Part 4 (1/2)
”But no matter what, you can't tell Katani yet,” cautioned Maeve in a quiet voice.
”Oh, I know. But we can tell the rest of the BSG. Look, there's Charlotte!”
Charlotte jogged over with her braided pigtails bouncing against her shoulders. She was wearing one of her favorite Paris T-s.h.i.+rts, the one with Vive La France written in sparkles in front of a picture of the Seine River. ”What's going on?” Charlotte asked after one look at Maeve's happy face.
Isabel and Maeve stumbled over each other to tell the story. Charlotte gave Maeve a huge hug. ”Oh, Maeve, what a smart idea!”
”Smart?” Maeve said weakly.
”Yes.” Charlotte shook her a little. ”You figured out how to turn a difficult situation into an amazing opportunity for a friend! That's smart, Maeve.”
Maeve didn't think she could deal with more praise, but she got more when Avery bounced up and learned Maeve's idea. ”Leah Kim, Leah Kim,” Avery began to sing, right on the school steps. ”And all because of Maeve!” The others laughed.
”Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Avery,” Charlotte warned.
”Let her!” Isabel laughed. ”I think Maeve really figured out the solution, and it's going to work! Now whether or not Avery gets to meet Leah Kim, well, that's another story.” The girls laughed as the bell rang, and students began to stream into the double doors. Avery, Maeve, Isabel, and Charlotte looked around. This was the second time in just four days that Katani was late. It wasn't like her!
”There she is,” Charlotte whispered, nodding at the walk. Katani came up the steps slowly. Her face was expressionless.
”Hi, everybody. Guess we'd better get to cla.s.s.” And without waiting for them, Katani went inside.
Kgirl Returns Katani went through the morning like a robot, hearing only half of what her teachers said. She dutifully got out her notebook when the rest of the cla.s.s did and checked her homework when asked, but she was just going through the motions. In the back of her mind was a little voice that drowned out everything else. It kept repeating, ”You're not going. You're not going. You're not going.”
Katani told herself to put her chin up and stop moping. I mean, New York will always be there. But she couldn't seem to follow her own advice. Get with it Katani! she said to herself. Self pity isn't going to get you anywhere!
She knew her friends were giving her encouraging nods in every cla.s.s, but she couldn't bring herself to meet their eyes. She hated that everyone was feeling sorry for her; she already felt sorry enough for herself. And the other girls were being so understanding it made her want to cry even more. She wished she had a horseback riding lesson this afternoon. That always cleared her mind.
When the bell rang for lunch, Ms. Rodriguez called her over. ”Katani, can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.
What now? Katani thought miserably. She feared that Ms. Rodriguez had noticed her negative att.i.tude and was going to speak to her about it. Not that she didn't deserve it, Katani admitted to herself, but right now she didn't know if she could handle any more disappointment...especially in herself.
Katani shuffled listlessly to the teacher's desk as the bell rang and the other students emptied out of the room. ”I have some news for you, Katani,” said Ms. Rodriguez.
She paused as Katani's big brown eyes looked up at her. Katani said nothing. ”There's been a change of plans,” Ms. Rodriguez went on. ”Katani, on Monday you may take the apt.i.tude test with the students who are taking it untimed. You will still have to abide by the same timing rules as you would have if you had taken it on the scheduled dates. The good news is that you can have the long weekend off, as you originally planned.”
For a minute, Katani didn't think she'd heard right. ”Oh!” she sputtered. ”I...I...thank you, Ms. Rodriguez!”
”Don't thank me.” Ms. Rodriguez winked. ”It was Maeve's idea. She ran it by Mrs. Fields this morning, and it's already been approved.”
Katani gaped. Maeve had gone to Grandma Ruby? And Grandma Ruby had gone to bat for her and changed her testing schedule? It was too good to be true! She couldn't think of the words to express the joy that was suddenly flooding into every cell of her body. She felt like a tremendous boulder had rolled off her back. The sun seemed to be s.h.i.+ning right in the cla.s.sroom. She, Katani Summers, felt like dancing...and that was something!
Her teacher was smiling. ”This must be a pretty important weekend.”
”You have no idea!” Katani breathed. She quickly told Ms. Rodriguez all about Mich.e.l.le, Teen Beat magazine, and the fas.h.i.+on show.
Ms. Rodriguez nodded approvingly. ”That'll be a wonderful experience for you,” she said. ”I think it's great that you're already thinking about your dreams. I have a feeling that you're going to be very successful one day, Katani.”
Katani's smile spread from ear to ear. Her eyes s.h.i.+ned joyously. Then just like that her smile faded.
”Hey there? Why the long face?” asked Ms. Rodriguez. ”You should be celebrating.”
”I know.” Katani sighed as she thought of her four loving friends. ”But now I've got a big decision to make.”
The teacher glanced at the clock. ”Well, I'm available to talk about it. But it has to be pretty soon, or you won't have time for lunch. It's up to you, Katani.”
Katani nodded. Suddenly all she wanted to do was tell her friends all about the miracle that had just fallen in her lap...and thank Maeve, of course!
”Thanks, Ms. R. I think I gotta go to lunch!” Katani gathered her things and scuttled out of the cla.s.sroom.
The other girls were eating at their usual table. When they saw Katani come in, a huge grin erupted on Isabel's face. ”I knew it!” she cried. ”It worked, didn't it, Katani?”
”It sure did,” Katani confirmed. She squeezed each girl so hard she left marks on their skin. ”I am going to New York! Thanks to you, Maeve,” she added, giving the red-haired girl an extra squeeze. ”It's really going to happen!”
The girls were so happy they crowded around Katani for a group hug, which left even more marks on everyone's skin, but n.o.body cared. ”This,” Isabel declared, ”calls for a BSG cheer. Hip, hip...”
”HOORAY!”.
”Hip, hip...”
”HOORAY!”.
”Hip, hip...”
”HOORAY!!!”.
”I just can't believe that it all worked out,” Maeve said, the happiness visible on her face. She looked like she wanted to jump up and down. Avery was already jumping up and down as she shouted, ”Go Katani, it's your birthday, we're gonna party like it's your birthday!” with each jump.
Katani laughed. ”This is better than my birthday. You guys, what do I wear in New York? What kind of clothes will they be showing at the show? What will I really be doing to help Mich.e.l.le? How much time will I have for sightseeing? And-oh...” The smile faded from her face as she looked at her four best friends.
”...and who gets to go with you?” Isabel finished.
Avery pushed away her salad, which didn't have more than a couple of bites left on the plate.
Maeve opened her fringed pink purse and began searching for a pen, just for something to do. She really wanted to go on this trip.
”Look,” Charlotte said, ”we know you'd like to take all of us, Katani. So don't get upset at yourself or feel sad about this just because you can't. And yes, we all have our own reasons for why we'd like to go, and they're all good ones.”
”The Metropolitan Museum,” Isabel said dreamily.
”Broadway,” Maeve breathed. ”Celebrities...”
”Journalistic experience,” admitted Charlotte.