Promises, Promises Read online

  Katani pulled the light a little closer to the seam she’d just stitched and began removing the pins. She loved her swivel halogen light because it was the perfect combination of style and function.

  Katani took a big breath. She couldn’t wait till the campaign was over and she was president of the seventh-grade class. It would start with her acceptance speech. Katani tried to push that thought aside. She needed to concentrate on the outfit she was making.

  For the rest of the afternoon, Katani’s grandmother kept Kelley busy in the kitchen making pumpkin bread. Katani could smell the rich cinnamon aroma when Kelley opened the door to their bedroom.

  “I made pumpkin bread, Katani,” Kelley said. “Want some? Maybe you will turn into a pumpkin when you eat it.” Kelley laughed hilariously at her own joke. Then she shoved her half-eaten piece of pumpkin bread in Katani’s direction.

  “Kelley, be careful,” Katani said through a mouthful of pins. She put her hand out to keep Kelley from coming any closer. “Don’t get any of your crumbs on my dress.”

  “What are you making?” Kelley asked.

  “A dress,” Katani said, not turning from the work in front of her.

  “For a dance?”

  “Yes, for the post-election dance,” Katani said, taking a pin from her mouth.

  “Why are you worried?” Kelley asked.

  “What are you talking about?” Katani asked, taking the last pin from her mouth.

  “You are sad,” Kelley said.

  “I’m NOT worried and I am NOT sad,” Katani answered, clearly annoyed with her sister. She had said this louder than she should have.

  Kelley took a step back and put her hands over her ears.

  “Sorry,” Katani apologized to her sister. She was angry with herself for snapping at her sister. Still, Kelley was a little oversensitive to noise. She hadn’t been THAT loud.

  “Katani’s worried; Katani’s sad,” Kelley repeated stubbornly in a singsong voice and still standing with her hands on her ears.

  Katani shook her head. She didn’t want this to erupt into a major meltdown for Kelley.

  “Uh huh,” Kelley said. “Are too!”

  Katani glanced up at her sister, who was gazing at her with her head tilted slightly to the right.

  “Katani’s worried,” Kelley said again. It was as if by looking at her sideways, Kelley could see things that other people couldn’t see.

  In the silence that stretched between them, Katani felt an uneasiness ripple through her body. When she decided to run for class president, she was certain all the BSG would be on her side. Maybe she should have dropped out of the race and avoided all this trouble. No, she thought angrily. Avery should have dropped out. She was the one who said she wasn’t going to run in the first place.

  Katani stuck the last pin into the pincushion on her sewing table. She wasn’t even sure if she had those three votes.

  No matter how she tried to project confidence, Kelley and her X-ray eyes could see even what Katani couldn’t admit…she was worried.

  “It’s okay,” Kelley said and hugged Katani.

  Kelley wasn’t much of a hugger, but when she did hug it was more of a full body slam. Katani held the dress at one arm’s length to avoid getting stuck with a pin.

  She seemed to sit there forever with Kelley’s arms wrapped around her. Slowly, Katani felt her annoyance melt away. The hug felt good. She could always count on Kelley for unwavering support. But could she count on the BSG? Whose side were they on?

  Suddenly, Katani needed to know.

  New Game Plan

  “Woo-hoo!” Avery and her brother jumped up from the couch, high-fiving in celebration. A last-second field goal had just put the Patriots up 24—21 over the Jets.

  “Whoa, they had me worried for a second there,” said Scott.

  “I wasn’t worried,” said Avery. “Adam Vinatieri always comes through in the clutch.”

  “So true,” said Scott as he walked out of the room. “Later, Ave. Homework calls!”

  “Later!” Avery shouted after him. Avery was psyched that the Patriots had won again, but she didn’t feel like listening to the postgame babble.

  As she trudged up the winding staircase to her room, Avery wondered about the Abigail Adams football game on Friday night. She hadn’t heard who had won. She really hoped the Wildcats had pulled through. They were five and one in their division and had a good chance of having the best record.

  Avery had a lot of catching up to do and not just about the football game. Her schedule for next week was jammed. She had two nights of soccer practice and tons of homework, and she still had to prepare for the upcoming debate.

  Avery groaned when she pushed the door open to her room. She had sort of pushed her soccer stuff into the closet over a week ago, but had never put it away. It seemed pointless to keep putting equipment in her closet and taking it out over and over, so she left it in a heap in front of the open closet door. In her other closet, Walter’s cage now had a snakeskin in it. Avery had missed the big shedding day.

  Carla, the Maddens’ housekeeper, had complained that she couldn’t vacuum Avery’s room until she picked up, but the cleaning would have to wait. Avery had more important things on her mind.

  The second week of the campaign was over, and the most important part was ahead of her…the debate. She pushed a pile of clothes off her desk chair and sat down to brainstorm issues, reminding herself that she was good at debates, Avery drummed on the desktop with her pen. Nothing popped to mind.

  She grabbed the note cards and plopped on the floor, clearing away a stack of books so she could lean up against the bed. “How do people think in chairs?” Avery muttered out loud. She flopped on her stomach and continued to think about her campaign for class president. Nothing. She was getting desperate. She decided to IM her brother Tim. He’d have a good idea. College was supposed to make you smart.

  Before she could start typing, she noticed her dad was IM-ing her from Colorado.

  Finally, Avery decided to approach her campaign like she would a game. The first step was to be prepared by knowing her opponents and their weaknesses. She mentally went over each candidate in her head. First there was Dillon. He was Mr. Smiley and quick to say, “Sure! Whatever you want!” Katani said she was worried about him, but Avery figured that everyone could see through that slick exterior. Maeve’s feathers got ruffled when Avery said Dillon was slick…but he was.

  Next, there was Henry Yurt. Avery was sure no one would take the Yurtmeister seriously. He was such a goof.

  It wasn’t a huge leap to realize that Katani was her toughest competitor. Avery figured her classmates would take Katani seriously. Everyone knew that she was a good student. And since the Talent Show, everyone also knew that she was responsible and could get the job done. Because Katani had gone first with her speech on Friday, Avery was sure that some of her classmates thought that Avery had copied Katani instead of the other way around.

  The debate would show the entire class what the candidates were really all about. Since none of them knew what the debate questions were going to be, Katani wouldn’t have a chance to copy her. It would be her time to shine!

  Avery was certain that when the students compared the candidates at the debate, she would win. She didn’t have the most posters, she didn’t have the best speech—but the first part wasn’t that bad. It had only been the ending that she had fumbled. And now that she thought of it, the kids sorta liked the spyglass bit. Maybe she would use it in the debate.

  She could end her victory speech by adapting her favorite John F. Kennedy quote to fit a school setting. Something like, “Ask not what your school can do for you, but ask what you can do for your school.” That couldn’t miss. She should have used that in her speech last Friday.

  But how would she start her acceptance speech? Usually, candidates started by thanking those who had helped them get elected. With sinking reality, Avery realized she didn’t really have anyone to thank. Sure,
Charlotte had helped her write her speech, but she had helped Katani, too. And sure, Isabel had offered her a few suggestions on how to make her posters better, but she had only been there because she was helping Katani.

  Maeve hadn’t done much to help Katani, but now that Avery thought of it, she realized that Maeve hadn’t done much to help her either. After trying to talk her into running that night at the sleepover, had the BSG decided to support Katani? Avery felt totally abandoned by her best friends in the world.

  Avery looked over at Walter. She couldn’t very well thank her snake. How would that sound? Avery wished that Marty lived with her instead of Charlotte. She felt like she needed someone to cuddle with right now.

  Avery leaned back on her bed. Two books on the edge slid off and hit the floor. Boom. BOOM! Avery couldn’t believe it. She was a team player. She looked around her room, which was crowded with team pictures and trophies. She was used to being part of a team, where everyone was focused on one goal. Somehow she had to find out who was on her team and who wasn’t.

  CHAPTER 13

  Stuck in the Middle

  Yeow! I feel good!” Maeve sang to herself as she walked down Harvard Street on her way to school Monday morning. “The way that I should now,” she sang as she crossed the street. When she stopped for the light at Beacon Street, she swayed to the music in her head. She felt like dancing. She couldn’t help it. Her mother had an oldies station on this morning when she came down to breakfast. James Brown was blasting away singing a song she’d once heard in a commercial—” I Feel Good.” Now the song was stuck in her head. She couldn’t shake it, so she just gave into it.

  As she bebopped down the hallway to her locker, Maeve couldn’t help but notice that everyone around her seemed to be in a good mood, too—especially considering that it was a Monday morning. There was a buzz of excitement in the hall. Everyone was talking about the big football game last Friday night. The Wildcats’ victory had put them in first place.

  “Charlotte! Wow! This football stuff is huge!” Maeve said as she opened her locker. “I just wish I understood football better.”

  “You’re way ahead of me, Maeve,” Charlotte said. “American football is pretty foreign to me. I never know who has the ball. It looks like they all run into each other and fall down.”

  Maeve giggled at the thought.

  “Though I do like the passing. It always looks like he’s throwing it to no one. Then, out of nowhere, someone ends up under the ball and catches it.”

  “…or not.”

  “But at least I understand why they pass. Then there’s punting. Why do they punt the ball to the other team? Wouldn’t they keep the ball until the other team takes it away?” Charlotte asked.

  “It has something to do with ‘downs,’” Maeve shrugged. “Whatever they are. All I know is that you have to punt on fourth down.”

  Charlotte looked blankly at Maeve.

  “Dillon explained it to me. I thought about going to the game with Dillon, but then I was afraid that Avery or Katani might see me with Dillon and flip out. Then I thought of going with Avery. She’d explain it to me without making me feel stupid. But then…what if Katani showed up and saw me with Avery?”

  Charlotte nodded knowingly.

  “I decided it was easier just to stay home.”

  “Wise choice.”

  Just as Maeve closed her locker, she caught sight of a Wildcat football jersey. “Charlotte! Charlotte! Look! There’s Daren Winsor. He’s the ninth-grade quarterback,” she leaned in and whispered to Charlotte.

  “What’s he doing in our hall?”

  “Look who he’s with,” Maeve said, nodding in that direction.

  Anna and Joline came bouncing along after him. One on either side.

  “Okay—seventh graders,” Anna said as if she weren’t a seventh grader. “This is Daren Winsor, quarterback of the Abigail Adams Wildcats. Let’s show him what we thought of the game.”

  Loud whoops and piercing whistles ricocheted through the hall.

  Anna waved her arms and everyone went silent. Maeve whispered out loud to Charlotte.

  “Do you think Anna and Joline have magical powers? It’s just amazing how they always get everyone to pay attention to them.”

  “Well, they do have everyone enthralled,” Charlotte admitted.

  “Enthralled…I love that word. It sounds so…what does it mean?” Maeve asked.

  “Spellbound,” Charlotte answered, her eyes riveted to the Anna and Joline Show.

  Anna counted off, “One. Two. Three. Hit it!”

  “Two! Four! Six! Eight! Who do we appreciate?” Anna and Joline chanted in unison.

  The seventh graders called out, “Daren! Daren! Daren!” as Anna and Joline pumped their arms in the air. “Go Wildcats!”

  The hall was packed. Everyone was sticking around for Anna’s and Joline’s performance instead of going to class.

  Charlotte and Maeve wormed their way through the crowded hall toward Room 124. They got through the door just as the bell rang; the other students poured in after them.

  Ms. R allowed a little lateness in light of the circumstances.

  Maeve saw Katani squeeze in the door right before Avery came in. The two didn’t look at each other, which wasn’t a great sign. But Maeve noticed that they weren’t giving each other dirty looks either, which was an improvement.

  “I feeeeeeeeel good!” The James Brown lyrics continued to roll through Maeve’s brain as Ms. Rodriguez took attendance. Even the impromptu pep rally hadn’t been able to shake that song from her head.

  Somehow, Maeve made it to the cafeteria before anyone else. It was deserted. She put her lunch bag on the table and closed her eyes. Slowly, she let the song in her head take over her body, swaying this way and that. She closed her eyes and broke into a spontaneous dance, singing the lyrics, starting off softly and gradually getting louder. When it came to the bridge, she sang out “Ba! Ba! Ba!” to the melody of the trumpets that were playing in her head. Now for the finale.

  “So good! Ba! Ba! So good! Ba! Ba! Cause I got you!” she sang, spinning around with flourish for the big finish. She pointed out to her imagined audience and opened her eyes. Surprise! Sometime during her little song and dance, the lunchroom had filled.

  “Go, Maeve,” shouted Billy Trentini and a group of boys. There were a few whistles. Maeve was momentarily embarrassed, but then the performer in her kicked in, and she took a bow. Maeve turned around and sat down.

  Charlotte and Isabel had suddenly appeared at the other side of the table carrying their lunch trays in front of them.

  “Way to go, Maeve!’ Charlotte cried out as she sat down.

  “Sorry! I can’t get that song out of my head. Do you ever get songs stuck in your head?” she asked.

  Isabel nodded as she closed her sketchbook. “I know what you mean!”

  “Sorry. Am I interrupting something?” Maeve asked.

  “No. Not at all,” Isabel said. “Charlotte and I were talking about The Sentinel. I need her professional opinion. We can talk later.”

  “Great! Because I wanted to discuss Marty.”

  “Marty?” Charlotte asked.

  “The pink thing?” Isabel guessed.

  “Yeah! Did you tell Charlotte about it?”

  Isabel shook her head again.

  “About what?” Charlotte asked.

  “Think Pink! is sponsoring a contest called ‘My Pet Looks Perfect in Pink!’ Isn’t that so cute? Anyway, it’s really great because all the proceeds from the entry fees go to the local pet shelter. I want us to enter Mr. Marté. I brought the sketches,” Maeve said in a singsongy voice. “I wanted everyone to look at them and vote on which one they like the best before I go on.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t use the word…vote,” Isabel said wryly.

  Maeve tipped back her head and laughed. “How about if I ask everyone to pick the one they like best?”

  Charlotte cringed.

  “Give me their input?�
� Maeve tried again.

  “Score!” Charlotte said.

  “Where are our two candidates?” Maeve asked.

  The three looked around the cafeteria, scanning each line. “Hmm,” Maeve said. “It’s not like Avery to be late for anything—especially lunch!”

  “Where do you think they could be?” Isabel asked.

  “Hopefully, not taking down posters,” Maeve said.

  Charlotte and Isabel exchanged looks.

  “I’m joking. Great! Here comes Katani!” Maeve stood up and waved Katani over.

  “Katani, just in time…I have sketches of pink costumes for Marty,” Maeve said, pointing to the sketches in front of Charlotte.

  “What?” Katani asked.

  “The ‘My Pet Looks Perfect in Pink’ contest at Think Pink!”

  “Not now, Maeve…maybe I’ll look at them later. I have to ask you something before Avery gets here.” She looked around and checked both doors to the cafeteria before she went on. “Which way are you leaning?”

  “I’m not leaning at all! I’m sitting straight,” Maeve said.

  “Ha. Ha. Very funny, Maeve,” Katani said. “I’m serious! Which way are you leaning?”

  “I wasn’t trying to be funny,” Maeve said.

  “You know what I mean,” Katani said, looking tense.

  “No, I don’t,” Maeve said.

  “Maeve—I’m asking…” Katani took a big breath and launched into her even-toned political poller’s voice. “If the election were today…who would you vote for?”

  Katani looked expectantly at Maeve, who looked to Charlotte and Isabel.

  “Look…Katani, I thought we decided that the lunch table was one place we weren’t going to talk about the election,” Maeve said.

  “Sure, when we’re both here…but we’re not. So before Avery gets here…”

  “Forget it.”

  “Forget it!? I have a right to know who’s working with me and who’s working against me.”