Just Kidding (3 page)

“No way!” Isabel shook her head emphatically. “That fish could win honors in any contest, Kevin, I'm completely serious. It's…it's…exquisite!”

“The same as your bird,” Kevin insisted.

She grinned at him. “You know why I'm in a hurry to finish it? Mrs. Benigni told me she's going to send a photo of it to an art magazine, and she's hoping they'll print it.”

“Hey, congrats! That would be awesome.”

“Yeah, I'm really excited.” She wanted to say more, but at that moment quick footsteps sounded in the hallway, and soon the door to the art room burst open.

This time it was Amanda Cruz, Kevin's girlfriend, and she looked furious. “I want to talk to you,” she said sharply to Kevin, completely ignoring Isabel. Isabel noticed that Amanda was wearing a boy's gray hooded sweatshirt that looked totally out of place with her cute jean skirt and beaded jewelry.

Kevin didn't seem to pick up on the fact that Amanda was mad. “Okay,” he said agreeably. “Amanda, you know Isabel Martinez, right? Um, she's in my…you know…Ms. R's homeroom.”

“Hi,” Isabel said with a smile.

“Hi,” Amanda answered, but her tone was clearly dismissive. Even so, Kevin still didn't seem to get it.

“Amanda, check out the bird Isabel's making. Aren't the colors amazing?”

“Uh-huh,” Amanda said, clearly not in the mood for art talk, or any talk that involved something other than Kevin and her. “Look, I don't have a lot of time,” she said, turning her back on Isabel and speaking curtly to Kevin. “Come here a minute, will you?”

And without sparing Isabel another glance, she took Kevin's wrist and pulled him with her toward a corner of the room, which was filled with racks to hold wet paintings.

Isabel felt awkward and embarrassed by the whole situation. She wasn't sure whether Amanda expected her to leave or just to ignore them. But Isabel was here by special permission, and Amanda wasn't. So she turned her back on the couple and tried to get back into the bird sketches she'd been doing before Kevin first interrupted her.

Unfortunately, sketching was next to impossible, and though Isabel tried hard to concentrate, she couldn't help hearing bits of the conversation taking place in the corner. It became clear after just a few minutes that this wasn't just any boy-girl chat; Amanda and Kevin were
arguing
!
Oh my gosh!
How would they feel when they turned around and realized Isabel had heard almost everything they said? What was she supposed to do about it?
This is too weird
, she thought. The happy, comfortable feeling she'd had from talking with Kevin began to dissolve into embarrassment and tension, and her face started to flush all over again.

In the corner, Amanda was clearly angry and upset.
“Look,” she was saying in a furious whisper, “I don't get what's going on here. I mean, I thought we were supposed to have lunch together, but whenever I try to come over and sit with you, you're in the middle of a big group of boys, which always includes Chase Finley. You know I can't stand him! Why can't we spend more time alone together?”

“I have lots of friends,” Kevin protested. “I can't just ditch them. Besides, I like hanging out with my friends. And no one would care if you sat with us at lunch. I'm not trying to leave you out.”

“Well, it feels like you are! We don't hang out at all anymore, Kevin. This isn't fun, and I don't think you even like me anymore. I don't even feel like I'm one of your friends, let alone your
girlfriend
!”

Isabel tried not to look up, but at that last sentence she couldn't help glancing at Kevin, who was flushing and avoiding Amanda's eyes. He stared at the floor and said, “Look, I still really like it when we play basketball together, and I think we should keep doing that, but…since this whole thing about us got around school, it's been weird, don't you think? I mean, wherever I go everyone wants to know why you're not with me. The first thing they ask when they see me is where you are. That's not what I thought was gonna happen when we first got started going out…. I thought it would just be fun.”

“Well, what did you expect? I mean, everyone in this school knows who we are from sports. Didn't you realize they'd talk about us if we started going out?”

“I don't know.” Kevin looked unhappy. “I never
thought about that. But now I feel like I have a new name; I should be called ‘Dude, Where's Amanda?' Connors. It's not your fault, but it's really getting to me.”

“Oh, thanks a lot, that is so nice of you not to blame me!” Amanda said sarcastically. “You think I wanted us to be talked about? You probably think I went around and bragged to people about us so they'd talk even more.”

Isabel was trying so hard to not make it look like she was hearing what was being said that her fingers had tightened on her soft pencil. All of a sudden, it snapped in half, and the sound was like a firecracker going off in the art room.

Amanda whirled around, suddenly aware of Isabel's presence. “Do you mind? We could use a little privacy!”

Isabel looked at her, then at Kevin, who was beet-red and looking very uncomfortable. Special permission or not, it was definitely time for Isabel to make an exit—she couldn't stand any more of this!

Quickly, she gathered up her sketchpad and pencils and hurried out of the room, hoping she wouldn't drop anything until she got safely into the hall.

But just as she closed the door softly behind her and began to breathe a sigh of relief, her eyes widened. Lurking right outside the door, pretending to check out the posted artwork–but obviously spying—were Anna and Joline!

Great, just great
, Isabel thought. The Queens of Mean were also the Queens of Gossip, and they would never keep their mouths shut.
How much did they hear?

Most likely everything, because the first thing out of Anna's mouth was, “Oh, Isabel, I didn't know
you
were
in there too. Tell me, is Kevin Connors
your
new art project?”

Isabel rolled her eyes. All Anna and Joline ever talked about was who was dating who, or anything that would make them look “cool.” As Isabel walked away, she felt a twinge of anger and called back to the girls, “You don't even know what you're talking about. Why don't you just mind your own business?”

To her surprise, Anna and Joline actually backed off. Anna said, “C'mon, Isabel, chill. We're just kidding.”

It didn't feel like kidding to Isabel. Her heart was pounding as she walked away from them without looking back. Being part of the A&J show was definitely
not
her idea of fun! But even so, it was better than being caught in the middle of the break-up scene in the art room.

The voices from the art room were getting louder as Anna and Joline turned back to listen. They heard the sound of a zipper and Amanda's voice saying plaintively, “Here, take back your precious hoodie. I don't think it's so special after all. And besides, it clashes with everything I own.” Amanda sounded really mad.

Anna's eyes widened as she looked at Joline. “Whoa, did you hear that? She's giving back his
sweatshirt
. You know what
that
means.”

Joline nodded her head. “Celebrity gossip! Amanda Cruz and Kevin Connors,
breaking up
?”

They slithered down the hall before the art room door opened again, and on both their faces was the satisfied look of a cat that had just swallowed a big bowl of cream.

C
harlotte had been thinking about Spirit Week all day. Now that she knew what it was, she was really excited. In fact, she wanted to use it as her feature article in the school newspaper, the
Sentinel
. She hoped Jennifer Robinson, the editor-in-chief, would approve her angle–that Spirit Week was a great tradition and the perfect way for students to make friends and promote the American spirit. Charlotte wondered what her friends Sophie from Paris and Shadya in Tanzania would think if she told them about Spirit Week. Shadya would probably laugh and clap her hands. Sophie would just shake her head in bewilderment. Charlotte thought how funny it was that everywhere she went people were so curious about Americans, like we were strange creatures doing strange things. Spirit Week would really make her global friends think that American students were a little off their rockers.

Charlotte knew better than to get her hopes up,
though, when it came to her ideas for the
Sentinel
. Jennifer had tried to double-cross Charlotte on some articles in the past. It almost seemed as if Jennifer was jealous. Maeve, of course, was convinced that Jennifer was “positively green with envy” because Charlotte's writing was “superior.” Thinking about Maeve's comment, she felt confident as she made her way to Ms. R's office. Charlotte had decided to run her idea by Ms. R instead of leaving it all up to Jennifer. Once burned, she wouldn't fall prey to Jennifer's tactics again. What was it her dad said…“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me”?

“I think it's a great idea,” Ms. R declared when Charlotte finished presenting it to her. “You've got a unique angle, Charlotte, and I hope Jennifer sees that. Let me know how it goes, okay?”

That was just what Charlotte wanted to hear. Now she had a teacher who knew her original idea, which should stop Jennifer from messing around with it or taking the credit! She hurried off to the newspaper office, only to find that Jennifer was already there, impatiently tapping her watch as Charlotte walked through the door.

“You're five minutes late,” she accused Charlotte. “Now we've only got ten minutes before the next bell, and we've got a lot to cover. Please try to be on time in the future, will you?”

Charlotte blinked. Jennifer had been so nice at the beginning of the year and so enthusiastic over Charlotte's stories for the paper. Now, it seemed whatever Charlotte did was wrong. The BSG had all told Charlotte that Jennifer was “miffed” (that had been Katani's word) because
everyone in school raved about Charlotte's articles, but it was still hard to take. It was no fun to be singled out and picked on, no matter the reason. Charlotte's stomach felt funny every time she had to interact with Jennifer.

She settled herself down in a chair and waited, but Jennifer didn't seem to actually be in any hurry to get the meeting started. She fiddled with her pencils and took her time sorting through her notebook.

As Jennifer stood up to officially start the meeting, Avery came flying in, closely followed by Chelsea Briggs,
The Sentinel
's official photographer. “Hi, everybody!” Avery called as she and Chelsea took their seats. Avery never calmly walked into a room; she charged in at full speed.

Chelsea, who was much quieter than Avery, had settled down quickly, perhaps because she was still a little self-conscious about being overweight. Fortunately, though, during the seventh-grade class trip to Lake Rescue, Chelsea had become more confident and learned that she had a lot to offer, especially with her talents for photography and outdoor activities.

“All right, let's get started!” Jennifer directed the staff.

Charlotte noticed that Avery and Chelsea weren't scolded for being late, and they'd been later than she'd been!
Jennifer just doesn't like me
, Charlotte thought.
And nothing I do will ever change that
. Before making friends with the BSG, Charlotte would have been almost in tears over Jennifer's treatment of her. But Maeve, Isabel, Katani, and Avery were so supportive of her that Charlotte could now almost be indifferent to Jennifer's attitude.

Before Jennifer could say another word, Avery piped up. “I've got a fantastic idea for the Spirit Week issue!” she announced. Avery wrote the “Move It!” column for the
Sentinel
, which talked about sports and other activities around school. “Listen,” she went on, “there's going to be a coed tug-of-war and a huge basketball game. Do you know how much fun it's going to be to play a real, regulation game with boys and girls on the same teams?”

Even Jennifer couldn't resist Avery's excitement. “So what's your idea?” she asked, smiling.

“It involves Chelsea!” Avery announced, giving Chelsea a high five. “See, I think we should have Chelsea take lots of pictures of the students playing these sports, and I'll think of captions for all of them. You know there'll be lots of funny moments, and she always does a great job of snapping pictures at just the right time.”

“That sounds fantastic!” Jennifer said warmly. Charlotte sat back in her chair. She was right—it was fantastic. But Jennifer never showed that kind of excitement about Charlotte's ideas. Suddenly a twinge of self-doubt struck her. Maybe her ideas weren't that great after all.

“Remember, though, Avery,” Jennifer was saying, “we have to be careful that these pictures are just funny, and not mean. I don't want anyone to get their feelings hurt or be humiliated. Right?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Avery agreed.

And Chelsea echoed, “I would
never
take pictures of stuff that would be
really
embarrassing.” Charlotte knew that Chelsea was a sensitive person and that she would go out of her way to be sure her pictures didn't poke fun at
anyone. After all, Chelsea knew what it felt like to be made fun of. Chelsea once told Charlotte that “fat kids always know that someone is making fun of them somewhere.” Charlotte was relieved that Chelsea didn't have to face that anymore. After she showed off her wilderness skills at Lake Rescue, Chelsea gained the respect of the entire seventh-grade class…and a whole lot of confidence in herself.

“Fine,” Jennifer said. “Then the ‘Move It!' column is settled. Excellent idea, both of you. I can't wait to see those pictures—and captions!”

Charlotte just sat there, taking it all in. This afternoon, as soon as she got home, she would go visit her landlady, Miss Pierce, who lived on the floor below her. Miss Pierce always offered her tea, and even though she hardly ever left her house these days, she often had wonderful insights into people's behavior. Charlotte knew that if anyone could explain Jennifer's weird behavior, Miss Pierce could.

Jennifer called on every other staff member to talk about their assignments before she finally turned to Charlotte. “Let's make it quick,” she said dismissively. “It's almost time to leave, so just tell me what you want to do for your next article.”

Charlotte was stung. She was never long-winded. Jennifer was the one who could drone on and on and on at meetings, like she was the most important person in the world. But it was pointless to get mad about it. Carefully, Charlotte said, “Well, I've already talked to Ms. Rodriguez about this, and she thinks it's a fine idea.” Jennifer sighed,
as though what Charlotte was saying was just
too
boring.

Charlotte went on quickly, “I thought with Spirit Week happening, it would be a good idea to write about American spirit and give examples of it, like the rules about how to respect the flag and how people celebrate American spirit in so many different ways—like cheering for their favorite teams, or—” She faltered a little because Jennifer was rolling her eyes and the others didn't seem to think her idea was anything special.

Finally, Charlotte stopped talking altogether. She had thought her article would be terrific, but obviously nobody else did.

Jennifer waited until the room was completely silent before she asked, “And how many rules about the flag do you plan to list?”

“I don't know,” Charlotte stammered. “I mean, I'm not completely sure of the details yet, I just came up with the idea this morning.”

Jennifer ignored Charlotte's answer. “Well, what about the teams thing? How many teams and what kind do you plan to write about? College teams? High school teams? Local teams? National teams? Pro teams? Are you writing about the fans, or the teams themselves? Or have you not bothered to think about that?”

Jennifer was shooting questions at her so fast that Charlotte didn't have time to answer any of them, even if she'd had a clue what to say. Jennifer sounded as though she expected Charlotte to have finished all the research already, which was not the way these kickoff meetings usually worked.

She didn't do this to anybody else
, Charlotte told herself.
Just me
. She took a deep breath and tried to get her emotions under control. “Look, I'm just starting. But I think writing about all kinds of American spirit is exactly right for this issue, and for Spirit Week. Just let me take a shot at it. I won't let you down.”

Jennifer shook her head, as though she couldn't believe how unprepared Charlotte was. “Well,” she said finally, “I can't say you've done your homework on this, and I expect you to be more prepared before you write it. Just try to find something exciting to talk about, and don't resort back to your old travel stories, okay? I think you've used those way too many times already.”

Charlotte was stunned.
How could Jennifer say something so mean
? To make matters worse, she'd actually been thinking about comparing American spirit to the spirit she'd witnessed in other countries. She thought that would be fun and informative, not boring in the least. Had she really talked about her own experiences so much that everyone else was sick of hearing it?

As if to confirm her fears, Avery jumped up and said, “Yeah, Char, this should be about Abigail Adams—we don't want to hear any more stuff about Africa or Paris.” To make matters worse, Avery threw out her arms like a cheerleader and piped, “Abigail Adams…rah, rah, rah!”

Everyone else laughed, but Charlotte felt like her face was frozen. Was this really what Avery, one of her best friends, thought of her—boring Charlotte, who could only think of one thing to write about?

Suddenly Charlotte felt really upset, instead of just
angry, at what was going on. Avery's making fun of her hurt a whole lot more than Jennifer's snide comments. Was this something a best friend would do? Charlotte didn't think so, and she didn't know how to handle it.

Fortunately, the bell rang, and everyone forgot about Avery's silly cheer in the scramble to get their stuff together. “Thanks, everybody!” Jennifer called. “Great meeting—and lots of great ideas, for the most part,” she added.

Charlotte couldn't seem to get out of the room fast enough. Without a word to anyone, she rushed into the hall, intent on getting to her music class as quickly as she could.

Behind her, she heard Avery's voice. “Hey, Char, wait up!”

Charlotte didn't stop, and she didn't turn around. Instead, she kept walking, faster than ever. “Char, slow down,” called Avery's voice from behind her. “C'mon!”

But Charlotte didn't slow down, and she was careful to keep her eyes forward as she hurried down the hall.