Too Cool for This School (27 page)

“Mint seems pretty upset,” my mom said.

“She got sick and is probably canceling the party,” I said. “That’s upsetting.”

“Yeah,” my mom said, reaching up and pressing her hand against my forehead. “I think this might be about Jagger.”

My eyes got really big. I couldn’t believe I was going to have a conversation with my mom about Jagger and Mint.

“Mrs. Evenson caught them kissing,” my mom said.

Holy crap! It was sort of a good thing that I wasn’t talking to Ava anymore. Because she would have become completely unglued when I told her this information.

“Wow,” I said. “I didn’t know that.”

“She’s twelve. He’s twelve,” my mom said. “These things happen.”

I nodded, but I didn’t know if I wanted this conversation to continue.

“Jagger is friends with your friend Todd, right?” my mom asked.

I decided to stop this conversation before it started.

“I am not kissing Todd, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly worried about it, but it does relieve me to hear that,” my mom said. I watched her stand up and walk to my doorway.

“Don’t be in too much of a hurry to grow up,” my mom said. “You’re at a wonderful stage in your life.”

“Sure,” I said. I really wanted my mom to leave. I hated it when she started talking sappy like this.

She left and quietly shut the door. I thought I would have time to read my magazine, but instead Mint came into my room.

“I’m still pretty mad,” she said as she walked to my bedside and sat on the floor. “But I don’t want to leave hating you. That would be a huge waste of my energy.”

I agreed with that. I didn’t want Mint to leave hating me either.

“Do you feel bad about what you did?” she asked. “I mean, I know we hadn’t become best friends or anything. But don’t you feel rotten that you invaded my privacy like that?”

I did feel rotten. But not for those reasons.

“It’s awful this has happened. But I never touched your diary,” I explained.

Mint frowned. “Then how did it happen?”

“It was that day in my bedroom when Todd held up my underwear,” I said.

“Did Ava take pictures of my diary with her phone?” she asked.

I nodded. “But I didn’t know about it.”

“That’s the lowest thing I’ve ever heard of,” she said.

“I know,” I said. “But I had no idea what she’d done until after she’d put the lists in people’s desks.”

“Well, I believe in karma, and one day she’ll get hers.”

“Ava doesn’t keep a journal.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t either,” Mint said.

And I didn’t argue with that, because clearly journals were dangerous.

“I notice everything,” Mint said. “It’s a blessing and a curse. I never meant for anybody to see any of my observations.”

“Um, are things okay with you and Jagger?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” Mint said. “I smoothed it out. We have so much in common. I bet we stay friends for years.”

I was impressed by how confident she was about this. Things with me and Todd always felt so fragile. “What about you and me?” I asked. “Are things okay between us?”

Mint looked up at the ceiling as she spoke. “I was so excited to come here. I had all these hopes for how it would be. I thought we’d be like sisters, studying together, sharing clothes, going to the movies, shopping at the mall.”

“I rarely shop at the mall,” I said.

Mint frowned. “Yeah, I learned that.” Mint got off the floor and moved closer to my bed. “But you already had this big life. It was pretty obvious that you didn’t really want me around.”

Mint was making me feel terrible. The truth was,
whether she was normal or not, I never really wanted Mint to fit in. And so I never gave her a chance.

“So I tried to get out there and make my own friends. And I tried to give you your space and stuff.”

This month could have been so different. But now it was too late. The time was gone. There was no way to get it back.

“I’ve never had a cousin come and stay with me,” I said. “I probably should have handled it better.”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“I understand if you want to stay mad at me forever,” I said.

She shook her head. “I don’t want that. I wish there were a way we could leave it that we’re friends.”

After everything that had happened, how was that possible?

Mint extended her hand like she wanted me to shake it. And I thought that was a very generous gesture considering our month together. So I extended mine. And we shook.

“Friends,” she said.

“Friends,” I agreed. It was such a relief to feel this way.

“I’m going to go hang out with your mom,” she said. “Is that cool?”

I nodded. “It’s cool with me.”

I think I drifted off for a bit, because the next thing I heard was the sound of Jagger’s voice waking me from a light sleep. It was coming from the living room. I crept to my door and opened it. I couldn’t believe what I saw.
A bunch of people from my school were there: Lucia, Rachel, Paulette, Kimmie, Jagger, Todd, Felipe, Tuma, Wyatt, Wren, and Bobby. They were all grouped around Mint, chatting and drinking what looked like lemonade. Mint had decided to let the party happen. She was so brave. It felt so weird seeing everybody from my school at my house.

My mom walked out from the kitchen and saw me. “If you’re feeling better, why don’t you hang out with everyone for a while,” she told me, walking over and smoothing my hair back. “Dad’s grilling hot dogs outside.”

“Okay,” I said. But as I watched these people mill around my cousin, it sort of seemed like maybe I should stay in my room. They hadn’t come to visit me. They’d come to say good-bye to her. Did Mint want me out there? Or did she want her own space? She’d worked really hard to make these friends. I stood frozen in the doorway. But she’d also worked really hard to make sure we were friends before she left. I decided to risk joining the party. So I walked into the backyard, grabbed a hot dog, and stood next to Todd, because that was where I truly wanted to be.

“It’s been a rough week for you,” Todd said. “Are you feeling better?”

I took a big bite of hot dog and nodded. “Much.”

Then he started laughing. And I think he was laughing at me.

“Why are you laughing?” I asked.

And then he did this awful thing. He pointed at me.

“You’re laughing at me?” I asked. I could feel myself blushing.

“You’ve got mustard on your ear,” he said.

How had I done that? I tried to wipe if off with my napkin, but this made Todd laugh harder.

“It was a huge glob,” he said. “You smeared it.”

“I better go look in a mirror,” I said.

But Todd reached out and stopped me from going. “I can get it,” he said.

It felt almost magical the way Todd brushed his napkin against my ear and removed the mustard glob. “There. Perfect,” he said.

I smiled like a huge dork when he said that.

Finally, things seemed mostly repaired, and sixth grade felt exciting again. But that feeling went away when I saw who was waiting in the hot dog line. Robin, Leslie, Fiona, and Derek!

“Cool,” Todd said. “The other class captains are here.”

My heartbeat sped up.

I didn’t want to tell anybody I was on probation. I took a step closer to Todd and watched as all four of them collected their freshly grilled dogs. I didn’t know how to react when Derek spotted me and flashed me the peace sign. So I waved. Then they all started walking toward me. Sixth grade was a total roller coaster.

“Hi, guys,” Leslie said.

“Hi,” Todd said.

My mind kept trying to figure out the best thing to say under these conditions. But I ended up speechless.

“Can we talk to Lane alone?” Robin asked.

No!

“Sure,” Todd said. “I was about to get some chips.”

I watched in sadness as Todd abandoned me.

“This week has been totally crazy,” Robin said.

“Never in the history of Rio Chama Middle School has so much drama affected so many people,” Leslie said.

A cloud darkened the sky overhead and I knew what was coming. They’d decided to get rid of me. They wanted to protect the reputation of the class captains, and that meant cutting me loose.

“Mint called us and explained the situation,” Robin said. “And things are cool.”

What? “Cool?” Did that word mean what I thought it meant?

“I’m not on probation?” I asked.

“You heard her,” Derek said. “Things are cool.”

He smiled at me and looked deep into my eyes. Everything was forgiven. Even the pool puking. That was what his smile told me.

“I brought back a bunch of chips,” Todd said, passing around a half-full bag.

“Look,” Fiona said. “They’re
organic
corn chips.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Leslie said.

Soon the other class captains drifted off.

And for the rest of the party I stayed in the background. Mint flitted around and talked with everybody. And I mostly talked to Todd. I was a little surprised that people
could move past the insult list so quickly, but I guess deep down they really liked Mint. And if they had a choice to be mad at her until she left or forgive her before she left, they wanted to do the latter. Which I thought was cool. Because that was what I wanted too.

26

Not everybody forgave Angelina Mint Taravel before she left Santa Fe. But I did. She hugged me at the airport and said, “I hope you come visit me.”

My mom overheard her. “We’ll try to make that happen this summer.”

“It would be great to finally meet Clark,” my dad said.

I hesitated. “Is summer really the best time to go? Shouldn’t we visit in winter, when the bears are hibernating?”

Mint smiled at me. “You have the best sense of humor.” Then she threw her arms around me and squeezed me so tightly that she started to put pressure on my internal organs.

“Thanks,” I said.

“I am going to miss this place,” she said.

And then I said something that really surprised me. “Yeah. This place is going to miss you.”

“I knew it!” Mint said as she entered the security line. “I knew you’d miss me.”

Even though that wasn’t exactly what I said, I thought I’d be nice and let Mint think it was. And then, watching Mint walk away, I realized that I wasn’t just being nice. I really was going to miss her. Not in the same way I would miss a best friend. But I’d miss her the way you miss a cousin who shows up for a little while and shakes up your world.

The farther away Mint got, the more I waved. When I finally stopped, my dad put his arm around me and said, “Don’t worry. You’ll see each other again.”

The whole time Mint had been in Santa Fe she’d driven me nuts, and all I’d wanted was my life back. And now I had it. My life. Except it didn’t feel like my life exactly. It felt different. I could feel the tears coming. Why did I want to cry?

We watched as an airline attendant helped Mint pass through the metal detectors. Even though she was on the other side of a glass wall, I could see her perfectly. And finally she saw me.

“I still want to teach you how to lick a glacier!” Mint yelled as she sat on a gray metal bench and retied her shoes.

After all the trouble Ava had caused her, I was glad she still wanted to teach me how to lick a glacier. Even though I really didn’t want to do that.

“Sounds good!” I yelled.

Mint broke into a smile and stood up and waved to me one last time. “I’m not even joking,” she called to me.

“Neither am I,” I said.

And I meant it.

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