Shaken Up (11 page)

When I hit the field, I felt fluid and athletic, like my old self. This gave me confidence. We had a warm-up, some drills, and then a scrimmage. While I didn't do anything spectacular (like flying), I had a good, solid practice and managed to assist a goal during the scrimmage. Which to me was even better than seeing a unicorn. Well, maybe not quite.

“Good practice, Devin,” Coach Darby said when it was over.

I was all smiles when we got off the field, and Jessi noticed. “Looks like you're getting your mojo back, Devin,”
she said. “And we're going to make sure it stays that way! Your presence is requested at Emma's house at noon.”

Uh-oh. I couldn't remember if I had an appointment with the kiddie dentist to fill those cavities, which I was NOT looking forward to.

“I hope I can come!” I said. “I might—”

Jessi interrupted me. “Relax. We checked with your parents, and it's a go.”

“So, will you be there too? What's going on?” I asked.

Jessi zipped her lips and pretended to lock them again. Then she waved good-bye without saying another word before she sprinted to the parking lot.

I went home to shower and change. My curiosity was running wild. I had no idea what the Kicks had planned for today!

Which was why I was practically bouncing in my seat as Dad drove me to Emma's house.

“You certainly seem very happy today, Devin,” my dad commented. It was just him and me in the car. “Are things going better?”

I nodded. “They sure are! I had a good practice this morning. And my friends are the best! They've been so supersupportive. I haven't felt this good since before the earthquake.”

Then I thought of the earthquake again and shuddered. What if there was another one? Would everything in my life unravel again?

Dad noticed the change in my energy. “Tomorrow night
we're going to have our family earthquake readiness party,” he said reassuringly. “Before you know it, we'll be like all the other Californians, taking earthquakes in stride.”

I let out a big exhale. Even though we had done some drills as a family before the earthquake, I hadn't taken them that seriously. Now that I had actually experienced an earthquake, I knew I'd give the drills my full attention.

“Thanks, Dad,” I said. “I think it will be a big help!”

Emma lived in a private, gated community. My dad had to stop at a gatehouse to get permission to drive through. I'd never forget the first time we came here. The guard had given us a map so we wouldn't get lost! Even though Emma lived in a house like one of the stars of
RTOBH
, she could not have been more different. The only drama in her life was her perpetual clumsiness!

Dad dropped me off in her circular driveway, which had a big, fancy fountain splashing away in the middle.

I rang the doorbell, and Mrs. Kim opened the door, a big smile on her face.

“Devin, it's so nice to see you,” she said. “Come in.”

I walked into the fancy marble foyer. “Emma is in the rec room,” Mrs. Kim said. “You know the way.”

I made my way through the maze of a house to the recreation room. When I opened the door, it was dark. All the lights were off. “Emma?” I asked as I scanned the room. I spotted the gigantic television that took up almost an entire wall, the pool table and foosball table, plus the rows and rows of DVDs of what seemed like every movie
ever made. But no Emma. Maybe Mrs. Kim was wrong and she was in her room instead?

Before I could turn around to leave, Emma, Jessi, Frida, and Zoe all jumped out from behind the huge sectional sofa and yelled, “Surprise!”

The lights turned on, and I saw that the room was not only filled with balloons, but hanging on a wall was a huge banner that said,
DEVIN IS DIVINE!

“What!” I said, totally shocked. “This is all for me?” I could not believe it.

“Yes, it is!” Emma beamed. “I'm throwing you a surprise party to let you know how much I appreciate you. I'll never forget how you planned that Emma Appreciation Day when I didn't make the winter league. And how you helped me see my potential as a goalie. So now it's my turn to help cheer you on!”

“Group hug!” Jessi shouted, and soon we were all mashed together in a gigantic Kicks embrace.

“To celebrate how divine you are, dear Devin,” Frida said after we had all untangled ourselves, “we're going to be watching the US women's national soccer team game live. And eating all your favorite foods. Your dad even gave Mrs. Kim his secret guacamole recipe.”

My dad had known about this too. He hadn't let on at all. I had been totally surprised.

“Let's get the game on,” Emma said as she turned on the TV.

“Wait. We need to eat!” Zoe reminded her. “We've
got tacos, guac and chips, and red velvet cupcakes.”

Red velvet! My favorite.

“Wow, guys. You planned the perfect day for me,” I said. I actually felt a little choked up, that was how touched I was. I had the most awesome, caring friends.

How could I have ever felt like I had bad luck? With friends like these, it was clear that I had the best luck in the world!

The next day Mom and Dad had set up the house for our earthquake preparation party. It was a weekend of back-to-back parties, and I loved it! We got take-out Chinese food, which everybody loved, and Dad made a joke when he opened his fortune cookie.

“Mine says, ‘You are about to eat a fortune cookie,' ” he reported.

“Really?” Maisie asked. “Let me see that!”

She looked at it and frowned. “It doesn't say that! It's boring. It just says if you work hard, you will see results.”

“Boring, but true,” Dad said. “And I have my own prediction. After we clean up this mess, we will start our earthquake drill.”

It started with Mom showing us an emergency survival kit she had prepared, and a first aid kit, and then she put them both on top of our shoe locker in the mudroom so
we would always know where they were. Then we walked all around the house, where Dad pretended to be a tour guide, showing us the safest places to be during an earthquake, and the most dangerous places.

“And here in the Burke living room, we have a bookshelf that's bolted to the wall, which is a good safety precaution,” Dad said. “But the books could still fall out, so this is not a good place to be when an earthquake strikes. If you're in the living room when an earthquake hits, under the archway is the best place to be. Now, in the kitchen . . .”

He went on like that, sounding like a goofy tour guide, but it worked. The next time an earthquake hit (and I knew there probably would be a next time, whether I liked it or not), I would know exactly what to do. And that made me feel better.

Sunday night I combined advice from both Zoe and Jessi to prep for the retake of the World Civ test. First I went over the notes I had taken with Jessi, which were much better than the notes I'd taken on the night of the earthquake. I studied for an hour, then took a fifteen-minute break to go on my phone and check my texts. Then I studied for another half hour, but that was all I needed. I was feeling pretty confident.

I hoped I could get a good night's sleep. It would help me on the test. Before I went to sleep that night, I closed my eyes and imagined myself in Mr. Emmet's classroom, taking the test. This time I knew the answer to every
question. I filled out the test and handed it to Mr. Emmet before anyone else did. As I was walking back to my desk, Steven gave me a big thumbs-up. I drifted off to sleep, feeling peaceful, until I had this really weird dream that I was taking the test, but the only thing I was wearing was my underwear. No shirt. No pants. And not only were Steven and Hailey pointing and laughing at me, but so was Noodles the Clown, who had been the entertainment at my sixth birthday party. It was totally freaky. I tossed and turned awhile before I could fall back asleep.

Before World Civ started the next day, I took a second to again picture myself acing the test, this time making sure I was fully dressed, with no clowns lurking in the classroom.

My thoughts were interrupted when Mr. Emmet spoke. “All right, class. Today is the retest for some of you. If you're not taking the test, please get a head start on reading chapter thirteen.”

I inhaled deeply as Mr. Emmet passed out the tests, and exhaled as I looked down at it. I smiled when I saw the first question.

List three causes of the decline of the Roman empire.

I put pen to paper and began to write. I knew the answers! Every one! I was so excited about knowing them that my pen could barely keep up with the words flowing out of my brain. When I finished, I was eager to hand the test in—and I would have been the first one to finish, just like in my imagination—but then I remembered
another tip from Jessi, and I used the extra time to check my answers.

I handed in my paper just before the bell rang. I knew I had aced it! I couldn't wait to tell Jessi.

As I walked back to my desk, Steven smiled at me.

“Hey, Devin!” he said.

Then he turned to Hailey, and the two of them began talking as they walked to English class together.

I didn't give it much thought. I was so eager to tell Jessi about the test that I raced past them in the hall. “So, how'd it go?” she asked as we sat down in English class

“I'm pretty sure I got an A,” I said, and she high-fived me. “It's thanks to you, Jessi.”

“Devin, you had it in you all along,” Jessi said in a mock serious voice, and we both cracked up.

There was one more person I was eager to talk to—Kara. That night, on video chat, I told her the whole story.

“So it started with a mysterious text, and the last thing that happened was that amazing party at Emma's,” I said. I rubbed my belly. “Emma brought the extra red velvet cupcakes into school today. I need to do some extra laps at soccer practice!”

Kara had a sly grin on her face. “Gee, how do you think they knew that you liked red velvet cupcakes?” she asked.

Then it hit me. “No way! You told them?”

Kara nodded. “Jessi asked me. Your Kicks friends out there really care about you, Devin.” Then she looked a little sad. “I wish I could have been there! If I win the
lottery someday, I'll fly out and see you whenever I want.”

“That would be awesome,” I said. “You have got to see Emma's house in person to believe it.”

“I know!” said Kara. “The way you describe it, it sounds like something from
The Real Teenagers of Beverly Hills
!”

“Are you watching that too now?” I asked.

Kara shrugged. “It's hard
not
to watch, you know?”

“Sadly, I do,” I agreed. “Well, anyway, thank you for telling my friends my favorite cupcake flavor. You wouldn't happen to know what else is in store, do you?”

“You mean there's more?” asked Kara.

“Frida texted me that we have a mystery appointment at lunch tomorrow,” I told her. “I'm a little worried about this one. Frida can be so dramatic, you know? What if, like, she hired a marching band or gospel choir or something? I'll be so embarrassed!”

“Well, I think Frida knows you better than that,” Kara said. “All of the other things your friends had planned for you were fun. I think you just need to have a little faith.”

“You're right,” I agreed. But my dreams that night were of a marching band blasting music through the cafeteria, carrying a
DEVIN IS DIVINE!
banner!