Chapter 42: Tuesday

I smiled up at Liz as she made her way up the aisle of the school bus.

“Hey!”

“Hey!”

She dropped into the seat beside me with a thud.

“Listen, I have to tell you about dinner with the DiMartinos.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Oh, not much. Just call me Little Miss Hand Grenade. I came, I saw, I went kaboom!!”

“You didn’t!”

“Un huh. Which reminds me. We’re making friends with Melissa.”

“We are?”

“We are.”

“Is that a good idea? If we even talk to Melissa, her sister gets all...” She held her hands up like claws and pulled a face like an angry cat.

“Melissa needs a couple of friends right now and we volunteered. I’m fairly sure that Laura won’t interfere.”

“Oh? Are you telling me Little Miss Hand Grenade blew Laura DiMartino out of the picture? What did you do?”

“My weird brain came up with the perfect plan. I was nice to her.”

“I bet that totally confused her.”

“So we get to be friends with Melissa without getting clawed,” I said. “Of course, I could be wrong – in which case we both gain some shiny new scars.”

Liz laughed and leaned over and kissed the top of my head.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m kissing that weird brain of yours. So, we have a new friend – that’s exciting. Does Melissa know she’s been befriended?”

“Sort of. I told her, but she might not have heard me properly. She was busy crying into my shoulder at the time.”

“Wow! Melissa DiMartino was crying? You weren’t kidding when you talked about being Little Miss Hand Grenade. Maybe you should tell me the whole story.”

“Well. Mr DiMartino invited me and Dan for dinner because...”

We lurked beside Melissa’s locker until she showed up – determined to get off to a good start.

Melissa came striding down the hallway, but she slowed down as soon as she saw us. She looked her usual self – all clean and neat and unruffled. I looked closely and couldn’t decide what was going on inside of her – she really is good at hiding her true emotions.

Melissa walked towards us and smiled at me. It was that confident, happy smile that up until last night I’d believed was completely genuine.

“Hi friend,” I smiled warmly at Melissa. “You know Liz, don’t you? If I’m going to be your friend then you get Liz as well at no extra cost.”

“That’s right!” chimed in Liz. “We’re a package deal – two for the price of one.”

Liz gripped Melissa’s elbows firmly with both hands and planted a soft kiss on each of her cheeks. I saw Melissa’s cheeks pink slightly – her defenses weren’t strong enough to hold out against a combined attack from the two of us.

“Now that there’s three of us, we should all get little mouse ears to wear around – then we could be the three mouse-ket-ears,” announced Liz proudly.

“I’m fairly sure that’s already been done,” said Melissa thoughtfully.

“Maybe we should all wear musk perfume behind our ears because then we could be the three musk-at-ears,” was my contribution.

Melissa groaned, but then she grinned.

“Surely our motto has to be: Puns for all, and all for puns.”

“Or maybe: Puns for all, and awful puns!” replied Liz.

We all laughed at that and then mutually decided to change the subject – thank goodness. I think we’d gone past the allowed pun quota for the day.

I looked Melissa straight in the eye. “So, how did your homework go last night?”

Melissa’s eyes flicked away and then she looked back at me.

“You know, I suspect my mother thinks you’re a genius. This morning at breakfast, she made Laura sit in the guest chair with us instead of eating in the kitchen. When Father objected, Mother simply said that Laura had been invited as a guest to our table and she would stay there until she left or she was welcomed back into the family. Father couldn’t argue. They never fought about it in front of us, but from the start I was convinced Mother didn’t agree that Laura should be banished like that – it seems as if I was right.”

“Well that’s good,” I said.

“Oh, and I think Frederick has a crush on you. He hasn’t stopped talking about you since you left the house.”

I felt my cheeks go a bit pink. It felt weird – to have an eight year old boy crushing on me like that. I wasn’t going to let Melissa get away with what she was doing though.

“You’re avoiding the question,” I said. “How did your homework go last night?”

“Um ... I don’t know what you said to Father last night when he was driving you back to your house, but I think you managed to rattle him.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, he came into my room later. I was doing my homework – I mean my school homework and he came and sat beside me. He seemed to be nervous about something. He was restless. He looked at what I was doing and asked a couple of questions and then he told me he was pleased to see me doing such good work.”

“Is that all he said?”

“No, there was more. He took my hand and sort of sandwiched it between both of his and he looked me in the eye. Then he said he hoped I would have a good night’s sleep and he would see me in the morning. I think he was about to say something else, but all he said was goodnight and then he left.”

“Huh! He held your hand and said goodnight? I’d guess that doesn’t usually happen.”

“Yeah! It was very strange. It felt ... nice.”

Melissa’s eyes told me that she was understating the feelings she had by a fair bit.

“So what did you do then?”

“Anyway, after that, I finished my schoolwork.”

I stared at Melissa, not letting her off the hook.

Liz laid a friendly arm around Melissa’s shoulders. “I realize you haven’t been friends with Bec for very long, so I’m going to give you a hint – no extra charge. Bec’s asked you a question twice – well two and a half times, really – and you keep dodging it. My little hint for you is that Bec won’t let you get away with that. If she wants to know something, she wants to know it and you can’t distract her with soppy stories about holding hands with your dad.”

“That’s right,” I said. “I’m like a dog with a bone – once I get my teeth into something, I don’t let go.”

“You see?” said Liz. “She’s like a duck with a bun. Your feeble attempts to dodge the question won’t work.”

“Huh?” I said.

“What?” said Liz.

“You said I was like a duck with a bun.”

“Well that’s what you said.”

“No I didn’t!”

“You said you were like a duck with a bun and once you get your teeth into something...” said Liz.

“I said I was like a dog with a bone – a dog with a bone!” I said it slowly and clearly so even Liz could understand.

“Oh! Well that makes more sense. I was kind of wondering, because ducks generally don’t have teeth.” Liz was grinning at me. “That weird accent of yours had me confused, that’s all.”

I sighed and looked at Melissa. “Do you see what I have to put up with? My best friend teases me about my weird accent. But even her feeble attempts to distract me won’t work because I still want to know what happened last night when you did your homework.”

I kept staring at Melissa. She fidgeted. That wasn’t a good sign – I started to worry that maybe things hadn’t gone very well.

“I was fairly sure that you were right, that she needed – needs – affection more than anything else. So I went into Laura’s room. She was lying face down on the bed so I couldn’t exactly hug her.”

I nodded at Melissa, encouraging her to keep going. We started walking towards our homeroom because it was nearly time for classes to start.

“I sat beside Laura on the bed and stroked her shoulder and her back. It was kind of weird for me. I’ve done that for the boys when they’ve been upset but I’ve never done that for Laura. Not ever.”

“So what happened?” asked Liz gently.

“She bounced up off the bed to get away from me and started swearing at me. The things she said about me and about you and about our family ... I’m not going to repeat it all. She was being pretty vile. I started yelling back at her – I suppose it was like an automatic reflex. Then I remembered what I was supposed to be doing and why I was there. That made me realize that the things she was saying were nonsense. They were just a barrier that she was throwing at me to keep me away from her. I stopped yelling. I just cut off what I was saying in mid-sentence. Then I slid forward over the bed and put my arms around her.”

“So what happened then?” I asked.

“She hit me. She fought against me. She struggled like I was trying to kill her. She hurt me in a couple of places. I have this scratch on my neck.”

We all paused to examine the red mark down the side of her neck.

“And I have a bruise on my ribs. It wasn’t a lot of fun.”

At that moment, the bell rang for the start of home room. We separated and went to our places. I sat in my chair and stared down at my hands neatly folded in my lap. I allowed the morning routine to sweep around me.

What had gone wrong? I’d been so sure that after everything that happened at the dinner and after it, that Laura would be ready for Melissa. I’d been so sure. But it had all gone wrong. I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand how I’d misread the situation so badly. Had I made things worse between the sisters? That would be terrible. I was nothing but a meddler and all my meddling had been a disaster. Little Miss Hand Grenade had blown up and left Melissa with a scratched neck and bruised ribs. Who knew how badly Laura was hurt.

A bit of my brain registered that the roll call had reached my name. Numbly I raised one arm and held it up until the next name was called. Then I dropped my hand back into my lap and folded it in the other one. My eyes never left my lap. Everyone else was calling out in response to their names. Fortunately my teachers were used to me being quiet – they knew to look for my hand.

The questions went round and round inside my head. What had gone wrong? I didn’t understand.

The bell rang for the end of homeroom like a distant ship’s bell through a thick fog. I didn’t realize it was meant for me until Liz took my hand and led me silently to our first class. I slumped into my seat and let the lesson flow past me.

A small folded piece of paper landed in my lap, next to my hands. I stared at it numbly for a moment. The hands that had been sitting folded so neatly started moving. I watched the hands moving with a total absence of curiosity. The hands unfolded the paper to reveal a note written in purple pen in beautiful, neat, precise lettering. It took a moment for the shape of the words to reveal their meaning. They spoke to me with Melissa’s whispered voice, tinged with purple ink.

“I didn’t finish the story. Stop beating yourself up.”

I blinked at the note. It didn’t go away. Maybe it was real. I raised my head and looked across the room at Melissa. She was watching me, waiting for me to look at her. She nodded and a hint of a smile touched her face.

My brain, which had almost totally shut down, started to slowly come back to life. I glanced at Liz who was watching me carefully. I shrugged at her and she shrugged back. Our names were called out in that “stop doing whatever you’re doing” sort of way and Liz turned back to the front. I looked back down into my lap and let my brain tick over the implications of the note.

I hope nothing important was covered in those classes before morning recess. I have no idea what was taught. I’m not even sure what subjects they were. I was present in the room, but I may as well have been on the moon for all the good it did me.

“So, as I was saying, Laura fought me. She scratched me. She swore at me. She struggled. It wasn’t pretty. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. This might sound corny, but I actually tried to think of what you would do if this happened. Then I remembered you hanging onto Laura and not letting her go, so I did the same. I hung on. I don’t know how long it took, not that long really, but suddenly Laura stopped fighting and started crying as if someone flipped a switch. She clung onto me and just sobbed. Who would have thought it? I held her and she cried. I have to admit, I started crying, too.”

I could feel a single tear roll down my cheek. Maybe there was hope for Laura after all.

Melissa licked her lips nervously. “Don’t think we’re weird or anything but we ended up going to sleep holding onto each other.”

“Why would we think that was weird?” asked Liz.

“We’ve never done that before. Girls aren’t supposed to do that.”

“Who says? Me and Bec have slept in the same bed lots of times. She makes a really good pillow,” said Liz.

“Sisters aren’t supposed to do that,” said Melissa.

“Sisters are totally supposed to do that. Bec and Tara slept together with me on Sunday night. I used to be insanely jealous of both of you because I never had a sister until Bec adopted me,” said Liz.

“But...”

I didn’t have anything to say, so I stepped forward and hugged Melissa, tucking my face over her shoulder. Liz joined me and together we wrapped her up and held her tight.

I found myself staring over Melissa’s shoulder and straight into the sneering face of Hannah Fargo.

“Fucking lesbians,” she almost snarled. “So now you’ve recruited DiMartino? Have you turned her into a fucking lesbian?”

I could feel Melissa tensing up in my arms so I squeezed and held her still. I looked calmly over her shoulder at Hannah and smiled my warmest smile. I was starting to think it was time to do something about Hannah. Hannah clearly had more to say but suddenly she flew sideways out of my vision.

I twisted a bit and saw that Laura had arrived and shoved Hannah hard up against the lockers. Laura was actually a few inches shorter than Hannah but somehow it was Laura staring down at Hannah with sparks flashing from her eyes.

“You didn’t just disrespect my sister! Tell me you didn’t.” Laura was almost snarling into Hannah’s face. “Because if you disrespect my sister then you and I have a serious problem.”

“Get your fucking hands off of me, you bitch!” snarled Hannah.

The three of us broke our hug and inched back out of the battle-zone.

Laura smiled evilly and stepped back. She held her hands out wide, clearly demonstrating to everyone that she’d let go as requested.

Hannah straightened up and clenched her fists.

Tracey stepped up beside Laura. “Oh, go on. Start a fight, please.”

Tara was suddenly there as well. “You should stop right now and think really carefully. I guarantee you do not want Laura as your enemy.”

Hannah sneered.

Laura had her hands on her hips and was standing tall. She looked like royalty watching while her minions squabbled. A small crowd had gathered to watch the confrontation.

I could almost see Hannah’s confident sneer waver and dissolve away.

“You will not disrespect my sister.” Laura’s command was clearly not open for discussion.

Hannah’s eyes flicked to each side as she realized this was happening in front of quite a large audience. Her shoulders slumped and she gave the tiniest little nod.

Laura turned and walked away, smiling in triumph. The crowd started muttering and most of them started wandering away.

Tracey wasn’t done. She walked up to Hannah and used one finger to poke her firmly in the chest.

“Hey, loser! Back off Bec Freeman, too. She doesn’t deserve your crap.”

Tracey stepped back and was replaced by Tara. “That’s right, loser. And Liz Davidson! Leave her alone too. A lot of people are sick and tired of the stupid crap you spout all the time.”

Liz and I exchanged glances. This was an interesting development.

Miss Webster arrived. Her steely eyes roamed around the hallway and a number of students who were hanging around suddenly found a reason to be somewhere else. We stayed. Tara and Hannah stayed.

Miss Webster glanced between Tara and Hannah. “Is there a problem here?”

They looked at each other and then back to Miss Webster.

“No, Miss,” they both said in unison.

She looked across at the three of us and then back at Hannah and then at Tara. Her eyes were alive with speculation. “There isn’t going to be a problem here, is there?”

“No, Miss,” they both said in unison – again.

She nodded. She was clearly not completely satisfied, but also clearly not willing to push any further. She turned and walked calmly away, stopping briefly to direct a couple of students to pick up some litter near the lockers.

Tara turned back to Hannah and looked thoughtful.

“You know, there’s only one girl in this school who’s scarier than Laura DiMartino. She’s usually pretty quiet but annoying her is as stupid as poking a sleeping bear with a stick and that’s exactly what you’ve been doing. Something tells me it’s not going to take many more pokes and you’re going to wake up that sleeping bear. If you do, then anything Laura could possibly do to you will seem like a picnic by the time this particular girl has finished with you. The sad thing is that you’re probably too stupid to figure out who I’m talking about.”

Hannah sneered at Tara. “You’re so full of shit!”

Tara’s face pulled up into a smile but there was no humor in her eyes.

“You think so? Well, I’ll let you into a little secret. By the way, spreading this secret around is more than your life is worth.”

Tara leaned in closer and whispered, “She’s the only girl in this school who has ever made Laura DiMartino cry. You just think about that.”

Hannah looked doubtful.

Tara shook her head slowly. “You still don’t know who I’m talking about, do you? Well, if you still think I’m full of shit, you keep poking. I hope you wake up that sleeping bear and she bites your stupid head off.”

Tara walked away down the hallway. She winked at us as she walked past us but didn’t say anything. Down near the water fountain, Tracey and the other one were leaning against a column. Tara joined them and the three of them headed off around a corner.

Hannah seemed to shake herself free of the spell she’d been under and sulked off in the other direction.

Liz and Melissa and I looked at each other. I think we were all pretty amazed at what had happened.

I grimaced at the others. “I have to admit I’m a bit uncomfortable about being described as the scariest girl in the school. I hope Hannah never calls that bluff.”

Liz raised an eyebrow at me. “Who was bluffing? You can be pretty scary.”

“Huh?”

“You were pretty scary at our house last night,” said Melissa.

“We’ve been friends since the third grade,” said Liz, “and I’ve always been glad I wasn’t your enemy.”

I stared at Liz in amazement. At first I’d thought she was joking but then I realized she was serious. I don’t know why she was saying that. I try not to have enemies.

“You’re always so shy – so quiet when other people are around,” said Liz. “You have everyone convinced that you wouldn’t say boo to a mouse. You put up with so much crap from people like Hannah and Laura and even your sister. But when you decide they’ve gone too far then you do something weird in your quiet little way and suddenly whoever it is completely backs off. It’s a little bit freaky.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. I was completely baffled.

“Do you remember in the fifth grade when everyone’s stuff kept disappearing?” said Liz. “It went on for weeks. I think you lost some lunch money or something. Then one day that girl’s brooch went missing – I don’t remember her name. She went completely hysterical. It turned out it was her mother’s and her mother was dead.”

I nodded. “Her name was Kathryn something. Her mother had died in an auto accident.”

“An hour later a note in Ricky French’s own handwriting appeared on the teacher’s desk admitting that he was the one taking the things and that the brooch was hidden at the bottom of his book bag. Sure enough, there it was – and when the school asked his mother to search his room she found the rest of the missing stuff. Ricky always denied that he wrote that note but nobody had a clue who wrote it. I figured it out – eventually. Copying handwriting is a bit like drawing.”

I shrugged. “It’s just patterns. It’s just spotting and copying patterns.”

“You had decided that enough was enough and less than one hour later you’d figured out who the thief was and you’d gotten him caught without ever saying a word or anyone noticing you. I have no idea how you figured out it was him but...” Liz trailed off, shaking her head.

“I never said anything before because I figured you didn’t want to talk about it. But stuff like that – that’s not the only time – I wouldn’t want to be your enemy.”

I shook my head at her. I think she was exaggerating things a bit. I’d known the thief was Ricky after he took my lunch money. I’d spotted him in the cafeteria buying food and I’d recognised the pattern of creases on one of the bills he’d paid with. I hadn’t done anything about it at the time because, well, maybe he needed the food more than I did. Then when the brooch went missing I’d seen the reflection of him hiding something in his bag in the classroom window. I wasn’t comfortable with the way first Tara and now Liz were making me out to be this devious, scary person – I was just me. Ricky shouldn’t have taken Kathryn’s brooch. I couldn’t ignore that.

“If that’s what you’re really like,” said Melissa, “I’m surprised you put up with Laura and Hannah for as long as you did.”

I’d had enough of this. I turned and walked away from them. They followed after me but at least they stopped talking about me like that. I went to my locker. I grabbed some books and hurried off to class. My little escort came with me, but they were silent which I thought was an improvement. I discovered when I got to class that I had science and I’d picked up my math books so I got a lecture from Mrs Gasbury about bringing the right equipment to class. I sighed to myself and listened politely to Mrs Gasbury’s lecture. What else could I do?

Adding Melissa to our lunch table meant we overflowed to the point of sliding an extra table over so that everyone would fit. Especially since Tara and Tracey and the other one turned up as well. I really must learn her name. The two boys had their eyes popping out of their heads. I think they were trying to work out what they’d done to be surrounded by so many girls. I was a bit puzzled myself. Up until last week, Liz and I had spent every lunch on our own and now we were the middle of a crowd. It was a bit overwhelming.