BFF* (47 page)

I
will never forgive Tarren for ruining what should have been the most romantic night of my life! She's such a fool, jumping from one Romantic Obstacle to another. I raced up to my room and closed the door, praying that Mom and Dad wouldn't ask any questions. I was halfway undressed when Mom knocked on my door. “Rachel …”

I didn't feel like explaining anything to her now.

When I didn't respond, she knocked again. “Rachel … there's someone here to see you.”

Paul! He realizes he's made a major mistake. He wants me, not Tarren!

“It's a boy,” Mom continued. “Jeremy something. Should I tell him you're already in bed?”

Jeremy … here? I began to get back into my clothes. “No!” I told Mom. “Tell him I'll be right down.”

“Okay,” Mom said. “But it's getting late.”

Why would Jeremy Dragon come to my house on -a Friday night at nine-thirty? It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense!

I had to shoo Harry out of the bathroom sink so I could splash my face with cold water. Then I fluffed out my hair, put on more strawberry lip gloss and flew down the stairs. I opened the front door but didn't see him.

“Pssst, Macbeth … over here.”

I followed the sound of his voice to the maple tree.

“Hey,” he said. He was wearing his dragon jacket. “How come you're all dressed up?”

“I just got back from a concert.”

“Who was playing?”

“The Connecticut Valley Chamber Players.”

He didn't act like that was unusual. He said, “You're really into music, huh?”

I nodded.

He smiled at me. “How about a walk?”

“Sure,” I answered.

“Don't want to run into … you know … them.”

Charles and Dana were about the last people I wanted to run into, too.

“So,” he said, fishing something out of his jacket pocket. It was his token race car from Monopoly. “I meant to give this back to you right away … then I forgot … sorry.”

“That's okay. Nobody's played since that night.” Our hands touched as he gave me the car.

We walked around the pond. I was glad it was dark so none of the neighbors, including Stephanie and Alison, could see us. When we got to the tree where the raccoons live, Jeremy stopped walking and faced me. “Macbeth …” His voice was hoarse.

“What?” I think I sounded alarmed.

He leaned toward me and before I even knew what was happening, his lips were on mine.

“I've wanted to do that for a long time,” he said.

“Really?”

“Yeah … ever since Halloween when you came to my house reciting that stupid poem. I liked the way your mouth twitched.”

“It does that when I'm nervous.”

“Like now?”

I touched my mouth. Was it twitching and I didn't even know? He took my hand away. “It's very kiss-able … you know?” He put his arms around me, pulled me close and kissed me again. My legs felt so weak, I thought I might fall over.

On our third try, I kissed him back. I felt a surge go through my whole body. My mind went blank for a minute. Never mind animal attraction, this was
electrical
attraction! When I came back to earth, I asked, “What does this mean?”

“Mean?” he said. He held my hand and we
started walking again. “It doesn't mean anything. It was … you know … just a couple of kisses.”

No
, I wanted to tell him! I don't know. This is all new to me. This is nothing like kissing Max Wilson at the seventh-grade dance. But I didn't say anything.

He walked me home. We kissed one more time in the shadows. Then he smiled and said, “See ya …”

J
ust when you think life is over, you find out it's not. Just when you think you'll never be foolish enough to fall for somebody else, it happens without any warning! I hope this doesn't mean I'm going to be like Tarren, jumping from one Obstacle to the next. I don't think it does. I don't think it means anything except life is full of surprises and they're not necessarily all bad.

T
he next morning Stephanie called. “How was the concert?”

“Boring.”

“What do you mean by
boring?”

“You know … the music wasn't that good and everyone there was ancient … over twenty, at least. I couldn't wait to get home!”

“So I guess you're glad it wasn't a date.”

“Very!” I paused, lowering my voice. “I have important news but I can't tell you over the phone.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Come right over!”

“I
kissed Jeremy Dragon!” I threw myself backward onto Steph's bed, falling on top of about thirty stuffed animals. “Not once,” I told her, “not twice, but four times!”

Steph's mouth fell open. “Rachel … I'm so jealous!” I love the way Steph says exactly what she's
feeling without worrying about it. “How did this happen?” she asked.

, “I don't know. It was so bizarre. He came over to give me back a Monopoly piece and it just … well … happened.”

“Does this mean you're going together?”

“No. It doesn't mean anything. It was just a … couple of kisses.”

“Did you react?”

“You
must
be joking!”

“Rachel!” she squealed. “I can't believe this!”

“You think
you
can't!”

M
om was sworn in as a judge on Tuesday morning. I think Charles was disappointed when he introduced himself to the governor as Charles
Rybczynski
and the governor didn't say anything. I wonder if he's going to get tired of his new name.

Tarren wore a white suit and three-inch heels. She looked very … adult. She thanked me over and over for introducing her to Paul. They've been seeing each other every night. She says he's wonderful with Roddy. I don't want to hear about it. I made sure I wouldn't be sitting next to her at lunch.

Mom seems relieved now that she's the Honorable Nell Babcock Robinson, though she still doesn't know which court she'll be assigned to. I think she's also relieved Charles has a summer job working at the bakery in town. No one has said for sure what
school he'll be going to next fall, but Jessica and I think there's a good chance it will be the high school, which means he'll be living at home. I'm trying to learn from Jess, who says we should stop thinking about him and just let Mom and Dad work it out with Dr. Embers.
I wish!

Charles seems less angry since Ellis Island but I can't say he's changed. He's probably never going to change. He'll probably take pleasure in annoying me my whole life.

With Jessica it's completely different. We're always going to be close, no matter what. Still, I was upset when she said, “I heard about that program at the college.”

“What program?”

“Challenge. Toad's brother told me.”

“Oh.” Until now I'd managed to put Challenge out of my mind. “You're not mad, are you?” I asked.

“Why would I be mad?” Jess said. “I learned long ago not to compete with you, Rachel. If I did, I'd just wind up resenting you and that wouldn't be good for either of us. Besides, no matter what happens at school you're still my
little
sister.” She laughed and gave me an elbow in the ribs.

“Don't mention anything about Challenge to Mom or Dad, okay?”

“How come?”

“Because I haven't decided if I'm going to do it.”

“Why wouldn't you do it?”

“I have my reasons,” I told her. “So promise you won't say anything.”

“You know I won't.”

O
n the last day of school we got out at ten because the ninth graders were graduating at noon. When I passed Jeremy in the hall, he was carrying his red cap and gown.

“So, Macbeth … you hanging around this summer or what?”

“I'm going to music camp,” I told him.

“Play a song for me, okay?”

“Sure.”

“See you in September.”

“I'll be back the end of August.”

Some of his friends came along then, slamming into him. As they dragged him away, he looked back at me and waved. I waved, too. I can't believe I actually kissed him! And that come September, I might kiss him again.

“Nice that you and Jeremy get along so well.” I spun around. It was Dana, dressed in her cap and gown. But her cap wasn't fastened yet and she had to hold it on with one hand.

“Nice that you and my brother do,” I said.

I
didn't want to go to the bakery after school but Alison insisted. She still has a
thing
for Charles. He was working behind the counter, wearing a white apron over his
T-shirt and jeans. “Well, well, well …” he said, “if it isn't the triumvirate! What brings you here?”

“Hunger,” I told him.

He plucked a dog biscuit out of a jar and held it up. “These are quite savory. They appeal to all sizes and breeds.”

“Woof, woof …” I said.

Steph and Alison tried not to laugh. They each bought a giant-size chocolate chip cookie. When Charles handed Alison her change, he said, “I'm still waiting for you, California.”

“What about Dana?” I asked.

“Dana is my date
du jour,”
he said, using the French expression. “But California is something else.”

Alison had this ridiculous look on her face. I hope that's not how I looked when I was with Jeremy. “Come on …” I grabbed her by the hand and led her away. Steph followed.

“Good-bye, my lovelies,” Charles called after us, giving Stephanie and Alison both a profound case of the giggles.

When we were outside, Steph bit into her cookie and said, “He just likes to tease you, Rachel!”

“Because you take everything so seriously,” Alison added, breaking her cookie in half and sharing with me.

“I don't take
everything
seriously!” I told them. “Just
some
things.”

On the way home I invited them to my house for
lunch. I felt safe knowing Charles was at work. Before we went inside, Alison said, “Guess what? As soon as Matthew's born, we're going to L.A.”

“But you'll be back in time for school, right?” Steph asked.

“I think so,” Alison said. “I hope so.”

“But Alison … you have to be!” Steph said. “You're running for class president.” As soon as she said it, she clapped her hand to her mouth. She and Alison exchanged a look. “We were going to tell you before you left for camp,” Steph said.

“We were just waiting for the right time,” Alison added.

“I mean, you acted like you didn't want to run,” Steph said, making excuses. “You acted like you were only doing me a favor.” She paused for a minute. “And Alison's so popular. She has a real chance of winning.”

“We just thought the Dare to Care Candidate was too good to waste,” Alison said.

I didn't know what to say! It's true I was going to tell Steph I can't run because of all my other activities. But I hadn't told her yet. And I certainly never imagined she'd find herself another candidate and give away the slogan she thought up for
me
.

“You're not mad, are you?” Alison asked.

“Let's just say I'm surprised,” I told her.

“I want you to work on my campaign,” Alison said. “You will, won't you?”

“If I can fit it into my schedule,” I said, sounding
as snide as Charles. “I'm going to be really busy between Natural Helpers and Challenge.”

“What's Challenge?” she asked.

“It's this program at the college for—”

But Steph didn't let me finish. “You're going to college?”

“No, it's for eighth and ninth graders. It's like …” I tried to find a way to describe it. “It's like enriched math … except …”

“It's for geniuses!” Steph said.

“We're not geniuses.”

“It's for prodigies!” Alison said, trying out Charles's favorite word.

“We are not prodigies!”

“Even so,” Alison said, sliding her arm around my waist, “I love having such a smart friend!”

A born politician!
I thought.

“And you'll still work on my campaign, right?” When I didn't answer, she said, “Steph … tell Rachel you
want
her to work on my campaign.”

“Dah!” Steph said. “Who'd want Rachel!” Then she tackled me to the ground and Alison jumped on top of us.