The Pages Between Us (11 page)

ME: No! NO. Please, please don't cancel the birthday. (I swear my soul jumped out of my body and curled up on the floor. That's how sad I must have looked, because Mom said . . .)

MOM: Well, maybe we'll do your party somewhere else then.

ME: But there has to be a party. I've already started writing out subplots! I'll babysit the twins for the rest of my life, I promise. This whole thing is just a misunderstanding. Why won't you guys just listen?

MOM: Piper, we are listening. Your dad and I need to talk. For now, go to your room.

ME (
very dramatic exit with lots of stomping and slamming
doors because I just got INJURED and it wasn't my FAULT and my parents never have time to LISTEN to me and if they take away my birthday party now it will be the end of my LIFE.
)

Liv, I'm so sorry today didn't go how we wanted it to. Stupid Tessa and stupid Danny and their stupid breakup! I can't even think about my parents taking away my party. I would die. And who's going to want to come now? Who is going to like me enough to celebrate my birthday when Danny hates me like he does? Even if I hate him back.

Do I even need a soap opera-y birthday after all the DRAMA of today anyway?

I won't worry about it. I can't fix it now. Deep breaths, that's what you always say to do, right? So . . . tell me what was up with Jordan Goldberg? I think you're right that he's in LEGO love with you. I saw the way he looked at you—just after you gave him that note. Wait . . . why were you giving
him
a note? Weren't you going to give a note to Jackson? I was pretty confused with the bloody nose so maybe I saw it all wrong.

My nose really hurts, so I'm going to go lie down. You were right. LEGOs are cursed.

UGH!

P

Grateful: absorbent tissues, that look on Danny's face, how far you got on that project with Jordan (what was that thing?), Tessa calling me her “friend” when she started fighting with Danny, and lollipops (No reason. I just like lollipops.)

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: Breathe, breathe, breathe

Piper,

Your parents are thinking about canceling the party? And no more clubs?! Take a deep breath. And another one.

Use your calm, hypnotizing skills to change their mind. You can do this. You HAVE to—it'll be the party of the year!

Now. Let me just say this . . .

Jordan Goldberg is a name that I do not want to ever hear again. Yes, there was a note-passing incident that occurred. And no, it wasn't to Jackson as planned. This is what you would define as “a tragedy.”

Here are the bullet points of my now-tragic life.

• I was fully prepared to work on my two-story house alongside Jackson but Mr. Osaka put me over with Jordan Goldberg, despite all my throat-clearing and head-jerking motions toward Jackson, making
it OBVIOUSLY clear that Jackson was my future husband and this would be a pivotal point in our relationship, but NOOOO, I had to sit across from Jordan who was already mid-project.

• That project was not my choice.

• That project was . . . the Death Star.

• THE DEATH STAR, Piper.

• It's the most complicated LEGO project one can undertake; no cute little square house with adorable windows.

• I couldn't even figure out how to hold one of the spaceships right-side up so I got flustered and next thing you know my fist ended up smashing through the panel he'd just finished and HE SCREAMED LIKE HIS HOUSE WAS ON FIRE.

• This explains why absolutely no one else around us would talk to me or even give me eye contact and all I could do was hope and pray that Jackson hadn't heard all our commotion.

• Apparently he didn't hear it because he was too busy working on his farm scene with Dana Huffington.

• I am not a fan of Dana Huffington.

• But you knew this.

• She does that thing where she laughs and then punctuates it with a double-snort, like she's a cartoon character.

• But back to my tragic life . . .

• I figured that I had to make my move and give Jackson the note.

• So when I saw Dana go get a drink of water, I got up, the note stashed in my front pocket, and approached Jackson.

• When I was in front of him, I smiled, crinkled my nose all cute-like, then reached for the note in my pocket.

• But it wasn't in there. It was gone. The note had fallen out next to the Death Star! And guess where it was? In Jordan Goldberg's hands.

• He was reading it and smiling and his face looked flushed and OHNONONO he thinks I wrote the letter for HIM!!!

• It hit me that I never actually wrote Jackson's name on it. I wrote
J
to be all cool and casual. And, as you might have noticed, Jordan's name ALSO starts with
J
. Why couldn't I have had a crush on an Xavier?

• All of a sudden he wouldn't stop talking to me and
shrugging and stuffing his hands in his pockets and then kicking at rocks when he walked me out of the building and then smiling from ear to ear as he opened the car door for me.

• IT WAS A DISASTER.

I don't want to say it, but I have to. I think our lives are over. You got a bloody nose and your birthday might go back to frosted-fruitcake oblivion. I managed to get the wrong boy to fall in love with me and didn't find a single friend.

I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever be normal. It could be that it's just me and you and our dogs at the shelter. Maybe Blinkie and the twins when they are in the mood. You can knit and I can play chess. And that's the best we can hope for in life.

Your move, nerd
.

That's not all that bad, is it?

Don't answer that. It's bad, I know. I promise Trigger will not be the only guest at your party (other than me, but a BFF doesn't really
count as a guest, right? I'm like family—family who listens).

Well, I hope not.

Olivia

Grateful (really? How can I be grateful at a time like this?? But I guess that's the point.):

1. I'm grateful that I didn't get a bloody nose too because I don't think I can take one more After-School Club injury

2. The color blue

3. The color green (am I done yet? Two more . . .)

4. The color turquoise (yes, that's just blue and green)

5. And every letter besides the letter
J

Let me start off with goodish news so I can pull you from the depths of despair.

I can still do some clubs! All is not lost! My mom was going through all my graded schoolwork and found the sheet from spelling club shoved in there.

“You went to Spelling Club?” She might as well have asked if I flew to Mars, that's how shocked her voice sounded.

“Of course.”

“Wow, you're so talented with other things, honey. Like your movies and how you treat others. I didn't know spelling was your thing, though.”

I shrugged. It kind of stung that my mom said that. I don't know why. “It's not. Birthday parties are.”

Mom set down my folder. “Your dad and I talked. We think we might have overreacted a little.”

You'll be so proud, Liv. I didn't roll my eyes or snort. “Yeah?”

“We talked to Danny's parents again. It seems like it was a
bit of a misunderstanding. Danny insisted it wasn't your fault at all.”

Right? Danny-rhymes-with-fanny defended me? Seriously? I mean, it wasn't my fault. Clearly. But I was surprised that he would say anything positive. “So . . . I'm good? I can do clubs too?”

“Well, there still needs to be some sort of punishment. . . .”

“Clubs teach me new things,” I said. “I'm all about learning.”

Maybe I went too far with the “all about” part, but Mom's face got a little flushed, and she started humming. I think she's excited that I'm choosing to sPEll for fUn. Although I hope she doesn't think that I'm going to be good at spelling now.

I wonder if she ever thinks about that anyway? Like if she worries about me not being in all this stuff like Talin or Luke, or is she relieved that I'm not in activities because I would be one more stop on her chauffeur list, and also she would lose me as a babysitter?

Anyway, the agreement is that educational clubs are okay. And the birthday party is O-N. I would say thank you to Danny if I was, you know, talking to him.

Should I talk to him, by the way? I passed him in the hallway today and it was weird. Not the usual kind of weird we had before where he said something rude. This time he
WASN'T rude. I think I miss rude. I understood rude. Yes, he shoved me in LEGO Club, but I think it was an accident and I shoved him back. And he just broke up with his girlfriend and had a bruise on his arm bigger than Da Bruise.

I don't have time to write much because I am sitting by a lot of people and everyone wants to hear the story about Danny and Tessa's breakup. I really want to get this in your locker before class. That was so smart to give each other our combinations so we don't have to keep doing handoffs. And yes, it is fate that your combination is Jackson's birthday. Reversed.

This is who I'm sitting by:

1. Bethany

2. Tessa. Are you okay with me talking to them after the Savannah Swanson Incident? If not, I will stop. Promise.

3. Dana Huffington. I know. She asked to sit by me and I didn't know what to say.

4. Some guy named Brad who is eating hummus chips and if Jordan and Jackson don't work out, he might be your soulmate. Or maybe everyone is eating hummus
chips now. Hey, what IS on your lunch menu now? Did you go back to your favorite foods or are you still Frito-ing it up?

5. Troy Addelson. I've never talked to him in my life. I think he likes Bethany.

OK, more in a bit.

I didn't drop this off in your locker so I can finish this note. Good thing, because we have a sub and she just passed out these medieval-caste-system crossword puzzles.

Someone asked if they're graded and she said, “I think I'm supposed to tell you yes, but they aren't really.” So now we are all just goofing off and I hope this lady doesn't lose her job. Also, I hope she appreciates the effort I put into the bubble letters.

I have to tell you what happened at lunch. Everyone agreed that I was being a good friend when I stepped in on Tessa and Danny's fight.

Tessa said it was unexpected, because Danny has always been so nice to her and he was the perfect boyfriend until that day. I asked her why they even started fighting, and she said Danny told her that the Moving Voices isn't really a good boy band, and I guess Tessa is a huge Moving Voices fan. It seemed like a stupid reason to me to get so mad (especially since they do stink), but I didn't say anything because everyone was talking to me and so excited.

I also wanted to say something about Danny getting me out of trouble with my parents, and the whole Not-Being-Mean-in-the-Hallway thing, but it seemed weird saying that with Tessa around.

So then I also mentioned that my birthday is next month and I
might
have a party, and they started talking like they were all invited already, and like they would actually come. I don't even think I could CAST all of them. It wouldn't be one soap opera episode—I could write a whole season! I need to update my casting sheet. I'm wondering if maybe I want to pull back on the drama a little now. Just to make the party a little, like . . . fun. For the guests. Or actors. Or whatever they're called.

Okay, this poor sub looks like she's going to cry. I'm going to fill out the crossword puzzle just in case.

Also, I had two thoughts.

1. What if I invite Jackson (NOT JORDAN) to my birthday party? Because apparently it's going to be a guy/girl party now. Not guy/girl like we are going to do stupid kissing games, just there will be both guys and girls. And you're a good artist so you can impress him with your skills painting pottery! What a great SCENE that would make. Would it be too over the top to have music playing in the background while you two talk?

2. I really thought hard about clubs, and although I wouldn't mind watching you “play” badminton again, I think the next one we should do, and really commit to, is Chess Club. It's educational, so my mom will keep thinking I'm a well-rounded child who enjoys doing all sorts of activities. And you love chess. I know you said thinking about playing with someone besides your dad gave you achy insides, but you also said you think your dad wants you to beat him in a game. Chess Club would up your skills so you could.

Also, I know I said I thought chess was boring. But that time I got so bored when you tried to teach me was years ago.
I've matured. I'm sure I'll like it since you and I are so alike.

So far, the clubs have been surprisingly fun. Especially LARP. But that's not why we started, right? This is about helping you talk to people. It's about me finding actors! Maybe even actors who could be friends, because I kind of feel like that's what some of these people are turning into. Not that YOU aren't still my best, best friend. The Jackson/Olivia and Piper/Soap Opera Star (I still haven't decided which soap star will be the lucky groom) double wedding is totally going to happen, with red flowers or blue flowers or whatever you want. By the way, can Blinkie be our ring bearer?

3. Oh, and that Souper Saturday is the Saturday before Thanksgiving, only two weeks away. I know it's far, but make sure your mom can drop you off since Luke has a tournament and my mom can't pick you up.

That's it!

Piper
(who has developed a love for exclamation points apparently. Sorry about that)

Grateful: See that list above? I MIGHT HAVE AN INVITE LIST