How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue (16 page)

Raccoons appear to “wash” their food with their hands before eating it. In fact, they are using their sensitive paws to identify what they are eating.

—Animal Wisdom

The bright-red sign at Shaken, Not Stirred flickered against the inky backdrop of the night sky. As Mr. and Mrs. Reed hopped out of their car, I urged Dad to park faster.

“Come on!” I said, unbuckling my belt. “Can you see her? Is she in there?”

Mom craned her neck to see inside. “I can't tell.” Rushing for the front door, we all followed after the Reeds, like a clamoring conga line of elephants in snow boots.

And there, in a booth against the turquoise-blue wall, was Liv.

In
our
booth.

Relief surged through me as I practically skipped over to her, following after Mrs. Reed.

“Olivia Peyton Reed!” she started. Her hands whipped over her chest as she gawked at Liv. I lurched to a stop, holding myself back. I hadn't expected Mrs. Reed to be so upset with Liv, but if I was honest with myself, even
I
was mad at Liv for giving us all such a scare.

“Are you all right?! Do you have any idea the
worry
you've caused tonight?! First sneaking out at home, and now this?! You scared us half to death!”

Wait,
what
? I caught Mom's eye, but she didn't react.

Sneaking out at home?
Huh
?

I expected Liv to immediately apologize or to say that she'd been upset or
anything
to show she hadn't meant to cause such a stir. But instead, she stared straight ahead at her mom. She looked so angry.

“I just wanted a shake,” she said quietly. She gripped the straw with her purple mittens.

It was Mr. Reed's turn to be upset. “Liv, you can't just go running off like this! It isn't safe! We wouldn't have even known where you were if it weren't for Ana.” He pointed at me, causing my face to heat up. I wasn't sure if I wanted Liv's anger focused on me right now either. “Thank heavens she was right!” he added.

Liv glared at me. “Of course she ratted on me,” she said simply.

A cold fist gripped my insides. “I didn't rat on you!” I shouted. “I was worried about you! I made this awesome presentation that
included you
, even though you said you didn't even want to be friends! How is that ratting on you?! And I actually missed my chance to present because of this!” I clenched my fingernails into my palms.

For a moment, her angry face faltered. And just like that, I caught a glimpse of what Liv was feeling.

Not only sad.
Threatened
. It was easier to spot it now that I knew the truth. Her mouth quivered slightly.

Mrs. Reed sighed, then sat down at the booth across from Liv. She hung her head, looking defeated. “Ever since we moved, we've had some school issues,” she said to my parents. “Her grades are slipping. She's skipping classes. Her attitude… Well.” She turned to Liv. “The girls at school… I know this behavior might seem to work for them, but I promise you, it is
not
going to work for you.” Mrs. Reed's voice was low, but her eyes were gentle.

Another puzzle piece clicked in my head. Like Ashley and Bella influenced me at school, I bet Leilani had influenced Liv.

And by the sounds of it, it wasn't in a good way. Skipping school?

Liv's mouth squished together into a thin line. “Do we need to talk about this now,
Mother
?”

I couldn't believe she used that tone, and I nearly stepped back to get away from Mrs. Reed's response.

“Yes,” Mrs. Reed said firmly. “We do. I think you owe these people an explanation as to why they had to take time away from their busy night to track you down.”

Liv's shoulders slumped. “I'm sorry,” she said, looking from Mom and Dad to me. “I really am.”

“We'll talk about this more at the hotel,” Mrs. Reed said, rubbing her temples. “Jane, Henry.” She smiled sadly at my parents. “I'm so sorry to ruin your night.”

My parents made a show of how it was no big deal and started out the door.

“Wait,” Liv piped up. “Can I talk to Ana for a second? Before we go?” She looked at Mrs. Reed. The apology was clear in her eyes.

Mrs. Reed took a deep breath. “You've got five minutes,” she said gently, then filed out the door after my parents.

“Hey,” I said, sliding into the booth across from Liv. I couldn't help but feel bad for her.

She sniffed, and I could instantly tell she was trying to put on a brave face.

“Listen,” she said. “I'm sorry about what happened. I wanted to go tonight. Then I got there and saw you talking with Ashley and Bella in the hall and…” She grimaced. “It sucks to see you being so happy now without me. It's almost like you're
happier
I'm gone, you know? And when I saw how great you were doing, I wanted to make it seem like
I'm
that great too, but the truth is my classes are super hard and I've been at the principal's office three times this year. It's been really weird figuring it all out, you know?” She shook her head.

I didn't know what to say to that, but I kept looking at Liv so she knew I was listening. It was hard to imagine Liv being sent to the principal's office if it wasn't as a classroom helper or something.

She sighed. “I'm sorry. And not only for tonight, which…
sucked
.” She gestured out the door where our parents were starting their cars. “But everything. I know I can be a jerk when—”

“You were scared,” I interrupted.

Liv blinked in surprise. “I…I was. Really scared.”

“I know,” I said. “Me too. I think I just handled it differently. I tried to lie. I tried to hide all the changes between us or hope that they weren't true.”

“I mean, I think what you did was super crummy.” I kept talking. It was easier to say the words than I thought it would be, and the minute they were out of my mouth, the pit in my stomach disappeared. I hated making Liv feel bad, and I especially hated that she was going to get on a plane soon and I wouldn't see her for ages again. But that was why I had to tell her the truth. She deserved it.

“You're my best friend,” I said, weighing my words one last time. Just like with my fox, I had to let it go and see if our friendship could survive. One more time. “But since you've been back, you've been
terrible
at it!”

Liv's eyes widened, and she blinked in surprise. “Terrible?” She sniffled.

I couldn't help but giggle at how pathetic we must look, but thankfully the shop was empty, except for the waitress in the back room.

“Terrible,” I said.

She nodded. “I don't know
how
to be friends like we were before,” she admitted, lifting her shake to take a sip through the straw. “I mean, I don't feel the same as I did a year ago, you know? But it seemed like all you wanted was for me to be like I used to be.”

“It
was
what I wanted,” I admitted. “But I'm not the same either, like you said. I think we've both changed a lot.”

“Right,” she said, dabbing her eyes. “So I don't know how we can be best friends like we were anymore. I mean, I
want
to! We were so super close! But we aren't little kids now. We're too different. You
are
practically a celebrity. And I'm going to have friends that you don't like. And we're only going to get
more
different as we get old.” She huffed, crossing her arms.

I smiled, trying to keep Leilani out of my thoughts. “But different isn't
bad
. Maybe we don't
need
to be like that anymore.” I reached over to take a sip of her shake. The taste of cherries made me shiver. My next words were painful coming out, but I knew they felt right. “Maybe we don't even need to be ‘best friends' at all, because who cares about that anyway?”

I thought of Liv and Bella and Ashley, who were all so different, yet all great friends to me. Were any of them truly
best
? Because to me, I sort of felt like I needed all of them. Ashley was gutsy. Bella was sweet. Liv was a giant purple-haired goofball that I'd known forever, who secretly loved math and apparently was friends with some pretty shady girls now. “Maybe we can be
real
friends, without all the stuff that made us so crazy, like trying to
be
a certain way.”

Her frown tipped up. “I think you're right,” she said softly. “It seems like you've been trying to be you, and
I've
been trying to make you understand that I'm not the same. We both…” She trailed off.

“Collided,” we said in unison.

“
Jinx
!” we yelped, laughing.

“Best friends seems so
ancient
, you know?” she continued, sighing heavily. “Like we're fossils, who will never change again. I think it's because we've called ourselves that for years now, back when we
were
the same for a long time. I want to stay friends and still be able to change however we want without worrying you're going to ditch me because we're
not
exactly the way we used to be.”

“
Real
friends then,” I said, sitting taller. “Real friends can change and dye their hair and become gigantic nerds who work in the zoo and smell like skunk half the time and have other friends. And no matter what, we'll be there for each other. Who needs a best friend when you can have a real one, right?” I smirked. “Best friends is
so
last year,” I said, borrowing half a phrase from Ashley. “Let's be real friends and see who we become.”

A gentle quiet passed between us. Part of me was scared to stop being
best
friends with Liv, like I was carving a hole out of my life. But now, like digging a hole in a garden, maybe something new and better would grow there. The ambient noise of the ice-cream machines seemed louder than it had a second earlier.

But this time, it wasn't awkward. Just silence.

Liv smiled. “Deal,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

My heart blipped with nerves as I saw the serious look on her face. “What is it?”

“One more thing,” she said. Curiosity prickled inside me as she dug through her patchwork backpack, searching for something. She dug around in her bag, then waved a green pen in front of me, her eyes glinting with gleeful excitement.

“I need to sign that cast of yours!” she said, yanking my arm closer. “Everyone else got all the good spots!”

As I watched her sign, it hit me that soon, Liv and her parents would be up in the air again, winging their way back home to New Zealand. And I would be here again, without her. But as much as her visit had messed us up, I kind of felt like we were maybe better for it, you know? Like Dr. Carriso had said, maybe our break would make us grow back even stronger.

He was a
doctor
, after all.

“Wait,” Liv said as we headed for the door. “Your presentation! You can still do it! Go and get that free grade! Mom, can we go back so Ana can do her presentation?”

Mrs. Reed shivered in the cold. “It's seven thirty on a Friday night. Where
else
would we be? I think Ana deserves it after what's happened tonight!” She winked.

Despite their name, black bears aren't always black. They can also be brown, blond, blue gray, cinnamon, or white.

—Animal Wisdom

I dashed down past the lockers to the main hall, searching for Mr. Nicholson. But when I turned a corner and saw him in the middle of the crowd, he was already holding up Bella's hand.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to announce our winner is Bella Rodriguez, for her wonderful presentation using antique hardcover books!”

My heart sank. “I missed it,” I said, shaking my head. Liv crossed her arms beside me, looking like she wanted to start a riot.

“Well, that isn't fair!” she started. “I'm going to go over there and make sure that—”

“No, Liv!” I pulled her back. “Bella won. That's pretty fantastic actually! Don't mess this up for her.” I gave Bella the teensiest wave when I caught her eye, followed by a geeky thumbs-up. Ashley and Brooke were right beside her, cheering her on as Mr. Nicholson handed her the “official” slip, getting her out of her chosen grade.

“Argh,
fine
,” Liv said. “I'm sorry you lost out because of me. I'm sure you would have crushed it.”

I shrugged. “I'll have to convince Mr. Nicholson to let me present to him later,” I said. A small niggle of doubt crept up in me. Mr. Nicholson could be super strict on project deadlines, but I was sure he'd give me a chance once he heard my excuse.

“Maybe I'll have to throw in some extra credit,” I said, uncertain. “Hey,” I said, poking Mom in the shoulder. “I have to go to the bathroom, okay? Too much cherry shake.”

Shouldering my way through the crowd into the bathroom, I turned the faucet on full blast. I didn't need to pee. I just wanted a minute alone. The rush of water drowned out the noise outside. Suddenly, now that I was alone, the weight of the evening seemed to crash down on me.

Missing out on my project.

Finding Liv after that horrible scare.

Cherry shakes and casts.

So much had happened and it seemed like every emotion was lining up inside of me, demanding its turn. I guess this is why they say that being a teenager is so hard—half the time it seems like your feelings can't even fit in your body anymore.

Staring at my blotchy face, I leaned my head against the mirror.

“Ana?” A timid voice echoed against the concrete, beige walls. “You okay?”

I sniffed, wiping my eyes. I hadn't realized I had tears in my eyes.

“I'm fine,” I said, cringing at how hoarse my voice was.

Kevin appeared in the doorway.

“Kev!” I surprised myself with how happy I sounded. “What are you doing here?! I thought you weren't back until tomorrow! You can't be in here!”

Flushing with embarrassment, I turned the faucet off and yanked a few yards of paper towel from the machine. I dabbed my eyes, trying not to smear whatever sad goop was in them all over my face. I was too strung out to go up and hug him like a normal person who hadn't seen her boyfriend in days.

He frowned. “We got home early, and I thought it would be nice to see you. Are you crying?” he asked. My heart clenched with happiness. Life wasn't
right
without Kevin, I realized. Like a fox without teeth or an ice-cream shake without the cherries. Kevin helped to keep me
sane
.

“I didn't think I was,” I said, exhausted.

“That's not the face of someone who won back a free grade,” he said. “What happened?”

“I missed it,” I said simply, throwing up my hands. “We all thought Liv might be in trouble, so we had to go to Shaken, Not Stirred to find her, and thank God she was there, but by the time we talked it all out and started to feel a little bit better, it was too late for me to come back here and present my documentary, even though I
really
wanted a shot at that free pass, because I hate the thought of some giant
fail
on my report card, and it was such a good project, but now there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm in the bathroom, then I randomly started crying because…because, I don't know. Liv is going back soon, and we're
friends
, but this past week has been…
ugh
.” My voice ran out of breath at the end of my rant, leaving me wheezing.

His eyes softened. “You found Liv though?”

I nodded glumly as he came over to give me a hug. Sniffling into his shoulder, I probably got mucky tears and goobers all over him. But Kev didn't move. He did reach for a tissue for me though, so obviously I was a complete phlegm monster.

“Thirteen sucks,” I said. “Every time I think I have something figured out, it's like the whole world flips upside down again and I'm stuck trying to juggle in zero gravity.”

Kev nodded appreciatively. “Nice one!” He beamed. “Maybe you
have
missed me. What do you want to do about your project?”

I hung my head lower, scratching under my cast the best I could. “There's nothing
to
do. I know Mr. Nicholson will hear me out, and he'll let me present it to him. But you know what he's like about late stuff and his policy on docking grades. I kind of feel like I need something
extra
now to make up for ditching. It was
so
good, you know?”

“You could give him a two-part project,” he suggested. “Even though you won't win the free pass, I bet you won't lose points for it.”

I looked up at him. “What, like tonight? There's no way!”

The dimple appeared on his cheek. “That doesn't sound like the Ana I know,” he teased.

I grinned for the first time in what felt like ages. “What? Am I supposed to magically create something razzle-dazzly to distract him from the fact I wasn't even there tonight?”

He nodded. “That's one idea, for sure.” He took my hand, lacing his fingers awkwardly through my ragged cast. “But there's got to be something else. Something that will go perfectly with your documentary.”

I let my eyes nearly droop closed as I watched Kevin's fingers slowly drumming on my cast. Dr. Carriso's loopy writing stared back at me.

“Proud to be the first friend to sign your cast!”

Then something hit me. And this time it wasn't how much being thirteen felt like being stuck in a giant vat of monkey poop. I didn't need to make another project. I already had the perfect addition to my documentary.

“Kev,” I said, pulling myself taller, “you're a
genius
!”

His eyes lit up with surprise. “I am?”

I beamed at him. For a moment, it crossed my mind that we were in the girls' bathroom, and this probably wasn't the most romantic spot in the world. But Kev's idea—or maybe it was
my
idea that he helped me find—swept over me with such an impact, I couldn't help myself.

I kissed him.

Yes!

I know!

I was snotty faced with a cast on my wrist, and the girls' bathroom wasn't the most exciting first kiss story, but it was now
my
first kiss story, because I downright planted one on Kevin without even thinking.

After all this time, wondering, hoping, planning,
wishing
for this moment, I couldn't believe how fast my lips were able to find his. I didn't think about
how
to kiss him or where I should lean my head or how to avoid giving him a nosebleed (like last time—no need to replay that little trauma bomb) or what my breath smelled like or whether or not my eyes were red and my nose was runny or even about kiss pacts.

Instead, I was just kissing him.

And you know what?

It.

Was.

Awesome.

“Whoa,” Kev said when I pulled away. If there's one thing I know now about kissing is that while you're
in
the moment, you can feel totally cool and not embarrassed at all. But the minute you
leave
that moment, it becomes Awkward City all over again. What's up with that?

“Um…” I blinked at him, half enjoying the dazed look on his face and half-terrified that I looked as goofy as he did. Considering the swirly-whirly butterflies in my stomach, my odds were not looking good.

“Sorry,” I said.

“No!” he said, shaking his head. “Don't apologize for that. That was…”

I grinned at him, probably looking like a full-on psychotic person.

“Right?!” I giggled, then commanded myself to pull my goofball self back together. “I wanted to thank you. For helping me come up with the perfect idea.”

He tilted his head. “What's your big idea then?”

I rubbed my hands together like a scheming housefly. “I'll tell you once we get out of here. Sorry our first kiss was in the girls' bathroom,” I added, standing up. “I mean, of all the places where I'd imagined our first kiss happening—not that I was just sitting around
imagining
it because that would be a little crazy—but, um. You know.” I was babbling now, and the feeling was returning to my toes again. “I just think it's kind of funny, you being in here…” I giggled.

“Uh…Ana?” Kevin said, holding the door open for us to leave.

“Yuh-huh?” Clearly I was still in a daze over our kiss, no matter how über-chill I was trying to be.

He pointed at the sign on the door, where the little stick man
without
a skirt on was staring back at me.

Wait.

“Yep.” Kevin grinned, taking my hand. “This is the boys' bathroom.”