“Then can I at least have some ice cream while we talk about this?” I ask. I did not get any dessert tonight because Maybelle ate mine. We had ice cream sandwiches.
“You already had an ice cream sandwich,” my mom says.
“Fine.” I kick at the table. I am starting to feel very cranky. “I’m starting to feel very cranky!” I announce. “I think I should probably be left alone so that I do not have a bad tantrum or fit.”
“Hailey, we need to talk about this,” my mom says. “We can’t have you getting into so much trouble in school and with your friends.”
“I’m not trying to,” I say. This is not even a lie. It is only the truth. I am not trying to. Maybelle is trying to.
“Well, you need to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” my mom says. “I cannot get any more calls at work about how you’re acting up at school.”
“Oh, you won’t,” I say.
“Do you promise?” my mom asks.
“I promise,” I say. And then I even cross my heart.
“Okay,” my mom says. She gives me a hug. And then so does my dad.
But Addie Jokobeck still does not want to be my friend. And that is very sad.
Chapter Ten
Party Time
The next day is the day of the Countries of the World Party in room four! But my mood is ruined because Natalie Brice brings invitations to school. Invitations that are made out of white construction paper and are in the shape of a ghost with big, wide, creepy mouths.
“Here you go,” she says, giving one to Antonio while we are all on the playground for recess.
Antonio reads it, sounding out all the words. “You are invited,” he says, “to Natalie’s Ghost Hunting Party.”
A ghost hunting party! Everyone will be running through Natalie’s house looking for that ghost! Of course, I know there really is no ghost. That ghost is really Maybelle. But they do not know that! I could catch that ghost and make them all think it was me who saved the day!
“Here you go, Russ,” Natalie says. And she gives him one of those shiny, shiny, shiny invitations. Then Natalie Brice walks right by me and over to Megan Miller and Addie Jokobeck. And I realize I will not be going to that party. For definite.
“Natalie does not have very good listening skills,” I say to Russ. “She didn’t listen when we told her we already got rid of that ghost by the monkey bars.”
“Yeah,” Russ says. He is still looking at that invitation.
“So her party is not even a real ghost hunting party,” I say. “A real ghost hunting party can only happen if there is a real ghost around. And I am pretty sure our ghost is already gone.” Then I make my voice into a very soft, soft, soft whisper. “I will tell you a secret, Russ Robertson.” He leans in very close. “A ghost did not draw that mustache on me. Someone else did. Someone who—”
Whoosh!
“HAILEY!” Maybelle says, popping up. “You cannot tell anyone about me! I told you!”
I sigh.
“Someone who?” Russ asks.
“No one,” I say. “Never mind.”
***
After recess, we are allowed to change into our costumes! When we get back to our classroom, it looks like a party is going on! And that is because there is a party going on! It is time for our party about the countries of the world, and the whole room is filled with lots of good, good, good treats.
“Hello, Hailey,” Antonio says. He is wearing a green and orange hat! It is so big it almost covers his whole face!
“Hello, down there!” I yell, looking under the bottom of that hat. “Are you under there, Antonio?”
“This,” Antonio says, “is a sombrero. It is a Mexican hat. And my grandpa wears one all the time.”
“And this,” I say, “is a beret! They wear them in France sometimes.”
“Cool!” Antonio says. And then I see Addie Jokobeck. She is over by the table of food, and she is setting out our tray of French fries. Mr. Jokobeck warmed them up in the cafeteria oven and then dropped them off. And then I feel very sad, sad, sad, like maybe I am going to cry.
“Let’s eat some food,” I say. I swallow big so that my tears don’t come down my cheeks. Antonio and I head over to the table that is filled with lots and lots and lots of good treats. Like our French fries. And Mexican quesadillas. And English truffles. And Thai noodles. Antonio and I put some food on tiny paper plates. Then we sit down.
“Antonio,” I say while we eat. “Let’s talk about our plan to dig a hole all the way to Antarctica.”
“Okay,” he says.
“It is going to be a very interesting adventure,” I tell him. “First, we will—”
But I do not finish what I am saying. Because that is when I notice Addie sitting over in the corner. On the rug in the reading circle. All alone, by herself. She has her knees pulled all the way up, almost to her nose!
“Just one second,” I say to Antonio. “I will be right back.”
And I tiptoe over to where Addie is sitting.
“Oh, hello,” I say, like I just happen to be walking by.
“Hello,” Addie says. I wait for her to say, “Go away, you are not my friend anymore!” But she does not.
“What are you doing sitting over here?” I look at the weather calendar on the wall over Addie’s head. I put a look on my face. One that says I just came over to check on the weather.
“Nothing,” Addie says. “Just sitting.”
“I like your costume,” I say. This is supposed to be a very funny joke since Addie and I are wearing the exact same costume.
“Thank you,” Addie says. I guess she is too upset to even laugh at jokes.
“Do you want to eat some French fries with me and Antonio?” I ask. “They are very crispy and very good.”
And then Addie Jokobeck starts crying. She bursts into tears just like I do when I have to spend the night places.
“Addie!” I say. “What’s wrong?” I sit right down next to her. I am wearing a pair of black pants, and this morning my mom said, “Hailey, please be careful with these pants at school and try not to get them dirty.” But this is an emergency!
“Ghoostt parrrshhhy,” Addie says. Then she makes a big sniff. Ewwwww. I get Addie a tissue from the box on the windowsill.
“Nosh inviiissted,” Addie says again. She is not making real words. Probably because she is too upset from all the crying. And then I realize why Addie is crying! It is because she has lost her friend and partner! Which is me! I am her friend and partner! And she is upset that we are fighting.
“Addie,” I say, “I am very, very sorry I got you in trouble. And I think me and you should be friends again.” I think about it some more. “I do not even care if you go to that ghost hunting party!” I think about it even some more. “If you promise never to tell Natalie any secrets that I tell you.”
“NO,” Addie says, and she makes another big sniff.
“No,” I say. “What do you mean, no?” My heart feels like it is dropping into my shoes.
“I’m not crying because of that.” Addie sniffs again.
And then Maybelle pops up right in front of me! She is still wearing that new green dress.
“Hailey!” Maybelle yells.
“Shh,” I say out of the side of my mouth. “I am busy here.”
“What?” Addie asks.
“Nothing,” I say. “Now, you were just about to stop crying on account of how now we are friends again.” I give her my biggest, best smile.
“HAILEY!” Maybelle screams. “This is very, very important!”
“But I’m not crying about you,” Addie says. “I am crying about the…the ghost party!”
“What about it?” I ask.
“HAILEY!” Maybelle yells. And she pulls on my shirt.
“I. WAS. NOT. INVITED!?
?? Addie is very upset. She is almost crying and yelling at the same time. Although it is very hard to hear with all that shouting that Maybelle is doing. She is using a very outdoor sort of voice.
“How come?” I ask. I try to pull Maybelle’s hands off my shirt without looking craze, craze, crazy.
“I don’t know,” Addie sniffs. “I think it is because I wouldn’t tell Natalie if you were the one who threw away that list.”
“That is the reason that you are not invited?” I ask. I start to have a very funny feeling in my stomach. And not a good one.
“Yes,” Addie says. She is not crying anymore. Now she is just looking very sad.
“HAILEY!” Maybelle shrieks. “PLEASE!”
“Go away!” I yell.
“Okay,” Addie says, and starts to get up.
“Sorry,” I say. “Not you.” I give Maybelle a mean look and poof! She disappears.
“Now,” I say. “I think I know how I can fix this.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” I say. That funny, nervous feeling is back in my stomach. But I do not let it stop me. Because this time Natalie Brice has gone a little too far.
“How?” Addie wants to know.
“Follow me,” I say. And then I march, march, march right up to where Natalie is sitting! In my seat! Right next to Antonio and they are probably making a plan to dig a hole all the way to Antarctica!
“Excuse me, Natalie,” I say very politely. I tap, tap, tap her on the shoulder.
“Move your feet, lose your seat,” she says. And then she turns back to eating her food.
“I do not want my seat,” I say. “I want you to let Addie go to your party, please.” I put a big smile on my face just in case Natalie Brice feels like maybe being a little nice to me.
“No,” Natalie says. And then she takes a big bite of one of the French fries on her plate. “Eww,” she says. “These are not very good.”
“That is a lie and you know it,” I say. I start to feel like maybe I want to have a tantrum. “Those French fries are delicious!”
“No,” Natalie says, “they are not.”
So then I decide that enough is enough. “Oh, Natalie,” I say. “A ghost did not throw away that list after all.” I take a deep breath and get ready to be in trouble. “I did.”
Natalie looks very surprised, like she cannot believe it. Her eyebrows are going up and down and her mouth drops all the way open.
“So,” I say. “It is time to cancel that ghost hunting party, because there is no ghost.” I smile again. “It was me, Hailey Twitch, who was causing all those problems.”
Natalie is still very shocked.
“I am still going to have that party,” she says.
“But no ghost hunting?” Antonio asks. He looks like he thinks that party might not be so fun after all.
“No, but we can play in my tree house,” Natalie says.
“I already did that,” Antonio tells her.
“Me too,” says Megan Miller.
“Me too,” says Russ Robertson.
“So I guess that party is not going on,” Addie says from behind me. I turn around and give her a high five.
“These French fries are good,” Antonio says. He puts three whole fries in his mouth at the same time.
“And if you are very lucky, they are good for a food fight,” I tell him.
But before we can talk about this fabulous idea, there is one more thing that has to be done. I tiptoe up to the front of the room where Miss Stephanie is serving up some Chinese soup.
“Miss Stephanie?” I say politely. I stand very tall and quiet.
“Yes, Hailey?” Miss Stephanie says. She is dressed up like the Statue of Liberty for the party.
“I need to tell you that I threw that list of partners in the garbage.” I look down at my shoes and feel very, very sad.
“Hailey, is that true?” Miss Stephanie asks.
I want to say no. Because I did not throw that list in the garbage, Maybelle did. But then I see Natalie and she still looks mad, mad, mad. And I know that if I do not take the blame, Natalie will tell on me.
And so I say, “Yes, Miss Stephanie, I did throw that list in the garbage.”
“That wasn’t nice, Hailey,” she says. “You know that is against the rules.”
“I know,” I say. “I am very sorry and it will not happen again.” I try to look very sorry about my rule breaking. But I know what is going to happen now. I am going to get a punishment. And it will be to leave our party.
But Miss Stephanie only says, “We will talk about this later, Hailey.” And I am not sure, but I think she might be smiling.
She is going to let me stay at the party! “Will we have to,” I ask, crossing my fingers, “tell my parents about this?”
“I don’t think so,” Miss Stephanie says. “I am very happy you came out and admitted what you did. It is very grown up. But please be on your best behavior from now on.”
Yay! This is turning into the best day ever! I go over to a new table and sit down with Addie Jokobeck.
“Have you ever heard about a plan to dig a hole all the way to Antarctica?” I ask her.
“No,” she says, “but that sounds like a very fun adventure.”
I give Addie Jokobeck a very, very big smile. And she gives me one too. And I feel very hap, hap, happy!
“Thank you, Hailey,” Addie says. She takes a bite of a very delicious-looking cupcake.
“You’re welcome,” I say. And then I think about something. “Addie,” I say, “I am sorry if I was mean to you about being friends with Natalie Brice.” I take another French fry off my plate. “Even if she is a mean one. And I am sorry if I got you in trouble.”
“It’s okay,” Addie says. “I know you didn’t mean it.”
“Can we sit with you?” Antonio Fuerte asks. He is standing by our table with Russ Robertson.
“Yes,” I say. I turn back to Addie. “I think it is okay for us to have other friends.”
“Yes,” she says, “I think you are right.”
And then me and Russ and Addie and Antonio all talk about how to dig a big hole to Antarctica.
Chapter Eleven
Mr. Tuttle and the
Department of Magic
We are just getting to the good part about digging the hole and figuring out the shovels when Maybelle poofs right back up!
“HAILEY!” she says. “I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW!”
“No,” I whisper.
“YES,” she says. And then I notice she is all done up. She is wearing a new purple dress and neon pink shoes. I will have to ask Kaitlyn about that, because I do not think it matches.
“I cannot,” I say. “I am already on thin ice here.” Being on thin ice is when you are almost in trouble but not quite.
“Hailey, PLEASE,” she says. “This is a very big emergency.” And then I realize she means business.
“Excuse me, please,” I say politely to Russ and Addie. And then I ask Miss Stephanie if I can please go to the bathroom.
“What?” I ask Maybelle once we are in the bathroom. I check all the stalls first to make sure no one is listening in. Like being a spy.
“We have a bit of a…problem,” she says. And then poof! Another person poofs up! A little man with a mustache and a weird tan coat and big huge glasses!
“Hello,” he says. “Are you Hailey Twitch?”
“Well,” I say. I think about this. “That depends on whether or not she’s in trouble.”
“No,” he says, “she’s not in trouble.”
“Then, yes,” I say, “I am Hailey Twitch.” And then I remember my manners. “I am pleased to meet you, Mr.…?”
“Mr. Tuttle,” he says. “Department of Magic.”
“Department of Magic?” I ask. “Magic does not sou
nd like it should have a department.” A department sounds very serious and dark. Which is not very fun at all.
“No time for small talk,” he says. Then he pushes up his glasses and looks at me kind of seriously. “We need,” he says, “to talk about Maybelle. And it is very important.”
Yikes. I am not so sure about this. Usually when a grown-up wants to have an important talk with you, it means it might be time for a punishment. I think it over very, very careful.
“Fine,” I say, “I will talk to you about Maybelle, Mr. Tuttle. But make it quick please, since there is a very big party going on in the other room.”
Mr. Tuttle looks down at his clipboard. And then he starts to tell me that important thing about Maybelle. I listen real close, and my jaw goes drop, drop, dropping right to the ground. As if getting a magic sprite wasn’t enough for one girl to handle! How am I going to deal with this? I guess we will just have to wait and see…
Acknowledgments
Thank you so, so much to:
Daniel Ehrenhaft, my fab editor, for taking over with such enthusiasm, and making this book a million times better.
Lyron Bennett for believing in Hailey from the beginning.
Dominique Raccah, Kelly Barrales-Saylor, and everyone at Sourcebooks for all their hard work.
Suzanne Beaky for bringing Hailey and Maybelle alive and making them look better than I ever could have imagined.
My mom, my dad, and my sisters for all their support.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jackson Pearce, Jessica Burkhart, Mandy Hubbard, and Diana Peterfreund for answering my “OMG, I’m freaking out” email.
Kevin Cregg, Scott Neumyer, and Jodi Yanarella for just being great.
And most of all, my husband, Aaron, for everything.
About the Author
Lauren Barnholdt loves reading, writing, and anything pink and sparkly. She’s never had a magic sprite, but she does have four guinea pigs. She lives outside of Boston with her husband. Visit her website and say hello at www.laurenbarnholdt.com.