True Colors (7 page)

An hour later Mom was driving the girls to the salon. Sparkly was spending the day with Dad.

“The whole team will be there today,” Aly warned Brooke.

“I know, I know,” Brooke said. “It's fine. I'm glad they helped keep the Sparkle Spa in business.”

When the girls walked through the front door of True Colors, all of the manicurists made a big deal over Brooke being back. Each one wanted to sign and decorate her cast. Meanwhile, Aly headed to the Sparkle Spa, where she was surprised to see Charlotte, Caleb, and Lily already there. Sophie was there too, sitting at the second manicure station, ready for work.

“Look what I did,” Charlotte said as soon as Aly walked in. She pointed to three sheets of paper attached to the wall in a row, with a pen dangling
from a string taped next to each sheet. Charlotte had made photocopies of the pages from the Sparkle Spa appointment book for next Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday.

“This way,” she said, “customers can sign up for appointments themselves while they wait.”

“Oh.” Aly said. She sort of wished Charlotte had asked her first, and she was a little worried about what Brooke would think.

But before she could respond, Charlotte added, “And I made these signs for the front window of True Colors.” She held up one that read:
KIDS, COME TO THE BACK! SPARKLE SPA IS OPEN!
And another that said:
SPARKLE SPA IS CLOSED, BUT CALL TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT.
She'd left space underneath to include a phone number.

“I think we should get a business cell phone so people can leave messages,” Caleb said.

“No cell phones allowed,” Aly said quickly. “But thanks for thinking of it.” She was starting to feel a tiny bit uncomfortable about all these new suggestions.

“And, Aly, look at the new donation box,” Lily said. “The old jar could break, so I brought in this safe, which even has a combination lock.” Lily practically shoved the box in Aly's face.

“Oh,” Aly said again. She didn't want a new donation box. She loved the sparkly teal strawberry Mom had made in art school. And she knew Brooke did too. But what could she say? Lily was only trying to do her job as CFO.

A few seconds later Brooke walked in, her cast covered with rainbows and hearts.

“Brooke!” Sophie squealed, standing up. “I'm so glad you're back!”

Brooke squinted at her. “What are
you
doing in
my
manicure chair?” Brooke hissed.

Sophie's face paled. “I, um, I'm a manicurist now, remember? This is where I was sitting on Thursday . . . ,” she said quietly.

Brooke looked around. “What's that on the wall? And why isn't the strawberry donation jar on the side table?” she said, clearly growing more upset at each new change she noticed.

“Charlotte made us sign-up charts, since she's the COO now,” Aly said nervously. “What do you think?”

Brooke didn't answer. Instead, she focused on Caleb. “He won't be here all the time, will he? Everything will be different if there's a
boy
in the Sparkle Spa! Aly, you're ruining everything! Again!” She turned around and ran back into True Colors.

Aly's stomach flip-flopped. “I'm really sorry, everyone,” she said. “I think Brooke is just a little
surprised. It's my fault. I should've explained things better to her. I'll go get her.”

But before Aly had a chance to follow her sister, two sixth graders from their school, Uma and Aubrey, came in for manicures and pedicures. Aly had totally forgotten about them, but they'd made appointments on Monday and were right there in the book. Aly poked her head into True Colors and saw Brooke talking to their mom.

“I picked my colors,” Uma called out.

“Me too,” said Aubrey. “Which are we doing first? Fingers or toes?”

Aly looked at Brooke one more time and then sighed. “Toes,” she said to Aubrey and Uma. “Let's get started.”

The day was busy with both regulars and walk-ins. Sophie was improving, but she was still pretty slow.
Charlotte kept coming up with new ideas every hour, from where to move the stations to what colors to paint the walls. Caleb pretty much sat near the door, checking out his sneakers. And Lily kept counting the donations over and over. Nobody asked about Brooke at all. But Aly was thinking about her all day long. She couldn't believe no one else was.

Even without Brooke, everything was going along smoothly. Aly was putting the top coat on Keisha's fingers—she was a second grader Aly knew from the library—when Charlotte said, “Aly, I think we should have two Colors of the Week, not just one. And three on special occasions like Halloween and the Fourth of July.”

And that's when Aly snapped.

She waited until Keisha left and there were no customers in the salon. Then she exploded. “Charlotte,
you have to stop asking me so many questions about colors and appointments. Lily, please stop rattling the coins in the box. And, Caleb, you haven't gotten off that chair all day!”

They all just stared at Aly.

No one said anything for close to a minute.

“Are you feeling okay?” Charlotte finally asked. “Did we do something wrong? We're just trying to be helpful.”

Oh, boy.
What had she done? Aly felt terrible. Really terrible. “No, it's me. Not any of you. I'm so sorry,” she said. “I think I just miss Brooke.”

Aly absolutely needed all her friends' help, but she
really
missed Brooke.

She missed their Secret Sister Eye Messages and Brooke pushing up her glasses and tugging her braid. She missed Brooke's awesome ideas. She missed Brooke's color combinations and the way
she knew which new polish everyone would like best.

And if she was being perfectly honest, Aly had to admit that having all these new job titles at the Sparkle Spa had kind of added a few too many bosses to the mix. Did she
have
to accept every single one of their suggested changes now that Charlotte, Lily, Sophie, and Caleb were part of the team?

Being CEO was hard. And without Brooke, it was even harder.

The rest of the afternoon was fine, and the only one who seemed bothered by Aly's outburst was Aly. She made sure she was extra nice to everyone because of it, even though she hated the safe that Lily had brought and liked the manicure and pedicure stations exactly where they were.

“Thanks, everyone,” Aly said as her friends were getting ready to leave. “Really. You all did a super job, and I'm sorry again for getting upset earlier.”

“No problem, Aly. We know you miss Brooke. See you at school on Monday,” Charlotte said, waving good-bye.

Sophie was the last to leave the spa. “I'm sorry I'm so slow, Aly, but I really love being here and polishing nails,” she said quietly. “I just . . . I just wanted you to know that.”

“Sophie, you're a great manicurist.” Aly sighed. “I didn't mean to be mean today.”

Once the Sparkle Spa was empty, Aly went on a hunt for Brooke. She found her sitting with Mom on the sky-blue bench in front of True Colors. They were both eating ice cream. With sprinkles. Aly didn't say a word, she just stood there listening.

Brooke was chattering away, too busy to notice her sister. “They changed things,” she said. “While I was gone, Sophie took my spot and Charlotte made new signs and Caleb is a boy.”

“Joan had new ideas too,” Mom said. “For True Colors. I wish she would have asked me first, but sometimes being part of a team means letting other people do what they want to make a project or a game or a business the best it can be.”

“I don't know if our friends love Sparkle Spa as much as I do,” Brooke said, staring at the roses that Joan had drawn on her cast.

“You might be surprised, Brookie,” Mom said. “They're just trying hard to make it even better than it already is.”

“I guess,” Brooke said. “But I liked it better when the team was just me and Aly, and we did everything together, just us.”

Aly took a deep breath and finally spoke up. “I liked it that way too, Brooke.” Then she sent a Secret Sister Eye Message that said,
I miss you so much.

And when Aly felt tears forming in her eyes, she saw them in Brooke's eyes too.

A
ll day Sunday, Aly and Brooke talked about what had gone right and what had gone wrong after Brooke's accident. That way they could learn from what had happened.

They each made a list.

How to Fix Aly's Mistakes

1.
 
Talk to Brooke before you make any Executive Sparkle Spa Decisions! She's your partner.

2.
 
ESSDs should sometimes be discussed with Mom.

3.
 
Think before you make big decisions, like hiring all your friends to work.

4.
 
Don't yell at your friends in the Sparkle Spa. They're just trying to help.

5.
 
Try not to be mean like Suzy Davis.

How to Fix Brooke's Mistakes

1.
 
Watch out for backpacks that are lying on the floor.

2.
 
Don't chase Sparkly through the whole entirehouse.

3.
 
Don't get mad at Caleb for being a boy.

4.
 
Sometimes it's okay when there are changes at the Sparkle Spa. People are just trying to make it even better.

5.
 
Try not to be mean like Suzy Davis.

And when Charlotte, Lily, Sophie, and Caleb showed up for work at the Sparkle Spa on Tuesday, Aly folded up her list, stuck it in her back pocket, and apologized to them. She apologized again for her outburst on Saturday. She apologized for giving them all jobs without talking to Brooke first. And she told them that they could keep their jobs at the Sparkle Spa for as long as they wanted, but they had to understand that Brooke and Aly were the ones in charge. And they would make decisions together, just like Lewis and Clark. Even though those explorers needed help from their friends too, like Sacagawea.