Fashion Frenzy (6 page)

Her mother looked thoughtfully at her when she’d finished speaking. “You know, Maeve,” she said, “Katani’s awfully lucky to have a smart girl like you to help her out.”

Maeve looked up at her, surprised, and pushed back her beautiful red hair. “She’s my friend, Mom,” she said.

“I know.” Her mom brushed a kiss over her forehead. “I’m awfully proud of you.”

“Maeve?” Sam asked a little shyly. “If you are on Broadway, I am going to be proud-EST of you, because you’re my sister!”

“Well, thanks, Sam,” said Maeve. She had no idea, of course, that while she basked in her mom’s unexpected and sweet praise and Sam’s admiration, Katani was buried facedown on her pillow, crying the unhappiest tears of her life.

P
lease, Mrs. Fields,” Maeve begged the school principal the next morning. She had rushed through breakfast, dashed out of her house before Sam, and gotten to school earlier than she ever had in her life. She was so consumed with the idea of helping Katani that she couldn’t think of anything else. In funky pink sandals, her feet felt like they had wings.

Mrs. Fields listened patiently to Maeve’s explanation. “Since other kids were already scheduled to take the aptitude tests on Monday, why can’t Katani?” Maeve argued. “See, they wouldn’t be making any special exceptions for her, and all the proctors and testing rooms have already been arranged. This weekend means so much to Katani. I know it would just kill her to miss it. Besides, if there are twenty or thirty kids already being tested, what’s the harm in just one more? I mean, why should Katani be punished just because she doesn’t have dyslexia?” Maeve concluded, smiling sweetly.

Mrs. Fields couldn’t help but laugh. “All right, Maeve.” She smiled. “Perhaps this is Katani’s loophole. I hadn’t thought about the special arrangements we make for other students.” She was silent for a moment. For the first time Maeve could remember, she didn’t flinch at the phrase “other students.”

“Hmm…” Mrs. Fields tapped her foot. “Two other parents have also requested a change in testing days because of serious scheduling conflicts. We might be able to test all those students at the same time as the students taking the untimed test.” She nodded. “Tell you what. I’ll talk to the test proctors this morning. They do have the final say, but if the answer is yes, I think we might be able to work it out.”

Maeve’s face was luminous. “Oh, Mrs. Fields! That’s wonderful!” she breathed.

“But,” Mrs. Fields said sternly, holding up a finger, “I don’t want Katani to hear one word about this until I’m certain. I wouldn’t want to get her hopes up if it doesn’t work out. Promise me you won’t say anything to her?”

“I promise!” Maeve exclaimed. “Oh, thank you, Mrs. Fields!” She was so happy she wished there was a lamppost in the office, so she could swing around it and dance like Gene Kelly in
Singin’ in the Rain
.

Maeve dashed out of the office with ten minutes to spare before the first bell rang. She scanned the students milling about the steps of Abigail Adams Junior High. Katani was nowhere in sight.
Phew!
she thought. She didn’t think she could bear to have this secret inside her, lighting her up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

Luckily, she spotted Isabel coming up the steps toward her. “Oh, Iz!” Maeve cried. “The most wonderful thing has happened!” She quickly told Isabel about her idea and what Mrs. Fields had said.

“Oh my gosh, that’s wonderful!” Isabel gasped. “You have the best ideas.”

“But no matter what, you can’t tell Katani yet,” cautioned Maeve in a quiet voice.

“Oh, I know. But we can tell the rest of the BSG. Look, there’s Charlotte!”

Charlotte jogged over with her braided pigtails bouncing against her shoulders. She was wearing one of her favorite Paris T-shirts, the one with
Vive La France
written in sparkles in front of a picture of the Seine River. “What’s going on?” Charlotte asked after one look at Maeve’s happy face.

Isabel and Maeve stumbled over each other to tell the story. Charlotte gave Maeve a huge hug. “Oh, Maeve, what a smart idea!”

“Smart?” Maeve said weakly.

“Yes.” Charlotte shook her a little. “You figured out how to turn a difficult situation into an amazing opportunity for a friend! That’s
smart
, Maeve.”

Maeve didn’t think she could deal with more praise, but she got more when Avery bounced up and learned Maeve’s idea. “Leah Kim, Leah Kim,” Avery began to sing, right on the school steps. “And all because of Maeve!” The others laughed.

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, Avery,” Charlotte warned.

“Let her!” Isabel laughed. “I think Maeve really figured out the solution, and it’s going to work! Now whether or not Avery gets to meet Leah Kim, well, that’s another story.” The girls laughed as the bell rang, and students began to stream into the double doors. Avery, Maeve, Isabel, and Charlotte looked around. This was the second time in just four days that Katani was late. It wasn’t like her!

“There she is,” Charlotte whispered, nodding at the walk. Katani came up the steps slowly. Her face was expressionless.

“Hi, everybody. Guess we’d better get to class.” And without waiting for them, Katani went inside.

Kgirl Returns

Katani went through the morning like a robot, hearing only half of what her teachers said. She dutifully got out her notebook when the rest of the class did and checked her homework when asked, but she was just going through the motions. In the back of her mind was a little voice that drowned out everything else. It kept repeating, “You’re not going. You’re not going. You’re not going.”

Katani told herself to put her chin up and stop moping.
I mean, New York will always be there
. But she couldn’t seem to follow her own advice.
Get with it Katani!
she said to herself.
Self pity isn’t going to get you anywhere!

She knew her friends were giving her encouraging nods in every class, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet their eyes. She hated that everyone was feeling sorry for her; she already felt sorry enough for herself. And the other girls were being so understanding it made her want
to cry even more. She wished she had a horseback riding lesson this afternoon. That always cleared her mind.

When the bell rang for lunch, Ms. Rodriguez called her over. “Katani, can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.

What now
? Katani thought miserably. She feared that Ms. Rodriguez had noticed her negative attitude and was going to speak to her about it. Not that she didn’t deserve it, Katani admitted to herself, but right now she didn’t know if she could handle any more disappointment…especially in herself.

Katani shuffled listlessly to the teacher’s desk as the bell rang and the other students emptied out of the room. “I have some news for you, Katani,” said Ms. Rodriguez.

She paused as Katani’s big brown eyes looked up at her. Katani said nothing. “There’s been a change of plans,” Ms. Rodriguez went on. “Katani, on Monday you may take the aptitude test with the students who are taking it untimed. You will still have to abide by the same timing rules as you would have if you had taken it on the scheduled dates. The good news is that you can have the long weekend off, as you originally planned.”

For a minute, Katani didn’t think she’d heard right. “Oh!” she sputtered. “I…I…thank you, Ms. Rodriguez!”

“Don’t thank me.” Ms. Rodriguez winked. “It was Maeve’s idea. She ran it by Mrs. Fields this morning, and it’s already been approved.”

Katani gaped. Maeve had gone to Grandma Ruby? And Grandma Ruby had gone to bat for her and changed her testing schedule? It was too good to be true! She couldn’t
think of the words to express the joy that was suddenly flooding into every cell of her body. She felt like a tremendous boulder had rolled off her back. The sun seemed to be shining right in the classroom. She, Katani Summers, felt like dancing…and that was something!

Her teacher was smiling. “This must be a pretty important weekend.”

“You have no idea!” Katani breathed. She quickly told Ms. Rodriguez all about Michelle,
Teen Beat
magazine, and the fashion show.

Ms. Rodriguez nodded approvingly. “That’ll be a wonderful experience for you,” she said. “I think it’s great that you’re already thinking about your dreams. I have a feeling that you’re going to be very successful one day, Katani.”

Katani’s smile spread from ear to ear. Her eyes shined joyously. Then just like that her smile faded.

“Hey there? Why the long face?” asked Ms. Rodriguez. “You should be celebrating.”

“I know.” Katani sighed as she thought of her four loving friends. “But now I’ve got a big decision to make.”

The teacher glanced at the clock. “Well, I’m available to talk about it. But it has to be pretty soon, or you won’t have time for lunch. It’s up to you, Katani.”

Katani nodded. Suddenly all she wanted to do was tell her friends all about the miracle that had just fallen in her lap…and thank Maeve, of course!

“Thanks, Ms. R. I think I gotta go to lunch!” Katani gathered her things and scuttled out of the classroom.

The other girls were eating at their usual table. When they saw Katani come in, a huge grin erupted on Isabel’s
face. “I knew it!” she cried. “It worked, didn’t it, Katani?”

“It sure did,” Katani confirmed. She squeezed each girl so hard she left marks on their skin. “I am going to New York! Thanks to you, Maeve,” she added, giving the red-haired girl an extra squeeze. “It’s really going to happen!”

The girls were so happy they crowded around Katani for a group hug, which left even more marks on everyone’s skin, but nobody cared. “This,” Isabel declared, “calls for a BSG cheer. Hip, hip…”

“HOORAY!”

“Hip, hip…”

“HOORAY!”

“Hip, hip…”

“HOORAY!!!”

“I just can’t believe that it all worked out,” Maeve said, the happiness visible on her face. She looked like she wanted to jump up and down. Avery was already jumping up and down as she shouted, “Go Katani, it’s your birthday, we’re gonna party like it’s your birthday!” with each jump.

Katani laughed. “This is better than my birthday. You guys, what do I wear in New York? What kind of clothes will they be showing at the show? What will I really be doing to help Michelle? How much time will I have for sightseeing? And—oh…” The smile faded from her face as she looked at her four best friends.

“…and who gets to go with you?” Isabel finished.

Avery pushed away her salad, which didn’t have more than a couple of bites left on the plate.

Maeve opened her fringed pink purse and began searching for a pen, just for something to do. She really wanted to go on this trip.

“Look,” Charlotte said, “we know you’d like to take all of us, Katani. So don’t get upset at yourself or feel sad about this just because you can’t. And yes, we all have our own reasons for why we’d like to go, and they’re all good ones.”

“The Metropolitan Museum,” Isabel said dreamily.

“Broadway,” Maeve breathed. “Celebrities…”

“Journalistic experience,” admitted Charlotte.

“Ellis Island and Leah Kim,” Avery said hopefully.

Charlotte looked at all of her friends and added, “Plus we’d all love to go to New York City with you.” The BSG nodded. She continued, “But the truth is, Katani, there’s really only one fair choice, and we all know who.”

Katani looked confused. “There is? We do?”

“I mean one person made this possible for
you
, and she’s the one who deserves to go. Of course the rest of us want to, but it wouldn’t be right. You should take the one who saved the day. She’s the real heroine here.”

No one said anything, but one by one, they turned to look at Maeve. Maeve’s face grew bright red, and she dug down even further in her fringed handbag to avoid everyone’s eyes.

“Charlotte is right,” Isabel said. “Maeve does deserve it.”

Even a very disappointed Avery nodded. “She gets my vote. Plus, she doesn’t have to worry about getting out of the test. She’s taking it on Monday anyway.”

Charlotte nodded too. “It’s just the right choice. Period. The end.”

Katani hugged Maeve, who couldn’t believe her luck and was still fake-looking for a pen. “Welcome aboard, girlfriend.”

“Woo-hoo!” Avery whistled. “Maeve and Katani hit the Big Apple—a recipe for adventure!”

Maeve finally ceased the pen search, looked up, and met Katani’s wild grin. “You really want me to come?”

Katani felt overjoyed, happier than she had felt since she got that fateful call. “Want you to come? I can’t wait! It’s going to be so awesome, Maeve. Just think—five more minutes of lunch, and less than two weeks ‘til we take off for New York!”

Maeve slapped the girls high-five and gleefully cried, “Yee-haw! Broadway, here I come!”