Stacey vs. Claudia Read online

  My friends were silent.

  “See what I mean?” I said.

  “It still stinks,” Kristy said. “Stuff like this shouldn’t happen between friends.”

  When lunch was nearly finished, I looked across the room at Jeremy. I was tempted to talk to him. But I decided to take Rachel’s advice and give him some time.

  That night I stayed close to the phone, hoping Jeremy might call.

  He didn’t.

  Claudia came to school the next day. I saw her in the hallway talking to one of her seventh-grade friends.

  She noticed me. I was sure of it. She looked away and pretended she hadn’t, though.

  If that was how she wanted to be — fine.

  Only it wasn’t fine. I felt sick. Yesterday I’d been so sure I was right. Now doubts crept in. Was Kristy making sense? Had I started our fight by making Jeremy so important?

  Part of me said, definitely not. And the other part said, maybe so. It was tearing me up.

  At lunchtime I ate in an empty classroom, reading an article for my paper on westward expansion in America.

  I heard a noise in the hallway. Glancing up, I saw Jeremy walk by the open door with the boys he’d been eating with. Our eyes met. He shot me a quick smile but kept going.

  Sighing, I shut my book. Why did I have to like him so much?

  I gathered up my books. Now that I’d spotted Jeremy, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate. I walked to the door.

  And there was Jeremy.

  “Hi,” he said. “Can we talk?”

  “Sure,” I agreed, sitting down again. “Listen,” I began, “I’m sorry about everything that’s happened. Things between Ethan and me are really over.” I knew this was true although Ethan may not have known it yet. “I’ll respect any decision you make. The thing that’s most important to me, though, is that we come out of this at least as friends, because I think you’re really great. Even if you want to date Claudia —”

  “Hold on.” He stopped me. “For once and for all, I don’t want to date Claudia. She’s the one I want to be friends with. Not you.”

  “You don’t even want to be friends with me?” I whispered.

  “Sorry. What I mean is, I don’t want to be just friends with you. I was wondering if you’d like to go out tomorrow night.”

  “The blue … yes … the blue shirt is perfect,” Rachel said late Saturday afternoon. She’d called to see what I was doing. When I told her I was going out with Jeremy later, she offered to come over and help me get ready.

  I gazed down at the shirts I’d spread out on my bed. The blue thermal-knit shirt with the row of small white buttons up the front was a good choice. It was sporty but not sloppy. It was great with jeans. Perfect for a bowling date.

  That’s what Jeremy and I had decided to do when he’d called Friday night. We wanted to go mostly to check out the new bowling alley that had opened in Stoneybrook.

  At first, I wasn’t sure it was a great idea. I’m not a natural bowler. But he said he wasn’t either. We agreed not to be embarrassed if all our balls rolled down the gutters.

  “Do you have boots?” Rachel asked. “You won’t be in bowling shoes the whole time. Wait, though. How tall is Jeremy?”

  I knew what she was thinking, because the same thought had crossed my mind. “Boots won’t make me taller than he is,” I said, digging out a pair of black ankle boots from my closet.

  “Good,” she said. “Then I think that’s what the outfit needs.”

  It was odd. I would never have had this conversation with Claudia. She wouldn’t have worried about how tall or short a person was. And I’d have been too self-conscious to bring it up, knowing she’d think it was silly.

  But Rachel and I seemed to think the same way. Thoughts occurred to us at almost the same moment. I felt very comfortable with her.

  I felt uncomfortable too. Rachel wasn’t Claudia. It seemed to me that Claudia was the one who should have been helping me get ready for a big date, not a friend I’d just met.

  “Does Claudia know you’re going out with Jeremy tonight?” Rachel asked.

  I nodded. “I mentioned it at the BSC meeting yesterday. I had to turn down a sitting job for tonight, so it came up.”

  “And?”

  “You know the saying if looks could kill?” I remembered the angry expression on Claudia’s face. “Well, if they could kill, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

  “But she didn’t say anything?”

  “No. Then she’d have had to talk to me, which she refuses to do.” It hurt just to say these things. But by this point I’d decided it wasn’t all my fault. So I wasn’t going to back down.

  “It’s too bad she has to feel that way about it,” Rachel commented, picking up a hairbrush from my dresser. She studied me a moment. “What do you think — French braid or loose?”

  “French braid,” I decided. “Only I can’t do it myself.”

  “Sit down, I’m practically a pro French braider.”

  Rachel pulled back my hair and began to braid. I loved the result. I finished off with a touch of mascara and some berry-colored lipstick.

  “You look awesome,” Rachel said.

  “Thanks for your help,” I replied.

  She glanced at my clock. It was four-fifteen. “I’d better get home. A friend is calling me from London. I don’t want to miss his call.”

  “His?” I teased.

  “Yes, but he’s just a friend,” she told me, grabbing her jacket from the end of my bed. “Boys can be super pains, but they can also make the best friends. Call me tomorrow and tell me how it goes.”

  “I will. ’Bye,” I said as Rachel left.

  There I was — all ready, and still an hour to wait before Jeremy came by. To kill time, I took out my math homework, stretched across my bed, and got started on it.

  Only five minutes had passed when the bell rang. Mom was out at a baby shower, so I had to answer it.

  Had Rachel forgotten something? Was Jeremy early?

  I froze in mid-step. Had Claudia come over to tell me off before my date?

  If she had, I’d deal with it. After all, I hadn’t done anything I felt guilty about.

  I swung open the door, ready to face Claudia if I had to.

  “Surprise!”

  “Ethan!” I gasped. He stood there looking as gorgeous as ever, with a bouquet of yellow daisies in his hand.

  It was terrible.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  His smile faded. The horrified expression on my face probably wasn’t what he’d expected. “I came to see you,” he said, stepping into the house. “To surprise you. Can we talk?”

  “Yeah, of course,” I said, still stunned. Of all the things that might go wrong this evening, this was one I hadn’t even thought of. But it could be a total disaster. I checked the hall clock. There was still time before Ethan — I mean Jeremy — arrived.

  We sat down at the kitchen table. “Stacey, I’m so sorry about what’s happened between us,” he began. His words sounded a bit rehearsed. I looked for his cue cards. “It’s totally my fault. I was just feeling tired and stressed out when I said we should cool things down. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever suggested in my life and it’s not what I want to …”

  His voice trailed off and he frowned. “Were you going somewhere?” he asked. I nodded. “A date?”

  Again, I nodded. “I figured we could date other people,” I reminded him.

  “Can you get out of it?”

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to get out of it.

  We sat there looking at each other, neither of us knowing what to say. I felt terrible that Ethan had come all this way for nothing. But Jeremy was the one I wanted to see.

  The doorbell rang, breaking the silence.

  I panicked. What if it was Jeremy?

  “Stay here,” I told Ethan sharply.

  I ran for the door.

  It was Rachel. She held out a pair of dangly blu
e-and-silver earrings. “I can’t stay, but I wanted to lend you these,” she said.

  I heard Ethan come out of the kitchen. “Stacey, I’m not hiding in here,” he said crossly. He stopped when he saw Rachel. I guess he’d been ready to meet my date. The steam seemed to go out of him. “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi,” Rachel replied as her eyes darted to mine. “I’d better go,” she said. “Remember, Stacey, you have a five o’clock appointment.”

  “I know. Thanks for the earrings.”

  She left, mouthing the words good luck.

  Rachel was barely out the door when Mom came in. “Hello, Ethan,” she said. “Stacey, you didn’t tell me Ethan was coming.”

  “She didn’t know,” Ethan explained glumly. “It was sort of a surprise.”

  But Mom knew I had a date with Jeremy. “Can I speak to you a moment?” she asked me. “Excuse us, Ethan.”

  We went to the kitchen. “Mom, what am I going to do?” I said urgently.

  “I don’t know. Which one do you want to see?”

  “Jeremy,” I answered without a moment’s thought.

  “Then you’d better talk to Ethan right away. I’ll be here in the kitchen if you need me.”

  I knew she was right. I hurried back to Ethan.

  “I’m sorry, Stacey,” he said. “This is so my fault. I feel like a jerk.”

  “Don’t feel that way. I’m sorry I haven’t been calling you back. I didn’t know what to say. I think the problem between us is the miles.”

  “It’s harder than I thought it would be,” he agreed. “But I don’t want to break up.”

  “I don’t see how we can go on.”

  “You mean, you don’t want to see me anymore? At all?”

  “It’s just not working. Would it be all right if we saw each other as friends?”

  He turned away from me. “No,” he said in a choked voice. Then he turned back. “Maybe. I’m not sure. Can I think about it?”

  “Sure,” I said. Tears welled up in my eyes but I fought them back. Ethan had meant so much to me. But that deep feeling was gone and there was no sense in pretending.

  “I’d better go,” he said.

  “Do you need a ride to the train station?” I asked.

  “No. That’s okay.”

  “All right. If you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure.” He stepped toward me and we hugged, squeezing each other tightly. Once he let go, he was out the door in a flash.

  I felt both sorrow and relief. It’s hard to break off something that had once been so meaningful. But I was glad we weren’t on that foggy middle ground anymore. Now we knew for sure where we stood.

  I went up the stairs to my room. In the mirror I saw that my tears had caused my mascara to smudge under my eyes. As I blotted it with a tissue, the doorbell rang again.

  Stepping into the hallway, I heard Mom open the door.

  “Stacey, it’s Jeremy,” Mom called up the stairs.

  He was early, but who cared? I ran back to my room for a last mascara blot. I’d slipped Rachel’s earrings into my jeans pocket. I fished them out and put them on. She’d been right. They were perfect.

  As I ran down the stairs, I saw Jeremy standing at the bottom. He wore an open-collared blue denim shirt over a bright white T-shirt. His black jeans were neat. His hair was slightly fluffier than usual, like he’d just washed it for our date. Adorable.

  “Sorry I’m early,” he said.

  “No problem,” I replied brightly.

  “My neighbor told me that if you get to Bowled Over early you’re more likely to get a lane right away,” he explained.

  “You’re talking about the new bowling alley?” Mom asked as she walked in from the kitchen.

  “Yeah. I’ve heard it’s great,” Jeremy replied. “There’s a restaurant there that actually serves decent food.”

  “Sounds fun,” Mom said. “Want a ride?”

  “We can walk,” I replied as I pulled on my jacket.

  When we were outside, I smiled at Jeremy. “I’m really looking forward to this,” I said.

  “Me too,” he replied. He took my hand and we set off together.

  * * *

  That night I bowled terribly. So did Jeremy. I think we had a combined score of sixty on our first game.

  But I’ve never laughed so much in my life. We were both so awful it was funny. By the time we sat down in the Bowled Over restaurant, my sides hurt from laughing.

  The food was great. And we talked together so easily. Just as Claudia had told me, he knew a lot about Native American rituals because he’d lived out West. He talked to me about how he admired the oneness with nature that they had built into their culture.

  He said lots of things that interested me and made me think. I suppose you didn’t have to go to New York City to discover new and interesting people and things.

  Maybe Claudia had been right (at least a little) about my being a New York snob. I’d try to be more aware of it.

  Jeremy’s father drove us home. When we reached my front door. Jeremy put his arm around me and we kissed.

  When the kiss ended, I smiled at him. “I had a great time,” I said.

  “So did I.”

  “Do you feel like doing something tomorrow?”

  “Sure. Call me in the morning.”

  I went inside feeling light and happy. Much too excited to go to bed. I did a half twirl into the living room and picked up the phone. I had to tell Claudia all about the evening.

  I couldn’t, though.

  And somehow I didn’t feel like telling anyone else.

  When would I be able to confide in Claudia again? Would I even speak to her again?

  I hoped so. But I wasn’t sure.

  I guess I’d been right about all the changes in the air. So much was different now. My relationships with Claudia, with Ethan, now with Jeremy.

  I suppose that’s how life is. It’s a good thing we can’t see around corners.

  The author gratefully acknowledges

  Suzanne Weyn

  for her help in

  preparing this manuscript.

  About the Author

  ANN M. MARTIN is the acclaimed and bestselling author of a number of novels and series, including Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), A Dog’s Life, Here Today, P.S. Longer Letter Later (written with Paula Danziger), the Family Tree series, the Doll People series (written with Laura Godwin), the Main Street series, and the generation-defining series The Baby-sitters Club. She lives in New York.

  Copyright © 1999 by Ann M. Martin

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First edition, 1999

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-87473-1

 

 

 
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