Girls Only! (33 page)

So much for sitting together
, Manda thought. Actually, she was glad Jenna wasn’t all warm and sociable. There was too much to work out between them for a fast and fakey comeback. Fact was, Manda wanted a chance to show Jenna what a good friend she could be. A reliable one. A friend who cared about relationship as much or more than claiming first place on the slopes.

But how? What could she do to get Jen’s attention?

Just then, Livvy and Heather came walking toward her.
Here we go
, she thought. How would
they
treat her?

“What’s up?” Manda said.

Heather slowed her pace a bit, smiling cautiously. Then she stopped, as though she might not mind talking a little. Livvy, on the other hand, seemed a bit distracted and kept going. It wasn’t until Heather called to Livvy that she wandered back to them. Then she turned to Manda and said, “Congratulations on your win, Manda.”

“Thanks,” Manda replied.

“Yeah, you were really great out there,” Livvy spoke up.

Great? How’d Livvy know?

“You looked awesome,” Heather piped up. “Especially when you came barreling down the final stretch. Man, it made the hairs on my arm stand straight up.”

“How would you know that?” Livvy asked, laughing. “You had all kinds of layers on under your jacket.”

Heather seemed to be jiving Livvy. “C’mon, you know what goose bumps feel like, even under two sweaters and a parka.” Weird. Heather was humoring Livvy, for some odd reason.

But Manda was surprised at what she was hearing. “Were you two . . . uh, did you actually come to see the race?” she asked softly.

Heather nodded. “Sure. Did you think we wouldn’t show up?”

“To see our star skier?” Livvy added quickly.

Our star skier
. . .

Now Manda really felt lousy. She didn’t say she’d looked for them, hoping they’d come. She didn’t want them to know how much it meant to her. Besides, she hadn’t offered them an invitation. Yet they had come anyway. Wow.

“We’re friends, Manda,” Heather said. “We didn’t want to miss seeing you.”

“Yeah,” Livvy said. “You cheer for us at our local events.”

Manda was starting to feel better about things. “So . . . then you haven’t kicked me out of the club?”

Livvy frowned. “Well, nobody said
that
.”

Whoa. She was really confused now.

“Guess you’d better talk things over with the club prez,” Heather said, squeezing Manda’s arm. “It’s time the two of you had it out, anyway.”

Manda wasn’t so sure. She didn’t like the sound of this. But she followed them off to youth group and sat with Heather. Livvy went and sat with another one of her friends in the last row.

Waiting for the worship leader to get things rolling, Manda felt awkward. Like she knew she ought to tell Heather she was sorry. Anything to smooth things over with her best friend.

She was starting to lean over to say something, when Heather whispered, “Jen said there’s going to be a Manda Garcia Day at your school or something.”

Manda cringed. “Yeah . . . tomorrow.”

“It’s all over Alpine Lake . . . about you.” Heather seemed terribly excited. “The whole town’s jazzed.”

She wanted to say she didn’t care about the whole town, not even the special recognition day. She only cared about one thing. Where did she truly stand with Heather, Livvy, and Jenna . . . and Girls Only?

On Thursday, the walls at school were cluttered with banners and streamers. There was even a blown-up picture of her mounted near the school office.

Miranda Garcia . . . Ski Star
, one poster read.

You go, girl!
another boasted.

Kids she hardly knew came up to her in the hall-way. “How’d you do it?” they asked. “How’d you ski so fast?”

When she finally made it through the crowd to her locker, Livvy was waiting. “Uh, Manda, hey . . . can I talk to you?”

Manda felt a lump in her throat. “Sure, what’s up?”

“I was a jerk about—”

“No,
I
was,” Manda interrupted. “And I’m sorry.”

“Then, you’re not mad at me . . . at all of us?”

“You and Heather—why should I be?” she replied.

“We just thought, well, we wondered if your sport was going to your head.” Livvy glanced at the ceiling, then she looked right at Manda. “You know what? I get that problem sometimes, too. But is anything really worth losing your friends?”

Manda smiled. “Coming from you, that means a lot.”

“Super cool.” Livvy hurried to her own locker. “Hey, my locker partner is on her way,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “Better nail Jenna now.”

This wasn’t like shy, soft-spoken Livvy.
Better nail Jenna?
What did Livvy mean? Was she so eager for Manda and Jenna to patch things up?

Squaring her shoulders, Manda took a deep breath. Yep, she was ready to be friends with Jenna again. Whatever it took.

Later, Manda sat in English class while the teacher talked about “Miranda Garcia Day.” She blushed at the teacher’s words. “One of our own students is on her way to Olympic fame. We have a terrific skier in our school . . . in this very classroom.”

Enough already
, thought Manda, wishing they could just get started on correcting homework. She had years of training ahead of her—and continuous wins, too—before she could even come close to making the cut for the Olympics. Sure, it was her ultimate goal, her dream. But today she wasn’t in the mood to have her future broadcast to a roomful of kids.

Her mind was elsewhere. On Jenna’s strange reaction this morning.

Manda had followed Livvy’s suggestion and attempted to talk to Jenna. But Jen seemed to be in a big hurry, never even making eye contact with Manda. So much for smoothing things over. Nope, Manda was beginning to see just what a mess she’d created. In time, she might be able to prove herself. Maybe. If Jenna gave her half a chance.

Meanwhile, she felt lonely at the top of the ladder. Sure, everyone was asking her how it felt “up there.” And yes, it was great to be a winner. The VIPs at the race were wowed by her speed and poise. She was the hot new young skier in the west. And Uncle Frank had taken Coach to lunch to talk over her bright future before he left town.

But once all the excitement died down, what was left? The memory, sure. Her awesome first-place medal. But what about her friends?

Star Status

Chapter Fifteen

The next day after school, Manda and her mom drove to Kansas to visit Manda’s grandparents for the upcoming Easter weekend.

Meanwhile, Girls Only Club members were presenting the spring play to their parents, complete with ballet encore. Manda wondered if Jenna might think the. Kansas trip was an excuse for Manda
not
to be in the play.

On Monday, after returning to Alpine Lake, Manda found out exactly what Jenna thought of her.

Livvy seemed to scowl when Manda ran into her at their lockers between classes. “Guess I’d better warn you,” she began. “Jenna says if you’re a no-show at the regular meeting this coming Friday, the remaining members will have to do some serious talking.”

“That’s not fair!” Manda blurted. “Any other member would—” She stopped. She did not want to battle with Jenna Song’s best friend. But the way Livvy’s solemn face had turned to an absolute frown—a sad frown—Manda wasn’t sure whose side Livvy was on anymore. Was she just passing along info to a soon-to-be-defunct club member?

Their president’s attitude was really the pits. Manda decided then and there, she’d had it with Jen’s pushy attitude about attendance at club meetings. The four of them had taken time to write bylaws for exactly this reason. Wasn’t there a rule that addressed this very issue? Livvy and Heather, after all, were just as involved in skating and ice-dancing events as Jenna was in gymnastics. No one would ever think of harassing
them
for missing club meetings either before, during, or after a major competition. This was absolutely insane!

“It may not be fair, that’s true,” Livvy said, softening a bit. “But Jenna’s really ticked.”

“That’s her problem.” And with that, Manda walked away.

Things slowed to a crawl at the ski academy the week following Easter. The days were consistently sunny, warmer now. Less snow. The ski season was fast coming to a close.

Manda deliberately skipped Girls Only that Friday, in spite of Jenna’s warning. She
was
lonely, but didn’t want to admit it to herself. She had actually walked over to Jenna’s house and stood sadly on the opposite side of the street, watching Heather and Livvy go inside. They hadn’t seen her, of course. Even if they had, she felt she was a member
not
in good standing. She didn’t deserve their friendship.

With Uncle Frank long gone, there was no one to dump on. Mom wasn’t a good choice, not with her so caught up in Mr. Greenberg’s move. Kind woman that she was, Mom was helping the Greenbergs organize and pack for Utah.

It’s crazy
, thought Manda. Especially because Mom would never see Matthew Greenberg again. Wasn’t that how things always went?

She was sure Mom cared deeply for the man. She’d seen it in her mother’s eyes, heard the softness in her voice when she spoke his name. So why was Mom helping them pack? It made no sense.

Nothing did.

The weekend came and went. No one called to complain that she’d missed Girls Only again. Saturday, while she was probably being voted out of the club, she hit the slopes one last time. When she arrived home, not a single message awaited her on Mom’s answering machine. So, Jenna had worked her magic with both Heather and Lizzy. Against Manda.

Monday morning, before school started, Manda went to the gym. She noticed Jenna working out on the rings, but Manda kept her distance. No need to confront anyone so early in the morning.

Busying herself with leg presses, she wondered what she might say to her former friend, the way she always tried to think through every detail of a ski run. Maybe she wouldn’t have the chance to talk to Jenna today. But . . . she could hope.

She didn’t know how long she’d been doing that—thinking. But when she changed her position and looked up, there was Jenna standing nearby. “Hey,” Jen said. “Need a break yet?”

“Sure.”

They walked to the fruit juice vending machines without saying a word. Before Jenna could pay for her own, Manda quickly pulled out a bunch of quarters. “Here, let me buy yours this time.”

“Thanks,” Jenna said, looking a little startled.

They waited for the machine to eat the quarters and cough out the boxed juices. Both girls stuck the plastic straw inside the hole and sipped.

When Manda could stand it no longer, she said, “I’m sorry about . . . so many things, Jenna.” Her words came flying out. “I was wrong to shut you and Livvy and Heather out.” She paused to breathe. “I don’t expect any special privileges or anything.”

Jenna looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“About Girls Only. You don’t have to let me back in the club. I just want to be friends. That’s all that matters to me.”

“You were never kicked out,” Jenna said, her eyes squinting nearly shut.

Manda jerked her head and looked at Jen. “What? Are you kidding me?”

“Sure, I used some tricky tactics to try to get you to show up. But if you’re wondering about the extra meeting we had . . . well, it wasn’t about voting you out.”

“What, then?”

“Actually, we met to pray for you.” Jenna was smiling now.

“You what?”

“We asked God to wake you up . . . bring you to your senses.”

Here she’d snubbed her nose at them, and they’d prayed. Wow. “Looks like God answered quick,” she said.

“So . . . are you ever coming to Girls Only again?” Jenna asked.

“Sure am.” Manda was happy, as happy as the day she’d won the race.

The next day Manda and her mom said good-bye to Mr. Greenberg and Tarin. The moment had the potential for disaster. But their farewells were actually bittersweet.

Tarin seemed much more content with the move now. “I’ll never forget you, Manda,” he told her with a smile.

“Don’t worry,” she said, reminding him that they could “talk” by email. “And you’ll have to come back to Alpine Lake and visit us.”

Mr. Greenberg cut in. “I’ll make sure that Tarin sees both of you again.”

Manda looked curiously at her mom. This sounded like the promise of something special. Something more serious than just dating.

He continued. “We’ll need some time to get settled, of course.”

Mom’s eyes twinkled so brightly, Manda knew something was going on.

Then later, after the moving van had pulled away from the curb, Mom filled her in. “Matthew and I believe the Lord is preparing us for a life together. If all goes well, we plan to be married by late summer.”

“Mom, is this for real?” She was overjoyed. “I’ve been hoping for this, you know . . . ever since I met Mr. Greenberg.”

“Then . . . you’re not upset? I mean, about possibly having to move?”

Manda didn’t know why she wasn’t. Maybe she was just so eager to see her mother happy for the rest of her life. “Don’t worry about me, Mom. This is so exciting for you. For
both
of us. Tarin too.”

“The Lord willing, we’ll probably move before school starts in the fall.”

A brand-new school and a new set of friends next year . . .

She was still for a moment. “I’ll miss my girl friends a lot.”
I just got them back!
“But there’s no reason why they can’t come visit us, right?” She was thinking how cool it would be to have her very own, very wonderful, stepdad. She could show him off to Jenna, Livvy, and Heather. They would be so happy for her.

“Matthew wants to build a big house in Utah. So I don’t see why your friends couldn’t come see us. Even Coach Hanson and his wife could visit.”

Mom was talking some interesting stuff.

“How hard will it be for me to get a new coach?” She knew firsthand that Utah had some of the all-time best downhill skiing and ski instructors in the country. It was still ski-racing country, after all.

“Between you and me, I think our move will give you even greater opportunities,” Mom said.