Heidi Dog leaves my side. I assume she’s heading to her doggie door to do her business out in the yard. That gives me the idea to walk her. I haven’t walked her since last summer vacation. The doctor said I could go outside as long as I don’t overdo it.
It takes a bit of searching to find her leash, but I find it on a coat hook, and soon were outside in the beautiful day. I love spring, not only because school’s almost over but also because the winter always seems so long to me. Heidi Dog wags her tail and seems glad to be out seeing different things.
I’ve always lived in this same neighborhood. It’s a little on the dull side and it never occurred to me that I would miss it if I had to leave. But now that I’ll be going, it suddenly seems like the nicest place on earth. I know most of my neighbors. What I used to think was boring now is familiar and comforting.
When we turn the corner, I see Ethan standing in his front yard, three doors down. He should be in school.
Uh-oh! I stop. Did I brush my hair? Have I brushed my teeth? Deodorant? I’ve become such a slug these last few days I can’t remember. What am I even wearing? Sweatpants and this old T-shirt with the bleach stains.
As I take one step back, Heidi Dog barks. She wants to go forward. Ethan turns toward the sound. His face lights with surprise and he waves, swinging his arm in a wide arc. Waving back, I step forward. There’s no chance of retreat now.
I hope Ethan really likes me for myself, because he’s about to get a super dose of the real me.
“Hey!” he says, smiling as I approach. “Why are you walking around? Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”
“Resting my mind,” I say. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”
“I woke up this morning and my stomach hurt. At the time I thought I was dying but now I feel better. Maybe it was something I ate.” He looks at me and I don’t see any signs of horror or even disgust. Maybe I don’t look as horrible as I thought. I start to relax.
“Cute dog,” Ethan says as he reaches down to scratch Heidi Dog between the ears.
“Do you have a dog?” I ask.
“No. A cat. She’s around here somewhere. I came out to look for her because she’s got to go to the vet when my mom comes home from work.”
“Is she all right?”
“Yeah. Just a checkup.” He looks around and calls for Fluffy. “My little sister named her,” he explains.
“My brother, Eric, named Heidi Dog.”
We talk about our pets for a while and laugh about the funny things they do sometimes. I’m having such a nice time talking with Ethan that I let Heidi Dog off the leash so she can wander around a little while we chat. I have gloves and a plastic bag to scoop her poop if she goes on someone’s lawn.
Talking to Ethan is surprisingly easy. I thank him for his fish Snap. He looks away shyly. “It was sort of dumb, I guess,” he says.
“No!” I say. “I liked it a lot.”
“Really?” He smiles.
“Yes! It was totally cute.”
He asks me if my Snapstreak is still going and I tell him about how Lulu and Megan have taken over. “Does the girl you’re Snapping with know it’s not you?” Ethan asks.
“Not yet. Do you think it still counts as a streak if it’s not me?”
“I don’t know,” Ethan says. “I guess so. It’s still a streak between the same two users. Maybe you should tell the girl. What’s her name?”
“Gwynneth. She goes to Shoreham Middle School.”
“My cousin Jack goes there.”
“Does he like it?” I ask.
“I think so.”
Suddenly I hear a horrible screech. Fluffy and Heidi Dog have met. Fluffy is a ball of terrified white fur. Heidi Dog is so scared that she runs under the front steps of Ethan’s house. “Fluffy! Stop!” Ethan scolds.
“Heidi Dog! It’s all right,” I say as I sit next to the stairs. “Come on out.” The poor dog just shivers with fear.
Ethan picks up Fluffy and carries her into the house. He comes back out with something in his hand. He kneels down beside me and offers the treats in his palm. “Here, Heidi Dog,” he says, holding out some string cheese. “Come get it. That bad old Fluffy is in the house.”
He definitely has Heidi Dog’s attention and she slowly makes her way out, gobbling the cheese from Ethan’s hand. When she’s done she stretches up to lick Ethan’s cheek. “She likes you,” I say.
“Animals always like you when you feed them,” he says, laughing. He’s extra cute when he smiles. And I like his laugh. “Listen,” he says. “When you win this free concert by BBD.”
“If I win,” I say. “If we win.”
“I have faith. You’ll win. We’ll win. Everyone says so.”
What is he asking me? Is this a date? I need to be sure. “Me and you?”
He laughs his nice laugh. “Yeah. My mom could drive us.”
“Sure,” I say. My heart is racing but I try to act calm.
I mean . . . we don’t have to wait for the concert,” he says. “Once you feel better we could do something else together. I was going to ask you but then you got hit in the head.”
“Bad timing.” My throat is getting dry. “But I’ll get better . . . eventually.”
“Sure you will.” We smile at each other. We probably look pretty goofy—standing there grinning like two idiots—but I couldn’t care less. It feels wonderful!
Chapter 18
HAVING SOMEONE ELSE’S phone is a huge responsibility. In school, Lulu and I take turns checking it. We don’t want to miss anything Gwynneth might send through. I get caught checking it during ELA. Ms. Harris, our teacher, gives me a hard stare. Quick, quick, quick, I stash it in my backpack. My parents will be super mad if I get sent to SAP again.
At lunch on Tuesday, Lulu and I check the phone under the table. Nothing. That’s what we’re doing when the big TV at the front of the lunchroom comes on. Looking out the window, I see that it’s started to rain. They only turn on the big TV when we won’t be going out after lunch.
The TV is set to Channel 14 and the local news is on. There are a lot of stories about people being hit by cars, trees falling down in high winds, and the new bridge they’re building. None of it is all that interesting to Lulu and me (or any of the other kids, either), but when Heather May appears on screen, our eyeballs are instantly glued to the screen because the first thing she says is: “Heather May here with an update on our Channel 14 Snapstreak contest.”
“We have some front-runners. We interviewed the girl currently in the number-one spot, Mathlete Gwynneth Plotkin, from Shoreham Middle School in Shoreham.”
Lulu and I stare at each other, wide-eyed. “Gwynneth! A Mathlete?!” we say at the same moment. Gwynneth comes on, standing in front of Shoreham High beside Heather May. “Is it difficult to keep your Snapstreak going, Gwynneth?” Heather May asks.
Gwynneth seems nervous, which is not how I’ve pictured her. Vee had us thinking that Gwynneth was the coolest thing on two feet. She’s wearing that heavy eye makeup, though, and her hair is up in a ponytail, which is how Vee described her. “Who are you Snapstreaking with?” Heather May asks.
“Oh, just a friend from another school,” Gwynneth replies.
“Just a friend?!” Lulu cries out. Everyone in the cafeteria turns to look at her. Lulu stands up, looking angry, and shouts up at the TV screen. “That friend is Olivia Howard, Gwynneth. You could at least mention her name.”
Mrs. Ross, one of the lunch monitors, hurries over and puts her hand on Lulu’s shoulder. “Stay calm, Lulu,” she says. “Another outburst like that could get you sent to SAP.”
Lulu sits. “She could have at least mentioned Vee’s name,” Lulu repeats more quietly.
The lunchroom buzzes with kids chattering. Thanks to Lulu’s outburst, they all know that Vee is the one who has been Snapping with Gwynneth.
“Vee is Snapping with this girl, Gwynneth! Awesome!” says a girl named Madison.
“We don’t know,”
I say in a small voice. It’s so obviously a lie!
“But Vee is hurt,” Madison says. “She can’t keep it up.”
“She can,” I say.
“We have to help her,” another girl named Emma says. “We have to win that concert. She’s our only hope.” Other kids have started to gather around, curious about what’s going on.
“I heard Vee needs to rest,” a third girl named Bella says. “What if she sleeps through Gwynneth’s Snap?”
“If she breaks the streak we won’t get to see Boys Being Dudes!” a boy named Carl shouts.
The TV snaps off. Mrs. Ross and two other lunch monitors hurry around telling everyone to calm down. They threaten to send the whole lunchroom full of kids to SAP. (What a crazy scene that would be!)
“Whatever you do, don’t let anyone know we have Vee’s phone,” Lulu whispers to me when the other kids have gone back to their own tables.
“You’re right,” I agree. “It could get crazy.”
That night I feel all restless and uneasy. Lulu takes Vee’s phone with her, so I can’t even check if Gwynneth is sending anything. It’s making me anxious.
Some fan-fiction writing might help calm me. I write that Bilbo is on his quest along with his best friend, Sam, when a wicked fairy named Gwynmoth appears. She gets Bilbo and Sam to drag a boat across a goopy bog for her. When the wizard, Gandalf, appears and asks who performed this amazing feat, Gwynmoth says, “Oh, just a friend from another shire.”
“That’s right, Gwynmoth, hog all the glory for yourself, why don’t you?” Sam shouts.
Bilbo doesn’t say anything but decides that he doesn’t like Gwynmoth one bit.
Writing this was fun but it didn’t really calm me down. Lulu would text me if Gwynneth Snapped her, wouldn’t she? I can’t stand not knowing anymore. I have to find out.
Chapter 19
VEE’S DAD COMES over again tonight after supper to return Mom’s book. He and Mom sit out on the screened back porch, talking. It’s nice to see Mom smile so much. Except, I’m having a nervous meltdown. I’m just waiting for Vee’s dad to say, “By the way, Susan, did I happen to leave Vee’s phone here the other evening?”
I lurk around, waiting for it to happen, trying desperately to come up with some believable denial. “No, I’m sure you didn’t. I would have seen it.” Or, “Didn’t you say all that stuff was in your office?”
Mom definitely realizes I’m not acting normally. “Is there something you need, Lulu?” Mom asks while I’m pretending to look through some old magazines stacked on the porch.
“No,” I say. “Just looking for something to read.”
“Would you like to join us?” Vee’s dad asks.
“No thanks.”
At that second, Vee’s phone rings. It’s in my backpack somewhere in another room. My heart skips a beat. I thought I’d turned it off. I recognize the ringtone immediately.
“Vee uses that same ringtone,” her dad says.
“Does she?” I ask, my voice going all shrill. OMG! OMG! He’s going to figure it out any second!
“Yes, the exact same one,” Vee’s dad says.
“Us kids love that one the best,” I say, talking too fast. “Nearly all of us use the same one. That’s definitely my phone.”
“I never heard you use that ringtone before,” Mom says.
“I just put it on the phone the other day.”
“Well, are you going to answer it?” Mom asks.
“Yes! Sure!” I hurry out of the room and, of course, I can’t find my backpack . . . ANYWHERE!!!! I run around everywhere looking for it, like a lunatic. And all the while it rings, rings, rings, rings, and rings. With every ring I’m POSITIVE Vee’s dad will remember that he left the phone here.
Naturally, when I finally find the backpack, Vee’s phone stops ringing. The caller ID tells me it was Megan calling. Why is she calling me on Vee’s phone? I’m about to call her back when I see a new Snap pop up. It’s from Gwynneth.
It’s no fun getting back at Gwynneth if she’s already sorry.
I go to my camera roll and select a photo of Vee, Megan, and me. “Sorry isn’t good enough. I have real friends,” I write on the photo.
I remember a time when I was in the sixth grade. I went to see a play with Mom and afterward a reporter stepped up to us with a microphone and asked how we had liked it. I looked away and couldn’t even speak. I completely froze.
I change the writing.
I hit Send.
The next day it rains heavily. That little uncovered patch between the bus and the front door was enough to totally soak me. The maintenance staff is mopping like crazy, trying to keep the floors dry, but it’s no use. All I want is to get to my locker, dry my hair on a paper towel, and pull off my soaked sweater.
I’m not prepared to see a crowd of kids waiting at my locker, dripping all over the floor. This is very peculiar. What could they want? Those girls Emma, Bella, and Madison are at the center of things. “’Sup?” I ask as I twirl my combination lock.
Madison smiles at me brightly. “We’re here to help.”
“Thanks, but unless you have towels there’s not much you can do,” I say.
Megan comes around the corner. Her eyes go wide when she sees so many kids surrounding me. “They want to help with Vee’s Snapstreak,” I explain.
Megan freezes, recovers, and says, “But we don’t have Vee’s phone. Right, Lulu?”
“Right.” I say, hoping they believe us.
“You guys must be helping Vee—there’s no way she could keep the Snapstreak going in her condition. We want to help,” Madison says.
“How about you keep hold of it and we take turns Snapping at lunchtime?” Emma says. The crowd of kids murmur their agreement with that idea. They seem to think it would work.
“We can try it, I suppose,” I say to Megan.
She shrugs. “I guess so.”
“Great! We’ll meet you at lunchtime,” Bella says.
“I don’t like this,” Megan says when they leave.
“Same here,” I say. “It’s just going to get crazy. Who knows what these kids are going to Snap?”
“At lunch I’ll tell them to forget it,” I say.
“Good idea,” Megan says. “I’ll stay right with you in case Madison, Bella, and Emma argue with you.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Megan says. She turns—and then spins backward, her arms windmilling, and slides into a bank of lockers.
I plead to be allowed to ride in the ambulance with Megan, the nurse, and the EMT. The nurse calls my mom to check if it’s okay and, thank goodness, she says yes. I try to comfort Megan as she whimpers and cries. Even though the EMT gives her some medicine, I can see that Megan’s in a lot of pain.
Once she gets out of the x-ray room, they know for sure that her left arm is broken. They set it in a cast. “Can I sign it?” I ask the nurse.
“Sure,” she says, and hands me a marker.
Megan’s mom met us at the hospital and by the time Megan is released it’s the last period of the day. “I might as well bring you home,” she says, and she drops me in front of my house.
“I’ll call you in a few to see how you’re doing,” I say as I scoot out of the backseat.
“Thanks,” she says with a weak little smile. I can tell she’s still in pain. “You’ll have to do the Snap again tonight,” Megan adds.
“No problem,” I say. “Feel better.”
“Hurry,” Megan’s mom says. “You’re getting soaked.”
Splashing through puddles, I reach the front door—and then suddenly I stop short. Vee’s phone! It’s in my backpack, which I left in my locker. By the time Mom gets home from work to drive me back to school, it will be locked up tight.
No phone, no Snapstreak.
Chapter 20
SUDDENLY I DON’T mind resting my brain. All I want to do is think about Ethan, and that doesn’t involve written words, keyboards, or lit-up screens. All I h
ave to do is close my eyes to picture his wonderful smile. I’ve liked him for a while now, but now that I know—for sure—that he likes me back . . . I’m just so happy about it.
Ethan can’t call, text, email, or Snapchat with me. It’s all for a great cause, though. I’m now totally determined to get better. I imagine Ethan and me side by side at the BBD concert. It’s going to be great!
Dad comes in and sits at the edge of my bed. “How are you feeling?”
“My head hurts, but not as bad as before. I didn’t puke at all today.”
“It sounds as if you’re improving. That’s great,” he says.
“When can I go back to school?” I ask.
“The doctor wants you to give it three weeks, so maybe after next week. I called her today and she said you can start catching up on homework if you feel up to it.”
“I’ll need my laptop,” I say. “And my phone.”
“Let’s wait until next week to see how you’re doing and we can talk about it.”
I nod. Truthfully I’m still a bit more tired than usual. Just taking that walk around the neighborhood with Heidi Dog wore me out. I slept for two hours when I got home. It’s possible that I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the Snapstreak. I’m glad Megan and Lulu are taking care of it.
“Dad, are we moving next week?” I ask. I haven’t seen any packing going on.
Dad shakes his head. “I had to pass on that offer. We can’t move until you get better.”
This is excellent news. It means I’ll graduate from the eighth grade with my class.
“Are you hungry?” Dad asks. “I brought home some burgers.”
Getting out of bed, I follow Dad out of the room. I have a happy feeling inside. Dad has postponed the move, Ethan asked me out, and my Snapstreak with Gwynneth is in good hands.