Win or Lose (12 page)

“That dress definitely has the drama factor,” Frida said.

“Now I have three dresses I can't decide between!” Zoe said. “My mom and I went back to Debi's last night. I was going to only try on the pink and black dresses so I could finally make up my mind. But then I saw this one and I couldn't resist trying it on.”

“It's supercute!” Emma said. “But I think I still like the pink one the best.”

Zoe frowned. “I've got to make a decision soon!” She sighed, but then her face brightened. “Thanks for coming to help today. I thought we could all work on my party favors. Everything is set up in the craft room. Let's go!”

Zoe lived in one of those ranch houses with two levels. We walked downstairs through the family room to a small room next to the laundry room.

“Dad wanted this room for a man cave, but with four daughters, he got outvoted,” Zoe joked as she opened the door. Three walls were all shelves, filled with baskets, books, binders, and jars; everything was perfectly organized. The fourth wall had a workstation with a computer and a sewing machine.

In the middle of the room was a square table with six chairs around it. Round black-and-white striped boxes sat on the table along with brown paper bags, hot-glue guns, and other crafting items.

“My party favor theme for the girl guests is Beauty in a Box,” Zoe explained. “I'm going to fill these boxes with bubble bath, makeup, a pedicure kit, the kind of things
to pamper yourself and feel pretty with. My sisters and I already finished the gift boxes for the boys,” she said, gesturing to a row of blue-and-white striped boxes on the shelf. “They're filled with sunglasses and body spray. I still wanted to keep the fashion theme for the boys, but it was hard to figure out what to give them!” She pulled a finished black-and-white box off a shelf. It had a hot-pink bow on the lid and rhinestones all around. “So would you guys help me sparkle up the girls' boxes, like this? I've got everything. We've just got to hot-glue them on.”

“Fun!” Emma said. “But I have to warn you, once I hot-glued my fingers together.”

“Um, Emma, I was there,” Jessi said, and grinned. “You hot-glued your fingers to your cousin's dog, remember?”

Emma laughed. “First I hot-glued my fingers together. Then I tried to wipe them off. I mistook Daisy for a fluffy white towel! My aunt Jae was so mad.”

We all giggled as we started working on the boxes. I glued the pink bow on top of the box and admired my work. I wasn't a real crafty person, but it was fun and actually kind of relaxing.

“I can't believe my bat mitzvah is less than a week away!” Zoe said as we worked. “I feel like there's still so much I have to do. And now we have the regional game that day.”

I nodded. “The game is in Brightville at eleven a.m. I mapped it out. It's about an hour away.”

“An hour?” Zoe's face crumpled. “So we'll have a long drive
and
a game. Perfect.”

“We'll be fine,”
Emma said cheerfully as she glued a rhinestone onto the box and not her fingers. “Don't worry.”

“But I have the temple service at four o'clock, before the party,” Zoe said, looking panicked. “So we'll have to rush home and get changed in a hurry if we want to be on time.”

“Well, if we get back home by two, you'll still have a couple of hours to get ready,” Frida offered. “It's like changing in between scenes when you're in a play. It's hectic but fun. And a huge adrenaline rush besides.”

Zoe sighed. “I guess it'll be okay,” she said nervously. “I'm so glad now that we decided to do the sunset service instead of a morning one. Then it would have been
totally
ruined. But it's still going to be crazy!”

Jessi and I exchanged worried glances, but I didn't know what to say to make Zoe feel better. She was right. It was going to be a hectic day.

Just then Zoe's mom came into the room.

“Hi, girls,” she said. “Thanks for helping Zoe with the party favors. I just got back from picking up the red carpet runner. Do you all want to see?”

Zoe's frown was quickly replaced by a smile. “Yes!” We followed into the family room, where a plush red carpet was rolled out across the floor.

Zoe gave a squeal of delight. “Thanks, Mom!” she said as she gave her mom a big hug. “It's perfect.” She turned to us. “It's for all of the party guests to walk down, just like at a big-name designer's fashion show!”

Mrs. Quinlan smiled. “I'm glad you like it. You all must be hungry. I'll go fix you some snacks,” she said, heading back upstairs.

Frida immediately stepped onto the carpet and struck a pose, one hand on her hip, her head turned and an eyebrow arched. Then she began strutting down the carpet, pretending to wave at her fans. “No autographs, please,” she said, putting a hand dramatically on her forehead.

“Wait! We need music.” Jessi pulled her phone out of her pocket and pressed a button. A song with a bouncy beat filled the air.

“Perfect!” Jessi said. She walked down the carpet, her hips swaying back and forth to the music. When she got to the end, she pretended to stop and pose for a photographer. She whirled around and looked over her shoulder, smiling prettily.

I took my turn afterward, walking down the carpet with a hand on my hip, as if I were a model on a runway. But halfway through I burst out laughing.

“I feel so silly!” I said.

“You've got to be fierce!” Frida told me. “Work it like you own it!”

I tried sucking in my cheeks and arching my eyebrows, hoping that looked fierce, but everyone just started laughing instead.

“My turn!” Emma said.

But Jessi stopped her. “You should practice with your heels on. That's what you were wearing at Debi's this morning.”

Emma grinned sheepishly. “That's why I tripped on the video. I've got them in my bag. Wait a sec.” She disappeared up the stairs toward Zoe's room.

“My mom is letting me wear heels for the first time for the party,” Jessi told us while Emma was gone. “They are supercute! The heel isn't that high, though.”

I shook my head. “I just want to be comfortable. I'll stick to flats, or better yet, flip-flops!”

Emma came back down the stairs, carrying the gold, sparkly heels like they were a snake about to bite her. She held the heels by the tips of her fingers, as far away from her body as possible.

“They are too cute!” Zoe gushed. “The heel isn't that big.”

“Yeah, but I can trip in my bare feet,” Emma reminded her.

Emma sat on the bottom step and put the shoes on. “Here goes nothing,” she said as she stood up. Emma was pretty tall, but in the heels she looked even taller. She took a few cautious steps, and her face brightened. “Not too bad,” she said as she stepped onto the plush red rug.

Jessi held up her phone, and the music filled the air. Emma struck a pose and then launched down the carpet, bouncing to the beat as she went.

“Go, Emma!” Frida hooted, while Zoe and I clapped.

“I'm doing it!” she cried. In her excitement she began to walk even faster. Her heel caught the edge of the carpet, and a look of panic filled her face.

“Help!” she called, her arms flailing wildly in the air.

Zoe and I rushed over to catch her, but it was too late. Emma sat in a crumpled heap on the red carpet, her face buried in her hands and her body shaking.

“Emma! Are you okay?” I leaned over her, worried.

Emma looked up. Her face was bright red, but she wasn't crying. She was laughing!

“I guess my career as a model is over before it even started,” she said between giggles.

Zoe sat down next to her and put an arm around her. “Maybe we should go shopping for some flats.”

“And a helmet and some elbow pads,” Emma said. “I think I need safety gear on at all times.”

We started laughing hysterically.

“See, Zoe,” Emma said after she caught her breath. “You don't have to worry about Saturday. No matter what happens, we'll have a good time.”

I laughed. “But bring some safety gear just in case!”

I was still smiling when my mom picked me up at Zoe's house later that afternoon. We'd finished the party favor boxes, and they looked great. Zoe seemed a lot more relaxed about the game and her bat mitzvah on Saturday, although she was still obsessing about all the last-minute details.

“You look like you had a good time,” my mom remarked as I got into the van.

I told her all about Emma's adventures in heels. “But I'm going to stick to flats. Or how about a pair of sparkly flip-flops?”

My mom laughed. “You've been living in flip-flops ever since we moved to California.”

She was right. I had a pair in just about every color.

“I have something I want to talk to you about,” my mom said, in that serious tone of voice she usually reserved for
when I was in trouble. I racked my brains. I couldn't think of anything wrong I had done! But I was off the hook. Sort of.

“That reporter from the
Kentville Chronicle
, Cassidy Vale, called while you were at Zoe's,” my mom said.

“Ugh!” I said angrily. “What did she want?”

“She wanted to interview you before the regional play-off game,” Mom said. “What do you think?”

I groaned. “No way! She never even admitted she was wrong. What if she gets my words mixed up again? I can't risk it.”

Mom nodded. “I understand. But your dad and I were talking about it. What if you wrote a letter to the newspaper? That way it could be in your own words and you could keep a copy, so if anything got printed wrong, you would have proof.”

Hmmmm. That was an interesting idea. “Kind of like a letter to the editor?” I asked.

“Exactly,” Mom said.

I smiled. “I'll write it as soon as we get home!”

As soon as we pulled into the driveway, I was out of the van like a shot. I raced upstairs and sat down at my computer, eager to finally get my side of the story in print. When I wrote a paper for class, sometimes I felt like I was having a staring contest with my computer screen. I couldn't think of what to say and I'd just look at my screen, hoping the words would magically appear. But I didn't have that problem at all today. The words came out in a rush, almost faster than I could type them.

Dear
Kentville Chronicle
,

My name is Devin Burke, and I am a seventh grader at Kentville Middle School. But more important, I am one of the Kicks. And the Kicks will be playing in the regional play-offs against the Brightville Bolts this Saturday.

When I first joined the Kangaroos and became a member of the Kicks, the team's record was not great. But we all worked together as a team, each and every one of us, and we worked hard to get where we are today, which is the Kicks' first play-off season in almost twenty years. We did it together, and every single person on the team made it happen.

In an article that ran earlier in the
Chronicle
, I was misquoted as saying “I don't know where my team would be without me.” What I really said was, “I don't know where I'd be without my team.” I want to say it again: I don't know where I'd be without my team. They've shown me that anything is possible if you work hard. And we've all become friends. In fact, we're more like a family. And whether we win or lose, we'll always be a team.

Go, Kicks!

Sincerely,

Devin Burke

I let out a big sigh as I finished. It felt good to get that off my chest. I would ask my mom to read it before I e-mailed it to the newspaper. I only hoped the
Chronicle
would print it!

The next day after school we had practice—still without Coach Flores. But I was strangely getting used to Coach Valentine. His method of coaching might have been strict, but it had its upsides too.