The Pages Between Us (12 page)

You're right—I should go to a club where I can learn something, a skill. Just educational clubs from now on.

Let's do this, Chess Club. It's possible it'll be even better than watching that British guy on YouTube who teaches chess, and I'll finally figure out a way to beat my dad. And surprise him. Impress him, maybe.

I'd like that.

Okay, social-status-update alert: today after third period I was getting a sip of water over in the math wing, and a bunch of kids were crowded around Troy Addelson's locker. There were so many of them and I couldn't tell who was talking, but the conversation basically went something like this:

—Do we have math next?

—Yes. Oh, did you guys hear about that Piper girl having some huge birthday party?

—Ohmygosh, yes! I totally want to go.

—Yeah, totally!

—Do we need to take our math book to class?

—Troy, yes!

—And that Piper girl seems pretty cool. How did we not know her before?

—I want to get invited. How do I get invited?

—And a pencil?

—TROY!!!

—Find a way to get me invited to that party—I have to go!

Piper, seriously. That mob of kids talked about you almost the entire time if you subtract the moments where Troy Addelson had no idea how to be prepared for class. It was like when your dad was in that Mr. Brake commercial. But bigger.

This is amazing, right? It doesn't surprise me, really. You definitely have this people-attractant thing about you, and it has nothing to do with perfume. It's just YOU. And I know that you've always said in the past that you were happy with it just being me and you. Two peas, one pod—all that stuff.

But Piper . . . they were saying THE NICEST things about you. And maybe someday all your people skills will rub off on me, and someone (probably not a mob) will say nice things about me.

And I'm okay if it's the girls from your church class. At least I think I am. Maybe I could
try
to be okay with it?
Sometimes I'm not sure
what
to be okay with.

When we get to Chess Club, I'm going to stick by your side. I'm going to learn some new things hopefully. And I'm going to stop pressuring myself to find new friends and a husband for the double wedding and eternal happiness all in one afternoon. I'll get there eventually.

The fact that I'm saying all these things reminds me how lucky I am to have you for a best friend. You always manage to put all the right words together to make me look on the bright side of life.

I hope I can do the same for you.

Which is why I have come up with a great idea . . . it involves me, you, our notebook, and a short bus ride.

Meet me at the tide pool after school. And make sure to bring the notebook!

With good secret surprise excitement,

Olivia

Grateful for:

1. That I've gotten my locker combination right on the first try for the ENTIRE day (I remember the numbers but there are so many twists and turns required!)

2. Friendly mobs

3. Us joining Chess Club

4. Going to Souper Saturday with you (so! much! togetherness!)

5. And the piece of homemade cornbread that Mom stashed in my lunch

Here we are at the first annual “Blessing of This Awesome Notebook,” where we will use this holy tide-pool water to bless this book. By the way, this is an awesome idea, Liv. What's a more sacred setting than the ocean? And the heart-shaped rock we found last summer is still here. It's a sign! We should've done it sooner.

Is it weird we're writing all of this down and not talking to each other?

Not weird. Genius. And it's what the notebook would want us to do. Think of the notebook, Liv.

Sorry. I will only consider the feelings of this not-alive object from now on.

Thank you. The ceremony has begun. All rise.

Rise?

You said I could be Master of Ceremonies. Hold on . . . let me get into character. [pause] Here ye! Here ye! Let it be known that on this day, we besmeech or
besmirk—oh, wait. I don't know the word. Is it decide?

Maybe less British and more California-ish?

You always know how to make me smile. Hold on. Gotta get into the character of ME. [pause] Piper & Olivia agree to use this notebook to share our deepest thoughts. Our hopes, our dreams.

And our secrets.

Oh, and notes to boys!

Of course. And let's agree that we—the Fearsome Twosome—will always have this heart-shaped rock by the tide pools for our sacred meeting place. Remind me next time that we should only come right after low tide. And we should probably keep in mind that pelicans love to fly right over this spot and how they love to aim their droppings at tourists. There's no way they can tell we're locals—

All right, all right, Chatty Chatterson. Let's finish
the ceremony. Is it cool if I sprinkle the book with holy sand?

Very cool.

Hands in—this book is our protected sacred notebook. And I promise that we will always stay best friends. Even though we have agreed to expand our horizons and make new friends, it will NEVER come between us. I PROMISE.

No one will ever come between us. I PROMISE.

Meeting adjoined!

Adjourned.

Eeek! The pelicans are coming!

I have three words for you: You. Were. Right.

That was such a blast. From the “Chess Is the Best” song they all sing at the beginning, to the stretches they use to warm up (my personal favorite was the one where we contorted our body to look like the knight), to the handshaking ritual before we sit down, to the GAME ITSELF, to my partner who was Ellie Thompson and I know we've never talked to her before because she does that thing where she won't ever look at you and always appears to be staring at a spot on the floor, but I found out that she is awesome, and holy cow that was all one sentence!

Ellie and I played and talked and played and talked and she told me about how she learned chess from her older brother. But he just moved off to college and now she feels weird about playing with anyone else and, Piper, IT'S LIKE WE'RE TWINS! She totally understood how I felt about only playing it with my dad. And we even talked about how our chess moves are like trying to get through life in middle
school—always making one move at a time, but thinking three steps ahead so we don't get humiliated. We laughed and talked some more.

And then Ellie promised to come sit with me at lunch. Like the way friends do. She promised to help me get better at chess and who knows . . . maybe I'll win that gift certificate to Chevy's! Dad loves those nachos—there's no way he could resist.

A couple of times I leaned over to get your attention—give you a thumbs-up and stuff. But it looked like something was in your eye? You kept rubbing at it. And then one time I noticed you were just staring at the ceiling. I do that too when I'm trying to figure out my next chess move. Was Steve Polaski good? He's the captain; he must be. I hope he taught you a few things. If you have any problems with the rules, let me know. Chess is challenging, but not impossible. I mean, I learned when I was three. And I taught Blinkie. Sort of.

Wow. Today was so much fun, right? Who knew that I'd love it this much!

Well, you did actually. Because you are the smartest girl I know.

Your forever Chess Buddy,

Olivia

Grateful:

1. Chess tournaments

2. Gift certificates to Chevy's

3. Knight stretches

4. Meeting Ellie Thompson

5. And educational clubs!

Yeah. Chess club. I'm glad you liked it. I knew if you just did something that you loved, you'd feel comfortable and relax a little and be yourself. Because
yourself
is a good thing. Ellie seemed really nice and funny and that's so cool that you hit it off. Ms. Benson is going to be so lonely and unorganized now at lunch without you there to hang her motivational posters.

I am maybe a little confused how it all works. Like in checkers, you can only go on the red squares, so when you have pieces on ALL the squares, it seems crowded. And I had to keep counting the spots I could move with that horsey piece. I can go three over and two up, right? Something like that. I was really good with the regular pawns, because those ones you just move forward, but then Steve knocked those out in like two seconds. I'm sure he was doing that thing you said you do at school—planning his third move while he was doing his first move. I'm not sure my brain can do that. Why do you think this is fun again?

Ick. Steve Polaski. He was such a know-it-all. Every time
I tried to move a piece, he would suck in his breath like I was about to push a button to detonate a bomb.

“You can't move that there.”

“Why not?”

“Because that's the rule.”

“Well, sometimes when I play Monopoly with my family, we change the rules to make the game go faster.”

Steve is oily and clears his throat too much like Randall Menard in
Love and Deception
. And you know how I feel about Randall.

Steve smirked. “I'm going to beat you in three moves. Don't worry about this going faster.”

I slid the bishop diagonally, LIKE I'M SUPPOSED TO, and then he knocked it down with . . . seriously, what are those horsey things called again? “Steve, rules are for borings.”

“Just because I'm good at chess doesn't make me boring. Don't stereotype.”

Olivia, I don't want to sound stupid, but what does stereotype mean again? I would have asked Steve, but I think that would have made him more smug.

“I also play rugby, saxophone, and design video games,” he said. “I'm very well-rounded.”

“That's great, Steve. I . . . make videos. And babysit. And knit. And volunteer at the animal shelter. And I'm in Spelling
Club and LARP Club and . . . I'm thinking about badminton.” So that was a stretch. But he was bugging me.

“Cool. Maybe you should go to one of those clubs now.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Checkmate.”

“Excuse me?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I just won, Piper. You know, there are some cookies in the back. If you want to go eat, I can stay here and play against myself.”

That was probably the point where I got something in my eye. I'm pretty sure he was calling me stupid. Which hurt. He is probably one of those guys who would have laughed at me when I was having a hard time in reading class. Guess who is NOT going on my birthday invite list, even if he is the perfect guy to play Randall.

But it's cool. We aren't going to love everything an equal amount. Besides, it's only like once a week, right? I'll pick it up soon. I'm a Sagittarius and we don't quit.

At least not right away. And I'm not even sure about my zodiac knowledge because they killed off the psychic on
Love and Deception
last week anyway. Maybe I should start learning about life and the news from other sources, right?

But I am so so so happy that you met Ellie. I am so happy you are having fun. I want you to know that. When something
good happens to your best friend, it's almost like it's happening to you. Or me. Gah, always mixing up when to say you and me.

Oh, and hey, I'm glad we can finally do LARP together this week! Did you want to just stick to the clubs we've already done or try any other new ones? Sea Club looks fun. Love me some new educational activities. (And friends!)

Piper

Grateful: Those cookies in the back, everyone wants to come to my party!!, you having fun, imagining myself sticking a pawn up Steve's nose, and the theory of relativity (because that's something that SMART people like me enjoy, even if I don't know what it means yet)