The Summer Before Read online

  "A parade?" exclaimed Claire. "Are we going to be in it?"

  "Of course we are, dummy," said Adam. "We're the parade."

  "Will there be elephants?" asked Claire.

  "Excuse me?" I said.

  "Will there be elephants? In the parade?"

  The triplets tumed red with unexploded laughter, and Mallory glared at them.

  "Well, no," I replied. "It will just be us in the parade. I mean, just people. We're going to carry banners - we have to make them first - and then we'll march down your street and over to Bradford Court and right by Kristy's house. Other people will join the parade on the way. Oh, and in a little while, Jenny Prezzios's father is going to bring her over here. She's going to help us with the presents and the banners."

  "Will everyone see us marching in the parade?" cried Vanessa. "Oh, I hope so. I hope everyone sees us!"

  "What kind of presents are we going to make for Kristy?" asked Byron.

  I began to unload the supplies. The kids crowded around the picnic table to watch. "We can make caterpillars out of egg cartons," I began.

  Jordan"s mouth dropped open. "I did that in preschool!" he exclaimed, affronted.

  "Hey! I'm in preschool!" cried Claire.

  "Then that will be the perfect project for you," I said hastily. "And for Jenny. We can also make pencil holders out of soup cans -"

  "How many pencil holders does Kristy need?" asked Adam.

  "Adam," said Mallory wamingly.

  "Okay, okay."

  "You can make jewelry with the macaroni," I continued, but I could feel my cheeks buming, "and all sorts of things with the Popsicle sticks. You could also make cards for Kristy. And of course we need to work on the banners. We need one banner for the front of the parade that will say 'Kristy Day,' and another for the back of the parade that will say 'We Love You, Kristy!'"

  Nicky pretended to choke. "Does it have to say 'love'?"

  "Yes," I said firmly. "Now, let's get to work."

  Despite various unhelpful comments from Nicky and the triplets, the Pike kids did in fact get to work, and soon Kristy's gifts were piling up. Jenny Prezzioso arrived and she got to work, too. Jenny, who was three years old and friends with Claire, lived not far from the Pikes. She adored Kristy, and I had thought she would be a good addition to the parade, but the instant she arrived I sensed trouble. For one thing, she was the youngest kid at the Pikes' and she needed a lot of help with everything. For another, she was wearing a white sundress, frilly white socks, and white patent leather party shoes, even though her parents knew it was a moming of arts and crafts.

  I put Mallory in sole charge of Jenny, and the first thing Mallory did was find a smock for her to wear.

  I felt that the moming had gotten off to a shaky start, but by eleven-thirty we had not only a nice pile of presents for Kristy but two brilliantly colored banners. Lauren Hoffman and the Shillaber twins showed up at the Pikes' as planned, so they could walk in the parade. Unfortunately, no one noticed until we were halfway dnwn Slate Street that the banner for the back of the parade read WE LOVE YOU, KISTY, but by then there was nothing we could do about it.

  We continued down Slate Street, attracting a certain amount of attention. Kids who were out riding their bikes and playing in their yards stopped to watch us. Cars slowed down as we went by and a couple of the drivers honked their homs cheerfully. Vanessa, who was holding one side of the front banner, walked regally, tuming from one side of the street to the other, a gracious smile on her face, as if she were a beauty queen. Claire and Margo grinned and waved, held their presents aloft, and cried, "Happy Kristy Day!" as they ran along.

  A few minutes later we tumed onto Bradford Court. Standing on the comer were Mrs. Newton, Jamie, and David Michael. I had phoned Mrs. Newton just before we left the Pikes' house so she could have the boys ready.

  "Is Kristy at home?" I asked David Michael nervously as he joined the parade. It had only now occurred to me that Kristy might have left the house and wouldn't be at home as her personal parade passed by. But David Michael nodded, and I let out a sigh of relief before I said, "Okay, everyone - now!"

  We slowed the parade down and began chanting, "Kris-ty! Kris--ty!" until she stepped cautiously onto the Thomases' front stoop and stood there motionless. It was one of the few times in Kristy's life when she was at a loss for words.

  I grinned. Just like on Slate Street, kids who were outside playing had put down their toys to stare at our parade. Faces appeared in windows and people stepped out of doorways. I saw Mimi, Janine, the Goldmans, Mrs. Thomas, and my dad. And I noticed a girl I had never seen before - a girl about my age, with blonde hair and blue eyes, straddling a brand-new bicycle. She looked puzzled, but she was smiling. And she stopped to watch as Kristy slowly crossed her yard.

  "Happy Kristy Day!" I cried as my best friend neared the sidewalk.

  I led the parade past her and then we tumed around. The tuming-around was accomplished clumsily, and by the time we were standing in front of Kristy again, both banners were facing backward and Claire and Jenny had dropped their presents.

  "The banners, the banners!" I hissed, and the kids sorted themselves out. (I thought I heard Nicky mutter "We love you, Kisty," but I wasn't sure.)

  After that, the parade fell apart, but this was okay. The kids showered Kristy with their gifts, and Claire and Jenny declared loudly that Kristy was their favorite baby-sitter.

  Later, when our friends had gone home and Kristy and I had retumed the last little kid to his parents, we walked back to Bradford Court. "Remember last night?" asked Kristy. "When I said that I have my mom and my brothers and you? I should have added that I have my friends, and all the kids I sit for, and our neighbors, too."

  "I know that doesn't exactly make up for your father, but it's something, isn't it?" I said.

  "It's definitely something. I'm lucky and I know it."

  "And I'm lucky and I know it. I have your mom and your brothers and Claudia and Mimi. And you."

  "We get what we get," said Kristy. "And you and I have a lot. I'm going to hang the parade banners in my room."

  "We love you, Kisty," I said, and she grinned.

  "And you'd been planning Kristy Day for how long?" my father asked me later that aftemoon.

  I shrugged. "A couple of weeks."

  "I think it meant a lot to her."

  I nodded, again unable to explain why she needed a special day so badly.

  Dad patted the couch and I sat down next to him. "I've seen a big change in you this summer, Mary Anne. I'm proud of you. You've done a lot of growing up."

  "Thanks," I said.

  "I think," he went on, "that you're ready to baby-sit alone."

  "Yes!" I cried.

  "In certain situations."

  "Okay."

  "And with a curfew."

  "Okay."

  I didn't care. As long as we were moving forward.

  After dinner I sat in my room - my pink room with the Alice in Wonderland and Humpty Dumpty pictures - and I considered sorting through the box of my mothers things again. I got as far as opening it and removing a joumal my mother had kept when she was in college. But I had already read the joumal. And I was now familiar with every other item in the box. I didn't need to touch and study and hold on to the pieces of my mothers life anymore.

  I slid the box under my bed. It was enough to know it was nearby.

  I slathered SPF 30 lotion on my arms and legs and face while I waited, once again, for Frankie to arrive. Yesterday the beach, today swimming at the community center. Thanks to Frankie, it had been a very outdoors-in-the-sun kind of summer (especially after his statistics class had ended), and I wasn't taking any chances with my skin.

  The beach had been fun, although I'd sort of had this feeling that Frankie had been hoping the day would hold more than just sitting under the umbrella with his family and me. He hadn't talked to me as much as usual, and he'd kept looking up and down the beach. For what?

  I'd actu
ally said, "What are you looking for?" And he'd given me an embarrassed smile and replied, "Oh, you know."

  I did not know. I hadn't known at the beach, and I still didn't know now as I waited for him to come pedaling along Bradford Court on his bicycle. Maybe he'd just been bored. There hadn't been a lot to do at the beach. There was no boardwalk and not even a snack bar. I'd been all for riding the waves, but Frankie hadn't seemed interested. Maybe he hadn't wanted to hang out with his family again.

  If that had been the case, then today promised to be better. Frankie and I would be on our own.

  I spotted Frankie tuming the comer onto Bradford. I checked my watch. He was only twenty minutes late. Well, twenty-two, to be exact. I looked again. And now twenty-two minutes and four seconds.

  I stood up and waved.

  "Ready?" Frankie called. He didn't bother to get off his bicycle. In fact, he didn't even tum up my driveway, just waited on the street, straddling the bike. I have to say he looked a little impatient. I considered pointing out that he was the one who was late and I was the one who had had to wait, but thought better of it.

  We rode through town to the community center, where there were three excellent outdoor pools: an actual Olympic-size pool, a wading pool, and a diving pool. The Olympic pool was where most people hung out, and the high school kids had long made a particular comer of it their own. It was one of the corners at the deep end and was shaded by a maple tree, which was good for those who wanted to stay out of the sun. The tree was bordered by a large grassy area, and as Frankie and I approached, I could see that quite a few kids had already spread their towels in the sunshine. Some were soaking up the rays, others were sitting and talking, listening to music, eating hot dogs and chips from the snack bar.

  I didn't know any of the kids, though, so I headed for the tree and spread my towel under it.

  Frankie stared at me. "What are you doing?"

  "I - What do you mean, what am I doing?"

  "We'll look like outcasts by ourselves over here. I want to sit with my friends."

  Well, if he wanted to sit with his friends he should have told me they were his friends in the first place. I wasn't a mind reader. His friends had been away at camp and on vacation all summer. This was the first time I'd met any of them.

  I shrugged and followed Frankie into the crowd of kids.

  Our arrival was heralded by a chorus of greetings. And by "our" arrival, I mean Frankie's. Apparently, something had happened to me that moming and I had been rendered invisible.

  "Frankie!"

  "Hi, Frankie!"

  "Frankie, I missed you when I was at camp!"

  I feel I must point out here that while a number of boys were in this crowd, all the greetings flowed from the mouths of girls. And the moment Frankie spread his towel on the grass, no fewer than five of those girls edged their towels closer to his.

  Luckily, l saw what was happening, and l spread my towel next to Frankies, jumped on it, and lay down flat, claiming the space for myself before any of the intruder girls could do the same. lt barely mattered. The girls just rearranged themselves so that they were as close to Frankie's other side as was scientifically possible.

  l glared fiercely at them., but since they had glommed their eyes onto Frankie, they didn't even see me. Anyway, there was the invisibility issue.

  "So what have you been doing all summer, Frankie?" asked this one girl with gleaming black hair and shining flawless skin the color of chestnuts.

  Frankie gave her a charming grin. "Nothing much. You know, hanging."

  Excuse me? l was "nothing much"?

  l sat up on one elbow, leaned over to Frankie, and cleared my throat.

  He glanced at me, but before he could say anything, another girl, this one with rippling brown hair and skin so pale she must ordinarily have staked out territory under the maple tree, moved over until she was sitting half on her towel and half on Frankie's. "My sister said Stoneybrook High has been waiting years for someone as cute as you to arrive."

  My mouth dropped open. First of all, who said things like that? And second of all... well, I couldn't think of a second of all. The first of all was bad enough.

  Frankie gave the girl a lazy smile.

  "Can you believe that in two and a half weeks we'll be in high school?" asked a third girl.

  I sat all the way up and cleared my throat louder than before.

  "Oh!" exclaimed the girl with the black hair, and suddenly the others seemed to see me.

  "Who's this?" asked one.

  "Is she your sister?" asked another.

  "Nope. This is Claudia Kishi," said Frankie, and he might as well have been giving a tour of his house and suddenly got to the boring part - a closet. That was the amount of enthusiasm he was able to muster when he said my name. "Claudia, these are my friends Anna" (she was the girl with the flowing brown hair), "Lindy" (she was the girl who wanted to know what Frankie had been doing all summer), "Tracy" (she was the one who was excited about starting school), "Alexa, Morgan, and Val." (Blah, blah, and blah.)

  "So," said Tracy, "which middle school did you go to?"

  "Stoneybrook," I replied. "SMS."

  "Really? I don't remember seeing you in any of my classes."

  I cleared my throat for the third time. "I'll be in seventh grade this year."

  Six pairs of eyes tumed themselves on Frankie. I waited for him to say something like "Claudia is a really good artist" or "Claudia and I had so much fun at the beach yesterday" (although that would not, in fact, be true). But he didn't, and the girls seemed to lose interest in me. I couldn't blame them.

  "You know what Lindy did this summer?" Anna said to Frankie. "She went to Spain with her family. For six weeks."

  "Wow," said Frankie.

  "Hey, did you guys hear that new Cloudy Dan song?" asked Alexa.

  "Yup," said Frankie.

  Of course he had.

  Minutes later, one of the girls seemed to remember my presence. I think it was Morgan. "What did you do this summer, Claudia? Go to day camp?"

  Huge peals of laughter. Hee-hee. Ha-ha. I tried to join in, but Frankie was laughing, too, and besides, something had happened to my vocal cords. I couldn't get them to work.

  "Frankie, are you going to try out for the football team?" Lindy wanted to know.

  Frankie shrugged as if this hadn't occurred to him, but I could tell he was pleased that a cute girl thought he was football-team material.

  "I hope I get nominated for Homecoming Queen," said Val.

  "Homecoming Queen! You can't be Homecoming Queen when you're a freshman!" exclaimed Anna.

  "No, but I can start getting noticed, so that in a couple of years everyone at SHS will know who I am."

  "Frankie, want to go in the water?" asked Alexa.

  "Sure!" he said, and jumped to his feet.

  Morgan glanced down at me. "Have you passed your swimming test?" she asked, all innocently.

  I scowled at her. "Yes."

  Somehow I survived the rest of the day. Frankie didn't totally ignore me. At one point he asked me (just me, not the rest of his harem) if I wanted to go swimming, which I did. Later he asked me if I wanted ice cream, which I didn't because I had lost my appetite.

  Finally, when people began to pack up their floats and towels and sunscreen and kids, Frankie and I made our way back to our bicycles. "Well," said Frankie as he fiddled with the lock. "That went... He didnt finish the sentence. He didn't have to.

  So he'd noticed. Although it would have been hard not to notice.

  "Yeah," I said. "What happened?"

  "You know," said Frankie.

  Once again, I did not know. And apparently Frankie wasn't going to enlighten me. We rode along in silence. When we reached my driveway, I slowed to a stop. See you -" I started to say, hand extended in a wave, but Frankie was already riding off.

  I didnit hear from him for several days after that. At first, I was so humiliated that I didn't care. At least that's what I told myself.
But as two days tumed into three and four and five, I began to wish he would call. I could have called him, of course, but I wanted to call me. I wanted him to see the error of his ways and apologize. I wanted a phone call like someone would get on a soap opera. "Claudia, can you ever forgive me? I can't believe how insensitive I was. My friends were so rude. I don't know what I was thinking. Let's go to the movies tonight, okay? l'll make it up to you."