Between Us (3 page)

“Bails and I have English and math together,” Olivia said. “And the same lunch.”

Hannah pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and spread it on the table. “I printed it out from an email. They're giving me the regular copy tomorrow.”

“We're in the same homeroom!” Bailey exclaimed. “Cool! And you're in math with me and Olivia. And we all have the same lunch.”

“And the two of us are in history together,” Olivia said. “Our friend Vivi is in that class. You'll like her. Oh, and I think Tess might be in your English class. I'm pretty sure she has it third period.”

“We have science together too, and drama and track,” Bailey added. “Wow, we chose the same electives. Think acting and running run in the family?” She laughed.

“My mom talked to the principal and got her to put me in the same electives as you,” Hannah answered. “She tried to get me in all the same classes, since I'm new and everything, but it didn't work out. At least we
have four, though.” She smiled at Olivia. “And one with you.”

“Your mom wanted you to be in
all
the same classes as Bailey?” Olivia asked. Bailey could tell Oh thought that was a little weird.

“I'm glad you got in so many of the same ones,” Bailey told Hannah. It would be fun. She and Hannah could study together, and it would be even easier for Bailey to introduce Hannah to everyone with them being in the same classes.

“So where to next?” Olivia asked. She had finished her soda and was crunching on some of the ice.

“Where do you want to go, Hannah? Claire's? Bookstore? There's a fun arcade.” Bailey threw out suggestions.

“Mmmm. I don't know,” Hannah said. “Wherever you want.”

“This is your first time at the mall. We want to go where you want to go,” Olivia protested.

“I guess I just don't know what's here,” Hannah answered.

Even though Bailey had just told her three things.

“They have pretty much everything,” Bailey said. “What are you in the mood for? Shoes? Music? Frozen
yogurt? There's a photo booth where you can make goofy pictures.”

Hannah just gave a little shrug. Bailey gave Olivia a hopeless look.

“I know!” Olivia said. “We should shop for a scarf for Hannah. Or do you have a bunch already?”

“I have one I usually wear with my coat when it's cold,” Hannah answered.

“You're going to need at least one more. Everybody at school, all the girls anyway, wears scarves. Bailey noticed when we did our pre-middle-school reconnaissance.”

“What?” Hannah asked.

“Bailey came up with the idea to come here and watch what all the older kids were wearing, so we'd know what to wear the first day,” Olivia explained. “In case you haven't noticed, Bailey is very organized. She has a plan for everything.”

“That was a good idea,” Hannah told Bailey.

Bailey grinned. “Thanks,” she said. “It turns out it's partly because of the dress code. You're not supposed to wear shirts that go more than two and a half inches below your collarbone. So no V-necks. But if you wear a scarf that covers up that bare area, it's okay. Even when girls are wearing shirts that go high enough, a lot
of them wear scarves anyway. It's a thing.”

“It's so great to have someone to tell me this stuff. I never have before. There were kids at the bases, but I didn't get to know them right away, so I had to figure out everything by myself.” Hannah answered. “Thanks so much.”

“You're welcome,” Bailey said. It felt good to help out her cousin.

“There's a kiosk that sells really cute ones,” Olivia said. She looked over at Hannah. “Want us to show you?”

“Absolutely!” Hannah exclaimed. She sounded pretty cheerful again. Bailey's welcome plan must be working.
Yay!

Olivia led the way to the kiosk. “I've got one kind of like this,” she said, fingering an infinity scarf with a loose weave. The color shifted from pale blue to pale green and back. “I love how soft it is.”

The teen girl working at the kiosk smiled at her. “I remember you. And your friend.” She nodded at Bailey. “I have an excellent memory for customers. You bought . . .” She squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment, then opened them and pointed at a bright yellow scarf with turquoise polka dots.

“Right!” Bailey told her. “Polka dots are kind of
my thing.” She gestured toward her sneakers. Their shoelaces had polka dots in a rainbow of colors. Then she waved her hands so the girl could see her polka-dotted nails.

“I'm a polka dot person too.” Hannah held up her hand, so Bailey slapped her a high five. Then Hannah slowly circled the cart, looking at each scarf. “I'm going to get this one!” she announced.

The scarf was a mirror image of Bailey's—turquoise with bright yellow polka dots. Bailey grinned. She and Hannah both liked polka dots. It wasn't a huge thing, but it was a start. Maybe she and her cousin would end up being amazing friends.

1.
    
Find something good in what they do—and praise them.

2.
    
Take charge of what you do as a team.

3.
    
Don't let their performance shake your confidence.

4.
    
Respond to what your partner is doing.

5.
    
Have fun with it.

6.
    
Relax!!!

As Bailey walked toward the cafeteria Monday morning, she texted Hannah a reminder of where Bailey and her friends would be sitting. She and Hannah were in a bunch of classes together, but not the one right before lunch.

Hannah was already sitting with Olivia and Vivi when Bailey walked in. Bailey gave her a big smile and
a wave, then got in the lunch line. She'd brown-bagged it, so all she had to do was grab a drink. She picked out an orange juice, paid, then hurried over to the table. “You met Vivi already. Great,” she said.

“We were just in history together. Olivia too,” Hannah said. “Thanks for putting the pictures in my locker. I recognized Vivi right away.”

“You're welcome,” Bailey answered. She could tell Hannah really appreciated it. And Hannah had been totally thrilled when she saw the way Bailey and the others had decorated her locker. It was so sweet how excited she'd gotten.

Bailey's eyes snagged on Hannah's fingers as Hannah raised her sandwich to her mouth. Hannah had done her nails in polka dots, in addition to wearing her new polka-dotted scarf. They really were soul sisters! Bailey painted polka dots on her nails. It was her signature look.

“It's so cute the way you did your nails!” she said. Hannah had painted the tips of her nails white with black dots, then she'd done a strip of deep rose with a tiny black bow glued on.

“I want those bows!” Vivi cried.

“I saw some online and I decided to try making them. I have a bunch. I'll bring them tomorrow, and
you can all pick some,” Hannah volunteered.

Bailey thought of something she wanted to ask. “Hannah, how did you like Mr. Moya? I have him too, right before your class. He cracks me up.”

“Me too!” Hannah exclaimed. “He's so funny. Today he told this joke about the Americans licking the British because of the Stamp Act.”

“He told us that too,” Bailey said. “Insanely corny.”

“Well, yeah, that one actually wasn't so good,” Hannah answered quickly.

“Which is what made it so hilarious.” Bailey pulled her sandwich out of her lunch bag.

“Right, so bad it was good!” Hannah spoke so quickly her words almost smashed into each other.

“This is Mr. Moya after one of his jokes,” Vivi said. She held up a sketch she'd done on a napkin that showed the teacher laughing so hard he was crying.

“No matter what anyone else thinks,
he
loves his jokes,” Olivia added.

“They had pizza. I'm stoked,” Tess said as she set down her tray.

“School pizza doesn't even taste like pizza, though,” Olivia complained.

“That's your problem. You expect it to taste like pizza. If you don't expect it to taste like pizza and just
appreciate it on its own, it's yummy,” Bailey said.

“So yummy,” Hannah agreed.

“You haven't even tried it yet,” Vivi said. “I'm with Olivia. It's gross.”

Vivi was right. Hannah hadn't had their school pizza. How'd she know if it was good or not?

“It's just that it looks like the same pizza we had at a couple of my schools,” Hannah explained. “That same thick crust that's almost like bread.”

“Here, taste it and see if it's the same.” Tess tore off a corner and passed it to Hannah.

Hannah took a little bite, then took a long swallow of her milk. “Even yummier than at the other schools,” she pronounced. But Bailey noticed she didn't eat the rest of the little piece. She set it in the far corner of her tray.

Bailey's phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw that Olivia had sent her a text from across the table.

how does it feel having a clone?

w?
Bailey texted back, holding the phone under the table.

yer cuz is dressed like you. sez she likes everything you like.

Bailey glanced over at Oh and shrugged.
cause I'm fab!
She texted back.

Olivia smiled. A second later, a new text from her showed up.

yep. even i want to be u. ;)

“We have a new student in our class,” Ms. Healy announced that afternoon. “Hannah Sullivan.” She gestured towards Hannah. “Why don't you tell us a little about yourself, Hannah?”

“Bailey Broadwell is my cousin.” She gave Bailey a big smile, and Bailey smiled back. “What else? Um . . .” Hannah's eyes flicked back and forth, like she might see some interesting fact about herself written on one of the posters hanging on the walls.

“Hannah's lived all over, even in Brazil and Japan and England,” Bailey chimed in.

“Cool,” said a girl Bailey hadn't met yet.

Hannah looked relieved. “I'm looking forward to living here.”

“It sounds like you'll have a lot of great experiences to draw on in your acting,” Ms. Healy told Hannah. “All right, today we're going to do some exercises that will help you pay attention to the other actors you're
working with. Listening is as important as saying lines. You need to be really aware of the other people in a scene with you. Everybody grab a partner.”

Bailey looked over at Penelope. They'd been partners last week and rocked it. Penelope pointed to herself, then to Bailey, and smiled. But before Bailey could even stand up, Hannah had dragged her desk over next to Bailey's.

“What do you think we're going to have to do? Are we going to have to do something in front of everyone? That makes me kind of nervous. Even introducing myself I got all embarrassed,” Hannah said. “Thanks for helping me out.”

“Sure,” Bailey answered. Hannah didn't like the idea of doing something in front of other people? Why did Hannah's mom have to sign her up for drama?

Bailey remembered the answer a second later. Hannah's mom had signed her up for drama because she knew that was one of the electives Bailey was in. Bailey had assumed Hannah was at least sort of interested in it herself, though. But now it seemed like she was terrified of the idea of performing.

Bailey leaned close to Hannah. “Don't be nervous. We'll be doing everything together.”

“First we're going to do the mirroring warm-up.
Bailey, you can explain it to Hannah,” Ms. Healy said. “Go until I say switch.”

“Just do everything I do,” Bailey said. She stood up. So did Hannah. She raised her arm. So did Hannah. She clapped her hands. So did Hannah. She kicked out her leg. So did Hannah. She opened her mouth as wide as it would go. So did Hannah. She pressed her hands against the sides of her head and pretended to howl in pain. So did Hannah. Hannah was really good at the mirroring game!

“Okay, switch,” Ms. Healy called.

Bailey looked at Hannah, waiting for her to move, but she just stood there with her arms at her sides, both feet planted on the floor. “Do anything. Doesn't matter what,” Bailey finally whispered.

“I can't think of anything,” Hannah whispered back.

Bailey made her mouth move along with Hannah's. Hannah raised her hand. Bailey was relieved. She raised her hand. Hannah clapped her hands. Bailey clapped along with her. Hannah kicked out her leg.

As Bailey imitated the motion, she realized that Hannah was doing everything Bailey had done when Bailey was the leader.
Wow.
She was even more nervous than Bailey had realized. She couldn't even think of new actions to try.

Hannah stretched her mouth open as wide as it would go, continuing to do exactly what Bailey had done. “All right, now we're going to do a little improv scene,” Ms. Healy announced. “Stay in your teams.”

Bailey glanced over at Penelope. It would be so much more fun to be her partner. But it was good she was paired up with Hannah, since it was probably making her less anxious.

“I'm going to give each team a scene to improvise,” Ms. Healy explained. “There's a twist, though. In the scene, you'll both be aliens and you'll speak an alien language. Geep! Gloop adoop ab stog. Like that.”

Everybody laughed, except Hannah, who looked like she was getting seasick or something.

“When you do your scene, the rest of us will try to guess what you're doing. You can use gestures, and of course facial expressions and different tones of voice.” Ms. Healy began passing around folded slips of colored paper.

Bailey peered over Hannah's shoulder when she opened theirs. It said:
One of you is lost. The other is giving directions.

“Cool. Which one do you want to be?” Bailey asked.

“Doesn't matter,” Hannah said. Bailey wasn't sure,
but she thought Hannah's voice had trembled a little. “You pick.”

“You be lost,” Bailey said. She thought the lost character might have to talk a little less. Plus it wouldn't matter if Hannah looked sort of scared. It made sense for someone who was really lost to look scared, especially if it was late at night or something.

“I don't know how to make up a language,” Hannah confessed.

“Just make sounds, like Ms. Healy did,” Bailey said. “It doesn't matter what they sound like. All you have to do is make your voice go up at the end when you're asking a question. And if you're getting upset, you could talk louder and faster. Try it. Try telling me you're lost and you need directions home.”

“Beep, beep, beep beep, beep, beep,” Hannah said. Each word came out the same. And not just because each word was “beep” either. None of them was louder or softer, and Hannah's face stayed expressionless the whole time.

“Good,” Bailey said. “I liked the beeps.” She wanted to encourage Hannah. She didn't think Hannah should have signed up for the class just so she'd know somebody in it. But Hannah was here now, and she looked like she had a massive case of stage fright. Bailey wanted
to help her out. “Remember how Ms. Healy said we could use gestures and facial expressions? How about if you try it again and do that? And try to make your voice go up at the end of the question when you're asking how to get home. Oh, and maybe try a few words that aren't ‘beep.'”

Hannah nodded, then swallowed hard and began. “Eeep beep.” She twisted her lips into something that looked like a frown. “Feep fap bleep wap?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Great. You got in some fun alien words. Your voice went up this time.” It had gone up a little, although Bailey wasn't sure anyone who didn't know it was supposed to go up would have noticed. “Now—”

Ms. Healy clapped. “Okay, time's up. Which team wants to go first?”

Penelope and her partner, Allison, who had gone to Bailey's elementary school, both raised their hands. Ms. Healy smiled at them. “Come on up to the front. When you think you know what they're talking about, call it out,” she told the rest of the class.

Penelope and Allison moved all the way to one side of the room. Then they began to tiptoe across, raising their knees high and pointing their toes. It was like goofy cartoon characters trying to be super sneaky.
Bailey giggled. So did a bunch of other kids.

They stopped, then looked to the left and then to the right. Penelope whispered something to Allison in alien gleeps and gloops. Penelope pretended to open a bag and take something out. She made a twisting motion. Then pulled her arm back. Bailey thought she'd just opened a door.

Penelope crept forward, pretended to reach for something, and put it in a bag. Allison tripped. Penelope gave a “kwerp!” of alarm, then a string of words that sounded like angry scolding.

Allison pressed her hands over her mouth, mumbling what sounded like an apology. Then she pretended to reach for something.

“Burglars!” someone cried out.

“You got it!” Allison answered. She and Penelope gave a bow.

“Great!” Ms. Hardy told them. “I liked how you gave your words emotion. Nice job. Who's next?”

Bailey raised her hand. Hannah tried to pull it back down. “It'll be better to get it over with,” Bailey whispered, and Hannah let go.

“Okay, let's get the cousins up here,” Ms. Healy said.

The cousins. Bailey liked that. Her grandmother always told stories about all the things she and her
cousins did together, but Bailey had never had a relative her age living nearby. Still, she wished Hannah had skipped signing up for drama, since she clearly hated it.

Bailey and Hannah walked to the front of the room. Bailey turned to Hannah and waited for her to begin. She didn't say anything. Bailey waited a beat. Hannah still didn't say anything.

“Ilp tor oop ab yanyan?” Bailey put her hand on Hannah's arm and tried to look concerned. She could feel Hannah's arm trembling.

Hannah gulped but managed to make a few beeps. Bailey launched into what she hoped would look like intricate directions, pointing here, pointing there, squeaking and hooting and honking out words.

Her cousin blinked at her. Bailey tried to make the same gestures and say the same words again, like she was repeating the directions.

Hannah made a few more soft beeps, her face blank, her hands twisted together in front of her. Bailey decided she had to end the scene before Hannah had a full-on panic attack. She tugged Hannah forward, explaining to her in alien speak that she was going to take her home.

“Who wants to take a guess about what was
happening between our two aliens?” Ms. Healy asked.

There was a long, long silence.

“It's a challenging exercise,” Ms. Healy said. “Why don't you tell us?” She looked over at Bailey and Hannah.