Authors: Julie Bowe

My Best Frenemy (12 page)

BOOK: My Best Frenemy

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Then I gasp and pull a pair of ice cream cone earrings from the bin. The same earrings I gave to Stacey for Christmas along with a jumbo box of Choco Chunks. I wrote
Have a Sweet Holiday!
on the tag.

Maybe I should buy this pair for
me
. It’s a silly idea because I don’t even have pierced ears. Still, I could look at them and think about how they match Stacey’s earrings. And how we could match too.

“Can we help you find anything,
honey
?” I hear someone say.

I look up and my mouth drops. “Brooke?” I say. “Stacey? ”

Stacey and Brooke hurry up to me.

“What are you doing here? ” I ask.

“Duh,” Brooke says. “Shopping. And also
this
. . . ” She flicks back her long hair. “Ta-da! ”

Brooke’s earlobes are bright red. I see small diamonds sparkling right above her regular earrings.

“You got your ears double pierced! ” I say.

“Genius, ” Brooke replies.

“I had to come along and hold her hand, ” Stacey says, giggling.

Brooke giggles too. She clutches Stacey’s hand, like a drama queen. “I couldn’t have done it without my BFF! ”

They practically fall into the jewelry bin, laughing.

I practically fall in too. Not because I’m laughing. Because of what Brooke called Stacey.

BFF
.

Best Friend Forever.

I bury the ice cream cone earrings and try to laugh along.

“I’m starved,” Brooke says when she comes up for air. “Who wants a cheesy pretzel? My treat.” She reaches into her jeans pocket and pulls out two twenty-dollar bills. She glances at the back of the store, where her mom is talking with my mom. “Compliments from my mother’s purse,” she whispers to us.

Stacey’s eyes go wide. “You took it? ”

Brooke shrugs. “She told me I could take some money for a treat. It’s not my fault she didn’t mention how much. ”

Brooke tucks the bills back into her pocket and squints at me. “You’re not going to
tell
on me, are you, Ida? ”

“Ida wouldn’t tell,” Stacey says, looking at me. “Would you? ”

“Of course not, ” I say.

Stacey smiles and turns to Brooke. “See? ” she says. “Like I told you. Ida’s not a tattletale. ”

“Except for at school, ” Brooke says.

My eyes start to sting, so I glance away.

Stacey sees me blinking and quickly grabs Brooke’s arm. “Must. Have. Pretzel. Now!” she says, tugging Brooke away from me.

Brooke laughs and glances back. “I suppose you can have one too, ” she says to me. “As a reward for not tattling
again
.”

“Um . . . thanks,” I reply. “But I’ve still got some shopping to do. ” I pretend to be very interested in a snowflake necklace I pull from the bin.

“What are you shopping for? ” Stacey asks.

“New clothes maybe, ” I reply.

“Oooo, ” Brooke says. “That’s my specialty. I’ll help. ”

“But . . .” I say, thinking about the kind of clothes Brooke might choose for me. The extra-sparkly kind. “I wouldn’t want you to starve or anything. ”

Brooke pulls a pair of sparkly silver earrings from the bin. “Let’s start with an accessory,” she says, ignoring me. “We’ll build the outfit from there. That’s a trick I learned from listening to Jade and her friends. ” Brooke holds the earrings up to a rack of hoodies with lots of sparkles decorating them.

“But Brooke, that’s silly,” Stacey says. “Remember? Ida can’t wear earrings. ”

Brooke does a dramatic sigh. “Oh, that’s right. Ida can’t get her ears pierced until she’s... what? Twenty? ”

“Close, ” I mumble.

Brooke is just about to toss the earrings back into the bin, but then she stops and studies them like a math problem. A moment later her eyes brighten and her mouth curls up at the corners. “Of course, ” she says to herself. “That’s
it
.”

“What’s it? ” Stacey asks.

Brooke tosses the earrings back into the bin and flicks her hair. “Just an idea,” she says. “A very excellent idea. But you’ll have to wait until Monday to find out! ”

Mom looks a little shaky on the drive home. Probably from all the coffee she drank with Brooke’s mom while Stacey and Brooke helped me shop at the Mish Mosh.

I’m a little shaky too, only not from coffee. I spent all of my money on a new outfit that I didn’t choose. I even had to borrow extra from Mom, which means I couldn’t buy any bonus presents for the girls.

“I can’t wait to see what you picked out, ” Mom says as we pull into our driveway.

“Mmm-hmm, ” I say back.

Dad is on the porch, taking down Christmas lights. He looks up as we get out of the car. “How’d it go? ”

I hold up my bag. “Ta-da. ”

Dad gives me a thumbs-up.

I head into the house.

Dear Stella,

I saw Stacey and Brooke at the mall today. They helped me pick out a new outfit. Only Brooke did most of the picking. That’s one of her talents. I got a bright orange shirt covered with sparkly X’s and O’s. A skirt with purple fringe. Striped Leggings. And a pair of clunky black shoes with big silver buckles. They make me feel Like a pilgrim.

But I don’t mind the outfit as much as the other stuff. Stuff Like Stacey and Brooke talking about the movie they watched Last night that I didn’t see. And comparing nail polish that I’m not wearing. And making jokes that I don’t understand. And, most of all, Listening to Brooke call Stacey “BFF” at Least ten times, Like it’s her new name or something. And Stacey acting Like it’s completely normal for Brooke to be calling her that.

Brooke is keeping a secret from us until Monday. That’s another one of her talents. Keeping secrets. Especially when it drives other people crazy.

Bye,
Ida

Chapter 14

Jenna doesn’t notice that I’m wearing a new outfit when I get to the bus stop on Monday morning because she’s too busy peeking inside the snack container she’s holding. Today is the day we have to bring our shapes snack to school.

Quinn doesn’t notice because he’s wrestling with his invisible friends again.

Besides, my sparkly shirt and most of my skirt are hidden under my same old jacket. My pilgrim shoes are in my backpack. So really, you can only see my striped leggings.

Rachel studies my legs for a minute. “What happened to your pants? ” she asks.

“Yeah, what happened to your pants?” Tess chimes in.

“I’m not wearing any, ” I say.

Rachel’s eyes go wide. “On purpose? ”

I nod. “I’m wearing a skirt, see? ” I pull up on my jacket so Rachel and Tess can see my purple fringe.

Rachel frowns. “But you always wear pants, ” she says.

“Not always, ” I reply. “Sometimes I wear skirts for parties and stuff. ”

“Are you going to a party? ” Tess asks.

I think about the girls meeting to vote on my triple-dog dare today. “Not exactly, ” I say.

“But what about recess? ” Rachel asks. “If you don’t got pants to wear, they make you stand by the wall. ”

Tess nods. “You can’t do anything fun by the wall. ”

“Don’t worry,” I say. “My snow pants are in my backpack. I won’t have to stand by the wall. ”

Tess and Rachel do big breaths of relief.

Jenna snaps her snack container shut. “Rachel, ” she says in her big-sister voice. “Stop being a pest. ”

“I’m not being a pest,” Rachel replies. “I’m just being worried about Ida. Like you are being worried about Mommy. ”

Jenna huffs. “You’re crazy. ”

“No, I am not,” Rachel says. “You are always saying worried stuff like, ‘Do you feel okay, Mommy?’ and ‘Do you want some 7UP, Mommy?’ and ‘Be quiet, Rachel, so Mommy can rest.’
That’s
worried stuff. ”

“Yeah, ” Tess says. “Worried stuff. ”

Jenna huffs again and doesn’t say anything.

Stacey and Brooke squeal as soon as they see me. They unzip my jacket and pull off my backpack before I even make it to my coat hook.

When they see my sparkly shirt they squeal again.

“Is it picture day?” Randi asks as Brooke hangs up my jacket.

“
Duh
, ” Jenna says, shifting her snack container. “That was months ago. ”

“I got a new outfit, ” I say to Randi.

“That we picked out!” Brooke says, linking arms with Stacey.

“It’s perfect,” Jolene says, looking me over. “You can borrow my scrunchy, which will make it even perfecter.” She pulls a purple scrunchy from her pocket and runs her fingers through my hair like a human hairbrush. It tugs a little, but I don’t mind. I’m just happy they’re all acting like I’m part of the group again.

Meeka unzips my backpack, yanking out my snow pants and snack container. Then she takes out my pilgrim shoes. She pulls off my snow boots and steers my feet into them.

Randi shakes her head. “We’re supposed to be planning Ida’s dare, not playing beauty queen. ”

“Later,” Brooke says. “Beauty can’t wait.” She snorts a laugh. So do the others. So do I.

When the bell rings they start to parade me into our classroom, but I pull back. “I have to get my shapes snack, ” I say. “And hang up my stuff. ”

“Well, hurry, ” Brooke says. “We want to show the new you to Mr. Crow. ”

Everyone heads inside without me. I hang my snow pants on my coat hook and shove my boots out of the way.

“You don’t like it, do you?” I hear someone say.

I look up and see Jenna watching me from our classroom doorway.

“Don’t like what? ” I ask.

“You know what, ” she says. “Why did you let them pick out clothes you don’t want? ”

I look down at my sparkly shirt, purple fringed skirt, and stripped leggings. I shift in my clunky black shoes. “I just thought if I let them choose the outfit, maybe they would forget about choosing a triple-dog dare. ”

Jenna huffs. “Like that would ever happen. Brooke lives for this stuff. Don’t you know? ”

I do know.

I shift some more.

Jenna turns and walks into the classroom.

I clunk along behind.

Everyone is huddled around Mr. Crow’s desk comparing the snacks they brought.

“I’ve got cheese cubes,” Meeka says, holding up a zipper bag of small yellow and white cubes.

“I brought saltines for squares, ” Zane adds.

“Cheese and crackers,” Mr. Crow says, leaning back in his chair. “One of my favorite snacks. ”

Stacey and Brooke show the cookies they baked. “They’re round, like circles, ” Stacey says.

“Plus, they have M&M’S, which are also round, ” Brooke says. “So we should definitely get extra credit. ”

Mr. Crow just smiles.

Quinn opens the lid on his container, but I don’t see what’s inside it because someone starts tapping my shoulder.

I turn and see Randi’s bright green eyes. “It’s all set,” she whispers. “We’re gonna meet during morning recess to vote on your triple-dog dare! ”

“Oh, boy,” I whisper back. “Where do we meet? ”

“Not you, ” Randi says. “Just
us
.” She glances around at the other girls. “We’ll tell you all about it this afternoon. ”

“I searched through three bags of corn chips to find enough perfect triangles,” Joey says, holding up a clear plastic bag of chips. “It was grueling. ”

“What did you do with the ones that weren’t perfect?” Tom asks. “Wait, let me guess. Ate them, right? ”

Joey rubs his stomach and smiles. Then he burps.

“I brought grapes, ” Jolene says. “For spheres. ”

Jenna huffs. “You
always
bring grapes, Jolene. ”

That’s true. Jolene is the grape girl in our class.

“Grapes are a good choice,” Mr. Crow says. “Healthy
and
spherical. A perfectly shaped snack. ”

Jolene gives Jenna a squint.

“What did you bring, Ida? ” Mr. Crow asks.

“Um . . . Jell-O, ” I say.

“
Jell-O?
” Jenna says. “That doesn’t have a shape. It’s just a blob. ”

“It’s
finger
Jell-O,” I say. I lift the lid on my container and show everyone the jiggly red hexagons inside.

“Yum! ” Stacey says.

“Very creative! ” Mr. Crow adds.

“That’s nothing,” Jenna says. “I got stars, and hardly any snacks come in that shape. ”

“Actually,” Tom says, “if you cut an apple in half sideways, you’ll find a star inside. ”

Jenna squints. “This isn’t kindergarten, Tom. ”

“So what did you bring? ” Dominic asks.

Jenna lifts her chin. “It’s very rare. I had to make my dad drive to three grocery stores before we found any. ”

Everyone crowds closer to Jenna. She soaks us up like a sponge. Then she slowly raises the lid on her snack container like she’s opening an Egyptian tomb. Slices of star-shaped fruit are inside. Four rows with four stars each. Sixteen stars altogether.

“Ah, star fruit,” Mr. Crow says. “That’s also very creative, Jenna. ”

Jenna nods.

“I’ve never had star fruit before,” Jolene says, nudging in for a closer look. “What does it taste like? ”

“Like grapes, ” I mumble.

Jenna snaps the lid shut on her container, just missing Jolene’s nose. “
No
samples, ” she says. “You have to wait until snack time like everyone else. ”

Jenna pushes past us. She sits down at her desk and recounts her stars.

Since I’m not allowed to be around when the girls vote on my triple-dog dare, I volunteer to fix up a snack table for Mr. Crow during our morning recess. But as soon as everyone starts coming back inside I leave the snacks and find Stacey.

“What did you decide? ” I ask her.

“We decided Brooke had the best idea ever!” Stacey says. “You are going to love this dare! ”

“Love a triple-dog dare?” I say. “But they’re supposed to make you smell bad. Or lose your hair. Or get you grounded for a month. ”

BOOK: My Best Frenemy

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