“Was your flight hunky-dory?” Zinnie asked. Her stomach dropped. Hunky-dory? What kind of expression was that? She’d never said it before in her life! And what did it even mean?
“Uh . . . ” Max looked confused.
“I mean, are you . . . I mean, did you . . . ?” Zinnie said, as tongue-tied as she’d ever been. “You made it here alive! And that’s great!”
Oh no, she thought. I am definitely acting weird.
“Yeah,” Max said. “That’s definitely good. And here, I brought you this.” He handed her the small, neatly wrapped box.
“Wow,” Zinnie said, taking the box and opening it. Inside were a few sheets of royal-blue tissue paper and under those was the most beautiful notebook she’d ever seen in her life. It was small, about the size of a postcard. The paper inside was lined with gold. No one had ever given her a more perfect gift in her whole life. “This is so beautiful! Thank you so much. I absolutely love it!” As she held the gift in her hand, she believed for a shining moment that he liked her, too. And not just as a friend. Her breathing grew shallow. The world stopped spinning and righted itself.
“There you are, Zinnie,” said Lily, who had come to find her. “Don’t you just love the notebooks that Max brought us?”
“‘Us’?” Zinnie asked. The bump on her head throbbed.
“Yeah,” said Marigold, who was right behind Lily. “They’re so Italian. Lily’s going to use hers for science observations, and I’m going to make directing notes in mine. What are you going to do with yours?”
“What I usually do,” Zinnie said, her chin trembling. “I’m the one who always carries a notebook, remember?”
“Are you okay?” Max asked. He touched her arm.
“Yeah,” Zinnie said, holding her breath so that she wouldn’t cry. This wasn’t the special, perfect just-for-her gift that she thought it was, and believing for those few golden seconds that it had been made the reality that much worse.
41 • Why Would She Say That?
Marigold hadn’t realized how much she missed her parents until she saw them parking the minivan. She’d been sitting by the window in the living room, waiting for them to arrive. And now joy washed over her like a gentle ocean wave as she ran to them. She really wanted them to meet Chloe, and maybe they could get Chloe’s parents’ information so that they could arrange a carpool. Also, she just wanted to hug them.
Lily and Zinnie followed her outside to greet them. As Mom and Dad stepped out of their rental car, the sisters covered them with hugs and kisses. Lily jumped right into her dad’s arms. Zinnie wrapped her arms around her mom’s waist, and Marigold pulled the whole family together into a bear hug.
“We’ve really missed you girls,” Mom said, planting a big kiss on each of them.
“The house is way too quiet without you,” Dad said as he unloaded suitcases from the back. “Have you been having fun?”
“Of course,” Lily said. “We’re in Pruet.”
“I’ve been helping out with the tricentennial,” Marigold said. “I was Jean’s assistant. I did everything from setting up the ice cream social to getting a special permit for cooking on the beach from the town council to hanging paper lanterns—not to mention directing an act about why we love Pruet so much.”
“Which Zinnie wrote with Max,” Lily said.
“You wrote a play in addition to your blog?” Dad asked Zinnie.
“Just a song,” Zinnie said.
“That’s fun. I can’t wait to see it,” Mom said, pulling Marigold close. “I’m proud of you for directing. That’s new.”
“And I love the Young Naturalists,” Lily said. “I wish it was my school!”
“That’s so great, honey,” Mom said, running her hands through Lily’s curls.
“And Zinnie,” Dad said, “I’ve been reading your blog. How’s it going?”
“Just okay,” Zinnie said.
Zinnie had been acting strange ever since Max arrived. Marigold had been so right about how freaked out Zinnie was over her crush. It was really messing with her head! Their first rehearsal with Max had been pretty rough. Max played his guitar and sang while Zinnie, Lily, and Marigold joined in on the chorus, stepping forward in pairs to improvise the activities described in the lyrics.
But Zinnie was totally out of it, tripping not once but twice, forgetting the words to the chorus she’d written herself, and generally acting like she was present only in body. Her mind seemed to be in another place.
When Marigold had asked her if she was okay, she’d just said that she didn’t want to talk about it. She’d stayed back at Aunt Sunny’s while the rest of the family had taken a walk on the beach. This was especially weird, because Max was going, and Zinnie had been talking about seeing Max again ever since last summer.
“Just okay?” Dad said. Zinnie nodded. “The concept is great—I can’t believe all the places you’ve discovered—and your pieces definitely have a strong voice. Have you found out who Brave13 is yet?”
“No,” Zinnie said, staring at the ground. “That’s part of the mystery.”
“I think your audience is going to want to know,” Dad said. “I know I do. You have to find out before you leave.”
“I guess so,” Zinnie said. “But maybe it’s no big deal if I don’t.”
“No big deal?” Marigold asked. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“I haven’t gotten any emails recently. . . .” Zinnie said, her voice trailing off. “Besides, I don’t even think I’m in the running for editor in chief. Madison’s blog is the big hit of the summer. It was picked up by Huzzah.”
“That’s great for Madison,” Dad said. “But that is not the only thing Mrs. Lee will be considering, I’m sure.” He gave her an extra hug.
“Hello!” Aunt Sunny called from the doorway. Mom and Dad waved. “Come on in. Lunch is on the table.”
“Great!” Dad called. “We haven’t eaten anything all day except for those terrible airplane snack packs.”
“We made tea sandwiches,” Lily said, skipping ahead. “Cucumber and cream cheese, salmon and watercress, and tuna salad. We used cookie cutters to make them into shapes.”
“Sounds perfect!” Mom said.
After lunch they all walked together to Edith’s. As Mom and Dad marveled over Edith’s new flavors, and Lily and Zinnie sampled some of the ones they hadn’t tried yet, Marigold spotted Chloe walking by.
“Oh, Mom,” Marigold said, pointing out the window. “Look. That’s the girl I was telling you about. The one who’s going to PAM next year!”
“I’d love to meet her,” Mom said.
“I’ll go get her,” Marigold said. “You’re going to see how cool she is.”
“Can’t wait!” Mom said.
Marigold darted down the street. Not only did she want to introduce Chloe to her parents, she also wanted to ask her for some directing tips, even though Zinnie didn’t want Chloe’s help. If Marigold wanted to be crowned Eliza Pruet, they needed all the help they could get. The song itself was charming, but somehow it wasn’t coming together the way it needed to. She wouldn’t even be considered for Eliza Pruet if the whole thing was a flop. Everyone would be there at the lighthouse party tonight, so they could have another rehearsal then, with Chloe there to offer her expert advice.
“Chloe!” Marigold called. Chloe turned around and gave her a sort of half smile, but she didn’t stop walking. Marigold jogged to catch up to her. “I just wanted to say that I’m so happy you’re coming to the party tonight,” she said, slightly out of breath. “I really want to get your opinion on some of the last-minute choreography that I’m trying to put into place. The song that Zinnie and her friend Max came up with is so cute, but I want this to look as polished as possible. I know the performance is tomorrow, but I’m pretty sure that with just a few simple changes from your professional point of view, we can make it so much better.”
“Oh . . . I’m not coming tonight,” Chloe said.
“Really?�
�� Marigold asked. “But I’ve told my parents all about you. I really want them to meet you. They said we might be able to carpool next year. . . . And we really do need your help for the choreography.”
“I’m sorry. Didn’t Zinnie tell you?” Chloe said.
“Tell me what?” Marigold asked.
“She told me that she didn’t think it was a good idea for me to come tonight,” Chloe said.
“She did what?” Marigold asked. Her sadness was quickly being replaced by anger. “Why would she say that?”
“Um, it’s hard to explain,” Chloe said. “Anyway, I’m meeting my uncle right now. A friend of his is sailing us over to the Vineyard tonight. So, I should probably get going. Sorry. See ya.”
Marigold’s heart pounded in her chest as she watched Chloe walk away.
42 • How Could You?
“Zinnie, I need to talk to you, okay?” Marigold said to her as soon as she walked through the door of the lighthouse. Aunt Sunny was right next to her, so Marigold had a big smile plastered on her face as she said it, but Zinnie could feel the anger under the surface. The live lobsters were climbing and squirming in the zipped-up canvas bags that Tony was holding. From Marigold’s withering glance, Zinnie felt just like those lobsters probably did: trapped and angry and about to get boiled.
“Okay,” Zinnie said, and checked out her surroundings. Mom and Dad were chopping vegetables for a salad in the tiny lighthouse kitchen, and Lily and Peter were playing jacks out on the porch. Max was doing cannonballs off the diving board, and his parents were sitting on the porch swing shucking corn. The girls had made it this far without a fight, so Zinnie doubted that Marigold was going to break now, especially not with so many witnesses.
“Let’s go upstairs to the little room,” Marigold said.
“But it’s such a lovely evening,” Aunt Sunny said. “How can you spend a minute indoors?”
“I know, Aunt Sunny,” Marigold said. “It’s just that the view from way up there is really inspiring. I think it will help us come up with the finishing touches for our performance tomorrow.”
Aunt Sunny gave them a skeptical glance and then continued into the kitchen. Marigold took Zinnie’s hand and practically dragged her up the narrow stairway.
“Ouch,” Zinnie said when they got to the top of the stairs.
“How could you?” Marigold whispered angrily.
“How could I what?” Zinnie asked.
“Tell Chloe not to come tonight! You know I wanted to introduce her to Mom and Dad. You know how much I want to be friends with her.”
“I didn’t want—”
“I know, I know, for ‘some reason’”—Marigold made air quotes with her fingers as she said this—“you just didn’t want her to help at all. But I think I know what that reason is.”
“I don’t think you d—” Zinnie started.
“You’re jealous!” Marigold said. “You’ve been jealous ever since I got cast on the TV show because you wanted to write about it in your blog. But instead of getting over it and being happy for me, you’ve tried to ruin everything.”
“That’s not fair,” Zinnie said. “I haven’t!”
“Yes you have! On my fun fourteenth you tried to get Peter’s attention with all your camping skills.”
“What are you talking about? It wasn’t my fault that the canoe drifted,” Zinnie protested.
“What is going on up here?” Aunt Sunny asked, joining them at the top of the stairs. She didn’t look mad; she just looked worried and a little sad.
“Oh no,” Zinnie said. “We’re so sorry, Aunt Sunny.”
“Sorry about what?” Aunt Sunny asked, wiping her hands on her apron.
“They promised they wouldn’t fight in front of you,” Lily said, peering out from behind Aunt Sunny. She had somehow sneaked up the stairs without anyone hearing. “And they almost made it.” Lily shook her head, so very disappointed in them. “We were so close, guys!”
“Let’s take a seat and have a talk,” Aunt Sunny said, sitting on the little bed and gesturing for the sisters to join her. “What’s the story?”
“Is everything okay up there?” Mom called from the floor below.
“We’re just having a chat,” Aunt Sunny said. “You go enjoy your swim, Gwen.”
“I won’t argue with that,” Mom said.
They waited to hear the screen door shut behind her on her way out to the porch.
“Zinnie has sabotaged my relationship with Chloe!” Marigold said. “It all started when I was cast on the TV show. But I genuinely want to act, and Zinnie just needed something to write about, and she blogged about it anyway, so it doesn’t even matter, does it?” Aunt Sunny didn’t respond. She just listened. “And then, because I guess she needed to show everyone how great she is, she took all the attention away from me on my fun fourteenth!”
“It’s not like I pushed the canoe in the river,” Zinnie said.
“And this whole time, she’s been trying to get Chloe to be her friend instead of mine,” Marigold said, her voice cracking with emotion. “After this year, when I had so many friend issues. It’s not nice. It’s not . . . sisterly.”
Aunt Sunny turned to Zinnie, who was surprisingly calm though also full of dread. She could feel the truth surfacing.
“Well, it’s true that I was a little jealous of Marigold getting cast in the TV show,” Zinnie said. “Sometimes it feels like she just always gets what she wants.” It was harder than she thought it was going to be to say that aloud. “And it’s also true that I really liked Chloe, so much that it felt like we were going to be best friends—if we had the time and if Marigold wasn’t around.”
“See, I told you!” Marigold said to Aunt Sunny as she wiped tears from her cheeks.
“Let her finish,” Aunt Sunny said to Marigold, placing a hand on her arm. “So why did you disinvite Chloe tonight?”
“She’s Brave13,” Zinnie said.
Lily gasped. “She is?”
“What!” Marigold said, her eyes bulging. “How long have you known?”
“I didn’t know until my last adventure—at the water tower. She met me there. She wanted to show me more places, too.”
“This is unexpected,” Aunt Sunny said. “I also thought it was Max, too shy to let on.”
“Let on what?” Zinnie asked.
“That he fancies you,” Aunt Sunny said.
Zinnie wanted to hear Aunt Sunny’s take on this, but Marigold jumped in.
“This makes no sense!” Marigold said. “It’s like she wanted to hang out with you, but without me.” Zinnie held Marigold’s gaze and let this sink in. “Wait. Am I right? Did she not want to be my friend?” Zinnie shook her head. “It’s like Pilar all over again,” Marigold said, bursting into tears.
“Oh, my dear,” Aunt Sunny said, taking Marigold’s hand. “This must really hurt.”
“It does,” Marigold said. “Why doesn’t anyone want to be my friend?”
“Don’t you see?” Zinnie said, becoming teary herself. “I want to be your friend. I’m going to miss you so much next year.”
“What are you talking about?” Marigold asked. “We live together.”
“But you’re going to be at a new school. All the way across town. I’ve never gone to school without you, and I don’t want to. And it hurt my feelings so much that you didn’t want me to hang around you this summer. As soon as you met Chloe, you were ready to ditch me,” Zinnie said, drying her eyes with the edge of her T-shirt.
“I’m sorry,” Marigold said. “I’m really, really sorry. You’re the best friend I could have.”
“What about me?” Lily asked.
“You too,” Marigold said. And the three sisters hugged.
“Now tell me again why you made this promise not to fight,” Aunt Sunny said, wrapping her arms around all three of them.
“We didn’t want to upset you like we did last year,” Zinnie said. “When we almost ruined your wedding.”
“I appreciate
your thoughtfulness, but you must remember that I had sisters, too. And the best thing about having them is that you can fight, you can express your feelings—including your hurts, your anger, and your fears—because you know in your hearts that they’ll always be there for you,” Aunt Sunny said. “And anyway. It’s not good to keep your feelings pushed down inside you. It’s not healthy for a body! And they’re going to find their way up somehow, believe me! Better to get them out in the open as soon as possible. And you can’t just pretend you don’t have certain feelings. It doesn’t work. You’re much better off acknowledging your emotions. They’re nothing to be ashamed of.”
“They aren’t?” Zinnie asked. Aunt Sunny looked her deep in the eyes and shook her head. “Does this just apply to sisters?” Zinnie hated avoiding Max—but it was the only way to hide her true feelings for him.
“Of course not,” Aunt Sunny said. “Now, you can’t control how other people respond to you, but as long as you’re not hurting anyone, it’s healthy to express yourself. It’s my experience that you only injure yourself by hiding your truth. In fact, it takes so much energy to deny your emotions that doing so can eat you up inside.”
“It is eating me up inside!” Zinnie declared, throwing her hands into the air and collapsing back onto the bed.
“What is?” Lily asked.
“My feelings for Max,” Zinnie said. “I like him so much that I’m tangled up and I can’t get out of my head, I can’t even remember simple song lyrics or do basic improvisations. I’m not myself!”
Marigold laughed, but not in a mean way.
“What?” Zinnie asked, her shoulders shaking. Releasing her emotions had given her the giggles. Then Lily started laughing, too.
The Silver Moon of Summer Page 17