Katy's Homecoming (8 page)

Katy’s ears started to heat up. “It doesn’t matter. I’d irritated him, and he retaliated by telling me I was stuck on myself. Even though I didn’t like hearing it, maybe it was good I did. It’s — it’s made me stop and think about some things and whether I should change them.”

Annika leaned close, her eyes flashing. “You mean you’re thinking about not going to school anymore? Because if you stayed home, then —”

“No, not that,” Katy said before Annika could get all excited. “I’m going to finish the year. But there are some things going on at school that I’m involved in. I might not participate after all.” Her heart panged. Being chosen as the attendant was such an honor—an honor she wanted to accept. But not if it would make her self-important. Even though she’d prayed hard about it the night before, God
hadn’t answered yet. She hoped He’d hurry up. She needed to let Aunt Rebecca know about that fabric.

“What is it?” Annika asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Katy offered a sorry look that she hoped Annika would accept. “It won’t matter if I don’t do it. But if I do go ahead with it, you’ll be the first to know.”
After Dad, of course.

Annika looked disappointed, but for once she didn’t argue. Before the girls could talk anymore, Gramma Ruthie and Grampa Ben approached. Katy sucked on her lower lip as she watched them walk slowly across the grass, arm in arm. She loved them so much; she couldn’t imagine what it would be like when they weren’t around anymore. If she decided to be the homecoming attendant, maybe her grandparents would come to watch her. Dad and Mrs. Graber would be away on their trip, but it would be nice to have some family there. Maybe she’d even invite Aunt Rebecca, Uncle Albert, and her cousins. The twins, Lola and Lori, would be green with envy to see Katy out on the gym floor with the other attendants! And Annika could come too. Katy would have a whole cheering section. The thought made her smile.

But then her smile faded. What was she thinking, putting together a cheering section and trying to make her cousins jealous? Only a truly self-centered person would want to show off for her family and friends. Caleb’s jibe echoed through her mind:
You’re stuck on yourself. You’re stuck on yourself.

Gramma Ruthie cupped Katy’s cheek when she reached the truck. “There’s my sweet girl.”

Katy’s stomach swirled. Gramma wouldn’t call her “sweet” if she knew what kinds of thoughts entered Katy’s head. She forced herself to smile.

“Rosemary is riding with your dad,” Gramma said,“so he said you and Annika should go with us. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“Me too,” Annika said.

They followed Grampa Ben to his car. He opened the back door and bowed, sweeping his hand in an invitation for the girls to climb in. “Let’s go.”

Annika giggled as she slipped into the seat, but Katy got in silently. Her grandparents chatted as Grampa drove, their soft voices an accompaniment to the grit of tires on gravel. The familiar routine — worship, dinner with her grandparents, visiting — should have blanketed Katy in comfort. But today she had to continually blink, an attempt to control unsettling tears that pressed for release.

Annika bumped her with her elbow and whispered,“Are you okay?”

Katy looked out the window and didn’t answer. She wasn’t okay. She wouldn’t be okay until she’d finally made a decision about homecoming. Why hadn’t Dad decided for her? Letting her be grown up and choose for herself was proving to be too hard.

Jewel stared at Katy. “You can’t be serious.” Cora and Trisha exchanged looks. Katy held her hands out in a gesture of
what?
Jewel snorted, rolled her eyes, and turned to Cora and Trisha. “She’s serious.”

Katy leaned against the school’s brick exterior and folded her arms over her chest. Yesterday’s sunny sky had disappeared under a cloak of gray clouds. She wished the bell would ring so they could go inside. She also wished Shelby would join them instead of hanging out with Jayden and his friends. Somehow Shelby always understood Katy better than Cora, Trisha, or especially Jewel. Shelby would listen and see Katy’s reasons for declining the opportunity to be the sophomore class homecoming attendant.

Katy said,“If I can’t do it, they’ll just choose someone else, right? I mean, if the seniors voted for the attendants, there’s got to be a second-place girl.”

Jewel huffed. A little cloud of condensation hung in front of her face for a few seconds and then whisked away on the breeze. “Yeah, but who’d want to be recognized as
the
second-place
girl? There’s no glory in being runner-up.” Jewel scowled. “Especially runner-up to
you.
I mean, who knows why they picked the weird little Amish girl in the first place, but no way would anyone want to do it knowing it was only ‘cause you turned it down.”

“Jewel, don’t be mean,” Trisha chided. She turned to Katy. She looked worried. “I think Jewel’s right. It would be so, like, embarrassing to even do it knowing you got it by default.”

Cora hugged herself and bounced in place. “The thing is, if you turn it down, the sophomore class won’t be represented. So if you tell the principal you can’t be the attendant, they’ll probably just have Michael stand up there by himself.”

“And wouldn’t
that
look stupid.”

Katy cringed at Jewel’s derisive tone.

Jewel pulled the furry collar of her coat up around her jaw and glared at Katy. “Look, Miss Has-To-Be-Difficult, if you back out, you’re proving everybody in the school right — that you’re just a weird girl who doesn’t belong.”

Katy hung her head. Her chest felt tight and achy. She hoped she wouldn’t cry.

“Jewel!” Trisha stared at the other girl in open-mouthed disbelief. “That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever said!”

Jewel shrugged. “I’m just speaking truth, girlfriend.” She looked skyward and flipped her hands outward, as if petitioning the heavens. “Boggles the mind that they even chose her. It’s gotta be some big colossal joke.” She whirled on Katy, giving her a squinty-eyed look. “But if you turn it down? Big mistake.
Big
mistake.” Jewel stomped off, her long hair—dyed reddish-purple this week — swinging.

Cora scuttled close to Katy. “Don’t let her bother you. You know when she gets in a bad mood, she takes it out on anybody around.”

Katy glared at Jewel’s retreating back. “Well, I’ve had about enough of her dissing
me.”

Trisha and Cora burst out laughing.

Katy turned her glare on them.

They laughed harder.

Katy started to walk off, but Trisha grabbed her arm and held her in place. After a couple of snorting sounds, she brought her laughter under control. She squeezed Katy’s arm. “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have laughed. But there you are in your little cap, looking so innocent, and then saying Jewel was
dissing
you.” Trisha giggled again. “The word just doesn’t fit you, Katy.”

Katy sighed. “And being the attendant doesn’t fit me, either.” She thought about the lavender organdy waiting in Aunt Rebecca’s shop. As much as she loved the shimmery fabric, she was foolish to think it would be enough to transform her into royalty. Tears pricked, irritating her with their presence. What was wrong with her lately? She always wanted to cry.

She squinted to hold back the tears. “Jewel said it would look stupid to have Michael standing up there alone. But how much more stupid will it look to have me standing there in my — as Jewel calls it — grandma dress and cap? No matter what I do, it’ll be wrong!”

The buzzer rang, and students swarmed toward the doors. Katy, Trisha, and Cora joined the throng. Trisha got swept ahead, but Cora linked arms with Katy. She tipped her head and spoke directly into Katy’s ear. “I have an
idea. Make sure you meet me for lunch, and I’ll tell you all about it.” She scurried off to her locker.

Katy headed to her first-hour class. She had no clue what Cora would suggest, but she was open to anything that might solve her dilemma. For the first time in days, hope flickered in her heart. But when she sat down at the table at noon and heard Cora’s idea, the hope sputtered and died.

“That’s
your idea?”

Cora’s face sagged. She looked so defeated that Katy felt bad. Katy immediately apologized. Cora shrugged and sipped her milk, her eyes aimed off to the side. Her feelings were still hurt.

Trisha picked up a fish stick and waved it at Katy. “Actually, it’s not a bad idea at all. I mean, think about it.” She used the fish stick to trace tally marks in the air. “Number one, the sophomore class has to be represented and that representative has to be you; number two, your dad won’t let you buy a dress and what you have will
not
do; number three, Cora, Shelby, and I each have at least one perfectly good dress hanging in the closet just begging to be worn again; number four, you’re staying with Shelby homecoming weekend, so it’d be really simple for us to get the dresses to you; and five” — she made a triumphant slash with the fish stick, sending little crumbs through the air — “wearing one of our dresses, you’ll look like any other high school girl on homecoming night.”

“And,”
Cora added, setting aside her pout,“you’ll be all dressed and ready for the dance.”

A little shiver of excitement wiggled down Katy’s spine when she thought about the dance. She scanned the
lunchroom and spotted Bryce two tables over, sitting with his usual group of guy friends. He glanced up, caught her looking, and smiled. She smiled back then quickly looked away. Her heart fluttered in her chest. What would Bryce think if he saw her in a dress other than her typical Mennonite dresses? He seemed to like her, but he’d never told her she was pretty. Would he tell her so if she wore clothes like the other girls?

And since when is being pretty so important, Katy?
She pushed the inner reprimand aside and said,“I’ll have to think about it.”

Trisha munched a fish stick, her brow puckered in thought. She went on as if Katy hadn’t spoken. “Cora’s dresses will probably fit you better since you’re closer to the same size — both of you are really short.”

“Hey!” Cora protested.

Trisha laughed. “But I still love ya,
shorty.”
She laughed again at Cora’s sour face and then said,“You’ll need to wear high-heeled shoes no matter which dress you choose.” She peeked under the table. “But you have really little feet. Mine won’t fit you. What size do you wear, anyway?”

“Six and a half.”

Cora paused in carrying a forkful of macaroni and cheese to her mouth. “Are you kidding me? I haven’t worn shoes that small since I was in sixth grade!” She looked at Trisha. “Shoes might be a problem.”

Katy looked from Trisha to Cora. “Why can’t I wear my church shoes?”

“Are they high-heeled?” Cora asked.

“Not really. They’re kind of like my tennis shoes, only black, and —”

The other two girls groaned. They chorused,“Grandma shoes!”

Several kids looked in their direction and snickered. Katy’s ears heated.

“You really need something else,” Cora insisted. “Strappy, with a spiky heel. Something sexy, to match the dress.”

Sexy?
Katy got an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. “But —”

Trisha shrugged. “Don’t sweat it. We’ll work it out.”

“Yeah, Katy.” Cora grinned. “Just trust us — we’ll get you all taken care of. You’ll
be
the sophomore attendant, and we’ll show Jewel you belong up there as homecoming royalty.”

Katy hurried through the hallway toward Mr. Gorsky’s room. She’d looked forward to forensics class all day. Their principal interrupted fifth period and announced that the forensics team had earned nine medals and took third place overall in the tournament at Minneapolis, but he hadn’t named the individual winners. Katy hoped Bryce had won a medal. She wanted to be able to congratulate him. She whirled around the corner and nearly ran directly into Marlys, who was moving in the opposite direction.

Marlys scowled. “Sheesh, watch where you’re going. Is that hat blocking your view, or what?” She zipped past Katy and disappeared around the corner.

Katy stared after Marlys, irritation and embarrassment making her wish she could yell an insult that would cut
Marlys as deeply as Marlys often cut her. But even if she thought of something, Katy probably wouldn’t say it. She didn’t have the nerve, and she’d been taught to treat others the way she wanted to be treated. She only wished Marlys — and a few other girls — had been taught the same lesson.

Stifling a sigh, she entered the forensics classroom. She sank into her familiar seat and watched her classmates goof off, the way they always did before the bell rang. Sometimes they continued even after the bell rang. Bryce was in the midst of several other students, talking and laughing. He caught her eye and grinned, and she hoped he might separate himself from the group and come talk to her. But he didn’t. So she unzipped her backpack, removed her forensics folder, and sniffed to control the sting of tears.

Mr. Gorsky strode into the room and clapped his hands together. “Everybody, take a seat and quiet down.”

“But this is a celebration day, Mr. G,” one of the boys called. “After our victory in Minneapolis, don’t we get a day off?”