Time's Up (16 page)

C
harlotte was all ready to go to the Museum of Science with Nick. She had on her coolest jeans, a purple turtleneck sweater, and the comfortable leather boots she'd gotten in Paris. She decided to wear her hair down instead of in braids. In her wallet, she had thirty dollars tucked away for the subway, the movie, lunch, and in case of an emergency.

She looked out her bedroom window at the bright blue sky and suddenly wished her mom were there for her. She slipped on her mother's old jean jacket. The jacket was too big and slouchy for her, but Charlotte didn't care. Wearing it made her feel close to her mother. She wished she could ask her mom if this was a date or not. Either way, though, she was sure her mom would like Nick.

Marty ran up to her, wiggling and shaking his scruffy little body. Charlotte bent over to rub between his ears. “I already took you for a walk, little dude,” she told him.

He looked up at her, begging.

“Oh, you want to come with me! I wish you could go too, Marty.”

He nuzzled in closer and wagged his tail. Marty loved an outing.

“Actually, on second thought, you're the big flirt with your doggie girlfriend, La Fanny. You'd definitely call this whatever-it-is a date! You better stay here.”

The phone was ringing.

“Hi Charlotte. It's Nick.” He sounded kind of anxious, and Charlotte immediately wondered what was wrong. Was he canceling their date…er…non-date?

“Sorry, but I had the time wrong for the show,” Nick went on. “The Planetarium starts at ten thirty and Omni starts at ten o'clock.”

“Can we still get there on time?” Charlotte asked. It would be totally horrible if they missed the show!

“Not if we take the T, but don't worry, we have a ride. We'll pick you up in about ten minutes, okay?”

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't getting stood up after all. “Yep, see you then,” she told him.

When she got off the phone she told her father what Nick had said.

“I wonder how the Montoyas will be able to leave the bakery on a Sunday morning,” Mr. Ramsey pondered. “I'd take you if I didn't have this brunch.”

Charlotte knew he'd planned this brunch with some other Boston University professors over a week ago. It was the only time they could all get together. She smiled and said, “That's okay, Dad. You better make some friends if we're going to stay in Brookline for a while. What article are you writing now?”

“This piece is on Boston and how it's changed over the years.”

Charlotte was relieved. That meant they were staying
in Brookline and not flying off to Switzerland or something. “Can I read it, Dad?”

“Of course you can. I would have had you proof it for me before I sent it out to a couple of magazines if
you
hadn't been so busy this week.”

“Thanks for reminding me. I need to have my book report proofread too. Can you help me with that?”

“You got it.”

“I better look out the window for Nick.”

A few minutes later, Charlotte was thrilled to see Fabiana pull up in the Montoya minivan.

“Nick's older sister is driving us!” she called to her dad. “I'll see you this afternoon—in time for Katani's fund-raiser. Don't forget Miss Pierce is going with us!”

“I didn't forget. Have fun, sweetheart.”

“You, too, Dad.” Charlotte kissed her dad good-bye and ran out the door into the crisp morning air.

Charlotte was grateful that Fabiana acted like she was just picking up a friend instead of like she was picking up her brother's date. The three of them talked about school and how busy they were. Charlotte asked how her leading role in
My Fair Lady
was going and Fabiana asked her about
The Sentinel
. As they were leaving Brookline to get on Storrow Drive, Fabiana put on an ABBA CD. They cruised alongside the Charles River, the sun shining on the icy top with ABBA blasting.

“You know, Charlotte, Nick knows every single line of this album,” Fabiana teased.

“No way!” Nick shouted.

But he couldn't stop himself from singing along. Fabiana and Charlotte laughed.

“Well, if I do,” Nick claimed, “it's only because you play it nonstop!”

They all sang along to “Take a Chance on Me.” Charlotte couldn't help reading in to the lyrics about taking a chance on someone you're crazy about. But then she quickly decided she wasn't going to worry, date or non-date! She was just going to have a good time. Still, she couldn't help thinking how cute Nick looked in his Red Sox long-sleeved T-shirt and down vest.

It definitely broke the ice having Fabiana with them. When they pulled up in front of the museum, Charlotte asked her if she wanted to join them, not wanting the fun to end.

Fabiana glanced at Nick, then said politely, “Thanks, Charlotte, but the Omni shows make me too dizzy. I'd just be sitting there with my head between my knees the whole time.”

Charlotte laughed and thanked her for the ride.

As she and Nick started for the museum, Nick said, “Let's hurry, I like good seats!”

Charlotte raced in with him. They ran past the gift shop and the cafeteria, past the Discovery Center with a line of baby strollers outside. When she saw the line of people waiting in front of the Omni, she asked, “Don't we get our tickets up here, Nick?”

“I already got them,” Nick said. “Online.”

“Oh,” Charlotte answered, trying to hold back her surprise. That was so thoughtful of him. A smile spread over her face as wide as a half moon. “That's really great. Thanks.”

Nick handed in his printed tickets and they walked in to
Africa: The Secret World of the Serengeti
. Once she was sitting down, Charlotte understood how Fabiana got dizzy in here. She felt like she was hanging over a mountainside looking down at all the seats below them. As soon as the
movie started, though, Charlotte forgot all about her lightheadedness. The scenes of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania where she used to live were so spectacular, but it was so odd that it felt like another lifetime that she had been there.

The lush grassland before them suddenly exploded into pounding hooves, showing the annual migration of zebras and wildebeests. Nick and Charlotte jumped in their seats as tens of thousands of hooves stampeded across the plain, shaking the ground like an earthquake. The whole theater seemed to shudder with the force of the animals running. The zebras were a mass of vertical and horizontal stripes, making it difficult to see where each individual zebra began and ended.

“That's awesome,” Nick whispered.

“Zebra stripes are their self-defense. They confuse their predators that way,” Charlotte whispered back. She hoped she didn't sound too much like Betsy Fitzgerald. She was just so excited, she couldn't stop herself as the camera swept over the miles of grassy plains, bush, and woodland that used to be part of her own landscape.

“Did you know that something like 750,000 zebras migrate each year, and about one and a half million wildebeests?” Charlotte whispered again.

Thousands of wildebeests, which were like large antelopes with cow horns and long wispy beards, thundered across the grasslands too.

“I can't believe you actually lived there. I have to visit Africa someday,” Nick whispered back. “Maybe we can go there together,” he told her shyly.

Charlotte's heart skipped a beat, and she smiled at Nick.

From a sky-view, the migration looked like a river flowing across the earth. In some places the animals ran in clusters, and in others they stretched out like ribbons. Charlotte
and Nick watched the swollen rivers the animals had to cross and the snapping, hissing feeding frenzy of jackals, hyenas, and crocodiles.

“Wow,” Nick said in a low voice, “this is way better than those old romantic movies Maeve is always making us watch.”

Charlotte nodded as the screen suddenly turned black with an ominous rain cloud that burst, flowing in thick columns. Charlotte wanted to reach out and grab Nick's hand, but instead she said, “You can't believe the smell of the earth after it pours like that. It's so…pungent. And it falls so hard, only the land right under the rain cloud gets wet.”

Next thing Charlotte knew, the movie was over and the lights were back on. Nick didn't seem to be in any hurry to get out of the theater, so Charlotte stayed put too.

“Where exactly did you live?” Nick asked.

“Just north of the Serengeti. The south is really a dust bowl in the dry season—until it rains, and then everything turns green like magic and the most beautiful yellow flowers grow everywhere and there are these sparkling clear pools of water.”

“Sounds so incredible,” Nick said.

“It's really magical. I kept thinking about my friend Shadya during the movie. I'm going to e-mail her tonight. It's so hard to keep in touch.”

Nick nodded. “You know what? We should plan a trip to visit her when we graduate from high school or something.”

“I bet she would love to see us. She's a very nice girl.”

Not wanting to be the last ones out of the theater, they finally headed out. They heard music coming from the famous Museum of Science musical stairs and bolted in that direction.

“Wildebeest mania!” Nick yelled, running up and down. Each stair chimed a different tone when he stepped on it.

“Sounds more like a hippo!” Charlotte teased, jumping from stair to stair to hear the different tones they would play. “You know, they can run as fast as humans!”

“Charlotte, you know so much, you should write a book about the Serengeti.”

“Well, my dad already did.”

Nick smiled. “Oh, yeah. Hey, how about this?” He bopped up and down as he rapped “Take a Chance on Me.” “Is this how it goes?”

“No, like this.” Charlotte tried to move her feet to the melody of the silly ABBA song while Nick rapped until they both almost collapsed, laughing.

“I'm starving,” Charlotte said when she caught her breath. “Are you?”

“Big-time. Let's grab lunch.”

They raced down the musical stairs, this time with Charlotte in the lead. In the cafeteria they decided on pizza, which Charlotte insisted on paying for, even though Nick took out his wallet.

“No way,” she said. “You got the tickets. I'm getting this.” This way it seemed more even-Steven and not so weird. Anyway, she was having way too much fun for this to be a
date
! First dates were supposed to be awkward and nerve-racking, and Charlotte felt fine. In fact, she felt fantastic. Nick made her laugh, and she could talk to him like a friend. He even liked to talk about books. The date-non-date was perfect.

As they looked out over the partly frozen Charles River with the Prudential Building on one side and the Green Line train on the other, Nick said, “You know, watching that movie makes me want to be a world adventurer.” Pausing between
bites of pizza, he made a flying gesture with his hand. “I mean, I could get on a plane right this minute. I feel like I was meant to travel the world.”

“I know what you mean,” Charlotte agreed enthusiastically.

“Well, I guess I better call Fabiana,” Nick said finally, slurping down his cold drink.

“Before she comes, let's look at the Omni schedule and pick out another movie to see,” Charlotte suggested, suddenly forward. Was Nick having as good a time as she was? She couldn't believe she'd gotten up the nerve to ask him on a date—oops, non-date!

“Great idea,” Nick agreed.

Charlotte slowly let out her breath and brushed her sweaty palms on her pants.

A
s Katani walked along Beacon Street with Kelley and her grandmother toward Think Pink! she couldn't believe that it was only a little over a week ago that she'd read about the contest in
T-Biz.
She smoothed her straight black wool miniskirt and pink cashmere sweater and laughed out loud remembering how she'd thought she could do it all by herself.

“What's so funny?” Mrs. Fields asked.

Katani threw up her hands. “How could I have ever have thought I could knit twenty scarves myself on top of everything else for school and the contest? I must have been crazy!”

“Crazy, silly, Katani,” Kelley hummed. She was carrying Mr. Bear inside a basket Katani had decorated with tiny pink ribbons and a sign that read S
UPPORT
B
REAST
C
ANCER
A
WARE-NESS
W
EEK
.

“I guess I was a little quacked,” Katani teased.

“You're not a duck,” Kelley shouted out, and then she sang, “We're going on a bear hunt, we're gonna catch a big
one. Oh, what a beautiful day.” Katani looked at her grandmother, who raised her eyebrow and gave a small shrug. Both were hoping that Kelley would be able to keep it together for the benefit.

Up ahead, Katani saw Chelsea Briggs videotaping the Think Pink! window display. “I'll meet you there, okay?” Katani asked her grandmother.

“Yes, go on!”

“Quack, quack,” Kelley called after her.

Katani waved over her shoulder to her sister and ran the rest of the way. Think Pink! looked even pinker than ever with glowing pink globe lights strung around the windows. Ms. Pink had wrapped Katani's scarves around snow people made of big Styrofoam balls, sparkling with pink glitter. A snow person wore a sign in the center of the display that said Support BREAST CANCER AWARENESS WEEK, with the date and time of the fund-raiser. Pink glitter snowflakes floated around the snow people and carpeted the ground. There were even adorable little snow people wearing Kelley's scarves!

“It looks so pinkalicious, doesn't it?” Katani exclaimed to Chelsea.

Chelsea put her camera on pause and agreed, “It really does.”

“Thanks for taping the event, Chels. I'm really grateful.”

“I'm glad to. Plus, it's good practice.”

“Let's go in. I have to see everything,” Katani enthused. “You look so nice, by the way.”

Chelsea had on a white lambswool sweater, black jeans, and funky suede boots.

“Oh, thanks.” Chelsea smiled. “My mom took me shopping.”

The girls walked inside. More glittering snowflakes hung from the pink chandeliers above them. Katani's scarves were folded in boxes lined with pink tissue paper on the most prominent table in the store. Ms. Pink came to greet them.

“Everything looks even more scrumptiously pink than usual,” Katani complimented her. “What can I do to help?”

Ms. Pink held a box of ribbon-shaped sugar cookies coated with pink icing. “You could arrange these on platters. They're donated from Party Favors. Aren't they just pink cookie perfection?”

As Mrs. Fields and Kelley walked in, Kelley announced, “I want to live here!” She quoted a sign in front of an apartment complex by the expressway in Boston. “If you lived here, you'd be home already! You'd be home already…you'd be home already!”

“I do feel like I live here!” Ms. Pink laughed. “Now, Kelley, you can move in right behind the counter with your grandmother for today. I want you to collect donations for the mini-scarves. Doesn't your bear look adorable!”

Chelsea started shooting video again as Kelley marched over to the counter. Chelsea zoomed in on a lovely hand-woven basket supplied by a local Cancer Support Society Crafts Program. Inside there were brochures about breast cancer prevention, and tiny pink ribbon pins. Kelley set Mr. Bear, who was modeling his hat and scarf on the counter next to the craft basket.

“Did you know that Mr. Bear and I are here to save lives?” Kelley spoke out. Last night she had listened to Katani practicing the talk she was giving today.

“That's right,” Ms. Pink agreed wholeheartedly. “That's what we're all here for.”

Mrs. Fields gave Kelley her first donation, which Kelley plunked into the tin, clapping proudly. Ms. Pink poured cups of pink lemonade just as the Knitwits walked in with Ethel Weiss. Right behind them were Maeve and her father. Maeve looked stunning in a scoop-neck black and pink striped knit dress and Katani's scarf wrapped loosely around her neck.

“You look lovely today, Maeve!” Kelley shouted. “Mr. Bear looks pink and lovely today too.” Before Maeve could respond, Kelley was out on the floor passing her tin for donations. The Knitwits were happy to oblige. As Delilah dropped ten dollars into the tin she informed Kelley that she was doing a “terrific job.”

Isabel, Avery, and Mrs. Madden arrived with a dozen pink roses for Katani. Ms. Pink gave Katani a vase, and they set the beautiful flowers on the table with Katani's scarves.

“The scarves look awesome, Katani,” Isabel complimented her, gently touching the soft, pink yarn.

“Yeah, so where are these Knitwits we've heard so much about?” Avery blurted.

“Avery!” Isabel whispered sharply, elbowing her clueless friend in the ribs.

“Ouch!” Avery complained. “What was that for?”

Katani was slowly piecing it together. “Wait a minute,” she said. “How do you guys know about the Knitwits?”

“Well, uhh…” Isabel stalled, desperately trying to think of a way to cover for Maeve.

“Maeve told us,” Avery interrupted bluntly, turning to check out the table with refreshments. “Hey, those cookies look awesome! Be right back,” she called over her shoulder, dashing away into the crowd.

“Maeve told you?” Katani repeated, feeling a little betrayed. Katani was happy for everyone to know all about the Knitwits
now
, but back when Maeve came up with the idea, Katani hadn't wanted anyone to know she couldn't do it all on her own. Was she wrong to have trusted Maeve with her secret?

“She only told us because we were all so worried about you, Katani,” Isabel explained. Katani nodded and watched Maeve modeling the scarf. Seeing her chatting away happily with the other guests, Katani instantly forgave her friend. It was just too hard to stay mad at bright, bubbly Maeve! Besides, Katani also realized that it was wrong of her to expect Maeve to keep secrets from the BSG.
From now on, no more secrets among friends…unless it is a surprise birthday party,
Katani promised herself.

“It's no big deal,” Katani reassured Isabel with a smile. “Avery's right. Let's try those cookies!”

Katani looked up to see that Mr. Ramsey, Charlotte, and Miss Pierce had just arrived when everything suddenly went dark and she felt a pair of hand over her eyes. A familiar voice from behind her asked, “Guess who?”

Katani spun around. “Candice! You came all the way home for this?”

“I wouldn't have missed it for the world, little sis. Those scarves look so cool. No wonder you were so crazy busy!” Candice hugged Katani. “But you did it, girl!”

“With a little help from my my friends,” Katani gestured to Maeve and the Knitwits.

Support for Katani and Ms. Pink kept pouring through the doors. There were friends of Ms. Pink, store regulars, owners of other nearby stores, and random people passing by the party. Ms. Rodriguez even showed up. Betsy Fitzgerald walked
right up to Katani and gave her a warm congratulations, and then bought a scarf for her mother's bulldog. Katani decided to let go of her competitive feelings—at least for the time being.

Just when Katani thought there wasn't room for anyone else in the store, the mayor of Boston walked through the doors! “Katani!” Maeve squeaked in her ear. “This is your big break!” Before Katani knew it, Ms. Pink was introducing the mayor to her.

“Here's the young entrepreneur responsible for all the scarves at our fund-raiser. Mr. Mayor, Katani Summers.”

Patrice took out her digital camera as Katani and the mayor shook hands. At the same time, Chelsea moved in, capturing the moment on her video camera. The mayor's assistant draped one of Katani's scarves over the mayor's arm.

“You've got quite a business going,” the mayor said.

“I'm planning to create a fashion design company called Kgirl,” Katani told him proudly.

“I certainly have no doubts it'll be a huge success. You've done fine work, Katooni.” The mayor threw the scarf around his neck. “I'll take this one for my wife.”

“Yay, Katooni!” clapped an irreverent Avery with a big grin.

Katani almost lost it watching Avery, but she managed to blurt out a “thank you.” She was relieved when Patrice stepped toward them.

“Excuse me, may I take a picture, Mr. Mayor? Katooni is my younger sister,” Patrice added with a mischievous grin. Katani wanted to kill her.

Side by side, Katani and the mayor smiled at Patrice, who clicked away until a swarm of people who were waiting to speak to the mayor edged in. Before he turned to them, he put his hand on Katani's arm and said, “Congratulations, a
job well done.” Thank goodness he did not say “Katooni” one more time. If he had, she would have completely lost it.

“Thank you very much. It was nice to meet you,” Katani said, then stuck out her hand and smiled at the mayor of Boston. She watched the crowd surround him as Ms. Pink escorted him around the store.

“Wow, the mayor is wearing your scarf!” Patrice showed Katani the pictures. “Aren't they great? You should email these to
T-Biz!
for the contest.”

“Don't you think it's too late?”

“No, and it could really help your chances of winning. And while you're at it, send the pictures to the
Globe
, too. Make sure you spell your name right,” she said, laughing.

“All right, let's do it as soon as we get home,” Katani agreed, refusing to take her sister's bait.

Patrice gave Katani a high five.

Then Candice joined them. “You rock, Kgirl!”

“I should have told the mayor what a good job
he
was doing,” Katani said with sudden embarrassment.

“I always think of everything I should have said a few minutes after the fact,” Candice sympathized. “If the mayor came up to me, I'd probably faint. Don't worry, you were fabulous!”

Katani pointed to Kelley. “I'm not the only star.”

The mayor was now shaking hands with Mrs. Fields and Kelley. The room grew quiet for a moment, and they heard Kelley say, “This is Mr. Bear.”

The mayor shook Mr. Bear's hand and congratulated Kelley for all her hard work. A few cameras snapped. Katani was proud of Kelley. After all, they
were
in this together.

Just as Katani was about to check on the scarf display, a woman with soft brown eyes and hair pulled back in a tight ponytail approached her, introducing herself as a
representative from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

“I just love your scarves,” she said. “The beads are such a charming touch. The colors are perfect for our cause,” the woman gushed. “I thought you might be interested in knitting scarves to sell on our online charity site. Like this fund-raiser, a portion of the proceeds will go to breast cancer research and treatment.”

“Really?” Katani couldn't believe her ears.

“Here's my card. You can call or e-mail me at your convenience.”

“Okay! Thank you so much.”
This time around
, Katani resolved,
I'll consult with my new “board of advisers”—Mom, Dad, Grandma Ruby, Ms. Pink, Maeve, and Kelley—way earlier in the game.

Charlotte, Isabel, and Avery came up and handed Katani a cup of lemonade. They toasted, “To Katani and this amazing party! You pulled it off!”

“I'm really sorry, you guys,” Katani said, sipping her drink. “I feel like I haven't seen my best friends in so long, except for Maeve.”

They glanced over at model Maeve standing behind the scarf table, turning side to side with her hands on her hips. The pink lights shone on her hair, making it shine a vibrant pink too.

“Look, Katani, your scarves are almost gone!” Isabel pointed to the display table where there were only a few boxes left.

The girls looked around the room, glowing pink and full of people talking, laughing, and toasting cups of lemonade. Chelsea was zooming her camera in on Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Taylor browsing through the selection of pink books, both looking kind of uncomfortable surrounded by all the
pink-ness. Betsy and Ms. R were helping themselves to the pink-ribbon cookies.

“Betsy's probably talking to Ms. R about her book report,” Avery quipped.

“I should be talking to her about mine,” Katani replied. “I haven't even started yet!”

“I guess you've been just a tiny bit busy, Katooni,” joked Avery.

“And now my time's almost up,” Katani said calmly as she yanked Avery's ponytail. “But I really learned the hard way that I need to lean on people sometimes, as my mom put it. She says that's what family and friends are for.” Then Katani turned to Charlotte. “I didn't even ask how your date with Nick was.”

Charlotte giggled. “Well, I still have no idea if it actually was a date, but we had so much fun. We both felt like we were really in Africa.” Charlotte felt her cheeks go hot when she realized Chelsea had come out of nowhere and was videotaping the BSG. She tried to hide behind her lemonade cup as the others waved to Chelsea.

“We better save this footage for the day Katani is rich and famous,” Chelsea told them, “to remind her of her roots!”

They all laughed.

“Details about you-know-what later,” Katani told Charlotte. “Right now I better check on how Kelley and my grandma are doing.”

Katani whirled around and ran right smack into her friend Marky from High Hopes. “Marky, I'm sorry!” she exclaimed.