The Best Friend (3 page)

Lishia gave a nervous giggle.

“You don't think so?”

She shrugged. “It's a lot to take in.”

“Yeah, I know,” Riley said reassuringly, like she understood. “But think about it, okay?”

“I will.”

“And remember, you swore not to tell anyone.”

“Of course, I won't.”

“There's only one more football game, and it would be stupid to lose Gillian before the season ends, since it would mess up all our routines. But we could use that time as well as the break before basketball to teach you all the routines. Then you'd be ready to step in at our first game.”

“This is so weird.” Lishia felt slightly giddy now. Was it really possible that she'd be on the team for basketball season?

“But you are interested, right? I mean, you'd be crazy to let an opportunity like this slip past, don't you think?”

“Of course I'm interested. It's just hard to absorb all this.”

“Well, then think about it. I'll call you later. Do you still have the same phone number? It's probably still in my phone since I never clean out my address book.”

“Yeah, it's the same.” Lishia opened the door.

“Great.” Riley nodded as if satisfied with how this was going. “I'll call you after I've had a shower, and we can kick it around some more. We need to come up with a good plan.”

“Okay . . .” Lishia wiggled her fingers in a wave and closed the door. Then, still feeling stunned, she stood there watching as Riley's little red Honda zipped off down the street. This seemed like a dream. A very weird dream. But at the same time, Lishia felt excited and pleased with this new development. And she hoped it was real. Going from feeling friendless and depressed to having Riley as her new best friend and getting to join the cheerleading team seemed comparable to winning the lottery.

As she retrieved the mail from the mailbox, she wondered about all that Riley had dangled before her. On one hand, it seemed too good to be true, and she was smart enough to know what that could mean. On the other hand, Lishia thought that perhaps she deserved this opportunity. Life had been kicking her around for the past several weeks. Maybe it was finally her time to shine in the sun! But at what price? Turning informant on Gillian? No matter what Gillian was into, Lishia wasn't sure she was comfortable with that. Something about it felt wrong. However, it was also wrong for Gillian to be on the team and breaking the conduct code . . . and getting away with it.

Lishia felt torn and confused as she went into the house. That made her wonder about God's take on this. How did this new development fit into his plans for her? Or did God even have plans for her? Earlier today, she'd been ready to abandon her faith altogether. Now that life held some promise, she wanted to believe that God was somehow involved in it. Perhaps he was completely behind the whole thing. Maybe he had heard her desperate prayers in regard to her loneliness and wanted to give her a break after all. Had he seen the way her old friends were treating her and how she didn't fit in anywhere? Perhaps it was like she'd heard her youth pastor say recently—God wanted her to step out of her old comfort zone and do something completely new. Why not?

Okay, she wasn't absolutely sure about all this, but she liked the sound of it, because for some reason she felt the need to put God's seal of approval on this new friendship with Riley. She wanted to believe this was a good thing. Not that she had any specific misgivings. Not exactly. Although she did feel a tiny bit uncomfortable . . . Was she really ready to turn her back on Janelle and the rest of her friends? Would she be willing to simply walk away from them, kind of like she'd done in the cafeteria today? Did she really want to embrace something completely new like this? And if she did, what was the harm in that?

Mostly Lishia just wanted to believe that she was finally coming to a fork in what had been a pretty rough road recently. She wanted to reach the place where life got good again. And why shouldn't she?

It also seemed obvious that Riley needed her—she needed a dependable friend. And if Lishia was good at anything, it was at being a genuine friend. In fact, she remembered that when the youth pastor had been talking about various gifts last summer, he had pointed out that Lishia was someone with the gift of being a true friend. That had meant a lot to her then, but during the past couple of months, she'd begun to question it. Perhaps this was her big chance to put that gift to good use!

As she went to her room, she imagined herself becoming Riley's most true-blue friend, standing by her through thick and thin. Who knew? Lishia's friendship might even encourage Riley to come back to youth group again. She hadn't been involved since middle school. But miracles could still happen—wasn't this bizarre afternoon proof of that?

F
or no rational reason, maybe just out of an old habit, Lishia picked up her phone and started to call Janelle. She wanted to tell someone about today's strange new development. Then she remembered two things. One, Janelle was no longer her best friend, and two, Riley had sworn her to secrecy. Consequently she set her phone aside, opened the freezer, pulled out a carton of Goo-Goo Cluster, and stuck a spoon into it. At moments like this a girl needed ice cream!

As she pigged out, she ran the last conversation around in her head and finally decided that there was no harm in exploring this a bit further. Riley was in need of a friend. Lishia was available. She would simply take it one step at a time and see how it went. No big deal. What could it hurt?

Still, Lishia didn't mention any of this to Mom or Dad at dinner. As usual, they made small talk about their day. Dad complained about a guy who was slacking off at work. Mom complained about the price of gas and groceries. A couple of times Lishia almost let her news slip out, but then she stopped herself. She was still at odds with this idea, trying to wrap her head around the whole thing and what sort of role Riley expected her to play in it. Although it was possible that Riley had changed her mind by now. Maybe she'd realized it was a crazy plan.

As Lishia cleaned up the kitchen after dinner, she kept her cell phone in her pocket. Riley still hadn't called, and Lishia was feeling anxious. Riley probably was having second thoughts. Lishia's doubts might've put Riley off and now she was probably looking for someone else to become her friend and confidant. What if Lishia had blown it completely?

Lishia considered calling Riley but was afraid she might sound desperate. Okay, she was desperate. Still, she didn't want Riley to know that. She wanted to play cool and laid-back and willing to do whatever it took to secure this friendship . . . and perhaps a chance at cheerleading too. Because suddenly it seemed critically important—she wanted this and she wanted it badly. So much so that she might do anything to get it. Well, not anything. She wouldn't lie, cheat, or steal . . . or do anything illegal.

But maybe she'd turn snitch. For the sake of justice—at least that's what she told herself. Did that mean she was compromising? Lishia wasn't so sure. Mostly she didn't want to think about that now. And she didn't want to pray about it either. Was she trying to push God out of the picture? She didn't even know.

It wasn't until she was finishing up her homework that her cell phone finally rang. Trying not to sound overly eager after her caller ID informed her it was Riley, she calmly said, “Hey?”

“So whaddya think?” Riley jumped right in.

“You mean about your idea?” Lishia closed her laptop and sat down on the edge of her bed. She felt a rush of anticipation, like she was on the brink of something big and life changing.

“Yeah. Are you in or out?”

Lishia giggled nervously. “In.”

“Cool.” Riley began explaining her plan. “You'll go to the game with me tomorrow night and you'll sit down in front, close to the field, so I can talk with you and stuff. I want people to see us together so that everyone will get that we're good friends again.”

“Okay.” Lishia had no problem with that. In fact, she couldn't wait to see some of her friends' reactions when they saw her hanging with the cheerleaders. If nothing else, it would give them something to talk about. Not that she cared so much—after all, they had quit caring about her.

“After the game, we'll go to Allegro's like everyone else. And I'm going to be on my best behavior with Gillian.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But if you get a chance to irritate her—you know, get under her skin—I hope you'll take it. I want her to start showing her true colors around more than just the cheerleaders.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” This might be a challenge since Lishia wasn't usually confrontational with anyone.

“She hates to be criticized. Just say something critical.”

“Like what?” Lishia couldn't imagine what she'd say. “I mean, I'm not really like that, and I don't want to sound phony.”

“Don't worry, I'll coach you. There's a fine art to being snarky.”

“Really?”

“Trust me, I'll give you some good ammo. Maybe we can write some notes on your hand.”

“On my hand?”

“You know, on your palm, like for an exam.”

“Oh . . . Do you actually do that?”

Riley laughed. “Me and everyone else in the school.”

Lishia had never cheated on a test in her life. Not that she wanted to admit this to Riley.

“But never mind that. The point is, we need to start gathering evidence on Gillian. Give me your email address and I'll forward you the conduct code so you can look it over and see if you have any additional ideas for how to nail Gillian. I thought that we might be able to get something this weekend. You know Todd Reimer is having a birthday party, and I'm sure Gillian will be there since Dayton and Todd are good buddies. So I'll expect you to go with me, okay?”

“But I haven't been invited.”

Riley rolled her eyes. “I'm inviting you.”

“It's not your party.”

“Fine. I'll make sure you get your own personal engraved invitation.”

Now Lishia rolled her eyes.

“Just trust me, okay?”

“Okay . . . I guess. But you know I don't drink, Riley.”

Riley laughed. “And as far as anyone else knows, neither do I. But I'm actually glad you don't drink. You will be the designated photographer.”

“Huh?”

“To catch Gillian at a bad moment.”

“Oh, yeah, right.”

“Your phone has a camera, right?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Make sure it's fully charged on Saturday.”

“Okay.” Once again Lishia's head was spinning. It seemed like Riley's brain functioned at high speed all the time.

“I'll pick you up for school tomorrow,” Riley informed her. “And could you try a little harder to look like best friend material? I mean
my
best friend?”

“I—uh—I guess so.”

“No offense, but you really need to raise the bar.”

Lishia stood now, looking at her image in her dresser mirror. She did look a little dowdy. Even her long, auburn hair, usually one of her best features, looked frizzy and in need of a good conditioning. “I kinda let myself go recently,” she admitted. “I was a little down, you know?”

“I understand, believe me. But it's time to step up your game now, okay? I need you to put your best foot forward. Can you do that?”

“Of course.” Lishia stood a little straighter, staring into her hazel eyes as she started putting together a strategy to improve her appearance tomorrow.

“Good, because I'm counting on you. And don't forget, this is as much for you as it is for me, Lishia. This is a huge opportunity.”

“Uh . . . yeah.”

“Besides that, it's the right thing to do. It's not fair that someone like Gillian is allowed to break the rules just because her mom is best friends with Coach Glassman.”

“That's true.” Lishia was about to ask Riley if she knew that for sure or if there was a way to prove it, but Riley had to go.

“See you in the morning!”

Lishia hung up the phone, then went into the bathroom where the light was brighter and she was able to do a more thorough inventory of her appearance. Really, it shouldn't be too hard to remedy this. She was blessed with a fairly good complexion. Although she didn't much care for her slightly snubbed nose or what her friends often called her “pixie face,” she realized there wasn't much she could do about that. Instead she took a shower, giving her hair a thorough conditioning, and then gave herself a facial with an old product that her mom had tried and didn't like.

With her face still coated in green goo, she now began to dig through her closet, trying to come up with a good outfit for tomorrow. It wasn't that she didn't have the right clothes exactly (at least she hoped not), but it had been so long since she'd hung up or even washed her clothes that the pathetic heap, piled about two feet high inside her closet, looked overwhelming. Mom had taught Lishia to do her own laundry last year when she'd abandoned home to rejoin the workforce. But Lishia missed the good old days and still dragged her heels about approaching the laundry room. She knew if she played it just right, Mom would take pity and do the laundry for her like she did last time.

“What's up with you?” Mom asked curiously when she saw Lishia hauling out an overloaded laundry basket and with the pea-green facial cream still on her face.

“Just cleaning up my act,” Lishia told her.

Mom smiled and patted her on the head. “Good for you!”

Lishia rolled her eyes.

“We're watching an old movie if you want to join us,” Mom said as she poured some microwave popcorn into a bowl.

“I can't join you, I have to do my laundry,” Lishia growled. “All by myself.”

Mom laughed. “I'd offer to help, but I'm sure you can handle it just fine. But if you have any questions, you know where to find me.”

Lishia slogged on to the laundry room and dumped the contents of her basket onto the floor, trying to remember how this was done. She knew she was supposed to sort lights from darks and “when in doubt, wash everything in cold water.” But the dials and buttons on the washing machine looked slightly overwhelming. “Mom!” she called out, hoping they hadn't started their movie yet. Soon Mom appeared and gave her a refresher course on how to do laundry as she helped her sort.

“And if you don't want something to shrink, don't put it in the dryer, or just put it in for a little while.”

“Okay, okay.” Lishia poured in the soap and pushed the on button. “I think I got it.”

However, it was close to midnight when she finally finished the daunting task of doing her own laundry, and when she pulled her favorite jeans out of the dryer, the ones she'd planned to wear tomorrow, she could tell right away that they had shrunk. So had several of her favorite shirts! She went to bed ticked.

In the morning she scrambled to put together an outfit that would appease Riley. It wasn't easy and took about a dozen changes, but by the time she emerged from her room, she thought it was a success. She'd put a Gap skirt over leggings with boots, then topped it with a Banana Republic sweater. Not Lishia's usual look, but it reminded her of outfits she'd seen Riley and her friends wear. Besides that, her conditioning treatment of her hair had produced shiny results, and with a little mascara, blush, and lip gloss, she felt like she was at the top of her game again. It felt good!

Even Mom noticed. “Wow, you look nice this morning,” she told Lishia as she handed her a small glass of orange juice. “But aren't you running late? The bus should've been here by—”

“Riley Atkins is giving me a ride.”

Mom's brows arched. “Riley Atkins?”

Lishia nodded as she chugged down the juice.

“You and Riley are friends again?”

“Yeah.” Lishia frowned. “Is that a problem?”

“No, of course not.” Mom smiled. “In fact, I think it's nice.” She pointed to a plate on the breakfast bar. “There's some toast if you want. Dad didn't have time to finish it.”

“No thanks.” Lishia glanced out the window to see Riley's car pulling up. “There she is.”

“Then take a piece with you,” Mom urged.

“Later,” Lishia called as she dashed out. Did Mom think she wanted to arrive at school with toast crumbs all over her sweater or dark brown whole grains stuck between her teeth?

“Hey.” Riley grinned. “You clean up good.”

“Thanks.” Lishia slid into the seat and smiled. “I guess I'd been so bummed that I kinda let myself go the past several weeks.”

“Well, my theory is that you can only feel as good as you look. If you make an effort to look great, you should feel great. Don't you think?”

“I hope so.”

“Okay.” Riley switched gears. “I started to make a list of Gillian's weaknesses. You know, so we can start working on some good one-liners to get her with.” She pointed to a piece of paper on the dashboard.

Lishia took it and began reading aloud. “One, occasional acne that she tries to cover with too much makeup in a shade that's too dark for her complexion. Two, weight issues and her illegal use of drugs to keep the pounds off. Three, family problems (parents recently split up and her dad has a slutty girlfriend). Four, big butt.” Lishia started to laugh, then stopped herself. “That's a bit harsh, Riley.”

“Hey, someone called her bubble butt once and she threw a total hissy fit. If Coach had seen her, she would've been suspended for sure.”

Lishia continued going over the list. “A lot of these items seem focused on her weight, Riley. Doesn't that seem kinda mean? Seriously, am I supposed to point out that her
calves
are too big?”

“We have to hit her where it hurts in order to see her true colors.”

“But let's be realistic. I can't really mention these things. Besides being mean, it feels phony.”

“What about number seven?” Riley asked.

“BO?” Lishia frowned.

“Body odor. Believe me, after a workout that girl smells nasty. So you could say something innocent like, ‘What is that smell?'” Riley chuckled. “And then you could realize it's Gillian and act all embarrassed, and if it makes you feel better, you could even apologize to her—after she blows up. You know?”

Lishia giggled. “I suppose I could do that . . . maybe.”

“But don't do anything to start with. First you'll have to win her trust to get her guard down.” Riley sounded like she'd had a lot of experience with these tactics.

“How do I win her trust?”