Ruby Reinvented (8 page)

“There's our little Mainer.” Dad's face pops up on the screen.

“Hi, hon,” Mom says. “How was your first official day?”

I lower the volume so I can barely hear them.

“Hi, guys,” I whisper.

Dad squints and cups his hand around his ear. “I can barely hear you, Bea.”

“Oh, sorry.” I speak a tiny bit louder. “I don't want to disturb my roommate. She's uhhhhh . . . she's trying to study.”

Mom and Dad nod approvingly.

“My first day was great. I really like it here.” Kids are talking in the hallway, and I glance at the bedroom door, but it stays shut.

“Tell us all about it,” Mom says.

“What's your favorite class?” Dad asks.

“We're studying ancient Greece in social studies. That's pretty cool. And we played softball in PE.”

“Did you show them the Miller Spitter?” Dad winds his arm in a pitching motion.

“No, Dad.” I force a smile. “You don't want me giving away all your secrets, do you?”

“The Miller Spitter's my favorite,” Mom chimes in. “You always get the cutest look on your face when you throw that pitch.”

“Awwww, thanks, babe,” Dad says, and then he adds a kissy noise.

“Gross. Cut it out, you guys.” I roll my eyes. I hate it when they get all mushy.

“How's the food?” Dad asks.

“It's really good. There are a million choices. They even have a humungo salad bar.”

“Sounds great,” Mom says. “Maybe we should move there.”

I hear voices coming from the hallway again, but this time, one of them is Summer's.

I fake yawn. “Well, I'm pretty tired. I should go to bed.”

“Already?” Mom asks. “You never go to bed this early.”

Summer's laugh echoes through the hall.

“Yeah, but it's been a long day.” I stretch my arms above my head. “I'm wiped out.”

“Okay, Bea,” Dad says. “We don't want to keep you up, but we'd love to hear more about your new school.”

“I know, Dad. And I'd love to tell you. It's just that I'm really tired tonight.” My eyes flash to the bedroom door.

“We're going to hold you to that,” Mom says. “You can tell us more tomorrow night.”

“I will. I promise.”

The bedroom doorknob turns.

“Good night, Bea. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

The bedroom door opens.

“Good night!” I slam the iPad cover over the screen.

“Did you say something?” Summer asks. Her hair is dripping onto her bathrobe, which is hot pink plaid flannel.

“Me? No.” I slide the tablet under the blankets.

“Oh, I thought I heard you talking in here.” Summer shrugs.

“So, what time do you get up?” I change the subject.

“Breakfast is from seven to eight. Then we have to be in class by eight fifteen.

“Sounds good. So you don't mind if I get up a little earlier to shower?”

“Not at all.” Summer crawls into bed and flicks her
reading light on. “This is your room too, so you don't have to ask me if you can do stuff. Make yourself at home.”

“Thanks,” I say. I pull out my book and pretend to read. Really I'm wondering how I'm going to find the time to talk to my parents tomorrow night. They'll freak out if I blow them off again. I need to find a way to talk to them for half an hour every night without anyone knowing. I squeeze my eyes shut. Think. Think. Think.

I come up with nothing. Except that I wish Summer took longer showers.

 10 

I
WAKE UP to daylight with Adele blaring from my phone. I hit snooze and pull the covers over my head.

I peer out of the blankets just enough to see that Summer's still fast asleep. Maybe showering at night isn't such a bad idea.

The alarm blares again. As I pick up my phone to shut it off, I notice a text from Sophie.

Did u leave school? Nobody knows what happened 2 u. I'm worried. Call me ASAP.

I squeeze my eyes shut. This is not what I want to think about first thing in the morning. I block her number so I don't have to think about her ever again.

I push the covers off and stumble out of bed. I grab my bathrobe, towel, and shower caddy (which is so full of
shampoo, conditioner, soap, and body wash that it must weigh at least ten pounds) and slowly open the bedroom door. I peek toward the bathroom but don't see anyone. The hallway's pretty quiet, so I scamper to the showers. I push open the bathroom door, hoping there's not a line. I'd hate to be late on my first official full day. Amazingly enough, I'm the only one in there. Just in case, though, I do a quick change out of my pj's and jump in the shower, not waiting for it to warm up. I jump back and adjust the temperature. I'm in there for five minutes when I hear people talking in the bathroom. Someone turns on the shower next to mine, and then someone else turns on the one next to that. I soap up as fast as I can, rinse, and then turn the shower off. I give myself a quick dry, throw my bathrobe on, and make my way out of the shower.

Just as I'm about to leave the bathroom, Cassandra walks in, wearing a knee-length fuzzy white bathrobe. I smile at her, but she doesn't say anything. In fact, she hardly looks at me at all. Maybe she's not a morning person. Or maybe she's not an anytime-of-day person.

When I open the door to our room, Summer is already awake and dressed in striped leggings and a T-shirt that says
I <3 BEING AWESOME
.

“How was your shower?”

“Not too bad. A little cold.”

“They take forever to heat up.”

I open my closet door and pull out my suitcase. There aren't too many choices, but luckily I packed one of my favorite dresses—one I made using old T-shirts. I've never shared a room before so I'm not sure if Summer would be okay with me getting dressed in front of her. Just in case, I decide to change in the closet. After slipping into the dress, I squeeze half a tube of de-frizzing gel into my hand—my hair hasn't yet adjusted to the East Coast dampness.

I step out of the closet as Summer spins around the room.

“Whooooooaaaaaa,” Summer says when she stops spinning. “Cool dress.”

“Oh, thanks.” I feel my ears burn. “It's just something I made out of—”

“You
made
that?” Summer takes a step closer to me, still staring at the dress.

“Yeah, but it's no big deal.”

“Are you kidding me? It is
such
a big deal.” She touches the hem. “Can you make me one?”

“You really want one?” I ask.

“Totally.” She's still staring at the dress. “Only make mine more crazy.”

I laugh. “Okay! Do you have old T-shirts we can use?”

“Only boxes of them! I'll have my mom bring them tomorrow.”

Nobody's ever commented on my designs before. Well, nobody's ever really seen them, except Ellie and my
parents, and they never even noticed. I didn't wear any of my dresses to my old school because only designer labels were allowed in the building. I'm pretty sure that was written in the school handbook.

“Ready for breakfast?” Summer puts on shoes that are half sneakers, half boots. They're laced up the front with rainbow laces and totally clash with her striped leggings, but I think that's the point.

“Almost,” I say. I slip on a peach-colored shrug sweater that falls just above my waist, then check the mirror one more time to put on some lip gloss. I contemplate mascara but then remember that the only other seventh-grader I've seen wearing makeup at Midcoast Academy is Cassandra, and I'm not sure I want to be anything like her.

Luckily, we don't see Cassandra at breakfast. Summer and I both get the blueberry pancakes, which she polishes off in about five minutes. For someone so small, she sure eats a lot. Connor and Shane come in just as we're leaving. Connor smiles at Summer and gives me a little wave. My stomach flutters, and I'm pretty sure it made some stupid gurgling sound. I hope Connor didn't hear it.

I have first period science with Summer—and Connor. Mr. Desmond gives me a textbook, and I take the only empty seat there is—behind Connor. Mr. Desmond draws a picture of a plant on the whiteboard. He's talking about the parts
of the plant, which thankfully I already know from my old school. We did this unit last month, so my mind's free to wander. And it wanders to the seat in front of me.

Connor's light brown hair is just touching the collar of his Boston Celtics T-shirt. His knee is bouncing up and down, and every few minutes he taps his pencil on his notebook. He's not doing anything exciting, but for some reason, I can't stop staring at the back of his head.

I jump when the bell rings. There is no way that class is over. I look at the clock. Yep. I've been staring at the back of Connor's head for forty-five minutes. Luckily, Connor isn't in all my classes, or I'd completely fail out of Midcoast Academy.

I don't see Connor at lunch because he's in the astronomy club and they meet every Tuesday during lunch. I wonder what the astronomy club does.

After classes are over, Summer, Katie, and I head to the library to do our homework.

Cassandra walks with us, but when she sees Connor and Shane on the basketball court, she makes a beeline for them. Today she's wearing boots with two-inch heels. They're really pretty—black leather ankle boots with a fur-lined top—but I don't know how she's going to play basketball in them.

We're almost finished with our homework when Connor
walks into the library, a backpack on one shoulder and a basketball under one arm.

“Hey.” He sits down next to Summer and takes a book out of his backpack. I look up and smile, but he's not looking at me.

“Hey,” Summer says. She's quieter than normal. This must be her library voice. “Did you kick Shane's butt?”

“Yeah.” Connor smiles. “I don't know why he always thinks he can beat me. He hasn't yet.”

“How much homework do you have? We have to meet my parents in an hour.”

“Not much. I can't wait for Clara's. I'm starving.”

“Clara's has the most amazing lobster roll,” Summer whispers to me.

“Yum,” I say. I have no idea what a lobster roll is. I picture shellfish doing somersaults.

Summer nods her head and rubs her belly. “I can't wait.”

“Me neither.” I glance at Connor. His head is buried in his book.

“Let's meet at the usual place at five.” Summer starts packing up her backpack.

“Sounds good,” Connor says. He looks at me real fast and then looks back down at his book.

I'm so excited to have dinner with Summer and Connor that I hardly even worry about how I'm going to FaceTime my parents tonight—although it's always hanging over my head like the threat of rain on a cloudy day.

At five, Summer and I make our way to the main entrance lobby. Summer plops down on a brown leather couch next to the front desk, and I sit down next to her smoothing my skirt, which lands just above my knees. I want to look nice for Summer's parents. And Connor. But mostly Summer's parents.

Connor walks in a few minutes after us. He's talking with an older girl, and I realize, after my jaw hurts, that I'm clenching my teeth. Older Girl is laughing at something Connor's saying, and her brown curls are bouncing up and down. She's completely adorable, and based on her cargo pants and plain brown sweatshirt, she isn't even trying to be. Connor sits on the couch next to Summer, and Older Girl sits on Summer's lap.

“You weigh a ton.” Summer squirms out from underneath her. “Get off of me.”

Older Girl laughs and stands up. She looks at me with a great big smile on her face. “Hi. I'm Holly, Summer's sister.”

I instantly relax. Older Girl is Summer's sister. Of course.
That's
why she's here talking to Connor.

“I'm Bea.” I stand up.

“Nice to meet you, Bea. Welcome to Midcoast.”