Friends Forever? (13 page)

T
he talent show was amazing. All the seventh graders showed off their skills. Gymnasts tumbled and flipped. A juggler caught balls while balancing a plate on a stick. And a baton twirler threw her baton so high, it looked like it might never come back down. There were ballet and hip-hop dancers, synchronized Hula-hoops, and rappers.

Kathi's practice paid off. She and Missy both played incredibly well and sounded like a team. Marcus, Landon, Conrad, and Jen's comedy routine had Zee laughing so hard, she was afraid her sides might hurt too much to do her own act.

When Zee, Chloe, Jasper, and of course, Ally, did perform, they stole the show. Each girl took a turn singing a
solo, and Zee and Ally played a duet while Chloe danced across the stage. Everyone had a chance to shine.

Thanks to the fact that Zee had packed so many extra clothes, she was able to put together coordinated outfits—T-shirts with sequins and capri pants. Each girl also had a different colored scarf twisted around her hair.

“Forever fabulous. That's what you'll be,” the trio belted out the lyrics. “Forever fabulous. Try it and see.”

Zee had even changed the words just a little for the occasion. And that was the part they sang the loudest. “We're four best friends—there for each other. Four best friends—in it together.”

But it was Jasper's new style that really wowed the audience. He snarled his lip and jerked his head back while the girls circled and swooned.

By the end, Ally wasn't the only one who had a crush on him. Most of the seventh-grade girls were finding any excuse to talk to him. Zee thought he might die from all of the attention. He awkwardly looked at the ground and shuffled his feet in the dirt.

Zee couldn't believe it when two guys pulled up to the camp on motorcycles. Guitars were strapped to their bodies. As soon as they took off their helmets, Zee recognized them—the other members of Mr. P's band, the Crew. When
all the kids were finished performing, they got onstage and played a song called “Campers' Complaints” that Mr. P had written just for the occasion.

 

 

 

“No text. What next?” the men sang as Zee and her friends smiled sheepishly. “Kitchen crew? I've got the flu.”

As the seventh graders listened and laughed, Ally whispered in Zee's ear. “The Beans should all play a song together.”

“That's a great idea!” Zee agreed. “Which one?”

“How about another one you wrote?” Ally suggested.

“Only if you'll perform with us,” Zee told her.

“Me?”

“You have your flute and know all the words to my songs,” Zee reminded her. “And you're practically a member of the band anyway.”

Ally smiled. “Deal!”

“Cool beans!” Zee said.

“Very cool Beans!” Ally agreed.

The girls whispered the idea to the other band members. Everyone thought it was a great idea.

As soon as the Crew finished playing, the Beans hurried onstage.

Mr. P didn't have to ask what was going on. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced over the applause for his
performance. “The Beans!”

“This song is called ‘Two of a Kind,'” Zee said. Then she turned to Ally and nodded.

“One, two, three, four,” Ally counted off. And the Beans began to play. Ally sounded as though she had been practicing with the band since the beginning of the school year. The violins traded off the melody with her flute. Jasper played bass and Zee played her guitar while Marcus took keyboards. Jen and Landon played along on the percussion instruments they'd used for the drum circle. And Conrad's saxophone rang out across the campgrounds.

Without her cello, Chloe sang lead. She'd never sounded better than she did that day. No one did. When Chloe got to the last line of the song, instead of singing, “We're two of a kind,” she changed the words to “We're eight of a kind.” All
of the Beans sang along, repeating the line over and over.

After the clapping died down and the Beans cleared the stage, Ms. Merriweather took her place on it. “Before we say good-bye, I want to announce the winner of the scavenger hunt,” she said in a loud voice.

The Beans nervously waited. Zee crossed her fingers.

“The class that found the most items is”—the science teacher paused dramatically—“first period.” A cheer went up from the left side of the stage and a small group of parents in the audience.

Even though they'd lost, the Beans clapped along, too. Except for one member of the band. “No fair!” Kathi said loudly.

Zee, Chloe, and Ally looked at one another and rolled their eyes.

But Zee knew Kathi wasn't the real reason they'd lost. She was certain that they would have won if they had worked as a team sooner. Still, in the end, they'd gotten more than a science lesson that week. They'd learned about friendship, too.

 

As Zee, Chloe, and Ally walked back to cabin one to get their luggage, Zee suddenly stopped in her tracks. “I can't believe it!”

“What?” Chloe asked, turning around.

Ally stopped, too. “Are you upset about losing the scavenger hunt?”

“That's not it,” Zee said. “I forgot to tell you the big news.”

Chloe and Ally looked at each other. “Four-one-one please,” Ally said.

“Yeah, spill,” Chloe commanded.

Zee looked around to make sure no one else was listening. “Guess who kissed me yesterday!”

Ally's mouth dropped open. “No. Way.”

“Landon?” Chloe asked. Zee nodded as the girls started moving down the path again. “And you kept it from us the whole day?”

“I've been dying to tell you,” Zee assured them.

“Are you going to write your initials together on the cabin wall?” Ally asked.

“Did you write yours and Jacques's?” Zee replied

“But of course,” Ally said with a fake French accent.

Chloe bit her lip. “So are you going to tell Jasper?” she asked.

“Umm…no,” Zee said, wrinkling her nose. “Should I? It feels kind of weird.”

By now the girls had almost reached their cabin. “I
wouldn't worry about it,” Chloe said. She pointed to the crowd outside of cabin two. Adoring seventh-grade girls had surrounded Jasper as he looked at the ground and nervously shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Think we should save him?” Ally asked.

Zee watched as a huge smile spread across Jasper's face. “I don't really think he wants us to.”

 

On Saturday, Zee and Ally invited Chloe and Jasper to hang out at Zee's house. Missy came, too, since Ally had gotten to be such good friends with her at camp.

Mrs. Carmichael put out a tray of pita chips and dips, fruit, and tiny sandwiches. Zee and her friends devoured the snacks while they played Wii and talked about their week.

“Oh my gosh!” Missy scrunched up her face. “Do you remember Wednesday's lunch? What
was
that?”

“I don't know,” Ally said, “but they paid a guy in second period to put it in his milk glass and drink it.”

“Ewww,” Chloe and Zee groaned.

“Jasper, would you ever do anything that gross?” Zee asked him.

“Pffft tmnt glp,” Jasper responded. Nobody liked Mrs. Carmichael's snack trays more than he did. His mouth wasn't empty until the tray was empty.

“Oh, I'm going to miss you guys so much when I have to go back to France,” Ally told them.

“You still have another week in Brookdale, though,” Missy reminded her.

“I never thought I'd actually want to go to school on my
vacation, but since that's the only way I'll get to hang out with you guys, I'm going to do it.”

“And after that, we'll just email and IM you constantly,” Missy said.

“Except French time is nine hours ahead of L.A. time. Sometimes I'm asleep when you're awake.”

Jasper swallowed his mouthful of food. “I have the same problem with my friends in England.”

“What do you do?” Zee asked.

“I'm working on a solution now,” Jasper said. “I'll let you know if I figure it out.”

“Well, I think we should definitely do this again soon,” Chloe said.

Ally nodded. “In France!”

 

“What's it like to kiss Landon?” Ally asked Zee when they were getting ready for bed that night.

“I really don't know,” Zee said.

“What?”

“I was so shocked that it even happened, I don't remember it!”

Ally squirted toothpaste on her toothbrush. “Are you boyfriend and girlfriend now?”

“I'm not sure,” Zee said, hesitating.

“What do you mean?” Ally asked.

“Well, I thought that that's what I really wanted. I've had a crush on Landon since we were little. But now I'm just not sure.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Is that weird?” Zee asked. “I mean, I thought it would be cool to have a boyfriend with you.”

Ally shook her head. “You shouldn't want a boyfriend just because I have one, and you shouldn't have one if you don't want one.”

“I don't know what I want,” Zee told her.

“Then you should wait to decide.”

“You're right,” Zee said, turning the water on to wash her face.

“Now you have to tell me—what's it like to get your period?” Ally asked Zee.

“Mostly, it doesn't feel different—except for the cramps.”

Ally wrinkled her nose. “At least now you'll know you're not sick.”

“Yeah, and Mom says I might not even get them every time.”

“I am definitely going to call you right away when I get mine,” Ally told Zee.

“You better!”

 

Before the girls turned out the lights, Zee logged on to her email. There was a new message from Landon!

Zee hit reply and put her fingers on the keyboard. No words came out of her fingertips. Nothing had changed since she'd talked to Ally. She was still confused. Her answer to Landon would have to wait until she was sure.

Then Zee picked up her diary and started to write her next song.