Always, Abigail (21 page)

The list of interesting things to talk about with the seventh- and eighth-grade poms because this time I was definitely part of the group.

I lay in bed thinking about what kind of house Kip and I might live in if we got married. But when I fell asleep, I dreamed about Gabby.

In the dream, she was sitting in the gym on the empty bleachers. I was in the middle of the basketball court shooting free throws, and all the poms were cheering for me. Then Gabby came down to shoot free throws too. But the poms didn't cheer for her. Instead, they waved their pom-poms in her face so she couldn't see. Just as I tried to say, “Stop it! That's not fair!” the buzzer for the game clock blared. It kept blaring. No one could hear what I was saying.

I woke up, with my alarm blasting. I felt sweaty, tired, and out of breath.

1.
Look up Gabby's phone number online.

2.
Call her.

3.
See if she wants to get together and practice the story we're working on.

1.
Gabby's brother dropped her off at our house.

2.
We made costumes for our next story, “The Gingerbread Man.”

3.
We practiced our lines and made up actions to go along with the story. Gabby even made up new words for the song in the story to make it more fun for the kids.

Instead of always saying, “Run, run as fast as you can…” Gabby thought it would be fun to say different things every time, like, “Wiggle, wiggle as fast as you can…” or “Dance, dance as fast as you can…” and then let the kids do what the song said. We knew the kindergartners would love to wiggle and dance.

Gabby always had such great ideas!

4.
When we got hungry, I asked my mom if we could make gingerbread cookies. She said no, because we didn't have the stuff, but she said we could make chocolate chip cookies instead.

5.
We spent the rest of the afternoon making cookies, and even though they weren't gingerbread cookies, we decorated them anyway.

Gabby called her brother to ask if she could stay a little longer. She ended up staying for dinner. Mom let us make frozen pizzas and eat while we watched TV.

All my Gabby Guilt had vanished.

“Where
is
your dad anyway?”

“In jail.”

Nothing.

I was completely speechless.

“When my mom got sick, my dad started drinking, and when she died, he drank even more. He got arrested for leaving me home alone. It's called neglect. The judge is making him serve two years in jail because he was arrested for it so many times.”

1.
A horn honked outside.

2.
Gabby thanked me for inviting her over.

3.
She gave me a quick hug and ran out the door.

I sat in the dark living room thinking about what Gabby had told me. Before I knew it, my head was buried in my hands and I was crying.

1.
Gabby's mom dying.

2.
Gabby's dad being in jail.

3.
Gabby always getting teased and made fun of.

4.
Gabby not having any friends.

Gabby needed a friend more than anyone at Crestdale Heights, and I was probably the only person who knew that. But I still didn't want anybody to know we were friends.

Gabby was always nice to me, no matter what.

Dear Dad,

Thanks for all the doughnuts.

Love,

Abs

“Gabby Marco was over at your house ALL DAY Saturday?!!!”

1.
Swallowed hard.

2.
Started to sweat.

3.
Felt my head throb. It wasn't Gabby Guilt this time.

It was “AlliCam Anxiety.”

“How did you guys find out about that?”

“My mom heard it from your mom at their book club last night. She said you guys were singing songs and making cookies. What's going on, Abigail? You told us you were only hanging around with her to get extra credit points for Old Hawk.

“You get extra credit points for making cookies at your house on Saturday? I don't think so. I mean really, Abigail, we're the Fab Five. You gotta remember that. Plus, did you forget that one of the cutest, most popular guys in the whole school likes you? You know how lucky you are?
Every
girl wants Kip to like her. You better not blow it by hanging around with
Gabby
.”

A seesaw.

My life was a seesaw. AlliCam on one end. Gabby on the other. I was in the middle trying to keep both sides from crashing to the ground.

It was impossible!

Hey Abigail,

Sat. was a blast! The kids are going to
love
“The Gingerbread Man,” especially our new version of the song.

I got this idea that we could make gingerbread cookies to give to all the kids after the story. So I had my brother take me to the store to get the stuff so we could make some.

What day do you want to get together to do it?

Would your mom let us make them at your house?

Let me know.

Gabby

I wanted to come clean with everyone about my friendship with Gabby, especially because of what she told me about her parents, but also because she really was my friend. Saturday at my house had been a lot of fun.

But if I let people know we were friends, the Fab Five would flip out. It could mean the end of all the pom fun and popularity. I couldn't risk that.

Gabby,

I have pom practice every day.

I'll have to let you know.

Abigail

1.
It was pizza. My favorite.

2.
Kip had saved me a spot at his table.

3.
Gabby wasn't in the cafeteria because she had signed up to volunteer in the office once a week. Today was her day. I was relieved. I had managed to avoid her all morning, and now that she wasn't in the cafeteria, I could relax and enjoy my lunch with Kip.

I was waaaaaay toooooooo NERVOUS!

The first time I'd eaten with him, it had been a surprise, so I hadn't had time to think about it. But now my mind was racing with all the ways I might completely embarrass myself.

So I let him talk while I took really small bites of my slice of pizza. I was worried he'd ask me a question when I had a mouthful of cheese and sausage. But he didn't. He just talked about basketball.

“Yeah, Coach says my layup is our fast break secret weapon against Elmwood's half-court press.”

I smiled and nodded, even though I had no idea what he was talking about.

I couldn't really concentrate on what he was saying anyway because I had too many things to think about.

I worried that I might have pizza sauce on my face or a piece of oregano in my teeth. Then I was paranoid that everyone in the cafeteria was staring at us.

Were they wondering why such a cool guy like Kip was sitting with someone like me? Thinking about that made me wonder the same thing.

But then Kip said something so sweet:

“The poms are so much better now that you're on the squad.”

All my nervousness melted, and I felt as warm and cozy as hot chocolate and marshmallows.