lived over the movie theater and could see any show any time she liked. But even if that wasn’t the case, she didn’t think she wanted to go any place with Tim. He wasn’t who she thought he was.
“I don’t go out with boys who drink. It’s dumb. You are only fourteen, for goodness sakes. It’s not one bit cool or legal. And it kills brain cells. Don’t you know that?” Maeve was starting to feel really mad. She had thought Tim was something special. Now she just wanted to get away from him. She should have listened to Katani and Charlotte and left the party.
“Well, Miss Goody-Goody. You think you’re too good to go out with me, don’t you? Miss Popular. I take it back. You’re not half as cute as you think you are.” A shocked Maeve turned to give him a piece of her mind when his face suddenly turned ashen. Gripping the side of the table, he began to raise his hand to his mouth. What happened next Billy Trentini described later as “truly gruesome—like something out of a horror movie. I mean, Cole spewed everywhere. It was like a geyser.”
Chunks of pepperoni pizza and red punch flew out of Tim’s mouth, dribbled down his shirt, and sprayed all over the floor.
The party of the year was history.
All eyes turned toward Tim as he teetered, then slumped down to the floor.
Chaos reigned as Maeve screamed. She saw that a gushy chunk of vomit had attached itself to the bottom of her jeans. Some other kids began to gag while a few girls started crying. No one could actually believe what had happened. Throwing up was the grossest, most nasty thing you could do, and to throw up in public was a curse that would follow you for the rest of your school career. Tim Cole was doomed.
A furious Julie Faber threw a big, plastic exercise ball at her brother’s head.
“You and your friends are…are,” she stammered, “a bunch of idiots,” and then she burst into tears.
Shocked at his sister’s outburst, not to mention his friend’s mess in the middle of the floor, a suddenly contrite Bobby Faber raced over to the refreshment table and picked up a paper towel. He tried to mop up the gushy mess. But, he merely succeeded in spreading it around. A dazed Tim kept moaning over and over again. “Man, I’m sooo sorry. What a mess. What a mess.”
“Dude, be quiet. My mother is going to kill me when she sees this mess. Her precious Julie’s party ruined. You owe me big time.”
Meanwhile Riley Lee had leaned his guitar against the wall and had stepped in to help Maeve, who was crying and trying to wipe her pants off with a napkin.
“Leave her alone, Monkey Man. What’s a little red puke on your pants?” joked a kid named DJ. His face marked with swaggering bravado, the big boy stood over the smaller Riley, practically daring him to try something.
“Pick on someone your own age, dude,” Riley answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He was sick of Bobby Faber and his obnoxious, immature friends.
“Why should I leave her alone? So a fool like you can dance with her?” DJ grabbed Maeve’s arm and pulled her close to him. Maeve struggled, but the bigger boy had too tight a hold.
“Let her go,” demanded Riley, his voice a tad shaky.
“Scared, monkey mustard?”
Dillon, who had moved closer to the action, saw that the situation was getting out of control. And even though he was jealous that Riley was there first to help Maeve, he wasn’t going to let some punk eighth-grader mess with his classmates.
“Turn her loose, DP, or whatever your phony name is,” a tough-sounding Dillon demanded.
Charged up by Dillon’s presence, Riley stepped between Maeve and Dillon. Across the room, Charlotte and Katani grabbed each other. “This is really getting crazy,” whispered Katani to Charlotte. Her parents would never let her go to another party again when they heard about this. Where were Julie’s parents? Why hadn’t someone called them? Katani was not comfortable. Not one bit.
Charlotte was the first one to see it coming. With a sharp intake of breath, she grabbed Katani’s hand tightly. Meant for Riley, DJ’s fist scored on a stunned Dillon instead. Dillon, skidding in Tim Cole’s red vomit, fell flat on his back, clutching his eye. Maeve screamed. Julie screamed. Charlotte screamed. Two other girls screamed.
Everyone at the party made a choice. Scream, laugh, or fight. The entire scene in the basement had turned to chaos.
How Fast Can You Move?
“Let’s bolt…now.” A shaken Katani grabbed Charlotte’s hand and headed toward the stairs.
Maeve couldn’t wait to leave the party now. She ran to follow Katani and Charlotte. “Charlotte, call your dad to come and get us. Someone should have a cell phone,” she said in a panicked voice.
Chelsea, who had raced across the room to join them, handed Charlotte her cell phone. “Use mine. I’m getting out of here, too.”
Charlotte grabbed the phone and flicked it open. “Thanks, Chels.”
When her dad answered the phone, Charlotte said, “Did you walk Marty tonight?…Okay, thanks, bye, Dad,” and then hung up.
“What was that all about?” Nick asked. “You didn’t tell him to come pick you up.”
“My dad and I made up a code phrase to use. He heard from some other parent that it’s a good idea…so kids can feel okay about calling their parents for help and not worry about what other people think,” Charlotte explained.
“That’s a good idea. I should tell my mom about that…maybe ours could be ‘Don’t forget to bake the muffins for tomorrow morning,’” Nick joked. “I’m leaving too. “Can I catch a ride?”
“Sure.” Charlotte didn’t want any of her friends to stay. Who knew what could happen next? She didn’t even want to think about it.
A line of fellow party deserters followed, a conga line oozing its way up the stairs—Charlotte, followed by Nick, Maeve, and a wounded Dillon, then Katani, who was surprised when Pete took her hand and came along behind her.
They hurried up the stairs to the second floor.
“Mrs. Faber!” Charlotte shouted over the TV, which seemed to be at full volume.
“Why girls, and boys.” Mrs. Faber acknowledged the male members of the huddle of BSG and friends. “Are you leaving already? Aren’t you having fun?”
“Thank you for the great party, Mrs. Faber,” Charlotte said. “I told my father we wouldn’t stay out late.”
Quickly, the group went outside on the Fabers’ lawn to wait for him. The palm trees swayed in a slight wind, the lights twinkled, and the pink flamingos looked out of place in Brookline, far from their habitat. The Hawaiian music was quiet, and the girl handing out leis had long since gone home or inside someplace. Nobody said a word.
“Wait a minute. Where is Katani?”
Nick pointed to Katani racing across the lawn. “Here she comes; she must have stopped to get her jacket.”
“Julie was really upset,” said Charlotte in a subdued tone.
“Do you blame her? You only get to turn thirteen once.” Maeve raked her hand through a palm tree frond.
“The Fabers should have made sure Bobby had something to do tonight,” Nick said. “They have to know that their own kid is major trouble.”
“Yeah, I heard Julie tell Kiki that she had asked him to stay away, so she knew he could cause problems. Oh, there’s my brother. I’ll see you Monday.” Chelsea turned and grinned at the group. “I don’t think Tim Cole will be in school on Monday.” She sprinted off with a backward wave.
“You know,” commented Pete to Katani, “Chelsea looks kinda different.”
“Yeah, she really does,” a breathy Katani answered.
Charlotte hoped her father got there fast. She felt funny huddled in front of the house, randomly chatting about Chelsea, while Dillon’s eye turned a disgusting green color, Katani’s normally take-charge personality shrunk away, and Maeve, the “Chatty Kathy” of the g
roup, had stopped talking altogether. The party lights all looked rather lonely now, twinkling in the cold air.
Maeve glanced at Dillon’s eye. She hoped he would forgive her. But really, it wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t the one who had started anything. I just wanted to dance, she thought to herself.
Kids were beginning to pour out of Julie’s house. Some were running across the lawn.
Luckily, Charlotte’s father pulled up in front and got out of his car. “I didn’t expect you to call for another hour or more.”
“Dad, do you think we can fit all of us in the car?” Charlotte said. “I’ll tell you what happened later.”
Mr. Ramsey hesitated as he noticed Dillon’s eye. “Well, we’ll be breaking the seat belt law, but all right. Pile in. You kids okay? You want to stop at J.P. Licks…get some ice cream?”
The ice cream shop was packed. It seemed that everyone who was not at Julie’s was slurping down on ice cream tonight. Mr. Ramsey suggested that the kids find a seat and he would place the order. Charlotte’s dad always seemed to save the day.
“So, Dillon…dull party?” Mr. Ramsey asked as he handed the usually talkative boy a double scoop butterscotch special with almonds and rainbow sprinkles.
Maeve looked at Charlotte, who looked around the table. It was her dad. She would have to do the talking. “Julie’s brother came in, and we think he and his friends were drinking,” Charlotte blurted. “They started making fun of everyone, including Riley, who was there with his band.”
“Things got a little out of hand…did they?” Mr. Ramsey was very matter of fact, for which Charlotte was relieved. It would have been just awful to get a lecture now.
“I hope Julie’s party wasn’t totally ruined. She looked so sad when people started to leave.” Charlotte couldn’t stop thinking about the whole thing.
“Julie really looked forward to having a great birthday,” Nick agreed, “and the Fabers spent a lot of money to help her celebrate.”
“You okay, Katani?” Mr. Ramsey asked.
“Sure. I—it was just kind of crazy there.” She looked over at Pete, who nodded in agreement.
“We can get home from here, Mr. Ramsey,” Nick said. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll call you tomorrow, Charlotte.”
Charlotte smiled. Nick said he’d call, right in front of everyone. Dillon got up and left with Nick. Charlotte noticed he didn’t tell Maeve good-bye or that he’d call her. She hoped he wasn’t mad at Maeve. Maybe his eye was starting to hurt. Pete took one last bite of his sundae, scraped his dish, then left as well.
Katani seemed really tired. Charlotte looked over at her dad. His face had an expression she hadn’t seen before. She wondered if he could wait for her to tell him in the morning. All she wanted to do was go home and crawl into bed. The party of the year had turned out to be the biggest bust of the century.
Sisterly Advice
Katani looked at her watch when she got to her room. Kelley was sound asleep. Using the computer wouldn’t disturb her. And Katani knew her oldest sister would still be wide awake. Did anyone in college get any sleep? She needed to talk to Candice, immediately.
CHAPTER 18
Ambush
Joline tossed things in her locker helter-skelter, as if desperate to find homework.
“I can’t believe Tim Cole threw up right in the middle of the floor. It was so gross. And then DJ punched Dillon right in the eye….”
“Wow, sounds like some party,” Robert Worley said.
“Too bad you weren’t invited,” Anna reminded him. Robert flushed and quickly walked away.
“What a dweeb.” Joline grimaced.
“Julie’s party was so entertaining. Yeah, if only Katani hadn’t…” Joline stopped in mid sentence. “There she is,” Joline said in a very loud voice, just short of shouting.
All heads turned. The Anna and Joline Show was about to begin.
The Queens of Mean spread their witch capes wide and swooped toward their victims.
“Whoa, duck for cover, Katani!” a bemused Avery yelled to her friend as she put her hands over her head to ward off the evil twins.
Eager classmates surrounded the BSG. Nobody wanted to miss the show. And everyone who hadn’t been invited to Julie Faber’s party was hoping the BSG would take Anna and Joline down a peg or two or three!
“Two minutes to the bell,” Robert Worley called out. Still smarting from Anna’s remark, he was trying to show the Queens of Mean that he was still an important part of the group…Revenge of the Excluded.
Charlotte, Avery, and Maeve looked at Katani, but they stepped close to support her. “What’s going on, Katani?” Charlotte whispered.
“Ms. BSG Tattletale here,” Anna swung her head back and forth and waved her finger in the air, “told Julie Faber’s parents that there was drinking and fighting and the whole party was out of control. So the parents came down and kicked everyone out…just when it was getting good.”
“Was that after they cleaned up Tim Cole’s throw-up?” Maeve asked ever so sweetly.
Joline shot her the Queen of Mean special look—the one that said, “Back away, lowly insect.”
Maeve shrugged and rolled her eyes. Joline Kaminsky didn’t scare her.
“You are such a tattletale, Katani. What were you thinking? It’s like kindergarten all over again. And Julie is brokenhearted,” said Kiki Underwood, who seemed thrilled to stick her two cents in. “She made herself sick crying. She couldn’t even come to school. And her brother can’t leave the house for a whole month. Their parents really freaked out. Julie and Bobby both hate you. You think you’re so cool, Katani, but you are so immature.”
“I…It was the right thing to do,” Katani spoke quietly.
“I hope you’re proud of yourself, Miss Party Spoiler,” Kiki said. “Tim and Bobby only drank three beers. It was no biggie.”
“That was three too many,” Pete Wexler said in Katani’s defense. “Those guys were really rude. And what they did was illegal. The Fabers could have been arrested.”
“What about Bobby?” Henry asked. “He’s the one that broke up Julie’s party, not Katani or Julie’s parents. My parents would have done the same thing.” To Katani’s surprise, the Yurtmeister seemed to be on her side.
Anna glared at him. “I thought you were on our side.”
“Why do we have to take sides about this?” Charlotte said.
“Ten seconds to the bell,” Robert alerted everyone.
“We know whose side you’re on. The goody two shoes side. Give me a break. You’re all immature babies.” Joline slammed her locker and flounced away.
Avery, Maeve, and Charlotte gave each other sidelong glances. They were startled by what had Katani done.
Dillon put his arm around Katani. “The Queens of Mean are riding their brooms today.” Then he escorted her to homeroom, leading the way through the crowd that had gathered. Katani heard a few boos and cat calls before she slipped into class.
Ms. Rodriguez stood at the door and greeted her students. She stepped back to let in Dillon, Katani, and the BSG. Isabel had caught up to the crowd in the hall soon enough to hear some of the commotion.
“What happened out there in the hall just now?” a concerned Isabel whispered.
“Tell you later,” Avery said. Avery and Isabel knew some of the party details, since they had been IM-ing on Sunday. But neither had heard anything about Katani telling Julie’s parents that the party was out of control.
“Good morning, Dillon.” Ms. R smiled. “Did you have a good weekend?”
Dillon grinned at Ms. R. “Sort of. But you should see the other guy.”
It was the standard answer to the age-old question, but Dillon knew the other guy didn’t get a scratch, while his eye was going to be black and blue for at least a week.
Dillon shrugged and took his seat.
“I have to admit,” Avery said, “I’m sorry that I missed this party after all.”
“I think being on TV was probably a
better deal,” a sarcastic Katani replied.
The BSG hadn’t been able to get together on Sunday, but they had chatted online, and Avery had talked to Katani twice on the phone. Not once had Katani mentioned to them that she had gone to Julie’s parents about the trouble in the basement.
All eyes went to the front of the classroom where Ms. Rodriguez stood waiting for everyone’s attention. She looked especially pretty today in her crisp white shirt and jean skirt. Maeve couldn’t help but think that it would be so much fun to be Ms. Rodriguez’s matchmaker.
Maeve figured that since she was going to be single herself for about a hundred years, she might as well get a job. Both Riley and Dillon were probably really mad at her, and Tim Cole had three strikes against him—too old, totally inappropriate, and an overall dud. She snuck a look at Dillon. His black and blue and purple and green eye looked terrible. She hoped it didn’t hurt. It probably looked worse than it was, but it made her feel awful anyway. But, she thought as she twirled her hair into a ponytail, how could she have known what would happen? All she wanted to do was dance with Tim Cole. How was that a bad thing? Maeve questioned.
“Okay, now what was all the uproar about?” Ms. R asked. “Katani, you seem to be the center of attention.”
Katani took a deep breath, thought about what Candice had said, and spoke. “Julie Faber’s brother and some of his friends came in and caused trouble at Julie’s birthday party. They had been drinking and they started a big fight. Tim Cole threw up all over the floor. Some of us decided to leave.”
“Wise choice if you ask me,” said Ms. R, focusing her attention firmly on Katani.
“Anyway,” Katani stuck her chin up, “I decided that Mr. and Mrs. Faber needed to know what was going on. So I told them. If that makes me a tattletale, fine. I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”
“I don’t think it was your place to go and tell the parents, Katani,” Dirk Petersen said. “It was none of your business. You ruined the party for everyone else.”
“Things weren’t that out of control,” Patrick Hawk said. “People would have settled down.”