Change Places with Me (3 page)

Everyone said Belle Heights was so boring, a big chunk of nothing in Queens, New York City. Belle Drive, the busiest street, was a museum, a fossil, a dinosaur compared to neighboring Spruce Hills, which had giant stores like Target, Home Depot, and Asteroid, and smaller, trendy stores opening all the time. But Rose decided she liked the fact that, except for the hydro-buses (and she could hear one wheezing behind her, a sure sign it was about to stall), long, winding Belle Drive had changed so little over the years. Especially now that she was changing so much. She’d spoken to a lady recently somewhere who seemed to know about these things—that Rose would change, that she would be so happy. If Rose ran into the lady again, she could tell her she was right. But how could you run into someone if you didn’t remember what she looked like?

No matter. It rained so lightly Rose didn’t even get wet as she passed a diner with a revolving display of layer cakes, a thrift
shop, a cosmetics store, and an animal hospital—little places so close together they all seemed connected, like the apartment houses on Rose’s block. Some even shared an awning.

Inside Sassy Cuts, Rose spoke to a hairstylist whose nametag
said
Bridget
.

“That was my mother’s name!” Rose said, amazed at the coincidence. Rose had no memory of her mother, who’d died when she was a baby, but there were pictures, of course, and apparently her mom had laughed a lot.

“What can I do for you?” Bridget said.

“I need to get rid of these bangs.” Rose flicked them away as if that was all it took to rid her life of them.

“Not a problem. They’re awfully long, anyway. You can hardly see your nice blue eyes!”

Rose described the exact, even, almost chin length she wanted, “So I can put my hair behind one ear if I want to. Please don’t go too short or I won’t be able to do that.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“It should be dark. Can you dye it, too?”

“Of course.”

As Rose sat in the chair, an oldies station blasted away. She’d never paid much attention to music, but now she could barely sit still from an urge to nod her head and shimmy-shake. One song in particular really stuck with her, even though it was almost sixty years old. “Changes” by David Bowie.
“Strange fascination,
fascinating me . . . pretty soon now you’re gonna get older . . . ch-ch-ch-
ch-changes . . .”
She couldn’t wait to download it to her phone.

Bridget gave her a quick blow-dry and said, “What do you think?”

In the mirror Rose saw a girl with short dark hair just above her chin. She pushed one side behind her ear and left the other side in front. “It’s perfect.”

She also stopped in at the thrift store just down the street, Second Nature. She had to have a jean jacket. But not just any old jean jacket. It had to suit the new haircut, complement it. She tried on half a dozen jean jackets, and every time she looked in the mirror and turned around to see her back, something was missing. Very disappointing, but she would keep looking for exactly the right one.

On Tuesday morning Rose had to sign up for six hours of school service, which was a tenth-grade requirement this semester. A great opportunity, she thought, to try something new and exciting. She read the list of choices: caring for soil-free plants in the school greenhouse, after-school tutoring, assistant crossing guard. But something else grabbed her. Mr. Slocum needed a lab assistant. No students ever signed up to work with him—why would they? Mr. Slocum was the most hated teacher in school, and he seemed to have a particular dislike for her. Maybe by the end of the six hours, Mr. Slocum would tolerate her better, even like her. Which was as worthy a project as any.

Rose sat down to lunch with Kim again. Kim, true to form, was wearing a purple shirt over maroon pants and, around her throat, a blue scarf with black stars. Rose knew she herself had
to stop wearing overalls and flannel shirts, but Kim’s style was not the direction she had in mind.

“Do you like my hair?” Rose asked. “The guy at the scanner said I look like Barbara Stanwyck, whoever that is.”

“You mean Cooper Sosa?”

“Who?”

“At the scanner. He’s cute.”

Rose glanced at him and shrugged. His eyebrows were way too thick and his hair too messy (and not in a good way, like Nick’s). Not to mention she’d be surprised if he reached her chin.

“Maybe not conventionally cute,” Kim said. “He only transferred here last year. We hang out sometimes. He’s super nice.”

“Really? Yesterday he said my smile looked Photoshopped.” Rose hadn’t thought that had bothered her, but here she was, repeating it.

“And today he said you look like a movie star. He’s really into old movies. His parents own a diner right next to the old movie house—”

“You still haven’t said.” Rose pointed to her hair.

“Oh, yeah. It’s fine.”

“I tried to find a jean jacket yesterday, and I couldn’t. Don’t you think a jean jacket would look great with this haircut? Also, I need red lipstick. Something between a cherry and a tomato. But not cherry tomato—ugh!”

“You don’t wear makeup,” Kim said, suddenly agitated. “You just don’t. Even when you barely spoke to me, I noticed you
don’t wear it, and I always liked that, because we’re, like, the only girls who don’t.”

Rose was fully aware that she and Kim hadn’t been that close recently. Why did she have to bring it up? “Ironic,” she said coolly, “seeing that you’re doing the makeup for the school play. You’re like a makeup expert, Kim.”

“Stage makeup is a whole other thing. It’s not realistic and it’s not supposed to be—”

“Do you think Nick Winter will like my hair?” Rose cut her off.

Nick still didn’t notice her in bio. Astrid and Selena didn’t say a word about her hair, though they were whispering. Rose didn’t want to intrude; maybe one had a problem and the other was helping her. That was what friends did for each other, after all. How lonely it must be, Rose thought, to be without friends.

On her way home, Rose stopped in at the cosmetics store on Belle Drive: Heights Belles. She wandered through a sea of red lipsticks before she found the right one—exciting, rich, deep red. When she saw the name, she had to laugh. It was called Rose Red; clearly, meant for her. She stood before the Mirror-Mirror and typed in the code of the lipstick, and it showed her how perfectly this shade fit her haircut. But something about seeing herself on a computer screen bothered Rose. In her mind she saw herself on another screen, but wider than this one. She figured maybe she’d accidentally stepped in front of a security camera and seen a reflection of herself, which could be a little
disconcerting when you didn’t expect it.

Outside, she got caught in a gentle tornado of fallen leaves; they swirled lightly around her legs and settled at her feet.
You
are at the center of your life, not the edge,
she told herself, but the
words seemed to be coming from the same lady she remembered speaking to somewhere—someone with a sort of funny, flat, generic voice.

Rose found herself staring at the Belle Heights Animal Hospital two doors down, in the basement of a building, with windows near the ceiling and apartments up above. She’d told Evelyn she was thinking about getting a job; what a great idea, to work there! After all, she loved animals. Now
this
was a perfect project, too.

She stopped in and met Stacey, the very pretty twenty-something receptionist, with cropped reddish-brown hair and large brown eyes, and the owner, Dr. Lola, who was tall, though not as tall as Rose, and had dark-blond hair tied back in a scarf that couldn’t hold it all.

“Your timing is uncanny! Somebody just quit,” Dr. Lola said. “Do you have any experience working with animals?”

“Not a whole lot.” Other than taking a couple of Dobermans to the dog run in Belle Heights Park two days ago.

“Why do you want to work here?”

Rose had to think. After a moment she said, “I don’t think people can be happy unless their animals are happy.”

Dr. Lola grinned. “That’s the best answer I ever heard. How old are you? You’ll have to get working papers if you’re under sixteen.”

“I’m fifteen.”

“I can give you temporary papers right away. I can’t pay much. The hours would be Saturday all day and one weekday afternoon, as needed. Can you manage that?”

Rose had to work with Mr. Slocum this week, so she said, “Starting this Saturday.”

“Rouge, come meet Rose! Rose is going to work here.”

Rouge turned out to be a Doberman, too. Rouge meant red—first the lipstick, now the dog, as if the pieces of Rose’s life were magically connected.

Dr. Lola explained that Rouge lived there and gave blood when animals needed transfusions. The brown patches in her coat were a beautiful tawny color.

Rose scratched Rouge under the chin, and the dog leaned her sleek, muscular body against Rose.
See? I love animals,
she thought, as if someone had walked in on this cozy scene and claimed otherwise.

Rose spent Tuesday evening rummaging through Evelyn’s closet. Evelyn didn’t have a ton of clothes but more of a simple, careful selection, only a few new items but mostly things that had been well cared for over the years. There were basics, like pressed black pants and tailored blouses, and lots of colors, nothing too loud or gaudy, soft purples and browns and blues and pale reds, and a bunch of different textures, mohair sweaters, corduroy shirts, silky skirts, knit shawls that draped Rose’s shoulders, a velvet jacket that felt wonderfully soft, and tweed wool blazers that fit Evelyn at the hips and hit Rose at the waist. She tried on nearly everything (except the kimonos, which Evelyn wore at home, relaxing), even the low-heeled, plain leather shoes with straps at the ankles, which didn’t fit, but there were some old cowboy boots Rose slid right on. Amazing, how good these clothes looked on her, considering that Rose was a few inches taller than Evelyn.

Too bad Evelyn didn’t have that perfect jean jacket.

“I always wanted to share my things with you,” Evelyn said, adjusting the waistband of a silky navy-blue skirt on Rose. “I had a feeling you would look great in them.”

“I guess I got stuck on those old, drab clothes for a while,” Rose said.

“I tried to get you to come shopping in Spruce Hills—”

“I was stubborn, wasn’t I?” Rose laughed, that strange laugh that felt like someone else’s.

“That you were,” Evelyn said.

Before first period the next day, Rose walked over to Astrid and Selena, enjoying the lively swish of a silky skirt, and a light-gray blouse, and cowboy boots. A second skin that fit like the first one. It made her feel better; she’d had a bad moment that morning. The red light had lasted longer instead of immediately fading. But now it felt as if it had never existed.

“I’m seriously dying to go to a Halloween party,” Selena was saying. “I’ve got my costume and everything—a leather jumpsuit and love beads, like the girl singer in the Cadaver Dogs.”

“You’re not gonna wear anything if you don’t have anywhere to go,” Astrid said gloomily.

Selena glanced at Rose. “What do you want?”

“Just saying hi,” Rose said, and got a great idea. “I heard you guys talking about Halloween. Why don’t you come to a party at my house? You know, you and a bunch of other kids.”

Astrid raised an eyebrow.

“I could have a party,” Rose repeated. “I mean, if you can’t have a party at your own houses—”

“There is that,” Selena burst out. “My mother’s so worried about her precious furniture! She says she doesn’t want a bunch of kids running around breaking things.”

“As if we were still two years old.” Astrid sighed.

“Why doesn’t she get House-in-a-Can?” Rose suggested. “The inflatable furniture would be great for a party.”

“My cousin bought it after seeing a video,” Selena said. “The couch exploded. They were cleaning up pieces weeks after.”

“You don’t have to tell her your whole life story,” Astrid said.

“And
your
mom’s too cheap to throw a party,” Selena said, “even with all that alimony. I don’t know how she gets to collect from more than one ex-husband! She must have some insane lawyer!”

“You don’t know when to shut up, do you?” Astrid said.

“So,” Rose said cheerfully, making light of the moment, “what about Saturday night at my place?”

Astrid and Selena exchanged a look.

“Where do you live?” Astrid said.

“How big is it?” Selena said.

Rose described her living room and how she lived across from Belle Heights Tower.

“Hey,” Selena said, taking a step closer to Rose and touching her hair, “I like those boots—they look ancient. And your hair’s really cute.”

“Thanks! I just had it done.” Rose also explained about the clothes.

“My mother’s stuff is hideous,” Selena said. “It would be like wearing a granny nightgown in public.”

Rose didn’t mention that just a few nights ago she’d slept in a granny nightgown. Since then she’d switched to a big T-shirt.

“This party could actually be fun!” Selena said.

Nick Winter came by to talk to Selena. “Did you give Dylan that picture of me with bedhead?”

Selena smiled shyly. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

“That idiot posted it.” Nick looked over at Rose curiously, as if he knew something was different but couldn’t place it. “You’re that girl, right?”

“Which girl is that?” Rose replied, trying not to get distracted by the diamond in his tooth and everything else about Nick Winter that was so gorgeous.

“You always looked like a farmer girl.”

Amazing, all these years in the same schools and he didn’t even know her name. Well, he could start with her new one. “Rose Hartel,” she told him.

As he turned to leave, he said, “You don’t look like a farmer girl anymore, Rose Hartel.”

Promising.

“Why don’t you sign out and have lunch with us?” Selena said to Rose. “We can plan this party.”

Rose tried to get Kim to come out, too.

“With Selena and Astrid? Are you kidding?” Kim said. Today she had on a tie-dyed parachute dress. It looked homemade.

“Why, what’s wrong with them?”

“Um, let’s see, how about everything?”

“Astrid and Selena are the most popular girls in tenth grade, and everybody wants to hang out with them. Does that mean there’s something wrong with everybody?”

“Yeah, there is.”

“Well, then I’m happy to have something wrong with me, too!” Actually she felt honored. Lots of kids hung around Selena and Astrid, but today Rose had actually been asked to lunch. “I’ll let you know where we are. You can meet us if you change your mind.”

Kim looked hard at Rose. “I’ll be here—maybe checking out today’s crossword puzzle. I’m a natural, remember?”

“Of course. I remember everything. Why wouldn’t I?” The week before, she and Kim had done a puzzle together. Although before that, she’d always done them by herself, off at a corner table that faced a brick wall.

They ate in a Thai restaurant. It was dimly lit with gleaming cherrywood tables and a heavenly smell of coconut and ginger; Rose basked in the scent. She didn’t recognize anything on the menu. “What should I get?”

“You want us to
order
for you?” Selena asked.

“Maybe she hasn’t had this kind of food before.” Astrid cast a glance at Selena. “She’s being adventurous.”

Rose liked the sound of that. Adventurous.

“Speaking of ordering stuff,” Selena said, “for the party, you’ve
gotta get cupcakes from Fully Baked.” It was the best bakery in Belle Heights, according to Selena.

“Says the girl who shouldn’t eat cupcakes,” Astrid said.

“You always make me feel like such a blimp!” Selena said.

“But you’re not fat,” Rose said.

“Next to
her
I am.”

“No need to compare yourself like that,” Rose said. “What you see in the looking glass isn’t important—it’s who you are that matters.”

“Looking glass?” Astrid said, stifling a laugh.

“I mean mirror.” Where had that come from? Rose could almost hear someone else saying it. But who would use such an old-fashioned word?

“Getting back to the party,” Astrid said, “you have to get some entertainment.”

Selena wanted a DJ; when Rose said that might cost too much, Selena said, “I know! You can have a psychic! My cousin went to a party and said the psychic was incredible. One look and she could recite your whole past.”

Rose had no need for her past. But her future—why not?

The food arrived. Rose ate slowly and savored the garlic, basil, and peanut sauces. Amazing how many things there were to experience if you were adventurous. Selena said it was good she had Skipping that afternoon.

“It’s the best exercise!” she said. “They play music seriously loud and you skip around the room.”

“You need somebody to teach you how to skip?” Astrid said.

“It’s a special way to skip! You’d know if you tried it.”

Rose thought it was good they felt comfortable enough to tease each other in front of her.

“You can come skip with me,” Selena said to Rose.

“It’s tempting,” Rose said, imagining herself skipping to “Changes.” She’d been listening to it on her phone whenever she had a chance, even disabling the ads so she could play it on a loop. “But I’ve got school service.”

“There are ways to get out of that,” Astrid said. “I haven’t done it since fifth grade.”

“No, it’s okay.” Rose was looking forward to it, actually. She was going to uncover the humanity in Mr. Slocum.
Because that’s
the kind of person I am.

When it came time to pay, Astrid was short, and Selena just had a credit card. The place was cash only.

“We’ll treat tomorrow,” Selena said.