Promises, Promises Read online

  “Yup! Win or lose, we’re still friends,” Katani repeated.

  “If there was only a way both of you could win,” Charlotte said. Even as she said it she knew it sounded stupid. How could the seventh-grade class have two class presidents? But it was what she hoped.

  Katani shook her head. “Real life isn’t like that, Charlotte. It may not seem fair, but only one of us is going to win.” Katani looked at Avery. “But if Avery wins maybe she’ll let me give her an idea or two on how to expand the budget.”

  Avery laughed. “If Katani wins, maybe she’ll let me be her environmental advisor.”

  “You got it.” Avery reached up to high-five Katani, who responded enthusiastically.

  Charlotte wished that Maeve was there. It would be so nice to have the five of them together again!

  As if she had read her mind, Katani asked, “Where’s Maeve?”

  “I don’t know. She’s been skipping out halfway through lunch for a couple of weeks now,” Isabel said.

  “Huh,” Avery said. “Anyone know what that’s all about?”

  The group shared a collective shrug.

  “I hope she’s not in trouble with her schoolwork again,” Avery said.

  “I hope…,” Charlotte started, but the bell rang and they gathered up their lunch gear and pushed toward the exit. There was a bottleneck at the door, so it took forever for them to push their way through. On the other side of the door there was a big group around Henry Yurt.

  “Vote for smiles,” he shouted as the crowd pressed toward him. “This should put a smile on your face. Here you go. Do something nice for someone today!” he said, placing a candy bar in every hand extended his way.

  “Hey Katani…what are you going to do to buy our vote?” Nick asked as he crunched into a KitKat bar.

  “I’ll be a great class president,” Katani shouted back.

  Nick rolled his eyes, took another bite of his KitKat bar, and walked on.

  “These guys just don’t get it, do they, Katani?” Avery asked.

  “I’m glad my worthy opponent isn’t into buying people’s votes,” Katani said, slipping her free arm around Avery’s shoulder.

  Charlotte felt a warm glow spark inside her. She couldn’t resist putting an arm around Isabel’s shoulder. “There might be hope after all,” she whispered into her ear, and the two shared a smile.

  Moment of Truth

  “Isabel! Wait up! Isabel!”

  Isabel heard someone call her name and stopped in the middle of the crowded hallway.

  Suddenly, Jennifer popped out of a wall of people. She had Isabel’s folder in her hand. “What’s this?” she asked.

  Isabel stared down at the folder like she had never seen it before.

  “Isabel, what happened to the edgy cartoons we talked about? The ones you showed me?”

  People streamed past them on either side. Isabel was aware that Charlotte was nervously shifting from foot to foot, but was still standing by her side.

  Isabel looked at her shoes.

  “Isabel?”

  “I didn’t feel comfortable with those. They seemed too mean,” Isabel finally said.

  “Political stuff is mean.”

  “It doesn’t have to be,” Isabel said flatly.

  “Well, I guess I’ll have to use what you turned in. It’s the only thing I have that will fit the space available.”

  Isabel was quiet.

  “Don’t get the wrong idea,” Jennifer said. “It fits size-wise…but not content-wise. It isn’t about the election.”

  “Read it again,” Isabel said softly. “I think it kind of is, considering what’s gone on.”

  Jennifer leafed through the cartoons, looking briefly at each one, and then shrugged.

  “I guess they’ll have to do,” she said before she rushed away.

  Isabel and Charlotte watched her disappear into the crowd of students.

  “I feel like I let her down,” Isabel said.

  “But you didn’t let yourself down,” Charlotte reminded her.

  Isabel didn’t move. It felt as if the school was rushing around her and she was rooted to that spot.

  “Hard to do what you think is right, but at the end of the day you have to be able to live with yourself,” Charlotte said.

  “I think you may have a theme for another cartoon,” Isabel said with a tiny smile.

  The two linked arms again and headed for Charlotte’s locker.

  “Maeve,” Charlotte called out as they approached. “We were looking for you.”

  “We missed you at lunch,” Isabel said.

  “Great news!” Charlotte said. “Avery and Katani ate with us today.”

  “You’re kidding!” Maeve replied.

  “Yes…they sort of made up,” Charlotte said.

  “Temporarily at least,” Isabel added.

  “That’s great. But…what if one wins and the other doesn’t?” Maeve wondered out loud.

  The three looked at each other and didn’t say anything.

  “Whatever happens, I think we should have a sleepover at the Tower on Saturday; is that okay, Char?” Maeve asked. “I think it’s important that we’re all together.”

  “I’ll ask my dad, but I’m sure he’ll say yes,” Charlotte said.

  “Great!” Maeve said happily as she scooted off to class.

  Isabel thought of her new design for the Tower as she hurried on to class. Saturday would be a great day to make it happen. “Charlotte, would it be okay if I came over early on Saturday? I was hoping that I could do some…redecorating,” Isabel asked as soon as they sat in their seats.

  Charlotte looked a little uneasy. “Do you think we should vote on it first?”

  “Don’t worry. I think this one is a no-brainer. So can I come over early?”

  “Hmm. Actually, I have a little project that I’m working on. It’d be great if you could help me with it,” Charlotte said.

  Isabel gave her a thumbs-up as she took a last sip of milk.

  CHAPTER 20

  Election Day

  Today’s the day,” Avery called out as she pushed back the comforter and climbed out of bed. Draped over her desk chair was the outfit she picked out last night before she went to bed. Avery rarely put much thought into what she was going to wear, and she almost NEVER laid out clothes for the next day. Usually, she wore whatever she grabbed first out of the closet in the morning that was clean and comfortable.

  But election day was a big day and Avery wanted to look just right. It hadn’t taken her long to decide. She slipped on a pair of jeans and a red-white-and-blue hockey jersey—a replica from the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team.

  She loved the story about the “Miracle On Ice.” LOVED IT! Many of the players had been from New England…they were local boys who did the impossible. They beat the Russian hockey team against all odds and then went on to win the Olympic Gold match against Finland. It was totally inspirational.

  Avery checked her appearance in the mirror. Yup! She looked like a winner. Next she checked on Walter. He was in his sleep box. She could only see the shiny black scales from the middle of his coil. She changed his water as she did every morning and headed off for breakfast. She was starved!

  “Hey, shorty. So today’s the day, right?” Her brother, Scott yawned.

  “Yup!” Avery replied. “And I’m ready!”

  “How ‘bout a special election smoothie to power you through the day?” he asked.

  Smoothies were Scott’s specialty. No way could Avery turn down one of those. “Thanks,” she said.

  “I see you’re wearing your USA hockey jersey,” Scott said as he dumped ingredients into the blender.

  “Yup! A win against all odds,” she said as Scott hit the switch on the blender.

  Not that she felt her campaign was against all odds. It just made her feel good to wear this jersey. It made her feel like a winner.

  It was sad to think that in order for her to win, Katani had to lose. Avery didn’t f
eel sorry for her opponents when she was playing sports. This campaign had been totally different from any sporting competition she’d ever been in. She thought running for class president would be like sports—prepare, practice, execute. But without specific rules and a referee or umpire to enforce them, the election had been brutal. She’d almost lost a good friend over politics.

  At least she and Katani had made their peace before the election. She hoped that Katani wouldn’t be too disappointed when she lost. She wished now that she had suggested that Katani should run for vice president. It would have been nice to have Katani for VP—they would’ve been a great team. Avery was voting for Robert Worley because she thought he would be easy to work with.

  Avery downed the smoothie and wiped the frothy smoothie mustache from her upper lip. “Now can I have one of your cheesy omelets?” she asked.

  “You got it!” Scott said.

  Polls Are Open

  Katani’s mom grabbed her briefcase and dropped a kiss on Kelley’s head first and then on Katani’s.

  “I have an early court date this morning. Good luck with your election, Katani. I’ll be thinking about you today,” Mrs. Summers called as she moved toward the door.

  “Mom, as you know, luck doesn’t have much to do with it,” Katani said, checking over her to-do list. “I’ve done all I can do. Now all that’s left is for me to practice my acceptance speech.”

  Mrs. Summers blew her daughter another kiss. “Win or lose, I’m proud of you,” she said. Her eyes caught Katani’s eyes, and she held them for a moment before she went out the door.

  “Katani for class president. And I approve of this message,” Kelley said as she crunched into her second piece of toast. “I approve this message.”

  Katani glanced over at Kelley and smiled. She couldn’t believe she had actually thought it was Kelley taking down the posters!

  When Katani arrived at school a half hour later, every person she met reminded her that today was the day. “Good luck with the election,” she heard over and over again.

  Ms. R dedicated the whole homeroom period to describing how the election would be run. “The ballots are being passed out in homeroom,” she explained. “You have between now and the end of lunch to vote. Ballot boxes are in the cafeteria. You may vote between classes, or if any of you have study period between now and lunch, you can vote during study period.”

  Katani glanced at Avery and smiled as Ms. Rodriguez went on.

  “Mr. Danson and I will collect the ballot boxes after lunch and will count the votes after school. The results will be announced tonight at the dance.”

  Katani hoped Avery wouldn’t be too disappointed when she lost the election. Avery had lots of good ideas so Katani would try her best to make her feel welcome at the class meetings. She made a mental note to create an environmental committee and appoint Avery as chair.

  Katani was not surprised to find Avery wearing a hockey jersey. But she was surprised to see how big the jersey was. Avery was swimming in it! Didn’t she realize that wearing such a huge shirt made her look small and kid-like? “That jersey is super-sized!” Katani said to her at lunch.

  “No, it’s not,” Avery said, twisting around to grab the tag at the base of her neck. “See. It’s a small. I had to special order it. They usually don’t carry small hockey jerseys in the stores.”

  “What team is Eruzione?” Katani asked.

  “USA? You might have heard of it?” Avery said. “Mike Eruzione from Winthrop, Massachusetts, was the captain of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team?”

  “That was years before I was born!” Katani said.

  “It’s world famous!” Avery told her. “Katani…they made a movie about it. Miracle, remember?”

  Katani shrugged. “I’m not into hockey at all.”

  “How can you live in Boston and NOT be into hockey!” Avery’s voice rose.

  “Good thing that wasn’t an election issue,” Katani said to Charlotte.

  Charlotte smiled, but her cheeks reddened a bit. She was grateful Avery was babbling on about hockey and hadn’t heard what Katani said.

  Katani tuned Avery out and turned her attention to Charlotte and Isabel. She had seen them put their ballots in the ballot box before they got in the hot-lunch line. She was dying to ask who they voted for, but didn’t.

  “Where’s Maeve?” she asked when there was a break in Avery’s diatribe about hockey.

  “I don’t know. We asked her yesterday where she’s been disappearing to and she got all mysterious on us,” Isabel answered.

  “Is everything all right at home?” Katani asked.

  “Maybe it’s just been too tense for her at lunch,” Isabel said.

  “Things have been tense at lunch?” Avery asked innocently.

  Katani rolled her eyes.

  “What?” Avery wanted to know.

  “Think about it, Avery,” Katani said.

  The light bulb finally popped on in Avery’s head. “Oh, you mean about the election and all,” she said.

  “Yeah, about the election and all,” Charlotte echoed.

  Katani hung her head. She wanted to be class president more than anything else. But at what price? What if she became class president, but because of the strain of the election, the BSG fell apart?

  “Well, we’ve all neglected Maeve these past few days. I’ve been preoccupied with the cartoons for The Sentinel. I mean, she was really serious about the Picture your Pet in Pink thing,” Isabel said.

  Katani suddenly felt bad that she told Maeve she couldn’t help with Marty’s costume. “How did that turn out?” Katani asked.

  “Still think that was a crazy idea,” Avery said.

  “Well, we narrowed it to three. I don’t remember if we ever picked just one,” Isabel said, ignoring Avery’s comment.

  “Did we?” Charlotte asked.

  “I don’t think so. But all three were good,” Isabel said.

  “You guys took pictures of Marty in a pink outfit and sent it out for other people to see?” Avery asked.

  “Avery!” Isabel said. “He was adorable.”

  “Marty in pink is not my idea of adorable,” grumbled Avery.

  CHAPTER 21

  The Results Are In

  Okay, everyone! On three,” Maeve said. “One! Two! Three!”

  “Go Wildcats!” Charlotte, Maeve, Isabel, Avery, and Katani screamed in unison before collapsing together in a wave of giggles. The quarterback handed off to #28, who dashed to the right, found a hole in the Bulldogs’ defense, and rushed ten yards before he was tackled and dragged to the ground.

  Maeve jumped to her feet and screamed, “Wooohooo!”

  The rest of the crowd groaned.

  Avery pulled on Maeve’s coat. “Maeve, he didn’t make first down. We’re going to have to punt,” she told her.

  “What? But he ran a long way that time! The last two times he was hit as soon as he got the ball!”

  “But it was third and fifteen and he only made ten yards,” Avery explained.

  “I don’t get it,” Maeve said.

  “Me either,” Charlotte said with a sigh.

  “Obviously,” Avery said, “I’ll have to have you guys over for Football 101 some Sunday afternoon.”

  The kicking team ran out onto the field to set up for a point. The Wildcat center hiked the ball back to the kicker and he kicked it to the waiting Bulldog player. It was a beautiful play.

  It was one of those rare, warm October afternoons, and the first time since hot chocolate at Montoya’s that the five of them had all been together. The election was over. Whatever was going to happen had already been decided. Maeve thought that would have made everyone feel a bit more relaxed, but her friends still seemed a little tense—everyone but Avery, who was totally into the game.

  Maeve had wanted to invite everyone to her house tonight to get ready for the dance, but she was staying at her father’s place tonight. And there wasn’t room for all of them to get dressed in that tiny ro
om she shared with her brother Sam.

  Suddenly, the crowd roared and Maeve jumped to her feet because everyone else did.

  “What? What!” she asked Avery.

  “The Bulldogs just got a penalty flag for holding, so that last play doesn’t count,” Avery said.

  “What’s holding?” Maeve asked.

  “When a player literally grabs on and holds another player back,” Avery explained.

  “You mean you can knock someone down, but you can’t hold them?” Maeve asked.

  “Yup,” Avery said.

  “I’ll never understand this game!” Maeve said.

  “Me neither,” Charlotte agreed.

  “Stick with me,” Avery said. “I’ll keep explaining it until you get it.”

  Maeve had to admit that by the end of the game, she understood football a little better. She loved the fact that her team had won! Everyone in the stands went wild. No one wanted to leave. Winning was such a rush!

  Of course winning only made Maeve think of losing. Only one of her friends could win the election. That meant one of them would lose. Losing wasn’t as fun as winning. Not by a long shot.

  And the Winner Is…

  After the win on the football field, each of the BSG had returned home to get dressed for the dance. For the first junior high dance of the year, they had all gathered at Maeve’s house to get ready together. It had been so much fun! Katani was Chief Personal Problem Solver, in charge of making the lives and looks of her BSG sisters more beautiful. Everyone wanted Katani’s fashion advice. Well, everyone except Avery perhaps.

  Fashion was a non-issue for Avery. Katani knew that if she could, Avery would have worn that ridiculous too-big-for-her hockey jersey. Instead, Avery wore the same outfit that she had worn for the first seventh-grade dance last month. Not the most trendy outfit, but Katani realized that Avery’s fiery nature compensated for her lack of fashion sense. Kids were drawn to her because of her personality and endless energy. Avery was her own fashion statement.

  Katani took off her velvet jacket the moment she walked into the gym. Her dress was perfect for the fall theme. Katani was wowed by the decorations. The decorations committee had done a nice job of decorating the gym with fall colors.