Egg still worried. The summer was more than half over. Once school started, she would only be able to get away to Aerianna on weekends. And, of course, the other thing that worried her was being able to find five people to help in the quest. That seemed like an impossible task even if she only had to talk to humans. But if she had to get serpents and dragons to join the Sisterhood, this whole thing became doubly triple never-going-to-happen-in-a-million-years impossible. Every time she thought about it, all she could do was sigh.
*****
Thursday morning Egg was in her room when the phone rang. She was about to pick it up when it stopped ringing . . . her mom or sister must have answered it. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. “Come in” she called. Everyone knew that you never entered her room without an invitation.
“Morning, dear.”
“Hi Mom.”
“That was your grandmother on the phone. Her new neighbors, the Zambroski’s, are having a barbeque and we’re all invited.”
“Why are we invited?”
“Grammy told them all about her lovely daughter and granddaughter and since they’re new in town, they asked Grammy to invite us. Just to be sociable and to meet as many people as they can. I think it’s a very nice thing to do.”
“Can I invite Sylvia?”
“Umm . . . I don’t see why not since your sister isn’t going. Tell her we’ll pick her up at noon on Saturday. And tell her to bring her bathing suit.”
*****
On Saturday, Egg received permission to bike over to Sylvia’s house an hour before they were scheduled to leave for the barbeque. She needed a little time with her friend to discuss Zeke and Zack.
“So what do you think?”
“About what?” replied her puzzled friend.
“You know . . . the two boys.”
“What about them?”
“Do you think we have to talk to them?”
“It’s their house and their party. Of course we do.”
Egg considered that for a moment. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But what should we do if they’re . . . ummm . . . really stupid or mean?”
Sylvia looked at her friend and slowly shook her head. “You’ve been to Aerianna, you stood up to a dragon and a talking tree, but you’re afraid of boys. Don’t you think that’s weird . . . even for you?”
“I am not afraid of boys. I just don’t understand them. They’re always yelling or pushing each other or picking their nose or saying dumb things. And why are you taking their side anyway? You feel the same way.”
That was mostly true. But unbeknownst to her friend, Sylvia was beginning to find boys . . . some boys . . . kind of interesting. “Well I just think it’s unfair to suppose all boys are the same. Remember what Dazzle said about Z’kkk. She didn’t like him the first time they met but eventually they became engaged.”
That caused Egg to stop and think. Dazzle had become a role model and if it was okay for the Princess, it was probably okay for her. Besides, it seemed pretty strange that one of the new kids had the same name as Dazzle’s boyfriend. “Well, okay . . . we can at least give them a chance. But what do you talk to boys about?”
Now it was Sylvia’s turn to stop and think. “I have no idea. I’ve hardly ever talked to one before. How about clothes and jewelry?” She looked at her friend and they both burst into a long fit of giggles.
*****
Mrs. Zambroski was amazing. She had golden red hair, a warm friendly face that always smiled and more energy than a dozen circus clowns. She welcomed everyone with a big hug and you immediately felt like she was your favorite aunt and you were her favorite niece.
“I’m just so happy that you all could make it. The boys . . . which includes my goofy husband . . . are out by the pool. So if you’ll follow me, we’ll get this little shindig going.”
“What’s a shindig?” asked Egg.
“Why it means a get together. It’s kind of a silly word, isn’t it? The original word was shindy, which meant a noisy party or gathering.”
Egg looked at Sylvia and rolled her eyes. Her friend ignored her and asked Mrs. Zambroski, “How did you know that? Are you a teacher?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the hostess laughed. “I’m actually a professor and I’ll be teaching at the junior college this fall. Sometimes I just can’t stop teaching. Pretty annoying, isn’t it?” And she smiled that big wonderful smile.
When Mrs. Z smiled, you just had to smile with her . . . it was just that infectious. “What does a professor teach?”
“Any and every subject. Guess what I teach?”
“English,” both girls blurted out.
“What a wonderful guess,” and the girls smiled. “But sorry, no.”
“You don’t?”
“Want to try again?”
“English Literature,” said Mr. Graystone.
Zelda laughed. “That obvious, huh?”
By this time, they were through the house and out the back door. The backyard was very large because it used to be a farm just like Grammy’s place.
Off in one corner there was a kidney-shaped swimming pool and some lounge chairs. And under a big oak tree were a gas barbeque and a table and chairs. And standing there was Mr. Zambroski fussing with the food until he heard his guests arrive.
“Hello, everyone; thanks for coming. I’m Ezra and those two creatures in the pool are my sons Zeke and Zack.” The boys waved but made no move to get out and meet their guests.
Mr. Z shook hands with the grown-ups and smiled at the two girls as they were introduced. “I’m sure everyone asks this dumb question, so forgive me, but . . . ”
Before he could finish Egg said, “They’re my initials.”
“Well, of course. I should have known. And Sylvia, do you have a nickname?”
The girl smiled then answered “Ham.”
Mr. and Mrs. Zambroski thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard and laughed. “Well, I may not be a genius, but I don’t think those are your initials.”
“It’s the first three letters of my last name.”
“I find that incredible. How in the world does someone nicknamed Egg find a best friend with the name Ham? It’s simply beyond coincidence. There has to be a cosmic force at work.”
Ham and Egg just stared at the man. They never had given it much thought . . . you know about the name thing. But with the whole Flying Girl quest with her Feminion, maybe they were meant to be best friends.
“Forgive my husband. He’s a professor of philosophy.”
“What’s fil-los-ofee?” asked the ever-curious Egg.
“Technically, it’s the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics. But a better definition is the search for understanding. Does that make sense?”
“Ummm . . . understanding of what?”
“Of anything and everything.”
“Oh.”
“Enough you foolish man. These kids are here to enjoy themselves not discuss the nature of the universe.” Mrs. Z, of course, was smiling when she said this. “And you two,” she said calling to her sons, “get yourselves over here and meet your guests.” Then she turned to Egg and Sylvia and said, “Go easy on them, they’re afraid of girls.”
The boys got out of the pool, dried off and put on tee shirts. They shuffled over to their parents and said “Hello” in unison.
All five guests stared at them. They really were identical twins . . . from their blond hair down to their too long toes . . . they were exactly the same. Well, at least physically. After a moment, the grown-ups returned the greetings. The girls also said ‘hello’ but in voices so soft that you really couldn’t hear them.
“Egg and Sylvia, this one’s Zack and that one’s Zeke.”
The girls looked from one to the other then Egg asked the obvious question, “How do you know?” That got everyone to laughing.
“Believe it or not, a mother knows. Besides, they actually have very different person
alities . . . just look at their tee shirts.” And for the first time, the girls noticed what the two good-looking boys were wearing. Zack had a shirt that said cow pi . . . a mathematical play on the word pie.
Sylvia, who loved math, thought it was very clever.
Zeke, on the other hand, had a shirt with a very strange design . . .
Egg stared at it . . . her eyes getting very large. She was shocked. The pattern looked very much like Aerianna as seen from way up in space. How could that be?
“What is that?” she heard Sylvia ask.
“Uh . . . it’s just something I painted.”
“Really? You painted that? What talent.” said a very impressed Mrs. Graystone.
“Thanks.”
“As I was saying, the boys have very different personalities. Zack loves school and is especially fond of math and science. Zeke is our artist . . . both with paint and with the trombone.”
“They both like sports, only different ones,” added their father. “Zack plays baseball and football while Zeke likes dodge ball and soccer.”
At these revelations, Sylvia smiled but Egg actually blushed. Luckily, no one noticed.
“Why don’t you girls get your swim suits on then you four can play in the pool?”
“Okay” said Sylvia with more than a little eagerness. Egg just wanted to run away but knew she had no choice. So the girls followed Mrs. Z back to the house and she showed them the guest bathroom. The girls went in and locked the door.
“Oh my gosh,” Egg exclaimed when they were alone.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did you see Zeke’s tee shirt?”
“You know I did.”
“What did it look like to you?”
“Just some goofy design. Kind of pretty in a weird boy way.”
“Syl . . . it looked just like Aerianna when we came through that portal thingy. Don’t you remember?”
Her friend thought about that for a moment. “Ummm . . . well maybe a little.”
“And did you see the thing right in the center of his shirt . . . it looked just like the inside of an egg.”
“What are you talking about?”
“And one more thing . . . he likes to play dodge ball. How weird is that?”
“Egg, you’re making absolutely no sense. What are you getting at?”
“Sylvia, it’s just so obvious.”
“What is?”
Egg gave an annoyed look to her friend. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. His name is Zeke just like Dazzle’s boyfriend. He draws a picture of Aerianna on his tee shirt. He uses an egg in the design. And he likes dodge ball just like I do.”
“Sorry, but I just don’t know where you’re going with this.”
“SYLVIA! I think he’s supposed to be my boyfriend. Maybe he’s even supposed to help us with our quest.”
Now that made Sylvia stop and stare at her friend. She didn’t say anything at first because she wanted to be sure that Egg wasn’t just teasing her. But since she was dead serious, the other girl just had to start giggling.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you are nuttier than a pecan pie . . . that’s why.”
Egg couldn’t believe that her Feminion didn’t see it the way she did. “Why are you saying that? How do you explain all those things then?”
“Well first of all, Dazzle’s boyfriend is Z’kkk not Zeke. Secondly, that image on his shirt was just a goofy design. Thirdly, yellow balls are not necessarily the yolk of an egg. And lastly, a lot of people like to play dodge ball.”
Egg wasn’t convinced. “With everything that’s happened to us, how can it be just a coincidence?”
“Because it just is. Besides, I know why you think it all means something that it doesn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s very cute.”
Egg blushed a very bright tomato-like red. Then she sputtered, “Oh, oh, how could you?”
“Come on Egg. Some boys are cute and you know it. Besides, if Dazzle could have a boyfriend when she was about our age, why can’t we? So, don’t be so upset; and don’t make up silly stories to make it seem alright.”
Poor Egg, she was very, very confused. Her mom and her Grammy had told her that sooner or later she would start liking boys. But, truthfully, she didn’t believe it. But Sylvia was right. If Dazzle could have one when she was young, then maybe she, Egg, could have one too. What made it more confusing were all those things she told her friend about. She knew in her heart that it wasn’t just a lot of coincidences. She obviously needed to talk to somebody with experience in this matter. And there was only one person who fit that description. Tonight she would have a long talk with the Warrior Princess.
The girls finished changing into their suits and went back outside. As they approached the pool, they could see that someone had set up a net so that you could play water volleyball.
“You guys want to play?” asked Zack. The boys were still wearing their tee shirts.
“Sure” answered Sylvia. “I’ll be on your side.”
“Cool.”
Egg watched as the boys took off their shirts and jumped into the water followed by her girlfriend. “AHHHH . . . it’s cold.”
“It’s not that bad. Come on Egg, jump in.”
She took a deep breath to calm herself then walked to the edge of the pool and . . . did a huge cannonball right in front of Zeke. A big explosion of water splashed him right in the face. When she came to the surface, she smiled at him and said, “Oops.” He grinned then splashed her back.
“If you two are finished, let’s play,” teased Sylvia.
“My serve,” yelled Egg.
And for the next half hour, they played volleyball and had a wonderful time kidding each other. The girls had never . . . and I mean never . . . been so comfortable around boys before. It was just perfect.
Well, it was perfect until they heard “Hi, Zack. Hi, Zeke.”
They all looked up and Egg’s heart stopped beating for a second. It was Presley and Angela.
*****
“When I was at the school registering my sons for the fall classes, I met these two lovely ladies.” Mrs. Z was referring to Angela and Presley’s mothers. “We got to chatting and I found out their kids and Egg and Sylvia are friends. So I invited them to join us. Isn’t this wonderful?”
Well, it was true that the parents of all four kids did indeed know each other. What none of them realized, however, was that Ham and Egg were no longer friends with Presley and Angela.
Mrs. Z continued, “In fact the girls came over to meet my sons that very day. They’re such nice girls . . . all four are such nice kids. I’m just so happy that we moved here.”
*****
“Can we join you?”
“Sure” said Zeke.
Both girls jumped in on Egg’s side of the net. Obviously four against two wasn’t going to work so Egg reluctantly swam over to join Sylvia leaving her first ever ‘boy’ friend alone with the other girls. And that made her mad.
“Let’s start a new game and I’ll serve first,” declared Angela. She threw the ball in the air and slapped it towards Egg who unfortunately wasn’t paying attention. The ball hit her in the head and bounced out of the pool.
“Hey,” she yelled. The boys and the two girls laughed while Sylvia winced at her friend’s mishap.
“Sor-ry,” Angela called out with just the sweetest smile on her face. “I thought you were ready.”
“Well I wasn’t,” answered Egg angrily.
And for the next twenty minutes, things went downhill very fast. Egg tried way too hard to beat her two ex-friends and to show Zeke how good she was. But sometimes when you let your emotions get in the way, things don’t turn out as you had hoped.
Zack and Sylvia tried their best to help their teammate, but to no avail. By the end of the second game, they had lost again by ten points. The other team was having a good old time laughing and high-fiving each other. But worst
of all, Zeke was having way too much fun with those two horrid girls.
At one point Egg was so mad and frustrated that she almost changed into her Flying Girl suit so she could fly away and never come back. But just at that moment, she looked up and saw her Grammy looking at her. And Egg just knew that her grandmother was reading her mind. So she just shrugged her shoulders and went back to playing.
After their third defeat, Zack said, “Let’s change sides” meaning he wanted to play with Angela and Presley and have his brother play with Sylvia and Egg.
Zeke said, “No way,” which made Angela and Presley laugh . . . and Egg blush with embarrassment.
“That’s okay, I’m getting out,” called Sylvia. “How about you, Egg?” She knew what her friend must be feeling and this would give her an excuse to leave.
“Sure.”
As they climbed out they looked back to see the twins and the two other girls huddled together in the corner of the pool giggling and splashing and enjoying themselves.
“Let’s go change.”
“Egg, don’t be angry with the boys. It wasn’t their fault.”
“I’m not angry . . . I’m mad.”
“At who?”
“At me . . . for thinking that I was ready for a boyfriend.”
Chapter 5 – When Weird Gets Weirder
Egg and Sylvia managed to make it through the rest of the barbeque with a little help from Grammy and Mrs. Zambroski. The older Eloise could tell that her granddaughter was troubled by something. So after the girls changed out of their swimsuits, she had them join her and the hostess.
“Did you two enjoy the pool?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Was it my imagination or were you and my boys having a very good time?”
“Your sons are very nice,” answered Sylvia. “We hardly ever play with boys.”
“I’ll tell you a little secret,” said Mrs. Z, “when I was your age, I thought boys were awful. They were always yelling and shoving each other or picking their nose or saying something mean. Uggg.” Naturally, she smiled good-naturedly when she said that.
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 38