Blackbird Fly (10 page)

I made a point not to say a word to the principal when we passed him by.

T
he gym had been transformed. Multicolored strobe lights bounced red, blue, and green across the room. Loud music blared from every corner. Refreshment tables lined the wall, and crowds of people danced, laughed, and stood around. The only thing that looked the same was the gym floor. Even though it was dark, you could still see the free-throw lines for basketball. And the bleachers still stretched
from the floor to the ceiling. A few kids sat on them, but most everyone was in the middle of the dance floor.

Another thing that was the same was the smell. It still smelled like sneakers and basketballs.

Evan and I walked in slowly, mostly because I was taking my time. My plan had been to break away from him somehow by disappearing into the crowd, but that seemed stupid now. Maybe I didn't have to ditch him. Maybe he could just hang out with us and it would be okay.

I ran my hand over my hair.

“I like your mom,” said Evan. The loudspeakers were right by the door, so he had to shout over the music. “It must be cool to have a mother from another country. Sometimes I think my mom's from another planet, but it's not really the same thing.”

“She can be a little embarrassing,” I said.

“Yeah, I know, but what can I do? I tell her to not go out in public looking like that.”

I smiled. “I was talking about my mom, not yours.”

“Oh,” Evan said. He laughed.

“Sometimes people have trouble understanding my mom because of her accent. It can be kinda embarrassing,” I said.

“Maybe they're just not listening hard enough.”

Before I could reply, we were spotted by Alyssa, Jake, Gretchen, Lance, and Braden. Alyssa was Dorothy from
The Wizard of Oz
. Gretchen was dressed as a zombie bride, and the boys were all ninjas. Alyssa waved us over, and the whole group eyed us as we walked up. I turned to the side casually so they could get a really good look at my Elizabeth Taylor eyes.

“Hey,” Alyssa said flatly.

Jake pointed at Evan. “Who're you, and what are you supposed to be?”

Evan raised his arms. “Evan Temple, plus sign.”

Everyone snickered. Alyssa looked at me over her glass of punch.

“Is that my old headband?” she asked.

I touched my headdress. It had been perfect for the costume, or so I thought. But now Alyssa looked at it like it was stolen, even though back in sixth grade she'd told me I could keep it.

“Your costume's great, Apple,” said Gretchen. “You look just like an Egyptian princess or a Greek goddess.”

“She's Cleopatra,” said Evan.

Jake and Lance snickered again.

“Cleopatra?” said Jake. “I thought she was a Chinese restaurant owner or something.”

Gretchen glared at him.

“Apple's Filipino,” said Evan.

“So?” Braden said.

Evan shrugged. “I'm just saying, she's not Chinese, she's Filipino.” He looked at Braden, who threw back his shoulders and narrowed his eyes. Braden was a foot taller, but Evan barely blinked. The bouncing and flickering lights made Braden look like some kind
of middle-school boogeyman, dressed all in black. He liked to pick fights. It was one of his IFs.

I hoped someone would say something to change the subject. I wanted that someone to be me, but for some reason nothing was coming out of my mouth. Instead I watched Danica Landry, Elora Sullivan, and Marie McCarron walk toward the snack table. Danica was dressed as a genie, and Elora and Marie were both cats. They looked at my costume but didn't say anything about it as they passed by.

“I heard they're doing dedications starting at nine o'clock,” said Gretchen.

Braden relaxed his shoulders and stepped away from Evan. “Oh, yeah?” he said. “What kind of dedications?”

Alyssa glanced at Jake when she answered. “You get on the mike and dedicate a song to someone, and they'll play it. How sweet would that be, to have your date dedicate a song to you? If some guy did that for me, I'd never forget it.”

Only, Jake wasn't listening, because at that moment Heleena Moffett entered the gym. She was dressed like a woman from the 1800s, with a big, round skirt and ringlets in her hair. My heart dropped the way it does when you know something bad is about to happen. The dress was light blue, and the hoop skirt made her look even bigger than she already was.

She walked slowly, like she didn't know where to go.

“Ohmygod,” said Jake. “Look at this. It's Big-leena.”

Everyone turned in Heleena's direction.

Alyssa's face lit up like Christmas lights. “Ohmygod,” she echoed. “And she's totally alone. Why even come?”

“Of course she's alone. Who would want to show up with an extra planet of the solar system?” said Lance.

“Well, she's number one, right?” said Braden. “How much do I get for slow-dancing with that?” he mumbled to Jake.

“That's double the money, easy,” said Jake, snickering.

No one but me was paying attention to Jake and Braden—they were too busy watching Heleena heave herself around the gym and plop down on the bleachers.

I turned to look at Heleena too.
Please get out of their sight, Heleena
.
Braden is going to ask you to dance all because of a dare. If he asks, please say no. He's only doing it because you're number one on some stupid list.

Wait a minute.

I snapped my gaze away from Heleena and looked at Alyssa. She was still making some joke about Heleena's dress, but her words were all garbled.

How much do I get for slow-dancing with that?

I remembered lunch, stupid lunch, when Alyssa told me that Braden kinda asked Jake about me.

Double the money, easy
.

Braden never wanted to dance with me. He was getting something for dancing with girls on the Dog
Log. It was a dare. I was a joke. Something to laugh about.

My eye makeup suddenly weighed a ton. The headband felt like a bull's-eye. I was aware of every pin in my dress, ready to stab me. If only I hadn't come. If only I could fly away. Fly, blackbird, fly.

Jake let out a loud and deep bark in Heleena's direction.

“Dog incoming!” he hollered.

“Yeah,” called Lance. “Who let the dogs out?”

Lance cupped his hands around his mouth and barked as loud as he could. I wrapped my arms around my stomach. I felt sick.

Evan leaned closer to me as the others hooted and hollered. Thankfully Heleena was too far away, and their voices were drowned out by the booming music.

“Are you okay?” Evan asked. “You have a weird expression on your face, like you're about to throw up.”

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe that's not why Braden asked about me. Maybe he really wanted to dance with me. Maybe I wasn't some stupid dare. Maybe.

“Hey, Big-leena!” Jake called out as loud as he possibly could.

“Who's Big-leena? And what's the big deal with her?” Evan asked me.

“Heleena Moffett,” I said, even though that wasn't really an answer.

Evan glanced over at the bleachers. I could tell by his expression when he spotted her. His face didn't light up like Christmas lights. Instead he frowned and glared at the others.

“I dare you to dedicate a song to Big-leena,” Jake said to Braden.

Lance nodded. “Yeah! Do ‘Who Let the Dogs Out.'”

“They would never play that,” said Braden.

“Something else then,” said Jake. “I dare you. When dedications come up at nine.”

Heleena looked at her feet as everyone moved past her. It was just like in the hallways at school, except here she was a lonely Southern belle surrounded by superheroes, witches, ninjas, and cats. I wondered what she was thinking about. I'd had gym with her last year, and it seemed like she hated it more than any place on earth. She always walked onto the basketball court like it was powered with electrodes.

“She looks like the fattest blueberry I've ever seen,” said Alyssa. “My mom could bake a hundred pies with a blueberry that big.”

“More like a thousand,” said Jake.

I leaned toward Gretchen. “You can't let them dedicate a song to Heleena,” I whispered.

Alyssa heard me. “What do you mean
we
can't let them?” she asked.

“Tell them not to.”

Gretchen glanced toward Lance and bit her bottom lip, which was decorated with jagged blue lines that were supposed to look like veins.

“If it's so important to you, Apple, then
you
tell them,” said Alyssa.

“They won't care what I say. You need to tell them how stupid it is.”

When Alyssa didn't respond, I looked to Gretchen. “Gretchen, can't you talk to Lance? He can tell them how stupid it is.”

“What's stupid is this conversation and the fact that you're still here with Evan,” said Alyssa. “Especially when Braden wants to dance with you.”

“He doesn't want to dance with me. It's just some bet he made with your idiotic boyfriend to dance with girls on the Dog Log.”

Alyssa put her hands on her hips. “Idiotic?”

“Yes. Idiotic.”

“Who cares? You should just be happy someone wants to dance with you.”

I felt like I'd been slapped in the face. I didn't know what to say. Neither did Gretchen. She stared at me with big, pitiful eyes. The music switched tempo,
and I heard a laugh from far away. It was a happy laugh, like someone had just told a hilarious joke, not a mean one. I wished I was standing next to that person, whoever it was.

“What happened to you?” I said to Alyssa. “You used to be . . . different.”

“I grew up,” she said. “This is the real world, Apple.” Her Dorothy pigtails bounced as she turned on her heel and went to stand with Jake.

Gretchen whispered, “I'll ask Lance not to.”

But something told me she wouldn't.

Evan was standing there by himself, and I stood next to him. I knew we were both thinking the same thing: They couldn't play that joke on Heleena. They just couldn't. So even though they might not listen to me, even though I was ready to wash off my face, run home, and cry on my bed, even though my two so-called best friends wouldn't like it, I had to say
something
.

But I didn't get a chance.

“She actually thinks she looks
good
. That's the funny thing,” said Alyssa.

Evan crossed his arms. “She looks better than you.”

Alyssa looked at me, like he was my responsibility.

“Excuse me?” she said.

“She looks better than you,” said Evan again.

Jake stepped in front of Alyssa and crossed his arms too. “What is that supposed to mean?” he said.

“I'd dance with Heleena before I'd ever dance with some evil, second-rate Dorothy.”

Alyssa's mouth dropped open. So did Gretchen's.

“As if I would ever dance with you anyway, freakboy,” said Alyssa. She turned back to me with eyes as thin as razors. “I thought you said you were gonna ditch this freak and dance with Braden.”

Braden whipped his head around in surprise. “What?” he said. “Who said I wanted to dance with—” He and Jake exchanged looks and laughed—a laugh that bordered on a howl and bounced off the gym floor and
banged against every wall. I heard the laugh and nothing else, not even the music.

“
You're
the freaks,” said Evan.

“Why don't you just get outta here anyway, surfer boy?”

Braden pushed Evan—hard. There was a screeching sound as Evan went sailing across the gym floor on his butt and the heels of his hands. When he came to a stop, his arms were extended and he looked very much like a plus sign.

We all stared at him—not just me, Gretchen, and Alyssa, but a whole bunch of other kids. The music thump-thumped along as Evan looked up at everyone from the gym floor, and I knew I had a decision to make: I could help him or I could stand there with everyone else.

Evan pushed himself up with his left hand.

I walked over and grabbed his right.

“California boy's got a guard dog!” hollered Jake.

Braden threw his shoulders back and barked. His
barking was louder than the slow song that was just starting up. Lance took Gretchen's hand. Jake took Alyssa's. Braden stopped barking and wandered off, still laughing. I hoped he wasn't looking for Heleena.

Evan and I stood there next to each other as the lights dimmed. We probably looked like we were about to dance too, if someone didn't know better.

“What did she mean?” Evan asked, brushing off his pants.

“Who?”

“Evil Dorothy.” He wiped gym grime off his palms and frowned at me. “About ditching me for that blockhead.”

“I don't know,” I said.

“Why would you ask me to a dance if you wanted to go with someone else?”