Rotten Apple (16 page)

Apple was puzzled. “But he doesn’t have to find out,” she said, desperately trying to convince Happy. “Honestly, this is just a huge misunderstanding. None of this should have ever have happened. Zen still likes you. You still like Zen. Isn’t that the important thing? Isn’t that all that matters at the end of the day?”

“He’s already found out,” Happy said. “I called him and told him about the e-mail you, ahem,
accidentally
sent to me. In fact, I forwarded it to him just two seconds before you called.”

The room was spinning. Apple felt like she was locked in an elevator that was falling down fast. Not only did Happy know everything she had done, but Zen did too. Zen. Zen. Zen.

“Anyway,” Happy continued, snob-like—a tone Apple had rarely, if ever, heard from Happy. “He also
told me that you asked him to the Valentine Ball. That’s nice, Apple. Really nice—and after you told me that I should go with Hopper. You just wanted me to go with Hopper so you could swoop in and ask Zen.”

“No! That’s not right at all! I only asked him so he would go to the dance because he was so upset that you were going with Hopper,” Apple tried to explain. “I thought once I got him there, he’d be cheered up just to see you!”

“Seriously, Apple. How can I trust anything you say now?” Happy asked.

“You can, Happy. You can,” Apple cried. “This was the first time I’ve ever lied to you. Ever!”

“Oh, and Apple? How would your mother feel if she found out what you did?”

“Well, actually, she did find out,” Apple groaned. “I’m grounded.”

“Hah! She wasn’t pleased to find out her daughter was going around pretending to be her, breaking up relationships, and screwing her so-called best friend? I wonder why not?”

Apple had no idea how to respond. How could she explain to her best friend that she, Apple, was still trustworthy? Before she could answer, Happy started to speak again.

“Is there anything else you’d like to get off your chest while you have the chance? Any more deep secrets? Is your name even Apple?”

Apple swallowed and tried to ignore her friend’s sarcastic tone. “Just that I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” Apple
said. “I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. It will never happen again. I promise.”

“You know what, Apple?” Happy asked.

“What?” Apple said.

“I know it won’t happen again. I believe you when you say that,” Happy said.

“You do?” Apple asked quietly, with hope.

“Yes, I do. But I can’t forgive you. We can’t be friends anymore. I could never forget what you’ve done to me,” said Happy. “This friendship is so over. It’s so very over.”

Apple heard the click at the other end of the line.

She realized, minutes later, that she was still holding the phone.

How was it possible, with one click of the phone, that their whole history—years of friendship—was over? That was it? A decade of talking almost every day, done just like that?

Apple wasn’t ready to let that go. Not without a fight. She called Happy back, but got her voice mail.

Apple didn’t leave a message. Not the first time she got Happy’s voice mail, and not the ninth time. She had no idea what to say anyway, even if she could get through to Happy herself. She sat down on her bed, her phone still glued to her hand.

There was a knock at her bedroom door.

“Apple, it’s me. I’m coming in,” she heard her mother say.

Great, thought Apple.

“I’ve decided we need to talk about this.” Dr. Bee Bee Berg sat down on Apple’s desk chair and crossed
her legs. “I just reread what you sent to me. I just don’t get it, Apple,” her mother said. She got up and sat on the bed next to her daughter.

“What don’t you get?” Apple asked her mother, looking at the floor. Did anyone still love her? she wondered. “I mean, you’re the expert, aren’t you? You’re the expert about all things love and relationships.”

“First off,” her mother said, “I don’t understand why you would do that to your friend. I don’t understand why you would try to ruin your friend’s relationship. And I really don’t understand why you would sneak into my private e-mails.”

“You don’t get it?
You
don’t get it?” Apple said, sitting up to attention and turning to look her mother in the eye. “You, of all people, do
not
get why I would sneak into your private e-mail.”

“No, I don’t ‘get’ it. Apple, you of all people should know that trying to ruin a blossoming relationship leads to no good. If two people are meant to be together, they will end up together. How could you not know this? You are around when Guy and I speak. You’ve grown up with my advice around you. You should know, more than anyone else, that all is
not
fair in love and war, and that sometimes you just have to accept that.”

Apple grabbed her hair as if she were going to rip it out. “You think you are so good at fixing other people’s problems, but you can’t even fix your own. You’re always willing to shell out relationship advice to other people, but you can’t follow it yourself. Why should I listen to you when your own relationship sucks?”
Apple laughed. “I may not have a relationship, but at least I’m not in a bad one.”

“Apple!” her mother exclaimed, standing up. Apple had never seen Dr. Bee Bee Berg look so shocked, not even the time a guest on her show admitted to cheating on her husband for twenty years straight.

“Well, it’s true, Mom. You want to get into it and have a serious discussion? Fine. Let’s do it. Why is Dad sleeping in the spare bedroom? Why has he been sleeping there for weeks? Did you really think I hadn’t noticed? If your own marriage is so perfect, then why don’t you spend any time with Dad? Are you that willing to give him up for the sake of your career? Why do youspend ninety-nine percent of your time with Guy?” Apple was crying now, but she couldn’t stop. “How can you not see how upset you make Dad? How can you not see that he’s going to leave you if you don’t spend some time with him? How can you not see that he hates coming home? That he hates coming home to an empty house? How can you not see what is happening right here in your own home?”

Dr. Bee Bee Berg didn’t say anything. She just sat back down, blinking her eyes rapidly and pursing her lips.

But Apple wasn’t done.

“And you talk so much about the importance of people’s privacy, but you are such a hypocrite,” she continued.

“What are you talking about now?” her mother asked almost inaudibly.

“I’m talking about
you
sneaking into
my
computer and reading my PRIVATE diary entries. Who gave you
the right to come into my room and read my diary? It’s so pathetic.”

“Apple, I have no idea what you are talking about. I don’t even know how to turn your computer on. And I would never—
never
—read your private diary entries. I never even knew you kept a diary,” her mother said defensively.

“That’s bull, Mom, and you know it. What about your lecture to me about how I’m young and I should have a boyfriend my own age? You went on about that for days. And it’s because you read my diary entry about me being in love with Mr. Kelly. You started lecturing me immediately after I wrote that. And guess what, Mother? It was a fake entry I wrote just to trap you. And it worked. You read it, and you started in on me about it. So you knew. Don’t lie to me,” Apple screamed. “You knew!”

“Apple, it is true that I knew,” her mother said. “But I didn’t go into your room. I didn’t sneak into your diary entries. Hazel told me about the crush.”

Apple knew, by the way her mother was speaking so warily, that she wasn’t lying. Suddenly Apple had a very bad headache. She lay back on her bed.

She never thought the day would come when she would actually want her mother to ask, “How are you feeling? Do you want my advice?” But that’s exactly what she wanted now, more than anything else in the world. She really, truly needed someone’s advice.

s if nothing had happened, Crazy Aunt Hazel was honking at 8 a.m. sharp to take Apple to school.

Not going to school was not an option—Apple’s mother had made that very clear. Now that Apple was grounded, it was the
only
option. After school, she was to come straight home. There would be no going out, not even for a walk.

“Hi, Apple,” her aunt said breezily when Apple opened the passenger door.

“Don’t ‘hi’ me,” Apple huffed, pulling the seatbelt strap over her body.

“What’s
your
problem?” Aunt Hazel asked her, checking the rearview mirror and pulling out of the driveway.

“You of all people know perfectly well what my problem is,” Apple retorted.

“I know you’re grounded, but that’s your own doing. Don’t take it out on
me”
Aunt Hazel said like a child.
“I may be crazy, but I’m not crazy enough to do what
you
did!” She laughed. “Sure, I’ve had my moments, but I’d never pretend to be your
mother
giving out advice!”

“Ha, ha. I’m so glad you think it’s so funny that my life is ruined. And I only went into her private documents because I thought she was going through mine, thanks to you,” Apple said, looking out the window.

“Oh, God, Apple. You should know your mother better than that. She would never go through people’s things. She respects people’s privacy,” Aunt Hazel said. “She was furious with me for reading your diary. She was livid! But you should know that she’d never do that to you.”

“Yeah, thanks. I know that now. But obviously
you
don’t! How could you do that to me? How could you go into my private diary?” Apple demanded, turning back to face her aunt.

“Apple, I was concerned,” her aunt told her.

“Right. Whatever,” Apple said sullenly.

“I was! I didn’t mean to pry. But I wanted to update my online dating profile. I think expressing an interest in aerobic striptease was getting me the wrong kind of interest back. I saw a folder called ‘ED,’ on your desktop and I was curious. I didn’t know what ED was. I thought ED was a guy. And you never talk about anything. I just wanted to know what was going on in your life. And then I saw my name on the screen, and when you see your own name, you can’t
not
read what’s written about you. And, by the way,” she added, “thanks for writing all those
very
nice things about me. I can’t believe you think I’m so pathetic. I can’t believe
you think I throw tantrums! And that I’m a—what was it you wrote?—a reminder of how you don’t want your life to turn out?”

“Well, I was just in a bad mood!” Apple said. “I didn’t really mean it. But you
do
sometimes act very immaturely.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who screwed things up with my best friend,” Aunt Hazel snapped. “And all for a guy.”

As soon as Hazel brought up Zen, Apple started to cry.

“Oh, honey. Don’t cry. It will all work out,” her aunt said, taking one hand off the wheel to hold Apple’s hand.

“How do you know? How do you know it will all work out?” Apple asked desperately, between sobs.

Her aunt pulled gently on a curl and spoke softly. “Hey, I may be crazy, but I believe that things always happen for a reason. Maybe you had to go through all this to realize that Zen isn’t the right one for you. And maybe this test will make your friendship with Happy stronger—in the long run. It might bring you closer.”

“You really think so?” Apple asked through her tears, with a glimmer of hope.

“Oh, honey, what do I know? I’m just a walking, breathing memo reminding you how you
don’t
want your life to end up, or so I’ve read.” Hazel sighed.

“But what am I going to do? What am I going to
do?
Happy is so mad at me. Zen is so mad at me. My mother is so mad at me. I’ve ruined everything,” Apple cried.

“You are going to walk into that school, holding your head up high,” her aunt said, pointing up the street to Cactus High.

Apple couldn’t look. “How can I? Everyone probably knows what I’ve done. Everyone probably hates me now. Happy does. And Zen does. And, who knows, Brooklyn probably is mad at me too, because I did something so bad for my soul or something.”

“This is something you learn with age,” Crazy Aunt Hazel said as she pulled up in front of the school. “And I want you to listen to this, even if you don’t listen to me about anything else ever again.
No one
cares about
you
as much as you think they do. Trust me, they all have their own problems. They’re not going to be focusing on yours. I bet ninety percent of the students in your school like someone who doesn’t like them back. They’re too wrapped up in their own problems to concentrate on what you did. Even though what you did
was
fairly rotten, most people screw up and make mistakes and hurt the people they love the most at some time. The most important thing is not to give up on relationships or friendships, even if it means getting snubbed or being embarrassed sometimes.”

Apple looked gratefully at her aunt before taking a deep breath and getting out of the car. Aunt Hazel was mostly flaky, but sometimes she was also rather wise.

Feeling nervous, Apple walked through the school doors. She stopped just inside and looked over at the spiral staircase. Zen and Happy were there, along with Brooklyn and a couple of other students.

Apple knew there was no way she could walk up to them. What if she did and they saw her and turned away? She couldn’t even think about that. She was not brave enough—not yet. So she turned and walked
quickly in the opposite direction, to the washroom. She busied herself, pretending to fix her makeup and hair, for the ten minutes until the first bell rang, waited until the halls cleared, just to make sure she would not run into Zen or Happy or anyone else who might know what she had done, then raced to math class.

She stopped outside the door, took another deep breath, and walked into Mr. Kelly’s class to her seat next to Happy. Happy did not look over at her once, for the entire hour, not even a sideways glance. When Happy put her mind to do something, she did it. When she said their friendship was over, Apple cried inwardly, she must have really meant it.

It was the most painfully long day at school.

Apple walked home after school feeling miserable. Not even the beautiful scenery could cheer her up today. Once at home, she fixed herself a sandwich—Cheerios on peanut butter, something that usually cheered her up, at least a little.

“Hellooo? Hellooo?” Guy sing-songed, sashaying into the kitchen.

“Oh, hey,” Apple said, wiping her mouth.

“Hey to you,” Guy said back, then stopped and looked her up and down. “What is up with you, girl? You look like crap.”

“Thanks,” Apple said. She knew she looked bad. But it was nothing compared to how she felt inside.

“Guy’s sorry, but you do. You look all pale, and you have Louis Vuitton large bags under your eyes. Are you coming down with something?” he asked.

“Because if you are, stay away from Guy! Guy so
cannot
get sick right now. What’s making you ill, little one?”

“Just life,” Apple said, hiding her face behind her hair.

“Ah,
that
disease,” Guy mocked. He paused. “Have you talked to your mother?”

“No, why?” Apple asked.

“Just that I haven’t spoken to her since early this morning,” Guy said, actually sounding concerned.

“That’s weird. Haven’t you seen her today? I mean, don’t you guys talk like 128 times a day?” Apple said, putting her plate in the dishwasher.

“Usually we do, yes. Didn’t you hear the big news?” Guy asked.

“Hear what big news?” Apple said, looking up at Guy. “
What
news?”

“That your mother has taken off like a bird,” Guy said, fluttering his arms.

“What do you mean?” Apple asked, alarmed.

“She went on a romantic two-day getaway to Las Vegas.”

“Oh my God! She ran away?” Apple asked, jumping up from her chair.

“She ran away with your
father
. She came to the office this morning and said, ‘I think I’m going to go away with my husband.’ Isn’t that
romantic?
And then she kissed me on the cheek and walked out the door.”

“They did
what?”
Apple exclaimed. “But what about the show?”

“Don’t worry, we have those follow-up shows in the bank ready to go in case of emergency,” Guy said.

“I can’t believe it! Are you positive?” Apple asked again. “She just took off?”

“I know! Guy was a little worried. Actually, Guy was
very
worried. Your mother
hates
not being in the studio. But she was
very
adamant about it. She said, ‘Just air the follow-up shows. I’m going
away
with my husband.’ And I haven’t heard from her since!”

“But I’m grounded!” Apple said. “How can she ground me and then take off to Vegas?”

“Oh, Apple. What have you done?” Guy said.

“Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it. I mean, let’s check the machine. Maybe Mom left a phone message.”

Apple raced to the phone and dialed in the pass code.

“
You have three new messages
,” the automated voice said. “
First message
.”

Apple heard her mother’s voice. “Hey, honey. It’s Mom. Your dad and I are leaving town for a couple of days. I think this is just what we need. Hazel will be coming over and staying with you. Remember, you’re still grounded, so no funny business—school, home, school, home. We’re trusting you to be responsible about this.” Her mother left the hotel room and number, ending the message with “If you need anything, just call. And Apple? I love you.”

Apple gulped.

The second message was from her father. “Hey, kiddo. It’s your dad. Just calling to let you know that your mom and I are taking a last-minute flight to Vegas. So don’t worry if you don’t hear from me. I’ll put $100 on red for you. Speak to you soon, honey. I love you.”

The third message was from her aunt. “Yo! This walking reminder of how you don’t want your life to end up will be coming over to stay with you tonight and tomorrow night while your parents go do naughty things in Vegas. I’ll be by around nine, after my date. Wish me luck! Actually, pray for me. But I’m supposed to be watching you, so if your mother calls, just say I’m in the washroom and I’ll call her back.”

Apple put down the phone. It
was
true. Her parents had gone away together for a romantic getaway. And Crazy Aunt Hazel’s strike against men was officially over. She was going on a date after all.

“So?” Guy said. “Was there a message from her?”

“You’re right,” Apple said, shaking her head in disbelief. “They went to Las Vegas. Las Vegas! I can’t believe it! It’s so unlike them!”

“Guy knows. Guy doesn’t know
what
got into your mother. But suddenly she became
very
passionate about your dad. Did she mention anything about the show?”

“No. She didn’t. That’s so weird too.” She looked at Guy. “I mean, usually all she can talk about is the show. She didn’t even ask me if I needed her advice about anything. She didn’t even ask how I was
feeling
. Should I be worried?” Apple asked, troubled.

“We should
all
be worried. Guy can’t believe she didn’t say
anything
about the show! And it’s going to be a good one on Monday. You’ll never guess who’s going to be a guest!”

“I’m sure I won’t,” Apple said.

“You want a hint? You know one of the guests who’s coming on!” Guy said.

“I do?”

“Yes! But I just got off the phone with her moments ago, which is why she probably hasn’t told you yet,” Guy said.

“You can’t believe
who
didn’t tell me
what?”
Apple asked.

“Happy!”

“What are you talking about?” Apple said, alarmed.

“Happy is going to be a guest on
Queen of Hearts with Dr. Bee Bee Berg
She is just too excited. It’s so cute. Guy adores getting young people on the show. It brings a whole new,
je ne sais quoi
life to the show. You know what Guy means?” He clapped his hands gleefully.