Crush Alert (14 page)

“I’m going to frame that and put it on my writing desk!” Charlotte exclaimed. “It’s the perfect memory for a perfect night.”

Not one of them thought for a second that everything might not stay perfect…. The night had only just begun.

I
sabel waited for Kevin at the entrance to Jeri’s Place, the homeless shelter in Brookline. The small gray building at 76 Parker Street seemed deserted from the outside, but inside the swinging glass doors, Isabel knew, it was buzzing with life. She had been there before.

In her first weeks at AAJH, she’d offered to help Maeve make blankets for a community service project at Jeri’s Place. But the two of them were so hopelessly disorganized that “Project Thread” almost didn’t happen. Lucky for them and the shelter, Katani had stepped in and helped them deliver a pile of colorful fleece blankets as promised.

“Hey,” Kevin greeted her.

Isabel spun around and watched as he came walking toward her from behind the building.

“Were you waiting long?” he asked.

Isabel suddenly felt a little awkward. She hoped Kevin didn’t think she was mean or something for wanting
to go to the dance instead of keeping her promise.

She shook her head and rolled a pebble under her sneaker.

Kevin smiled.

Mmm…good sign.
Isabel smiled back.

“Umm…I’m really sorry you had to miss the dance,” he said, looking down at his feet.

“It’s okay.” Isabel gave him a reassuring smile.

“We’re good then?” he asked.

“We’re good,” she said with a nod, then gave a little tug on his jacket. “Let’s go in.”

Kevin opened the door and gestured for Isabel to go in first. “Wow,” he exclaimed, seeing all the people milling about. “I had no idea this was such a big deal.”

“These events mean a lot to the people who live here,” Isabel explained. “It makes them feel that people remember them. That’s what the owner told Maeve and me when we were here for Project Thread.”

“Well, I’m happy to be here.” Kevin squeezed her hand.

A little shocked, Isabel turned away and quickly took off her coat and hung it on a hook near the door. She was suddenly glad that she was wearing her favorite jeans and the green sweater that Elena Maria said “makes your skin glow.”

Right then she thought,
my friends are all dressing up in shimmery gowns and fancy jewelry…
but somehow that didn’t matter anymore. There wasn’t time to feel sorry for herself. Kids of all ages and sizes had swarmed into the carpeted lounge, their laughter and high-pitched voices surrounding the two seventh graders.

One of the kids, Isabel noticed, carried a fleece blanket from Project Thread. She couldn’t wait to tell Maeve. It would make her feel so proud. For all of Maeve’s dramatics, she really did have a heart of gold.

In a common room off to the right, Isabel could see more kids and even a few adults. They were playing board games, reading books, and flipping through magazines. By the far wall, a group clustered around a large TV.

When Isabel had first visited, she’d worried that everyone might be sad and quiet. It had come as a surprise how bright and cheerful everything was. Now, she couldn’t imagine Jeri’s Place any other way. She waved to the girl with the blanket and pointed out a sign on the wall to Kevin.

“I made that on the computer,” she said. It described Project Thread and gave a phone number for anyone who wanted to participate.

Kevin nodded. “You and your friends have done a lot to help. I only started getting involved when my cousins in Florida lost their home in a hurricane. They had to stay in a shelter for a few weeks, and it wasn’t as nice as this one.”

Isabel frowned. “I didn’t know that!”

“Yeah, it was really hard on them.” Kevin turned slowly toward a young woman who was making her way through the sea of kids. It was Lorelei, the daughter of the director of Jeri’s Place.

“Oh, great! You guys made it!” She grinned at Kevin and Isabel, her eyes bright. “The kids are so excited.” That did it for Isabel. Any remaining thoughts of the Valentine’s
Day Dance flew out the window. She was ready to make hearts…lots of them.

“Look what I made for you!” A little boy held up a construction paper heart to Isabel, while the girl with the blanket clung to one of her legs.

“Thank you.” Isabel smiled at the kids.

“Do I get anything?” Kevin joked.

“Okay, you can have this!” Another little boy, probably only four years old, handed him a piece of paper decorated with a scribble of blobs and lines.

“Is this you?” Kevin asked.

“Me and Mommy!” said the boy.

Lorelei called to the kids. “Listen up, everyone! The art teachers, Kevin and Isabel, are here. Let’s all go to the workshop room.”

The kids laughed and jostled Kevin and Isabel as they made their way to a large, airy room with huge windows. A flurry of excitement built inside Isabel’s stomach as she surveyed the workshop room. Construction paper, tissue paper, markers, crayons, glue, scissors, and various other art supplies sat on long tables flanked by gray folding chairs.

“So what do you need us to do?” Kevin asked Lorelei.

“There are a few different projects,” she said. “I’ll be at this table helping the kids draw cards for their parents, another volunteer is helping them make their own chocolate lollipops, and you two can take over the heart magnet table,” Lorelei pointed to a table covered with newspaper, cups of paint, and lots of plain white ceramic shapes.

“We made the shapes in molds yesterday with the
older kids,” Lorelei explained. “All you have to do is help them paint, and tomorrow we’ll use the glue gun to stick magnets on the back.”

Ten minutes later, Isabel found herself handing out paintbrushes with one hand while helping a little girl with wavy red hair almost like Maeve’s mix white paint with the dark blue to make light blue.

“I’m making an Easter egg!” she announced.

“It’s
Valentine’s Day
, dummy,” scowled a boy across the table. He was a few years older, and had decided to paint his magnet like a robot.

“My name’s not Dummy. It’s Sylvia. And this is a Valentine Easter Egg.” She continued painting happily.

Isabel placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “It’s very beautiful! Your mom is going to love her magnet.”

“I know,” said the girl. “But I’m not really good at art,” she whispered.

Isabel sat down in an empty chair next to the girl and shook her head. “Yes, you are! Look, hold your brush like this.”

She guided the girl’s tiny fingers to make a squiggly line across the middle of her egg, and was rewarded by the girl’s blinding smile. “Thanks, Izablue!”

“Izablue? Why Izablue?” Isabel laughed.

“Because, silly.” The little girl looked up from her egg, and in a very serious little voice explained: “Blue is my favorite color, and you are my favorite teacher. You belong together.”

Isabel reached over and hugged Sylvia, telling her, “you’re the best.”

Mama was right,
she realized.
Helping out at Jeri’s Place is worth missing the Valentine’s Day Dance.
Here she was really making a difference, brightening the lives of little kids doing something she liked best—art.

Isabel waved at Kevin. He was sitting across the table, helping the boy with the robot magnet clean up a huge blob of black paint he’d spilled on the table. Kevin glanced up and gave her a quick smile.

“Who is that boy smiling at you?” Sylvia asked.

“He’s my friend Kevin,” Isabel said as she ruffled the little girl’s hair.

“He looks nice,” she pronounced, and went back to painting her Valentine’s Easter Egg.

“He
is
nice…very nice.” Isabel looked over at Kevin, his head bent close to the little boy who was at that moment crying because some of the black paint had dripped onto his shirt.

Isabel took a deep breath. One of the most popular boys at Abigail Adams Junior High would rather volunteer to teach art at the local homeless shelter than go to a school dance.
I hope my friends are having as much fun as Izablue!

Isabel chuckled to herself and dipped her paintbrush into a lovely shade of sky blue paint.

Ready, Set, Go

At six o’clock, the doorbell rang again. Charlotte ran downstairs to greet the dance posse.

“Hi, everybody,” she said as she opened the door and ushered in Dillon, Reggie, Riley, Chelsea, the Yurtmeister,
Betsy Fitzgerald, Billy Trentini, Chase Finley, and Nick Montoya. Everyone looked so dressed up…. except Dillon, Billy, and Chase, who wore matching Red Sox jerseys.

More than anything Charlotte was excited to see Nick, who wore a white button-up shirt. She glanced sideways at him as he stood close beside her. Nick’s invitation to the dance still echoed in her ears.
He could have asked Chelsea, but he didn’t,
she thought.
He asked me…Charlotte Ramsey. I don’t know how I could have doubted him before.

Meanwhile, the excited chatter of her friends caused the yellow Victorian to ring with energy.
It’s probably been a long time since this house was crammed with so many kids at once,
thought Charlotte. She hoped that Miss Pierce wouldn’t mind all the noise. But then she remembered that she had just left with Yuri. The noise wouldn’t matter tonight!

Chelsea was carrying something in a large frame wrapped in bright tissue paper. “Hey, what’s that, Chels?” asked Avery, who had run down the stairs behind Charlotte. Chelsea just smiled mysteriously and laid the package up against the wall, warning all the kids not to touch it.

“She won’t tell you, dude. It’s huge…like, a huge surprise,” Dillon joked as he reached over and tried to give Avery and Chelsea each a noogie on the head. They both ducked.

“Dillon’s been trying to peek inside all the way over here,” Chelsea explained.

As the group began heading upstairs, Dillon pulled Charlotte aside. “Where’s the little dude? He always comes
to the door.” He smiled appreciatively at Charlotte’s dress. “You look nice, by the way.”

Charlotte smiled and said, “Gee, thanks.” She was surprised that Dillon Johnson would actually notice her dress. But her smile faltered when she told him about Marty. “He’s hiding somewhere. He’s being acting really down lately. We don’t really know what’s wrong with the little guy.”

At the top of the stairs Katani stood next to Chelsea, who had decided to wear a rose-colored dress that brought out the beautiful light brown color of her eyes.

“Hey, where’s Marty?” Chelsea asked worriedly. She was big dog lover too. “Is he okay?”

“I think he’s depressed,” Avery answered as she joined the crowd in the living room. “He just sits around all day looking really mopey.”

“Who ever heard of a depressed doggy?” Chase Finley, Charlotte’s least favorite boy at AAJH, asked with a snort.

“Dude, I’ve done research on the Internet,” Avery challenged, her hands on her hips. “Dogs can get depressed just like people.”

“I can see it now,” Chase said. “Marty lying down on the psychiatrist’s couch as he talks about his childhood.”

“You mean puppy-hood, dude,” Yurt added with a grin.

At that moment, Mr. Ramsey walked in. “Well, it looks like AAJH is going to rock tonight. You all look great.” Charlotte looked at Katani and rolled her eyes. Nobody said
rock
anymore.

Her dad high-fived a few of the boys, winked at Charlotte, then went back to his office, but not before adding, “Have a great time, and stay safe, everyone.”

The boys laughed, but the girls all began to talk worriedly about Marty and his strange behavior. They all agreed that Charlotte should keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t get worse.

“Maybe you should get another puppy,” Dillon offered. “I read somewhere that dogs get lonely too.”

Maeve whispered to Katani, “Dillon is so sensitive…just like a real Prince Charming.”

“He probably saw that on my blog….” Avery joked to the girls.

“You
read,
dude?” Billy Trentini teased, a big smile spreading across his face.

“Hey, don’t be talkin’ trash, comic book boy,” Dillon retorted as he waggled his head and shoulders at Billy like he was starring in his own music video.

“Well, Maeve, maybe not
exactly
Prince Charming,” responded Katani with an arched eyebrow.

Maeve sighed in frustration. She was just going to have to take over. Her romantic vision of a perfect Valentine’s Day Dance was not going to be ruined by the antics of two goofy boys, especially since one of those boys was her dream date. She stomped over with her hands on her hips and glared at Billy and Dillon. “I hope you boys are going to behave yourselves. We have a very important event to attend.”

The room grew silent as Dillon backed away from her, his eyes wide.

Nick, who was standing next to Dillon, said, “Dude, you are toast. Say something nice.” Dillon looked around the room for Avery. But Avery was deep in conversation with Riley.

“Sorry, Maeve…?” Dillon, on the spot, fumbled around and finally blurted. “Your pink dress looks cool with your red hair.”

Maeve eyed him suspiciously.
Does he think redheads shouldn’t wear pink?
Her vision of a perfect evening with Mr. Popular was starting to look a little blurry.

Lucky for both of them that just then Billy Trentini threw himself on the living room floor as he tried to mimic a classic wave move. Everyone hooted, including Billy, who unfortunately managed to smash his nose in the process.

“That’s bogus, man!” Chase yelled.

Groaning and with blood dripping from his nose, Billy sat up. It was like a scene from
Emergency Room Doctors
. The girls scattered when they saw the blood. Katani held on to the skirt of her hand-sewn dress, grimacing at the mess, and Maeve let out a scream.

“Everything okay out there?” Mr. Ramsey’s voice echoed from his office down the hall.

“We’re fine, Dad!” Charlotte called back.

“We are?” Maeve didn’t look so sure.

The truth was, Betsy Fitzgerald loved
Emergency Room Doctors
. She sprang into action just like her favorite physician Dr. Cathi Tidwell did every Thursday night.

“Everyone—stand back,” Dr. Betsy directed with a firm wave of her hand. Then she sat down behind Billy’s head and told him, “Lean your head back. That will stop
the flow of blood. Charlotte, please run and get a cold cloth with some ice, if you can, please. Katani, hand me those tissues.”