Best Frenemies (13 page)

A week later, Alice still hadn't figured out the perfect way for Cassidy and Nikki to discover their common ground, but at least she didn't feel like she was living a double life anymore. Cassidy said, “Hi, Nerd Herd!” to the entire honors group (including Nikki) when the classes switched rooms between periods, and in the notebook, she told Alice that Nikki had started spending a bit more time after ballet.

She's not saying a lot, but I think she's just warming up to us. It's nice that she's part of the group,
Cassidy wrote. With the musical over, they now had more time to write and to fill up the last few pages of the notebook.

But how could Alice get Cassidy and Nikki to get to know each other the way she knew them?

“All right, guys, this is a tough one,” Mr. Nichols announced in English. “If you
don't
cry, I'm probably
going to mark you down a grade.” He passed out the latest book they were to study:
Old Yeller
.

“Oh jeez,” said Aaron Woolsey, looking at the cover, which featured a very sad-looking yellow Labrador. “I'm worried I'm going to cry right now.”

“Crying gets you extra credit,” said Mr. Nichols, and soon the room was filled with the exaggerated boo hoos of everyone pretending to cry.

Alice grinned. No matter how sad the book was, she had a feeling that her dog allergy would probably make it easier for her to read than everyone else.

Suddenly, inspiration struck. Why hadn't she thought of this before? It was so obvious!

“Hey,” she said, tapping Nikki on the shoulder. She was joking around with Todd Tian as they stood up to head to the next class. “Heads up. We're heading to Cassidy's house after school today.”

“Oh, we are, are we?” asked Nikki, raising one eyebrow.

“Yes,” said Alice.

“Are you
sure
?” Nikki asked again.

“Trust me,” Alice said, flashing a grin. She was super excited and quickly scribbled a note to Cassidy in the notebook.

It's a Nerd Herd invasion at your house after school today, and I want to invite a very special, slobbery guest. P.S. I hope that's okay. P.P.S. Hi!

“What's the word, Herd?” Cassidy called out as her class and honors classes switched rooms for the period.

“Here,” said Alice, handing her the notebook, which was almost full by now. “Make sure you read it before the end of the day. Promise?”

“Sure,” said Cassidy. “Is everything okay?”

“It's going to be!” said Alice, smiling mysteriously, before heading into biology.

Nikki and Alice had agreed earlier in the month to volunteer to wash out the lab equipment after school, so they took the late bus home. There was only a half sun left over the horizon by the time they reached Alice's street and started walking to Cassidy's house.

“Wait, you live
right across the street
from Cassidy?” asked Nikki.

“Yep,” Alice answered. “It's pretty awesome.”

“No wonder you two are so tight,” said Nikki. “Okay, so just one more time . . . are you sure it's all right that I'm coming over?”

“Why won't you trust me?” Alice asked. “I don't say things I don't mean. Anymore.” With a smile she rang the doorbell. Immediately Alice heard Bagel yipping and scrabbling about on the foyer's wooden floor.

Nikki turned to Alice, her face alight. “Cassidy has a dog?” she exclaimed. “Oh my gosh, I love dogs.”

“I know,” said Alice. “Friends tend to remember these types of things.”

Nikki stared down at her booted feet bashfully but then looked up when she heard the key turning in the lock. There stood Cassidy, smiling and wearing an oversize moss-green sweater over pale pink jeans, and holding Bagel, who was wiggling around like he wanted to take flight.

“Come in!” she said. “Here, take this,” she told Nikki, once they were in from the cold. Cassidy dumped Bagel into her arms like she'd done it a thousand times before. “I hear you like dogs,” she said. “That's good, because Bagel likes people who like dogs. You're not
allergic
, are you?” she said, casting a sly look at Alice, who stuck out her tongue.

“I don't think so,” Nikki said, crouching down on the Oriental rug so she could give Bagel belly rubs. “And even if I was, I wouldn't care. Oh, I love him!”

“If you keep giving him attention, he'll love you right back,” Cassidy said.

“I can't stop petting him. He's so soft!” said Nikki. She petted Bagel so much that a tuft of his hair wafted up in the air, which made Alice sneeze. Nikki and Cassidy laughed. Alice grinned, even though she really wanted a Kleenex. Maybe this would go okay after all.

The girls spent the last hour or so of daylight in Cassidy's big backyard while she and Nikki threw toys for Bagel to fetch. Alice marveled at how energetic he was: he ran after tennis balls, rings, even a plastic bagel. Each time he ran back to Nikki or Cassidy, they had to jump out of his way so he didn't get muddy paw prints on their legs. Alice, of course, had to sit a little ways away from the two of them, because the telltale itching on the underside of her forearms meant that she wasn't that far away from a full-blown allergy attack. She didn't mind, though. She liked listening to Nikki and Cassidy talk about dogs and ballet.

“When's the next musical?” Nikki asked.

“Next semester,” answered Cassidy. “I think they're doing
Grease
.”

“I love
Grease
!” said Nikki, hurling the ball to the
opposite end of the yard. “Although to be honest, I always secretly wanted to be a T-Bird more than a Pink Lady. Is that weird?”

“I feel exactly the same way!” said Cassidy. “They had better songs and also, I look much better in black than pink.”

“I didn't know you sang, Nikki,” Alice called out.

“Well, a little,” said Nikki. “In choir at church.”

“But if you do
Grease
, what about the math team?” Alice asked.

“I'm not sure yet!” Nikki said. “I kind of told my parents I'm thinking about quitting the team and trying something else.” She shrugged. “And believe it or not, they actually didn't keel over.”

Alice was filled with pride for her new friend, who seemed to be getting better every day at coming out of her shell and reassuring her parents that she would be okay if she did her own thing.

“What if we started a writing group?” Alice pondered aloud. “We could ask Mr. Nichols to help us start it. And it doesn't have to be just people from the Nerd Herd.” She was surprised when this idea fell out of her mouth—she had never actually thought of that idea before—but it could be fun. She had enjoyed Mr. Nichols's class and
writing to Cassidy in the notebook so much. Maybe she could take it further. Alice felt like it was maybe time for her to try something new again.

“I think that's a great idea,” said Nikki.

Alice heard a shriek and looked over to see Cassidy gasping. Bagel had finally gotten the best of her and put his black paw prints all over her light-colored jeans.

“Oh gosh!” Alice said, standing up, ready to help Cassidy into the house and throw her jeans in the washing machine as fast as possible.

“You know what?” said Cassidy, looking down and laughing. “It doesn't matter.” She jumped around and held Bagel's front legs as if they were dancing.

Alice felt like she didn't have to
worry
anymore—about honors, about Cass, or Nikki. They could all just
be
together. What mattered was that they were friends.

A sky-blue notebook to signify a brand-new day. Okay, just kidding, it was the first one I saw. Nikki, welcome to the notebook.

Pop quiz time!

What is the most delicious fruit?

What's the last thing you watched on TV?

Where was the last scar you got? How did you get it?

What's your favorite song from
Grease
?

Fill it out and pass it on to Cassidy!

“Hey, bookworm, aren't you going to go outside?” Alice, sitting on the cushioned window seat in the kitchen, looked up from her reading. Her dad had just come in from a jog, his gray T-shirt dark with sweat, his hair sticking up above the silly white sweatband he wore on his forehead. “It's freakishly nice out. In the
sixties at least.” He helped himself to a glass of water from the sink and then lay down on the kitchen floor to stretch, taking up nearly the entire room. Alice's mom came in from hanging the winter-themed wreath on the front door.

“I hear it's supposed to be in the thirties tomorrow,” she said. “Honey, I hate to say it, but the weather might not be nice again until May.”

“Try June,” said Mr. Kinney.

“Why do we live here again?” asked Mrs. Kinney. Mr. Kinney pointed to the backyard, where the lawn was a bright green-and-gold carpet thanks to the tiny leaves that had finally finished falling off the trees.

“Oh yeah,” said Mrs. Kinney. “That helps.”

Alice put her book down next to her and stretched her legs. “I know, I know,” she said. “I need to go out before it gets dark.”

“Which isn't in that long, by the way,” said Mr. Kinney. “Daylight savings and all.”

“It's just that I'm really into this book,” she said, casting her eyes back down to the cover of her book, which featured a boy, not much older than her, from the chin down, wearing a white T-shirt and a black leather jacket. She was totally engrossed by
The Outsiders
and been trying hard not to develop little crushes on the
tough but sensitive Greaser boys. And she wasn't the only one.

When Cassidy spotted Nikki's copy on the lunch table at the cafeteria, she was instantly intrigued—the guys in the book did resemble the T-Birds from
Grease
, after all. So Cassidy decided to read the book too, and was totally engrossed. During the past week, the girls had discussed what they read. When Xia, Evie, and April saw that Nikki, Cassidy, and Alice were all reading the same book, they wanted in on the action too.

Once they were all finished, Nikki had promised to host an epic sleepover so they could all watch the movie version of the book. Xia's copy featured the poster on the cover, and the girls could not get over what young Tom Cruise used to look like. In the meantime, Alice couldn't wrap her head around the fact that the book's author had been only eighteen years old when the book was published. It made her think about trying to start writing her own novel over winter break. So, yeah, she was into
The Outsiders
. But maybe she should go outside while she had her chance.

Ding-dong!
As if by magic, the doorbell rang to distract her from her conundrum. Mr. Kinney had started doing walking lunges from the kitchen to the front hall and opened the front door.

“Alice, it's for you!”

When she got to the front door, she saw that it was Cassidy and Nikki—Cass in her red-and-black jacket, Nikki carrying her army-green one over her arm as she tried to control Bagel, who was squirming desperately on the other end of the leash she was holding. Apparently he wanted to come inside and shed all over everything the Kinneys owned.

“What are
you
guys up to?” Alice asked.

“We were going to take Bagel to the beach and let him run around because, as you can see, he has way too much energy. Want to come with?”

“Cassidy invited me over,” Nikki said almost apologetically. “I hope it's okay.”

“Of course it's okay!” Alice said.

“Oh, um, I meant about your allergies,” said Nikki. “I hope it's okay for
you
to hang out.”

Alice laughed. She realized she didn't have to worry so much about Nikki—or herself. “Yes, it'll be fine,” she said. “Nikki, you just pet Bagel for me.”

“Done and done!” Nikki said, squatting down to give Bagel some love.

“Well, hi, Nikki; hi, Cassidy,” said Alice's mom.

“Mom, Nikki and Cassidy were taking Bagel for a walk. Can I go with?”

“Of course, get outside while the getting's good,” she said. “Just stop letting the leaves get inside the house. I don't feel like vacuuming again.”

“Okay, good point,” Alice said. “I need to get my jacket. Meet you guys in the back?” She shut the door so Nikki and Cassidy could take Bagel round to the backyard.

“I'm proud of you, honey,” Mrs. Kinney said, putting her arm around Alice's shoulders as they walked back to the kitchen.

“Why?” asked Alice, pulling on her light denim jacket for probably the last time until spring next year.

“Because I know it's been a struggle for you to figure out how to balance your school responsibilities and be a good friend, and it seems like you have,” she said. “I'm more proud of you for finding a balance than if you had a million friends or got a million straight A's.”

“Well, good, because I don't know if it's possible for me to get a million straight A's,” said Alice.

“You're a good kid, even if you are a sass mouth,” her mom said. “Have fun on the walk.”

Alice had skipped down the back steps to join her friends when she heard her mom call to her one more time.

“Girls, wait!” she said. They turned around, and Mrs. Kinney stood with her digital camera in her hand. “You all look so happy and it's such a nice day—let me take a picture.”

“Will you send me a copy, Mrs. Kinney?” said Cassidy. “My mom will want to see this.”

“Me too!” said Nikki.

“Sure!” said Mrs. Kinney. “Now get together.”

Alice felt Cassidy's and Nikki's arms around her waist, and she thought of the first day of school, feeling grateful that she wasn't as nervous anymore, either about classes
or
her friendship with Cassidy.

“Ready?” said Mrs. Kinney. “One, two—”

“Wait!” said Nikki. “Bagel has to be in the picture too!” Before Alice could suggest an appropriate pose that would incorporate the four of them, Nikki yelled “Here!” and thrust Bagel into her arms. Bagel, thrilled that for once Alice was giving him some attention, nuzzled her neck and licked her face. Alice laughed, even though it was kind of gross.

“Are you
sure
you're allergic?” Cassidy asked for the millionth time. As if on cue, Alice felt a giant sneeze welling up inside her sinuses. She tried to say, “Mom, wait!” before the camera went off, but before she could,
Nikki tickled her in the ribs, so she knew a big messy laugh-sneeze was coming any second and there was nothing she could do about it. Oh, great.

Aah—aah—choo!

SNAP!