Keeping Secrets

  “We have to hold the sign up at all times,” Ruby announced as the girls pushed open the door to Needle and Thread.

  When they did so, it opened soundlessly into a darkened room.

  “Min?” said Ruby in a small voice.

  The lights flicked on and there were Min and Gigi, dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda — and Aunt Allie as Dorothy and Mary Woolsey as a Munchkin.

  “Ooh, that was scary,” said Hilary, shivering.

  “Too scary?” asked Gigi.

  “Oh, no. Fun scary.”

  “Mary!” exclaimed Ruby. “And Aunt Allie! This is a good surprise!”

  Aunt Allie held out a bowl of Three Musketeers bars. “Here you go, girls. Your costumes are, um …”

  Ruby pulled forth the sign.

  “A still life. How inventive,” said Mary.

  The girls continued on the route chosen by Hilary. They saw the Fongs at their studio (Grace was now wearing a ladybug costume) and Dr. Malone in his office. (“Huh,” said Hilary. “A dentist handing out candy.”) At Time and Again, Sonny Sutphin in a magnificent clown costume gave them licorice whips, and at the library they helped themselves to Mary Janes in a bowl that was sitting in the lap of Mother Goose.

  At long last, the girls reached the diner. There were the Bride of Frankenstein and his wife. “Hello there!” said Hilary’s father, patting his mountain of hair. “Well, look at the three of you. A rainbow. What a wonderful sur —”

  “The sign! The sign!” hissed Ruby, and Lacey grabbed for it.

  “Not a single person knew who we were unless they read the sign,” said Ruby a few minutes later as she and Lacey returned to Needle and Thread.

  “I don’t care,” said Lacey. “This was a great night. Wasn’t it a great night? Hilary thought it was better than trick-or-treating in her old town.”

  Ruby grinned. “Yeah. It really was great. Who cares if people didn’t know what we were.” She crumpled up the sign. “But you know what? Maybe next year we should be the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, and the Leaning Tower of Pizza.”

  Olivia sat miserably on her bed. Through her open window she could hear trick-or-treaters laughing and shouting as they made their way to Main Street, and she longed to be one of them. She let out a puff of breath and picked at her cuticles.

  Olivia had decided that she didn’t want to go to the dance at Central.

  Why, oh, why had she said yes when Jacob had asked her? The invitation had been exciting, of course, but now that the big night had arrived, Olivia felt certain she had made a mistake. A very big mistake. And gazing at the open door of her wardrobe, inside of which she could see every outfit she had first decided upon and then rejected, she thought that perhaps wearing a costume to the dance wouldn’t have been such a bad idea after all. A costume didn’t need to be grown-up or cool or perfect. There was nothing right or wrong about a costume. And the idea of wearing a mask was very appealing just now.

  “Olivia? Are you ready?” called her mother from the hallway.

  Olivia tried to figure out how to tell her mother that she wasn’t going to the dance. She hesitated for so long that Mrs. Walter knocked on the door and then opened it just wide enough to poke her head into the room. “Olivia?” she said again.

  “No, I’m not ready,” Olivia mumbled.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I don’t want to go!”

  Mrs. Walter smiled. Then she sat down next to her daughter. “Opening night jitters?”

  “What?”

  “It’s an expression. It means, ‘Are you nervous?’”

  Olivia nodded. “I don’t even know what to wear!”

  “I thought you and Flora and Nikki chose something last night.”

  “We did, but now it looks stupid. And babyish. Which is no surprise since we got it in the little kids’ department.”

  “What’s Flora going to wear?” asked Mrs. Walter.

  “Jeans and a sort of sweatery thing over a tank top.”

  “Well, you have jeans and that striped shirt that buttons down the front and a tank top. Come on. You have to get dressed. I told Min we’d pick Flora up in ten minutes.”

  “I’m not going.”

  “You’ve decided to let Jacob and your friends down?”

  Olivia sighed. “No.”

  Her mother gave her a hug. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  Ten minutes later, Olivia, dressed in the outfit she and Flora and Nikki had chosen, was sitting in the backseat of the car beside Flora.

  Nobody spoke.

  Olivia looked out the window at the trick-or-treaters.

  “Remember last year?” she said forlornly.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake!” exclaimed her mother. “This is a dance. You girls are going to have fun. And if you get nervous, think of your father and me dressed as Sonny and Cher, handing out candy at the store.”

  Olivia buried her head in her hands. “I hope nobody from school sees you.”

  Mrs. Walter let out a sigh of her own. “Does everything we do embarrass you?”

  “Life embarrasses me,” replied Olivia.

  She brightened, though, when they pulled into the school parking lot and found Nikki waiting for them. Nikki was so excited that at the sight of the Walters’ car she began to hop up and down.

  “There’s someone who looks happy about the dance,” commented Mrs. Walter. “Now, girls, please. Try to have fun.”

  “You’re not a size-two kid in a size-twelve school,” muttered Olivia as her mother drove away. But she could hear music drifting through the open door to the gym, and she admitted that she did in fact feel a teensy bit excited. She reminded herself that only seventh- and eighth-graders would be there. And, most important, Jacob had specifically invited her to the dance.

  This was her first date.

  “Olivia,” Flora whispered suddenly. “There he is.”

  Waiting at the door to the gym was Jacob. He was standing by himself, his collar askew, his hair damp and slightly flattened, as if he had come straight from the shower.

  “He’s so cute!” exclaimed Nikki in a whisper.

  Olivia found herself smiling. And when she approached Jacob, she found that he indeed smelled of soap — and also something sharp, which was not unlike her father’s aftershave lotion.

  “Hi, Olivia,” said Jacob. “Hi, Flora. Hi, Nikki. Olivia, you, um, you look really nice.”

  “Thanks.” Olivia found herself incapable of uttering another word.

  “Come on. Let’s go inside!” said Nikki.

  They entered the gym and Olivia sucked in her breath. “Ohh,” she said. “Look.”

  Olivia had expected to find the room decorated with run-of-the-mill pumpkin cutouts, cobwebs, and orange and black crepe paper. What she found instead was a world of glitter and light. The walls had been hung with sparkly netting. The refreshment tables were strewn with silver sequins and confetti. The teachers were wearing blue-and-silver wizard’s caps. And each student who entered the gym was handed a neon glow stick.

  Olivia snapped hers smartly and watched it begin to shine a brilliant green. She was about to fasten it around her neck when Jacob said, “Here. Let me do that.”

  “Thank you,” replied Olivia, blushing. Then she leaned over to Flora and whispered, “Hey, look. No one’s dancing.”

  Flora smiled. “I know. I guess we aren’t the only shy ones.”

  Olivia and Jacob, with Flora and Nikki in tow, walked across the gym to watch the band — three boys and two girls dressed entirely in black.

  “Who are they?” asked Olivia after a few minutes. “They’re good.” (She had no idea whether they were good or horrible.)

  “They’re called Snooze,” replied Jacob. “The band members are all in twelfth grade. My brother knows them.”

  “Snooze,” repeated Flora. “You’d think a band would choose a perkier name.”

  Jacob laughed. He turned to Olivia. “Want to dance?”

&
nbsp; Olivia stepped back from Jacob. She looked across the dance floor. She looked at her feet. “Well …”

  “You know what?” said Jacob. He leaned close to Olivia and whispered, “I don’t want to dance, either.”

  Olivia grinned. “Really?” She let out a rush of breath. “Oh, I’m so glad. I mean … well, you know.”

  Jacob looked as relieved as Olivia felt. “I don’t like to dance,” he admitted. “At least not when people are watching me. And then I go and invite you to a dance!”

  “But it doesn’t matter because I don’t like to dance!”

  “Hey!” exclaimed Flora, grabbing Olivia’s elbow. “There’s Willow. I feel terrible — we should have invited her to come with us. And we didn’t even think of it. At least I didn’t.”

  “I didn’t, either,” said Olivia. She saw Willow standing uncertainly by the refreshment table. “Let’s go talk to her.”

  Olivia, Jacob, Nikki, and Flora walked back across the gym, waving to Willow on the way.

  “You came!” said Olivia, just as Flora was saying, “We should have asked you to ride over here with us. I’m sorry we didn’t think about it. We’re so used to —”

  Willow interrupted with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about it. I couldn’t have come with you, anyway. I … I had to sneak out. Mom wouldn’t give me permission to go to the dance, and I didn’t want to miss it. So …”

  “So you snuck out?” Nikki repeated. “How?”

  “Believe me, I’ve had years of practice. The first thing I did when we moved into the Row Houses was check out escape routes. Well, not escape routes exactly, but you know what I mean.”

  Olivia had no idea what she meant. She had never once had to escape from her own house.

  Jacob looked from Willow to Olivia, then drew Olivia aside. “Does she have a father?” he whispered.

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Oh. I just wondered. Maybe he’s not home or something. Willow said her mother wouldn’t let her go. But she didn’t mention her father.”

  “Um, Willow?” said Olivia. “What about your dad? Did he say you couldn’t go, too?”

  “Not in so many words.” Willow reached for a cookie. “He just usually goes along with what Mom says. But it’s no big deal. Really.”

  Olivia glanced at Flora and Nikki. She knew that they thought it was a very big deal, and so did she.

  “Who’s the band?” asked Willow.

  “Snooze,” replied Jacob, snoring loudly, and everyone laughed.

  “I’m going to check them out. I don’t want to miss anything.” Willow looked at her watch. “Gosh. I still have to figure out how to sneak back in tonight. Sometimes that’s harder. Once — hey, who are those girls?” Willow had shifted her attention to a small knot of girls nearby. “Two of them are staring at us,” she added, narrowing her eyes.

  Nikki whispered, “Melody Becker and Tanya Rhodes. Our mortal enemies. Well, Olivia’s mortal enemies.”

  “Really?” said Willow, looking at Olivia with interest. “You have mortal enemies? What’s their problem?”

  “Well, at the moment,” said Nikki, “they’re jealous that Jacob invited Olivia to the dance.”

  Willow smiled. “Excellent.” She reached for another cookie. “Okay. I’ll see you guys later.”

  “Flora!” squeaked Olivia as soon as Willow was out of earshot. “She had to sneak out of the house!”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” said Jacob.

  “I sense trouble,” added Nikki.

  Four pairs of eyes followed Willow across the gym.

  “Maybe Min can at least drive her home with us tonight,” said Flora.

  “Maybe,” said Olivia dubiously.

  Later, much later, Olivia and Jacob stood side by side at the edge of the dance floor.

  “One more song and the dance is over,” said Jacob.

  “It went so fast,” said Olivia. “All of a sudden, it went so fast.” She glanced around the gym. “I wonder where Willow is.”

  Olivia and Jacob, soon joined by Flora and Nikki, searched the room but couldn’t find her.

  “I guess she left already,” said Flora uncomfortably. “And, Olivia, I hate to say this, but we have to go, too. Min’s probably waiting outside. Um, I’ll meet you in the parking lot. Come with me, Nikki.”

  Olivia turned to Jacob. “You know what? This is the best dance I’ve ever been to — and I didn’t dance once.”

  Jacob grinned. “Same here. The best dance ever.”

  When the phone rang on the day after Halloween, Flora didn’t hear it. She had decided she needed a sewing day and had closed herself into her room. She sat contentedly on the floor in a muddle of patterns, fabrics, buttons, and magazines. The magazines were open to pages featuring outfits Flora liked and thought she could copy.

  Flora didn’t actually need new clothes. What she needed was the chance to clear her head, and a sewing day was perfect for that. She had realized that her brain was swimming with thoughts of Olivia, Jacob, dances, dates, Min, Mr. Pennington, more dates, Willow, and Aunt Allie’s mystery.

  When the door to her room burst open and Ruby thrust the phone inside, Flora jumped and knocked over a box of pins that lost themselves in her rug.

  “Ruby! Don’t you ever knock?” she cried.

  “Well, I called, but you didn’t answer, and I didn’t want Willow to have to wait too long. Why didn’t you answer?”

  “Can’t you guess? I didn’t hear you.”

  Ruby made a face. “Would you like me to put the phone back?”

  “No! I just want you to knock before you come in my room.”

  “Okay, okay. Jeez.”

  Flora took the phone, and Ruby slammed her door.

  “Hello? Willow?” said Flora.

  “Yeah, hi. It’s me.”

  “How are you? We were looking for you at the dance last night. We would have given you a ride home.”

  “Oh,” replied Willow. “That’s okay.”

  Flora was desperate to find out how Willow had gotten back in her house but instead asked, “Did you have fun?”

  “Yeah, it was great. Everyone here is really nice. I talked to a lot of people and danced with a couple of guys. I don’t know their names, but they were nice, too.” She laughed. “My mother would have a fit if she knew I had danced with boys and didn’t even find out their names.”

  “So, um,” said Flora, “I guess you got home okay last night?”

  “Yup. No problem. But sneaking back in always kind of ruins whatever came before. I feel like Pollyanna when I do it. You know — climbing up the tree to sneak back through her window after the fair? It’s a good way to take the magic out of an evening. Hey, Flora?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I was wondering, would you like to … well, I’d invite you over, but it isn’t really a very good day around here. Do you want to go into town or something?”

  “Today?” Flora looked at her room — at the fabrics, the patterns, the magazines. She knew she should say yes, or at the very least ask Willow to come over to her house, but … a sewing day. She didn’t get to have them very often, not entire days.

  “Well, yeah,” said Willow, and Flora could already hear the disappointment in her voice.

  “Willow, I’m sorry, I can’t.”

  She was trying to figure out whether to tell Willow about sewing days when Willow said, “That’s okay. Really. Some other time. I’ll see you in school tomorrow.” And she hung up.

  Flora sat on the floor, staring at the phone. At last she stood up, opened her door, and handed the phone to Ruby, who, as Flora had suspected, was slouched in the hallway, where she had been eavesdropping. “Here,” said Flora, and she retreated into her room.

  The conversation had put a slight damper on the sewing day, but Flora simply added it to the list of things she would mull over as she worked.

  She sorted through the magazines again and settled on a dress — a summer dress, but that was okay — that she
liked quite a bit. It was sleeveless, with a scoop neck and a complicated back, but what Flora liked best was the combination of fabrics that had been used. The dress looked as though it had been slashed diagonally from the left shoulder to the lower right side, the top part a brilliant peacock blue, the bottom emerald green.

  “I bet I could make that,” she said aloud. She found a pattern for a sundress that she had made before and pulled out the contents of the package. If she cut the bodice and the skirt pieces in two diagonally, allowing extra fabric for the additional seam … yes, that should work. Now — fabric?

  Flora began to search through lengths of fabric, thinking of Willow as she did so. She imagined Willow sneaking through a window to get back into her Row House. Then she realized that Willow hadn’t said that was how she had gotten back in her house; she had said that was how Pollyanna had tried to get back in her house. And what was wrong with Willow’s mother, anyway? Clearly, something was wrong.

  Adults were hard to figure out. Well, people were hard to figure out, but somehow Flora found adult shortcomings more troubling than kid shortcomings. She felt grown-ups should know better. Or at least be more predictable.

  Flora’s mind wobbled right around to the subject of change again. Which reminded her that Min and Mr. Pennington were going out to dinner that night. Another date. Although Flora personally thought that Sunday was not as romantic a night for a date as Friday or Saturday.

  Flora’s main concern with the relationship between her grandmother and Rudy Pennington was how things would change if they got married — something her aunt Allie had assured her was not about to happen anytime soon. Still, it could happen. And while Flora loved Mr. Pennington, she didn’t want to move — into his house or anywhere else. Of course, it would make much more sense for Mr. Pennington to move into Min’s house than for her and Ruby and Min all to move into his house, but either way it meant change. And really, thought Flora, did her grandmother and Mr. Pennington want such a big change at this time in their lives? Maybe they didn’t. But if they didn’t, why were they dating? What could come of it? This was a mystery.