Leading Ladies #2 (9 page)

 

“Is that all?” I asked with a sigh. “There are so many bigger and more important things to be nuts about.”

“Here comes Benny again,” Ivy said.

What on earth was he doing?
Benny was heading for my table, and he looked guilty or even a little nauseated, like he'd just eaten a whole cake by himself or something.

“Um, hey,” Benny said. “Here's your, um . . . thing back. Thanks.”

He handed me a folded-up piece of paper, then careened off behind one of the stacks.

“Is this the prank?” Ivy asked. “What is it?”

The PQuit table had fallen silent. Of course, they had noticed, too. The last thing I needed was for the PQuits to start gossiping about my Status with Benny. I didn't even know what my Status with Benny was! I didn't need anyone else giving me grief about it.

“It's just my social studies outline,” I said loudly. “I must have left it on the . . .”

“Floor,” Ivy suggested.

“Yeah, on the floor,” I said.

I made a big deal out of putting it in my bag without looking at it. But the suspense was killing me. I hadn't lost any social studies notes. Was it a note? Benny had never given me a note. Why would he now? And why wouldn't the PQuits just stop watching me so I could look at the stupid thing?

Tally reached for her pad to make another comment and knocked over her travel mug. The top flew off, and tea splashed over the table and continued to glug out of the mug.

All three of us jumped up, grabbing our stuff off the table before the tea could reach it.

“What a spaz,” I heard Daphne say with a snicker.

“I've got a bunch of tissues in my bag,” Ivy said. “Hang on.”

“Try to hurry. We're going to get detention if the librarian notices,” I said. “You know how she is about drinks in the library.”

Ivy produced a fistful of tissues and mopped up the mess while Tally watched, looking tearful.

“I'm sorry,” she mouthed.

“It's no big deal,” Ivy said. “No need to cry over spilled tea.”

Tally scrawled something on her notebook and held it up.

 

I ruin everything
—
I am cursed!

 

“You're not cursed, Tal,” I said.

“Just a little clumsy,” Ivy added. She put an arm around Tally and gave her a friendly squeeze.

Nobody was looking at me at the moment. I grabbed Benny's note from my bag and opened it under the table. It was just two short lines.

 

I need to ask you something important. Can you find me at lunch?

 

I got a sudden flood of butterflies in my stomach. I was pretty sure this was not a Friend Question. I suddenly remembered Benny asking if I was going to Homecoming. He knew I hated school dances, but . . .
wow
.

Benny Novak was going to ask me to go to Homecoming with him.

BENNY NOVAK
was going to ask
ME
to go to Homecoming with
HIM
.

I stuck the note back in my bag without saying anything. A year ago, I would have been ecstatic at the idea of Benny Novak asking me on a date. But this year, we had finally become friends. I really liked being friends with him. If it suddenly turned into a boy/girl thing, everything might be ruined. I didn't think I could stand that.

I caught Ivy looking at me. My little peek at the note had not escaped her. She knew me well enough to have an idea of what it had said from the expression on my face. She also knew me well enough to realize I didn't want to say anything about it.

“Hey, Tally,” Ivy said. “What parts do you think Buster and Audriana will end up getting?”

Tally's face lit up, and she began writing something so complicated that she needed to add a diagram. Ivy and I watched her, as fascinated as if she were writing the secret location of the Holy Grail.

As I watched, I couldn't keep my mind from wandering. Everything was changing—everyone was pretending something.

Ivy and I were both doing our best to pretend that everything was normal, that she was not moving away. I was pretending I was not about to become Benny's
un
friend. Tally was pretending that she still had a shot at the lead role in
Annie
. Miko was pretending
4 Girls
—and me, Ivy, and Tally, the rest of The Four—didn't matter.
ONE
thing needed to change.

Maybe Benny wants to tell me something else
, I thought.
Maybe it's an idea for the magazine or a prank I can play on Kevin.

By the time the bell for lunch rang later that day, I felt like I was spinning. There were so many thoughts in my head.

One step at a time
, I thought.

There was no point in prolonging the agony. I went to the cafeteria and waited.

But Benny never showed up.

I was standing in front of my gym locker in the girls' locker room, shoving my basketball sneakers and dirty socks into a plastic bag. Not only had Benny Novak failed to appear in the cafeteria yesterday, but he had failed to reappear at school today. I swung by the nurse's office to check the list, and sure enough, Benny Novak was out sick. He must have gotten the flu everyone else had. Part of me was relieved. The question of the dance could be avoided. At least for the next few days.

Audriana came racing into the locker room behind a group of other girls and made a beeline for me.

“Is she here? Have you talked to her?” she asked.

“Who?”

“Tally. She has gym next period. Where is she? The cast list is up! I want to make sure she knows.”

“I haven't seen her, but you know Tally—she's always running late. So? Who got Annie?”

The door opened and several more girls came in. None of them were Tally.

Audriana made a face.

“Valerie Stupid Teale,” she said. “Big surprise. And she's strutting around like she's Lady Gaga or something. Soooo irritating.”

“What about you?”

Audriana sighed. “I'm Daddy Warbucks's chauffeur. I get to sing a solo line in ‘I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here,' but that's about it.”

“What did Buster get?” I asked.

“Rooster,” she replied. “It's not a huge part, but there are some really good scenes. He'll be fantastic.”

I had to agree.

The door opened again. “Oh, there she is,” I said.

“Y'all,” Tally said, tossing her gym bag on the floor. “The world is
such
a cruel place.”

Tally was back to normal, I noticed. Filled with Drama and
LOUD
.

“You saw the cast list?” Audriana asked. Tally nodded.

“Honestly, why do people not see how awful Valerie is?” Tally asked. “She's so fake and stilted—like she's trying to act like she thinks an actor playing Annie should act. Ugh. The whole thing is so completely unfair. The whole showcase is ruined now! Seriously, I feel like somebody should do something about this. Bring Mr. Barrymore to his senses or lodge a complaint or something! I'm going to scream!”

Tally's voice had in fact been rising and was reaching the point of a screech that only dogs and bats could hear. It seemed like an overreaction. Even coming from Tally.

“Tal, I can't stand her, either,” Audriana said. “But come on. The show isn't ruined. I didn't even get a decent part. I'm just some background character, and I don't feel like some injustice has been done or anything.”

“But it's not the same for you,” Tally said. “I mean, I know you get it—some of us are leading ladies and some of us aren't. Before I lost my voice, I really thought I had a shot at getting Annie.”

Ouch.

“Tal, you might want to—” My voice was drowned out by the sound of the bell.

Audriana stood frozen, an odd look on her face that Tally didn't seem to notice.

“At least he's put up an understudy list,” Tally said, rooting through her gym bag. “Now that my voice is back, there's no reason I can't sign up on that.”

Audriana walked abruptly out of the locker room.

“Plus, Buster wants us to—” Tally looked around. “What happened to Audriana?”

“She took off,” I said. “Listen, Tally, I don't know her all that well or anything, but . . . I don't know. Maybe Audriana is a little disappointed about her part, too.”

Tally shook her head.

“Trust me, Audriana did not want to be Annie,” Tally said. “I've been in enough shows with her to know that. It's Valerie Teale that's making her mad. She's such a diva!”

Tally pulled her gym shoes out of her bag, tossed the bag in the locker, and slammed it shut.

“Okay, well I'm going to run,” I said.

Tally waved and began pulling her mass of curls into a tiny elastic band. I heard the elastic snap as I walked away and Tally squeal again.

• • • • • • •

I got to bio just as the teacher, Mr. Pilsen, was arriving. I hated double-period science days. They combined our session with the AP class, where everyone was superbrilliant, and it felt like class went on forever.

There was an empty seat next to Miko. I hesitated for a moment. But when she looked up and saw me, she gave me a smile. I sat down, relieved that she was in a friendly mood. Maybe things didn't have to stay uncomfortable between us.

“How are you?” I asked. “How's your honors project coming along? And everything else?”

“Okay,” Miko said. “Everything is still really crazy. I think I'll finish my project by the deadline, but it's going to be close.” Miko drew a few little sketches in her notebook. Then she turned to me, looking me straight in the eye. “Look, I know how it must seem to you guys. Me stepping back from
4 Girls
, but then being on Shelby's Dance Committee.”

“Oh,” I said. “No. I mean, we did sort of wonder about it. But only a little.”

Miko smiled. “Shelby is not good at taking no for an answer. I thought it would just be the one poster, but I was wrong. I've decided to quit the Homecoming Committee.”

“Really?” I was shocked. Miko hadn't even completely quit
4 Girls
.

Maybe there's still hope after all
, I thought, trying not to get my hopes up.

“Yeah,” Miko said, shrugging. “I meant it when I told you guys I just don't have any spare time. But I really want to do
4 Girls
again. I don't even like doing dance posters.”

“I kind of got that impression,” I said. “Will Shelby be okay with it?”

Miko shrugged. “I don't know,” she said. “She's my friend. She should be able to understand. But either way, I'm dropping out.”

Our teacher, Mr. Pilsen, blew into the classroom like he'd been hurled by a catapult. “Okay, people, settle down and let's get started,” he said. “Clear your desks of everything but two sharp pencils.”

“What are we doing?” I asked Miko.

Miko was pulling two of the sharpest pencils I'd ever seen out of her pencil case.

“It's the unit test today, remember?” she asked.

I smacked my hand over my mouth.

“You forgot?” Miko whispered, her eyes wide.

I nodded, feeling my face turning a painful shade of red.

Not only had I forgotten the test was today, I had temporarily forgotten about bio altogether. I should have been going over the review sheets for the last two weeks. Being sick over the weekend wasn't going to excuse not studying. This was no simple quiz. A unit test would be 15 percent of my grade for the whole semester.

Mr. Pilsen was walking around passing out the tests. When I got mine, I quickly scanned the questions. I could tell immediately that I didn't know the answers to at least half of them.
AND
it wasn't a multiple choice test—guessing wouldn't work.

For the next forty-five minutes I sat clutching my pencil and trying not to look as paralyzed as I felt. Was there any feeling worse than completely blanking on a big test? Periodically, Miko would look over at me with a sympathetic expression. By the time Mr. Pilsen came around to collect the papers, I'd only managed to scribble a few sentences for each question.

“I tanked,” I whispered to Miko on our way out of the room.

“Well, you were really sick this weekend,” Miko offered. “Everyone knows how bad this flu is. Maybe you can talk to him. Ask to take a retest later.”

I shook my head. Mr. Pilsen was extremely unforgiving when it came to missed work, and as far as he was concerned, I should have been diligently doing my review sheets long before I got the flu.

“Look, don't beat yourself up about it,” Miko said. “You can't change it now. It's only one grade. Maybe you can do an extra credit project to get a few points added.”

I nodded and smiled, not because I thought Miko's idea would help, but because she was being so nice to me. I still felt awful about the test, though.

I dragged myself through the remainder of the afternoon, trying to put the test out of my mind. Miko was right—I couldn't change it. I should focus on happier things, like the fact that Ivy was coming over to my house after school. We'd have some cookies, lie around and talk, compare notes on
4 Girls
 . . . and I'd tell her about my test, and she would explain why it was okay. But even that thought made me feel bad, because before too long Ivy was going to be gone, too, and I was going to be alone again.

No. Focusing on happier things just wasn't going to do the trick.

• • • • • • •

I sat in my living room staring out the window at the street, looking for a car. I checked my phone to see if Ivy had texted that she was running late.

She hadn't. But I had an e-mail from Shelby Simpson.

To:
Paulina M. Barbosa

From:
SweetShelby

Subject:
Homecoming Article

About the
4 Girls
Homecoming article—it will be much better if it only focuses on one grade, otherwise there will be way too much material. Miko agrees. Since The Four are all in seventh grade, and seventh grade is going to win Decade Day, obviously that's the one we should focus on. We will want to include a collage of photos of the best seventies outfits, and I will have Miko design it.

 

Unbelievable
, I thought.
What must it be like going through life just assuming everyone is going to follow your orders?
And what did she mean about Miko agreeing? From what Miko had told me in bio, she was about to jump ship on Homecoming altogether.

I jumped at the sound of a knock on the door.

“Ivy!” I said happily as I threw the door open.

“So I got tons done on my article, and the cover is finished,” Ivy said as she walked inside, talking like we were right in the middle of a conversation we'd been having for the last twenty minutes. “But we need that interview from Tally, and you and I have to decide how much space to set aside for Spirit Day pictures.
Please
tell me you have cookies.”

I pointed to a plate on the living room table.

“Not just cookies,” I said. “Girl Scout cookies.”

“You have just made me very happy,” Ivy said, heading for the plate. She took two Tagalongs, then looked up at me. “What? Should I put one back?”

I shook my head.

“What's wrong then?” Ivy asked.

“Nothing,” I said, hanging my head a little. “You know—just . . . I'm going to miss this. And we barely even got to do anything.”

Ivy chewed on her lower lip.

“I know,” she said quietly. “I am so, so sorry.”

“Why?” I cried. “It's not like it's your fault they're moving.”

“No, definitely not,” Ivy said. “I think the fact that they still refuse to just own it and tell me the truth is a good indicator of how important my feelings are. Ugh. Let's just . . . change the subject, okay?”

“Okay,” I agreed quickly.

“Hand over that plate of Tagalongs,” I said, and Ivy passed it to me. “So I've actually got a lot done, too. My ‘Road to
Annie
' article is completely done up through today. I'll just need to add the review of the showcase, which I'm actually going to write after their dress rehearsal on tech week. That way we can get the issue out Monday morning when everyone's still talking about the play and Homecoming. Oh, speaking of which . . .”

I handed her my phone, the e-mail from Shelby still on-screen.

“You have got to be kidding me. Why does she think what she wants has any effect on
4 Girls
?” Ivy asked, shaking her head and handing back the phone.

“Because nobody ever says no to her,” I replied. “Plus, she's best friends with Miko, so I guess she figures she's practically one of us.”

“Oh, please,” Ivy said, dropping her bag on the living room floor and flopping over on the couch. “Miko isn't even one of
us
anymore. And the fact that she's miraculously found the time to work on that Dance Committee stuff is really bugging me. I think we should just make it official and let her quit.”

“No,” I said quickly. “Let's just give it a little longer. Please?” I couldn't say anything about Miko's plans to dump the Dance Committee. After all, what if she changed her mind? But I believed she was going to do it and that she'd be back with The Four one hundred percent by the time the second issue was done. Of course, we still wouldn't be The Four, because now Ivy was moving away. Whatever happened, we weren't going to be
four
ever again.

“Okay, so business is taken care of,” Ivy said. “Now let's get down to the really important issue.”

“Which is?” I prompted.

“Benny Novak,” Ivy said. “He's not going to be out sick forever. You need to figure out what you're going to do when he gets back.”