Definitely Daphne

by Tami Charles

  Me: Ready as I’m gonna be.

  48

  This Is It

  Mom helps me get dressed for the dance. I choose a Victorian-style winter white dress with lace and ruffles, along with a white and silver wig and the mask from my last video.

  “I think you’re doing the right thing, sweetie. I’m so proud of you,” Mom says as she puts blush on my cheeks.

  Dad knocks on the door and peeks his head in. “John and his abuela are here.”

  When I get to the stairs, John is waiting for me, standing next to his grandmother. In his hands he holds two rose corsages. It’s like a scene straight out of Cinderella. John is dressed in a black suit with a silver tie to match my silver and white wig.

  “Tan lindos!” his grandmother squeals, calling the two of us beautiful.

  I glide down the stairs, and John places one corsage on my wrist and then one on his grandmother’s. Then he takes a bow. “Are we ready for a fun night?” he asks.

  “I guess.” I shrug my shoulders.

  Mom and Dad grab their coats, and we all head to the car.

  McManus is lit up on the outside with holiday lights and the streets are full of parked cars. People are standing out in the cold, with signs in their hands that say, “Welcome to McManus, Daphne!”

  I want to scream and tell Mom to turn the car around and drive us back home, apologize to John’s abuela for ruining what supposed to be a “night out on the town” for her. But I can’t say any of it. Not now. Seeing the excitement on John’s face, I try to ignore the fear I feel.

  The flashing lights blind me as soon as I step out of the car.

  “Whoa, I wasn’t expecting all of this!” Dad jumps out of the passenger side and comes around to grab me. He takes his arm and wraps it around me while people are screaming:

  “Oh my goodness! It’s Daphne, guys!”

  We push our way through the crowd with Mom, John, and his abuela sticking close behind us. When we finally get in, I see Mr. Davis waiting for us. He gets all excited and says, “Welcome to McManus, Daphne! We’re so lucky to have you here at the ball. Say, where’s your cousin, Annabelle?”

  Everybody is silent, looking at me.

  I clear my throat and throw on my British accent.

  “Well I…”

  “Oh, no worries! Knowing Annabelle, she’s probably checking to make sure the decorations are to her liking. I tell you, Mr. and Mrs. Louis, your daughter is quite the perfectionist!”

  Dad and Mom flash Mr. Davis their best smiles.

  “We’re going to open the doors soon and get the party started. But first I want to make sure that you have everything you need, John. You mentioned something about the projector screen?” Mr. Davis asks.

  John’s eyes grow wide. “Yes! Let me make sure everything is set up now before you open the doors.”

  “Ooh, are we going to see a new episode of Daphne Doesn’t?” Mr. Davis asks.

  John and I look at each other.

  “Um, something like that,” I say.

  Mom, Dad, and John’s abuela make their way to the snack and punch table in the back of the gym.

  I follow John backstage to help him set up.

  The band members are let in early, along with Mr. Reyes, the band director. I see Clairna walk in just as John readies himself to leave me alone. She’s wearing a red velvet dress with a black belt and black shoes. Her hair is styled in big cluster curls with a Santa hat to complete the look.

  She. Looks. Amazing.

  “I’ll come back here when it’s time. Will you be OK?” John asks.

  “Sure,” I say, though I’m not sure one bit.

  Then John does the strangest thing. He hugs me. For five seconds longer than a that’s-just-my-buddy level hug. I don’t know what to do with my hands. Wrap them around his back? His neck? How do they do it in those teen rom-com movies again? It’s all too much to think about, so I just stand there with my arms dangling at my sides until the moment is over.

  He pulls away, winks at me, and then takes his position on stage with the rest of the band. Mr. Davis starts to open the doors and the band plays “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” as the students run into the gym, screaming, with their parents trailing behind them. A few more songs— “Deck the Halls” and “Jingle Bells”—and their performance is complete.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, let’s hear it for the McManus Middle School band!” Mr. Davis announces on the microphone.

  Just then, I see Nav enter the gym with his parents. Then Rachael and her mom. I’m behind the curtains so she doesn’t see me, but I can already tell who she’s looking for… Daphne.

  The DJ starts to play “I’ve Got a Feeling” and everyone heads to the dance floor. Halfway through the song, the kids start chanting: “DAPHNE! DAPHNE! DAPHNE!”

  Mr. Davis runs to the stage and taps the microphone. “Is this thing on?”

  The DJ lowers the music.

  Everyone starts cheering wildly.

  “I believe this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The whole school’s been buzzing about our special guest all week. Let’s bring up two very special ladies to the stage: McManus’s very own Annabelle Louis and her cousin, Daphne, the YouTube star of the hit vlog Daphne Doesn’t!”

  I inhale a deep breath in the middle of everyone screaming and take one step, then another, and another. Soon I emerge from behind the curtain.

  Everyone is clapping except Rachael, Clairna, and Nav, whom I spot right away in the crowd.

  I clear my throat, prepare myself to speak as Daphne, and the whole auditorium quiets down. But they’re all turning their heads toward each other, as if to ask, “Where is Annabelle?”

  “Thank you, Mr. Davis. I thought for days and days about what I would say in this moment, standing in front of all of you, the students, teachers, and community members of McManus Middle School. Every time I went to write the words down, I balled up the paper and tossed it in the recycling. The truth is, for me to really speak my mind, I had to do what I do best… make a vlog.”

  Someone screams, “Oh my goodness, sneak preview!”

  “So without further ado, I present to you my latest and final vlog. I call this episode ‘Daphne Tells the Truth.’”

  Now everyone is looking confused.

  John lowers the house lights and presses play. An image of me sitting in the paper supply closet fades in.

  “I know you guys were probably expecting to see Daphne in her full fabulous gear, but I have a confession to make. The girl you’ve been watching on YouTube isn’t real. She’s a made-up persona, just created by a regular dorky girl who was trying to make friends. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Annabelle Daphne Louis.”

  Everyone gasps.

  “And I’ve been lying this whole time. I owe everyone a big apology, but especially my best friends here at McManus—John, Clairna, and Navdeep. I never meant for this social experiment to grow out of control. I didn’t want to be famous. All I wanted were friends to turn to when my mom leaves with the Air Force to Afghanistan. But things got out of hand, and next thing I knew I was doing any and everything I could to cover it up. I didn’t want any fame or fortune out of my YouTube channel, but I couldn’t stop it from happening. So effective immediately, the Daphne Doesn’t vlog is canceled. The money I’ve made from it will be donated to a good cause. I’m sorry if I hurt anyone, and I understand if no one ever wants to be my friend again.”

  The video fades to black. John raises the houselights, and there’s a sea of frozen, shocked faces staring back at me.

  I remove the wig and let my poofy, curly hair do what it does best — find its way toward the ceiling.

  “So there you have it,” I say into the microphone in my normal voice. “I am Annabelle Daphne Louis. Shy, sometimes funny, dorky, and proud of it. I don’t do s
ports. I don’t do drama. I don’t do fashion. And if you saw my last vlog, I definitely don’t dance.”

  The crowd cuts me off with laughter.

  “But here is what I love doing: being with my friends, doing cool things with my video camera and computer, and spending time with my family, especially my mom… who I’m going to miss very, very much.”

  I’m fighting back the single tear that’s building up in my left eye. And then the strangest thing happens. Clairna starts clapping. Then Nav, then Rachael shouts, “It’s OK, Annabelle!” And one by one, the others join in.

  I place my hands over my mouth to stop myself from crying yet again. Mom rushes to the stage to hug me, along with Mr. Fingerlin, who steps up to the microphone.

  “The Louis family has a special presentation.”

  Mom speaks next. “Thank you, Pete. My daughter, Annabelle, is the kindest person I know. She did her research and found a wonderful organization to donate her earnings to. My husband and I contacted them and asked for a representative to be here tonight. Will Mr. Barry Ellis please come to the stage to receive a donation of three thousand dollars to the Military Kids United Camp?”

  I see Rachael’s face light up at the sound of that.

  A tall man with a bald head and glasses walks up to receive the check. We take pictures for the newspaper, the Linden Leader. Every single person in the audience is clapping, and they keep clapping through Mr. Ellis’s speech.

  “I can’t thank the Louis family enough for their generosity to donate money to our organization and for choosing to sponsor several well-deserving children to attend our camp next summer. Military Kids United serves children of members of our armed forces, but especially those children whose parents are deployed. Our organization provides a summer of fun for these children. We take them swimming, hiking, and on trips to experience new cultures and sights. We do all that we can to make sure that while our military is off protecting our freedom, their children are here in the United States, enjoying theirs. So once again, I say thank you, and I encourage Miss Annabelle to not give up on her YouTube channel. As you can see, the people love it. But I do have one suggestion. I know Daphne Doesn’t is a funny way of talking about all the things you don’t do. How about renaming it to Annabelle Always and posting videos about being true to the things you love. What do you think, audience?”

  The crowd goes wild and starts screaming, “YES!”

  I step forward and say, “That sounds like a good idea, sir.”

  John dims the houselights again. Mr. Davis screams in the microphone, “Let’s continue the party, guys!”

  The beat picks up, loud and proud. On my way down the stage stairs, people are patting me on the back, telling me I did a good job, and asking for selfies.

  Outside of the big windows, the snow starts falling, letting everyone know that winter has made its entrance into Linden.

  I feel a tap on my back. I turn around and see that it’s Rachael. “I’m really—” I start.

  “I think you’ve apologized enough for one day, Annabelle,” she says. “That was really cool what you did — donating to the camp like that. And that’s cool that you chose to sponsor some campers next summer. Those kids are really lucky.”

  “Yeah, I know. You’re gonna love it!” A smile wraps around my whole face.

  Rachael’s eyes double in size. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  “I can’t wait to hear all about it… that is, if you want to tell me. You don’t have to. I understand that I messed up.”

  “Oh, shut up! You stop it right now!” Rachael grabs me hard and pulls me in for a hug.

  “I heard your mom say that you wanted to go to that camp, but with everything your family was going through, it wasn’t going to work out.”

  “Yeah, things have been hard between the divorce and the deployment. And I know I wasn’t so nice to you. Can we start over?”

  I hold out my hand to shake hers. “Friends?”

  “Definitely.”

  Mom and Ms. Wright dance their way over to us.

  Ms. Wright looks at Mom and mouths, “Thank you. For everything.”

  The song “True Friend” by Miley Cyrus comes on. John, Clairna, and Nav find their way to Rachael and me. No words are spoken. No further apologies are necessary. We just start dancing to the beat, like old friends. Make that new ones. Because starting right here and right now, everything is brand-new again. This city. This school. These friends.

  I dance my dorky heart out and whisper a wish to the sky. Six months will fly, but Mom will come back. And I’ve got the best “squad” around to help me get through it all.

  About the Author

  Tami Charles writes picture books, middle grade and young adult fiction, and nonfiction. Her middle grade novel debut, Like Vanessa, is a Spring 2018 Junior Library Guild selection. Like Vanessa was also selected by the American Bookseller’s Association for the Winter/Spring 2018 Indies Introduce Kids List. Tami is the author of four more books forthcoming with Albert Whitman & Co., Candlewick, and Charlesbridge. She resides in New Jersey with her husband and son.

  Definitely Daphne is published by Stone Arch Books

  A Capstone Imprint

  1710 Roe Crest Drive

  North Mankato, Minnesota 56003

  www.mycapstone.com

  Copyright © 2019 Capstone

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on the Library of Congress website.

  Summary: In front of her followers, Daphne is a hilarious, on-the-rise vlog star. But at school Daphne is the ever-skeptical Annabelle Louis, seventh-grade super geek and perennial new kid. To cope with her mom’s upcoming military assignment in Afghanistan and her start at a brand-new middle school, Annabelle’s parents send her to a therapist. Dr. Varma insists Annabelle try stepping out of her comfort zone, hoping it will give her the confidence to make friends, which she’ll definitely need once Mom is gone. Luckily there is one part of the assignment Annabelle DOES enjoy — her vlog, Daphne Doesn’t, in which she appears undercover and gives hilarious takes on activities she thinks are a waste of time. She is great at entertaining her online fans, yet her classmates don’t know she exists. Can Annabelle keep up the double life forever?

  ISBN 978-1-68436-031-4 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-68436-032-1 (ebook)

  Cover illustration by Marcos Calo

  Design by Kay Fraser