Freaked Out (7 page)

Dillon and Nick stopped at their table. “Where is Maeve?” Dillon asked. “Is she still taking her test?”

“Her mother came and got her. She had to go home early.” No way was Katani going to reveal that her friend freaked out about a math test and had to go home to get it together.

“Tell her I'll call her tomorrow,” Dillon said. The two boys walked away. Mr. Popular stopped to chat at practically every table.

“Whoa, I wish we could tell Maeve right now that Dillon is going to call her tomorrow. She'd feel better immediately,” Charlotte said. “Did you notice that Nick didn't say he'd call me tomorrow?”

“Bet he will, though,” Isabel teased.

“He has hardly spoken to me all week!” Charlotte was beginning to wonder if Nick liked her any more.

“Maybe he was studying. I think a lot of kids get freaked out by too much work,” Isabel said. “Maeve more than anyone, but I get nervous, too.”

“I was up late studying. I hope I won't fall asleep during our sleepover,” Charlotte said.

“We can find something fun to do.” Avery took a bite of her chicken and avocado wrap. “Maybe we can think of a new project.”

“Or decide what clothes to wear to the—” Katani stopped herself.

“To the party, Katani,” Avery said. “That's all right. You can talk about it. I'm over it.”

“I can't go to the party either, Avery…. I have to take over a baby-sitting job for Elena…. She has a date.”

“Baby-sit…I can think of lots of things I'd rather do than baby-sit, but I do like to make some money. The Sports Locker has the coolest new basketball sneakers. Don't forget, Izzy, today is the second day of basketball tryouts.”

“I know. I've been almost as worried about that as I was about the math test.”

“BSG, I have an idea,” Katani said as they were gathering lunch clutter and getting ready to leave the cafeteria. “We've got to help Maeve with her math. What if she's right? What if flunking math would keep her back in seventh grade for another year?”

“No way.” Avery shook her head. “Can they do that?”

“
They
can do anything they like,” Katani said. “I think
it'd be up to her parents and my grandmother, but she's struggling with all her work. We have to help her.”

“But, how?” Charlotte asked. “I like math, it comes easy to me but I think I could help her more with writing.”

“We have to make math fun,” Katani announced.

“Fun?” Avery finally said. “I don't think there are too many people, except those super math geek geniuses, who think math is fun.”

“What does Maeve like best, do best?” Katani asked.

“Sings, acts, dances, remembers old movies.” Charlotte had gotten out her notebook and made a list as they talked.

“So we turn math into singing, dancing, and maybe even old movies.” Katani made it sound simple.

“Okay, and…?” Isabel shrugged. “Do you know how to do that?”

“No, but there must be a way. Let's look on the Internet. There is an answer for everything there.” Katani jumped up and clapped her hands. “Your assignment, BSG, should you accept it, is by tonight to think of ways to make math fun and easy and in some form that will stick in Maeve's mind.”

“Maeve is smart,” Charlotte said. “Let's try.”

“Remember BSG rule number three:
We'll be loyal to our friends and won't lie to them even if they make a mistake or do something totally embarrassing
, like flunk math. One of the most important,” said Isabel.

The Beacon Street Girls left with puzzled faces. How could they make math fun for their smart, math-phobic friend?

A
re you going to eat that piece of chicken, Maeve?” Sam asked with a hopeful look.

“Maybe. But you'd better not eat after me. I have the West Nile virus.”

“Then I'm sure you have to stay home.” Ms. Kaplan smiled at her dramatic daughter.

“Here, Sam, you can have my chicken.”

“You are not going to Charlotte's without eating,” her mom said.

Maeve popped a piece of chicken in her mouth.

When Maeve finished her chicken and salad, she was still hungry. She jumped up, looked in the fridge, and found one of her favorites—strawberry cheesecake flavored yogurt. “I'm going to eat this for dessert while I change clothes.”

“Can I have your piece of cherry pie?” Sam yelled after Maeve to make sure she heard him.

“Geesh!” Maeve was glad she was going to get out of this house with her pesky, brainiac brother, who seemed to be inhaling all her food.

She put on a warmup suit over a pink long-sleeved T-shirt.

Quickly she stuffed pajamas, lotion, and, reluctantly, her notebook and math book into her overnight bag. Then she started up her laptop to check if the rest of the BSG had left for Charlotte's yet.

The plan was for the BSG to help her understand math tonight. If Maeve had her choice, she would rather play
music and dance. Instead, she was actually spending a free night on math. The test was history…at least until they got their scores. The BSG were awfully nice to offer to help.
And who knows?
Maeve thought as she twisted her hair into a hair clip. Maybe they could actually help her pass a makeup test. Ms. Kaplan dropped Maeve off, which was good, since Maeve didn't feel like walking. She was sure that she would perk up the minute she got to the Tower with her friends.

“Maeve, so, are you all right? We were so worried about you.” Katani didn't wait for an answer and instead handed Maeve a handful of Swedish fish. “I'm surprised your mother let you come, but we would have rescued you if she hadn't.”

“Yeah, it's time for all of us to be together and catch up.” Charlotte led the way from her room up to the Tower. “Did you bring any music?”

“Of course. You're going to love it.” Maeve felt like a new person. She was thrilled that her friends wanted to dance. Dancing made you forget all your troubles. Even Avery, who originally resisted the idea of dancing at their sleepovers, had come around. “Dancing,” she proclaimed, “was almost as good as bowling.” The BSG had laughed so hard at that, but Avery insisted that she was not kidding. “Bowling is cool.” Was there any sport that Avery didn't like? wondered Maeve.

Katani turned up the CD and the BSG began to shake it up. Maeve danced on an old couch with Marty, who seemed to like the music. He even barked to the beat once or twice. Isabel went spinning around the room while
Katani rocked back and forth. Katani was still uncertain about her dancing skills, even when she was in front of her best friends. Maeve told her that she was getting better. But Katani, who was confident about her schoolwork and her fashion sense, felt completely incompetent about dancing. Slow and steady was her motto and not even Maeve's urging to “break away” could influence her to change.

“Okay.” Avery took charge. “Are we just going to relax and have fun, or should we stick with our plan to help Maeve?”

“You are helping me. Look how happy I am,” she exclaimed as she executed a wild dance step that left the other BSG with their mouths hanging open.

“And the Best Dance Video Routine goes to…drum roll, please…Maeve Kaplan-Taylor,” announced Isabel. “Take a bow, Ms. Kaplan-Taylor,”

“And then pull out your math book,” added Charlotte with a wry smile.

Maeve's happy smile turned into a sad clown face.

“You can't fake us out, Maeve. We have a mission to complete and we are all on it,” Avery said as she slid off the Lime Swivel, their vintage salon chair.

Maeve laughed without much enthusiasm. She knew her friends meant well, but she wanted to forget school for the evening. “I vote for relaxing for a while.”

“Anything we do together will be fun.” Isabel poured everyone a cup of lemonade.

Katani stood up—a clipboard in her hand. “Okay, team BSG. Find a comfortable place and listen up.” Isabel, Maeve, Charlotte, and Avery scrambled to find their
favorite Tower spots. Charlotte settled on the window seat. Maeve flung herself across the rug and plumped a pillow under her head. Avery scooted back into the Lime Swivel, while Isabel snuggled down next to Marty, who had fallen asleep on his favorite pillow. Four pairs of intent eyes turned to Katani who looked very much like the executive in charge.

“Okay, BSG, I did a Web search and found out some really interesting things about math and why some kids do really badly. I think the best way to tell you is to ask questions. Maeve, pay attention 'cause I think you might be surprised.” Maeve stopped twirling the fringe on the pillow and focused on what Katani would ask. She hoped it wouldn't be one of those math questions where the answer was obvious to everyone but her. She hated that. It made her feel so stupid.

“Is your math teacher friendly and supportive?”

The girls hooted at that one. “The Crow, friendly and supportive. I don't think so. He can't even get my name straight,” Maeve huffed.

“I guess the answer is no?” Katani looked at Maeve.

“Oh, yeah,” Maeve waved her head back and forth. “I like this kind of test. Ask another question.”

Katani smiled. This was going just as she hoped. She had found out that a lot of math problems occur because certain people who are nervous about math need a very supportive atmosphere to learn math.

“Does your teacher embarrass you in class in front of your classmates?”

Maeve jumped up. “The Crow is so mean. He makes
me go to the board to do problems that he knows I can't do.” She started pacing around the room like a cat on a fence.

“But, Maeve. Mr. Sherman asks everyone to go to the board. I don't think he wants to embarrass you. He just wants everyone to see the different ways a problem can get messed up,” said Avery.

Maeve couldn't believe her ears. “Are you defending him?”

Avery blinked. “Well. I mean, he is kind of weird and everything, but he isn't that bad of a teacher, really.”

“What do you think, Isabel?”

Isabel hesitated. “Well, I think he is okay, but definitely kind of geeky, which makes it kind of hard to pay attention sometimes. I keep thinking that maybe he will really turn into a crow and start flying around the room.” Isabel spoke so earnestly that her friends started to laugh. Maeve began flapping her arms like a bird while Avery let out a “caw.”

Katani tapped her clipboard for order.

“Katani, what's the point of these questions?” Charlotte asked. A grateful Katani nodded to her friend. “I'm glad you asked that question. The problem isn't with you, Maeve, or Mr. Sherman. It has to do with the fact that some people like you need a quiet, supportive place to do math 'cause you have math anxiety. Avery and Isabel are okay in the class 'cause they don't get really nervous about math and you do.”

“So all I need is a quiet room with a really nice teacher who doesn't make me feel stupid.”

“Well, it's probably not that simple, but I bet that would help. Maybe you could talk to my grandmother about this. Now, did each of you bring a story problem, like I suggested?” Katani asked.

Four heads nodded and they dug in their notebooks for the problems. “I hate story problems,” Maeve groaned. “They're so useless.”

“These aren't. That was the idea.” Avery spread out her folded sheet of paper. “Here's mine. Isabel will help me read. I'm the movie manager.” Avery cleared her throat and lowered her voice to sound important. “Maeve, you have to go to work at ten thirty-five a.m. today. You have to work two hours and fifteen minutes before you can have a break.”

Isabel read. “Ring-ring. That's your cell phone, Maeve.”

“I don't have my cell phone with me,” Maeve said.

“Pretend you do. Ring-ring. Hello, Maeve, this is Dillon. What time can you go to lunch with me today?”

“Dillon has never called and invited me out to lunch.” Maeve sighed. “I wish he would.”

“Today he has. What time can you go?” Charlotte handed Maeve a pencil, since she didn't seem to have one.

Maeve sighed again. “Okay. At least figuring this out makes sense. Ten thirty-five to eleven thirty-five is one hour. Eleven thirty-five to twelve thirty-five is two hours. Fifteen minutes?” She scribbled a little. “Twelve fifty. Ten minutes till one. We'll both be starved. ‘Hello, Dillon. I can go to lunch at twelve fifty. Is that too late?'”

Charlotte laughed. Maeve was so funny and endearing
sometimes without even meaning to be. Before they could think up another math problem, Maeve stood up. “I here and now declare that we won't do any more studying tonight. Let's do something fun. I want to forget school.”

“What do you suggest?” Avery said.

“Well, earlier I called my dad. I asked him if we got bored would it be all right to come to the horror movie festival.”

“Horror festival? Awesome,” Katani said. “I love scary horror movies.”

“What's playing?” Charlotte asked. “I probably haven't seen anything he has on the schedule.”

“Tonight is
Bride of Frankenstein
.” Maeve made her voice spooky, and then paraded down the aisle as if she had a bouquet of flowers.

“I think Ole Frank would be more attracted to someone who walked like this.” Avery walked across the room like a stiff robot. Everyone laughed and agreed.

“I can't see Frankenstein hip hop dancing, can you?” Isabel laughed. She had seen
Frankenstein
so many times that it didn't scare her anymore.

“Let's go!” Maeve pulled on her warmup suit and looked at her watch. “We can just make it in time.”

The girls dashed out of the house, waving good-bye to a startled Mr. Ramsey, who'd been visiting with Miss Pierce.

“Off to the movie, Dad. Back in a couple,” Charlotte called out her plans.

They ran, while Maeve occasionally danced down the hill toward the movie theater. Maeve chased after Isabel,
screaming in her best Wicked Witch of the West imitation, “I'll get you my pretty!”

“Hurry,” Maeve's dad said to them as they poured into the theater. “The guys are saving you seats about halfway down in the middle.”

“The guys?” Charlotte laughed. “Maeve, you didn't! You planned this all along, didn't you?”

“They could have watched the movie without us if you had said no, or insisted we study. We can't study all the time in the Tower. It's sacred. It should be reserved only for fun and oh-so-important BSG meetings.”

Maeve led the way. The theater was already dark and showing previews. She blinked her eyes and tried to see. She didn't want to fall over someone's legs or sit in a lap.

“Maeve,” Dillon whispered. “Over here. Hurry, we had trouble saving the seats.”

The theater was crowded, and some people seemed annoyed when a pack of very late, laughing girls tumbled into their seats.

Nick passed popcorn from one end of the row, and Dillon picked up Cokes from the floor one by one from the other end. Maeve had told Dillon to bring anyone else he wanted, as long as it wasn't too many.

Pete Wexler and Josh and Billy Trentini had held seats in the middle. They stayed together. But as soon as the spooky movie started, all eyes were glued to the screen. No talking, but gasps, little screams, and giggles were allowed.

Maeve always had to wipe tears from her eyes when Frankenstein tried to convince his inventor he was lonely.
His face was ugly, but so sad. She understood how he felt.

They sat through a few credits at the end, letting other people leave the movie first. Then Nick led the way out of their row. “That was classic,” he said.

“That was great, Maeve,” Charlotte said. “Thank you.”

“I love horror movies.” Maeve looked at Dillon. “Don't you, Dillon?”

“I think Frankenstein would have made a good basketball player. That would have made him happy.”

“He'd have had to limber up a little,” Avery said. “But he was tall enough.”

“Who's ready for pizza?” Nick asked.

“Or nachos,” Dillon suggested. “Let's go to Anna's.”

“Let's vote.” Avery looked around, counting the scores. “It's pizza.”

Village Fare was small, but luckily not too crowded. They moved tables together until they all could sit at one big one.

“Our treat, girls, since Maeve treated for the movie.” Nick collected money from the boys and ordered three pizzas. “We'll order another if we're running out.”

“Do you really believe Frankenstein got lonely?” Pete asked.

“Why not? Monsters have feelings.” Maeve never once doubted that Frankenstein needed a bride. She thought it was sweet of Pete to ask.