Allie, First at Last

by Angela Cervantes

  My heart drops into my stomach and twists around.

  “Is there any way you two can make up and talk it over?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t think so. Maybe I’m being a Miss Prissy-Pants, but she’s being a Miss Prissy-Butt.”

  “Does Miss Prissy-Pants want to hurry up and click submit so we can go read about zombie cats?”

  “As long as one of those zombie cats isn’t named Secret,” I say. Victor chuckles.

  I face the screen. With one click, my contest entry form is sent. With one click, I could make Sendak history. With one click, I could finally win first place and have a glorious trophy for the family trophy shelf.

  “Hurry up already,” Victor urges.

  I click my mouse and away my project goes. Now all I can do is read about zombie cats—and wait.

  Today, Mrs. Wendy says that she’s “completely had it” with all of us asking her about the Trailblazer contest. On the contest webpage it says that finalists will be posted on April 12, but today is April 12 and there is no information.

  Mrs. Wendy throws her hands up. “We’ll know when we know.”

  It’s hard for me to focus on anything else but the contest results. How can I focus on math, spelling, history, or science when I know there’s a panel of judges out there deciding my fate? According to the website, the judges award points for each project based on how well you addressed the trailblazer theme, originality, creativity, and imagery. I hope I’ve racked up points galore!

  “But when will we know?” Grace whines. “I’ll need to get the awards ceremony on my dad’s schedule. He’s really busy and needs advance notice or he can’t attend.”

  “The ceremony is only for the finalists, right, Mrs. Wendy?” Hayley asks.

  “Only the finalists are required to present their work in front of an audience,” says Mrs. Wendy.

  “See, Grace, you won’t have to worry your dad about it,” says Hayley.

  “Burn!” Diego exclaims. The whole class erupts into laughs, and Mrs. Wendy lets out a long sigh and shakes her head. You can tell she’s ready for summer break. Grace slumps down in her chair.

  “That’s not cool, Hayley.” I glare back at her. “Grace’s poem could win. At least she entered the contest. You didn’t even bother to try.”

  I glare at Diego too. Not nice, dude.

  Hayley rolls her eyes at me. I give Sara a disappointed look. She looks down quickly and picks at her nails. The chipped orange polish looks like ripped construction paper. The old Sara would never have tolerated rudeness like Hayley’s.

  “Thanks, Allie,” Grace says over her shoulder to me.

  “You’re welcome,” I say.

  Principal Vihn shows up at the classroom door and speaks to Mrs. Wendy.

  “Allie, Principal Vihn needs to speak to you. Please grab your things,” Mrs. Wendy says.

  Is it about the contest? Did I make it as a finalist? But then why do I have to grab my things? Everyone watches me while I gather my stuff into my book bag. I have a very bad feeling about this. Victor gives me a puzzled look. I shrug and mouth, “No idea.”

  “I hope everything is okay, Allie,” Grace whispers as I pass her. I smile and nod.

  Outside the classroom, Principal Vihn apologizes for taking me out of class and explains that my mom is coming to pick up Ava and me. This is not good. Something bad has happened if Mom is leaving work. Award-winning reporters never leave work early unless it’s to be the first to break a juicy news story.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask him.

  “I think everything will be fine, but it’s best you talk to your mom, sweetheart,” says Principal Vihn. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. You know I would if I could.”

  I smile back at him. Principal Vihn is always nice like that.

  Ava shows up to the office at the same time and surprises me when she takes my hand. She is on the verge of tears. “What’s going on?” she asks. We enter the office, and Principal Vihn tells us to take a seat while we wait for Mom.

  Ava and I look around the office. She points up to the photo of Adriana on the wall. “Look how pretty she looks, Allie,” she says.

  In the photo, Adriana holds the Mayor’s Youth Power Award. She looks beautiful. Next to her framed picture is a photograph of Carmen Eberhart, the first female student enrolled at Sendak Elementary. Our school was an all-boys school until 1984. In the photo, Carmen is standing outside the front of the school in a pretty dress. Whenever I’m in Principal Vihn’s office, I always nod in respect to her. I just feel like I should. I bet she had a hard time being one of the first few girls to attend Sendak. Boys can be such dweebs. Imagine being outnumbered by a bunch of Aidens, Diegos, and Ethans. Poor girl! She had it rough, I’m sure.

  Principal Vihn notices that I’m staring at Carmen’s picture. “Our first female Sendak student. She lives in Washington, DC, now,” he says. “Works at the Pentagon.”

  Wow. Ambitious much? There’s no way my picture will ever hang on the wall with this kind of competition. Suddenly, Mom comes in and hugs us. “Good, you girls are here.”

  “What’s going on?” I ask.

  “Bisabuelo collapsed at the GI Forum today. Your dad is at the hospital with him.”

  Ava covers her face with her hands and immediately starts to whimper. Mom kisses her on the head. “I’m just going to sign you girls out, and then we’ll go visit him.” She strokes Ava’s hair and then heads over to Principal Vihn. “Allie, help your sister get ready to go.”

  I hear my mom’s voice, but I can’t move. Collapsed? What does that mean? “Allie, Ava needs your help,” my mom says as she finishes up with Principal Vihn.

  I snap into action. While Ava cries, I help her put on her yellow sweater one arm at a time, like how I used to when she was little.

  “Let’s go, Ava,” I say softly to her. She takes my hand again and squeezes it tight.

  At the hospital, Adriana, Aiden, and my dad are sitting at Bisabuelo’s bedside. There are at least a dozen wires and tubes sticking out of him that are hooked up to beeping, blinking machines. I ignore everyone’s puffy red eyes and sad faces and move closer to Bisabuelo.

  “He’s going to be fine, right?” I say. I lean in to kiss his cheek and whisper to him, “You have to be fine, Bisabuelo. We need you.”

  Ava bursts into tears. Adriana takes her and pulls her onto her lap. Dad gestures to all of us to follow him outside.

  “I don’t want to leave him,” Aiden says.

  “He needs his rest, and we need to talk.” Dad puts his arms around Aiden’s sunken shoulders.

  In the hallway, all of us huddle close together.

  “The doctor says that the cough he’s had for a while is actually a chest infection. Luckily, Bisabuelo was at the GI Forum when he passed out, and they were able to get help fast. They’re going to keep him here for a few days just to make sure there are no complications and then he’ll get to come home with us, okay?” Dad says. “Mom and I’ve decided he should stay with us from now on.”

  All of us nod. This is good news. Bisa should be at home with us where we can keep a closer eye on him.

  “For now, we should all hang around. It’d be nice if he wakes up and we’re all here. Don’t you think?” says Mom. All of us nod some more.

  Mom and Adriana rush off to buy juice and chips for us, and the rest of us go back to his room and watch him breathe. Sometime he winces like he’s in pain, but he doesn’t wake up.

  “The tubes are hurting him,” Aiden says. “Can’t we do anything?”

  “He’s probably just dreaming. He’s always slept rough,” Dad says. “When I was a kid and I’d stay over at his house, he’d sometimes wake up from bad dreams about the war.”

  Is that what he’s doing? Dreaming about the war? About Olin Baxter? At that moment, I want to hug Bisabuelo. I feel horrible for pressuring him about the medal.

  “Dad, why did Bisa get sick?”

  “Well, Bisabuelo is getting old, Aly
ssa. He’s more vulnerable to things like infections. We don’t like to admit it because he seems so strong, but his health is fragile.” My dad pulls me close to him and kisses my head. “Don’t worry. We’re going to take good care of him.”

  I nod, but I can’t help but worry. Could Bisa have gotten ill because I stressed him out about needing a photo of his medal for my contest?

  “You don’t think it was caused by stress or something?” I ask.

  “Has Bisa been stressed out, lately? I haven’t noticed. Did he say something to you?”

  “No, not really. I was just wondering,” I say. I don’t want to tell him what I know about the medal.

  My parents don’t know that Bisa doesn’t have it anymore. They don’t know that I was so upset about it. I haven’t told them anything. I hold back tears. Lying motionless in his hospital bed, Great-Gramps no longer seems ninety-one years old to me.

  Instead, I see the young boy who stood outside of the school with his mom hoping to be accepted. I see the brave teenager who volunteered to go to war. I see the young soldier who risked his life in battle to save others. I get up from dad’s lap. I touch Bisa’s hand and give him another kiss on the cheek.

  “You’re safe here with us, Bisabuelo,” I whisper. “You’re safe and sound.”

  It’s early evening when Bisabuelo opens his eyes. We’re all so grateful. The nurse and doctor come in and shoo everyone except Dad from the room. They’ve promised us that we will get to visit with him, but for now we’re ushered into the waiting room. Aiden and Ava are playing card games on the floor. I can tell that this trip to the hospital has affected them. Ava hasn’t thrown the cards in a defeated tantrum. Aiden hasn’t stormed off. Neither of them care if they lose to each other today. Mom and Adriana are fielding phone calls from family. Everyone is worried and wants to fly in to see Bisabuelo.

  Suddenly Sara is standing in front of me with a bouquet of yellow flowers.

  “Hey, Allie,” she says. Her mom and dad are behind her holding a brown paper sack.

  “Oh, Alyssa! How you holding up, kiddo?” Sara’s mom hugs me. My mom and Adriana get off the phone and greet them with long hugs.

  “It’s so nice of you guys to come,” Adriana says.

  “Well, Sara told us how Alyssa got called out of class, so I called your mom and she told me the news,” says Sara’s mom. “The least we could do is stop by and bring you some dinner. Hope everyone likes gyros.”

  Sara’s dad places the brown sack of gyros on the small table in the waiting room.

  “Thanks!” Aiden exclaims, and dives into the bags with Ava. I don’t have an appetite at all, but I admit the gyros smell delicious.

  “Hey, it’s the Lopez clan!” My dad exclaims, coming around the corner with the doctor. Everyone exchanges more hugs. My dad is so happy to see his friends. Sara keeps passing me sympathetic smiles and I know I should smile back, but right now I’m not in the mood. I’m still not talking to her no matter how many gyros and yellow flowers she brings.

  “Bisa is awake and alert, so we can go and see him now. Your timing is perfect!” Dad says to them. We pick up our things and head to the room, but I feel a tap on my shoulder.

  “Allie, I need to talk to you about something,” Sara whispers.

  “Right now? Bisabuelo just woke up. I have to go.”

  “It’ll be quick. I’m sorry that I shared our April Fool’s tradition with Hayley.”

  I shrug. “I’m over it,” I say even though I’m really not.

  “I came to school with the mismatched socks and shoes, but I didn’t put them on right away. I was worried you had forgotten our tradition so I didn’t want to look like a total freak. Things haven’t been the same for us since after Christmas …”

  Tell me about it.

  “But once I got to school, I changed into the socks before class started. When Hayley saw me changing my socks, she nagged me to let her have the other pair. I wasn’t trying to disrespect our tradition.”

  “Okay, fine,” I say to her. I’m still mad at her for not talking to me this semester, for choosing Hayley over me, for not wearing the bracelet I made her anymore, and for entering the contest using my bisabuelo as her subject.

  “When I saw you were wearing mismatched shoes and socks, I was so happy, but I didn’t realize how mad you’d get if Hayley had on the socks too.”

  “Okay. You didn’t know. I gotta go now.” I turn to leave, but she calls out for me again.

  “There’s something else.” She picks at one of her painted fingernails. The old best friend Allie would have told her to stop. That’s Hayley’s job now. What do I care if she picks her nails until she’s ruined them? “About the contest … if I win, I’m going to donate the prize money to the GI Forum’s wounded veteran’s fund in honor of your bisabuelo. I won’t keep a cent. Not even for a shopping spree.”

  I stare down at the tile floor. It’s nice that she wants to donate the money to the wounded veteran’s fund, but then I do a replay of what she just said. She sure is confident that she’ll be named a finalist. I mean, she’s already talking about winning the whole shebang and donating prize money. That’s bold.

  “Why are you so sure that you’re going to be a finalist?” I ask.

  “You didn’t hear?” She stops and then shakes her head. “Oh, maybe you were gone already … You and I are finalists. We made it. Next week, we get to present for first place.”

  “I’m a finalist?”

  “They announced it this afternoon at school. Mrs. Wendy ran around hugging everyone. She was so happy. She says there’s never been three finalists from Sendak before.”

  “I have to tell Bisa,” I turn to rush into Bisabuelo’s room with the best news. Wait! I stop in my tracks. Three finalists?

  “Did Grace make it too?” I ask.

  “No, it’s Victor. I didn’t even know he was submitting anything. Did you?”

  “Victor? Victor Garcia?” I stand there stunned. Sara nods. This can’t be right. I bite down on my lip. Surely, he would have told me. All this time, we’ve been talking about the contest and he’s been helping me. Why didn’t he tell me he entered the contest?

  Victor Garcia calls my name in the hallway, but I pretend he’s calling another Allie somewhere. Although I know that’s not possible. There’s only one Allie at Sendak. At least I’ve got that going for me.

  I ignore him and keep walking to my classroom. He should have told me he was entering the Trailblazer contest. This whole time I thought he wanted me to win, but now he’s a finalist too. It’s probably another plot to sabotage me. He’s done it before! I should have walked away at the science fair and never talked to Victor Garcia.

  At the lunch table, he takes the seat across from me. He looks like a sad puppy, but I won’t give in. Everyone is watching us because Sendak is full of nosy-butts. For a minute, I stand and consider sitting somewhere else, but why should I go? I’ve been at Sendak for five years now. Victor is the newbie that should leave and find a new seat.

  “Allie, I never expected to be a finalist. I was only entering the contest for the extra credit in English class,” says Victor. “I wanted to tell you, but …”

  I roll my eyes. I do remember him asking about extra credit, but whatever. He should have told me he was entering the contest.

  “No, really. That one day you blew up at Sara, you were all like ‘true friends don’t stab each other in the back.’ I was afraid you’d think I was doing the same thing.”

  “Well, aren’t you?” I snap. “You ruined my volcán de Fuego and now you’re trying to beat me at the Trailblazer contest.”

  “Don’t be like that,” Victor begs. “I’m not trying to sabotage you. You’re my friend.”

  “No, I’m not. So just forget about talking to me ever again.”

  “I’m super sorry. I’m just doing the contest for the extra credit. I need to do well at Sendak to get into Bishop Crest. Remember?”

  I stand and pick up my tray to go.
He stands up too.

  “You don’t have to go. I’ll go. That’s your seat. I’ll sit somewhere else,” he says. I just want throw my chicken nuggets when he acts so sweet. “I know you have good reason to be mad, but I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to—”

  “Whatever, Victor.” I sit down. “I thought you were leaving?”

  Victor gulps hard and looks shocked. I’m a little shocked myself. I want to click delete on those harsh words like a bad cell phone photo, but I can’t. Victor walks away with his head down to sit with Diego and Ethan.

  I really thought Victor was on my side. This whole time he was planning to compete against me just like Sara. Grace leans closer to me and taps me gently on the arm.

  “Are you okay?” she asks.

  I take a deep breath. “I wish this year would just end already. I’m so ready to say good-bye to Sendak.”

  Nothing is going right for me this last year at Sendak. On top of everything at school, Bisa is still at the hospital. Adriana says I can’t visit Bisabuelo feeling all sorry for myself, so I put on a happy face when we get off the elevator to Great-Gramp’s floor and make sure that Secret is tucked away properly in my picnic basket.

  Secret doesn’t mind being snuck into the hospital. His name makes him perfect for escapades like this. He stays curled up and quiet in the bottom of the basket covered with a cloth napkin like he knows who we’re going to visit.

  Once I get to Bisa’s room, Secret jumps out and leaps onto Great-Gramp’s lap. Bisa’s buddies from the GI Forum are there. They greet me and Adriana with waves and thumbs-up. I recognize all of them, except a few younger guys. Every shelf and counter space is covered with get-well cards, baskets of cookies, vases of flowers, and balloons.

  Mr. Honig, one of my great-gramp’s closest buddies, raises his can of soda to me. I smile back. “Allie, we were just talking about how your great-gramps and I met. Do you know that story?”

  “Don’t bore Allie with stories,” Bisa says, and waves him off.