Best Friends (8 page)

“I can't believe it's here,” said Olivia at breakfast on Friday morning. “It's here. It's really here!”

Nobody had to ask her what she meant. While most residents of Camden Falls had been waiting over a year for Saturday, the first day of the town birthday festivities, Olivia and her family had been waiting for Friday.

Sincerely Yours was going to hold its grand opening.

“You won't do anything until after school, will you?” asked Olivia anxiously. “Henry and Jack and I have to be there.”

“And I get to cut the ribbon,” said Jack, even though he wasn't certain what that meant.

“The ribbon-cutting ceremony was announced in the paper this week,” said Mrs. Walter. “It's supposed to take place at three-thirty. So go to the store right after school and you'll be there in plenty of time.”

“And when the ribbon has been cut, then Sincerely Yours will be officially open,” said Henry.

“People can start shopping!” exclaimed Olivia.

“This weekend is going to be so much fun,” said Henry rapturously. “The parade on Saturday.”

“And the judging of the exhibits,” Olivia added. “Then the fair on Sunday.”

“And no school on Monday!” exclaimed Jack. “Can we go to the fair two times? Can we go on Sunday and again on Monday?”

“We'll see,” said Mr. Walter.

“We'll definitely go at least once,” Mrs. Walter promised.

Olivia's excitement was dampened only briefly when she thought about Annika and her parents, who would arrive later that day. But Olivia had a plan in place. All she needed was a little luck.

 

After a school day that had seemed unbearably long, Olivia, Nikki, Ruby, Flora, Henry, and Jack left Camden Falls Elementary, crossed Aiken Avenue, and turned the corner onto Main Street. Ahead of them was Sincerely Yours, and in front of the store was a large crowd of people.

“Will you look at that?” said Olivia, drawing her breath in sharply.

“Are they all there for the opening?” asked Ruby.

“I guess so,” said Olivia, feeling a flutter in her stomach.

“Come on!” cried Henry, and the children ran the rest of the way to the store, sneakers pounding along the pavement.

An enormous sign in the window read
GRAND OPENING
in letters painted garishly by Olivia and her brothers. And strung from one side of the store to the other was a wide red paper ribbon.

“Is that the ribbon I'm going to cut?” Jack asked.

“Yes,” replied Olivia.

“But why?”

“Why what?”

“Why is there a ribbon and why do I cut it?”

“It's sort of a ritual. It's a way of presenting our new store to everyone,” Olivia explained. “You cut the ribbon, like opening a present, and then everyone goes inside to celebrate with us.”

“Oh,” said Jack.

At three-thirty, Olivia, her parents, and her brothers stood in the open doorway to Sincerely Yours, the ribbon separating them from the crowd of people, larger now than before, standing expectantly outside. At the very front of the crowd were Flora, Ruby, Nikki, Min, and Gigi and Poppy. Just behind them were plenty of Olivia's Row House neighbors — Mr. Pennington, Mr. Willet, several of the Morrises, even the Fongs with baby Grace.

Olivia's parents held up their hands and the crowd grew quiet.

“Thank you for coming,” said Mrs. Walter.

“This is a special day for our family,” added Mr. Walter.

Olivia smiled self-consciously at her friends.

“We want to welcome you to Sincerely Yours,” Mrs. Walter continued.

“And to tell you how happy we are to be part of the Main Street community,” said Mr. Walter. “And now, without further ado …”

Olivia's father handed Jack a pair of scissors, and Jack snipped the ribbon neatly in two. “We are officially in business!” Mr. Walter said as the ends of the ribbon drifted to the sidewalk.

The crowd applauded, and Ruby put her fingers in her mouth and whistled shrilly. Then, as Olivia watched proudly, her family's store filled with its very first customers.

“Have some candy,” said Mrs. Walter, passing around plates of chocolate-covered pretzels and peanut-butter-filled chocolates, then a plate of chocolate threes and fives and zeros in honor of Camden Falls.

“What a wonderful store!” Olivia overheard a woman (someone she had never seen before) say.

“My nephew's graduation is coming up,” said Dr. Malone, who had run across the street from his dental office. “Margaret and Lydia could put together a basket for him. That would be perfect. A bookmark and maybe a pen.”

“And look,” said Olivia, who knew she was going to enjoy helping out in the store, “here are picture frames and mugs with graduation tassels on them.”

“Very creative,” said Dr. Malone.

Olivia turned to her mother. “I think I just made a sale,” she whispered.

The store was bustling. Mrs. Grindle from Stuff 'n' Nonsense was sampling something called chocolate bark. “Very tasty,” she said.

Min was eyeing a shelf of miniature books and saying to Flora, “Your aunt Allie's birthday is next month. We should make a basket for her. She'd like this tiny book of poetry.”

“And caramel popcorn,” said Flora.

Ruby, who was listening, said, “She won't want caramel popcorn.”

“She might!” exclaimed Flora. “What if it's organic?”

“Well, here's the beauty of Sincerely Yours,” said Min, unperturbed. “We can fill an entire basket without putting any food in it.”

Olivia was showing off the case of candies and cookies to Mr. Pennington when Sonny Sutphin wheeled into the store. Olivia turned to look at him and allowed her mouth to drop open.

“What is it?” asked Mr. Pennington.

Olivia stood on tiptoe to whisper in his ear, “I've never seen Sonny in a suit before.”

“Well, I'll be,” said Mr. Pennington.

Sonny, wearing a smile but somehow looking serious at the same time, approached Olivia's father. “Could I speak with you and Wendy for just a moment?” he asked.

“Of course.”

The Walters stepped to a quiet corner and Sonny followed them. “I have news,” he said. “And it's both good and bad.”

“Okay,” said Mr. Walter.

“Well,” said Sonny, adjusting his tie, which he was unaccustomed to wearing, “I've been offered a job.”

“Why, that's wonderful!” exclaimed Mrs. Walter.

“Thank you,” said Sonny. “It's at Time and Again, and I'm very excited about working there. But it means,” he continued, “that I won't be able to work here. I want you to know how grateful I am that you even considered giving me a job. Not everyone would take a chance on me. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you, since I know you need to hire someone soon.”

“Thank you,” said Olivia's parents, and Sonny reached out to shake their hands.

Sonny left the store (eating a chocolate number five), and Olivia was about to find Flora and Ruby and Nikki to tell them the good news, when she caught her parents glancing at each other, her mother with raised eyebrows.

“What?” Olivia asked. “What is it?”

Her parents glanced at each other again, and then her father said, “Okay, but this is a secret for now, Olivia. Understood?”

“Understood.”

“We've been thinking about how we want to staff the store, and we planned to offer a job to either Sonny or Robby, but we hadn't been able to decide between the two.”

“Now the decision has been made for us,” said Mrs. Walter.

“You mean Robby gets the job?” cried Olivia.

“Yup.”

“Excellent!”

“But remember, not a word. Not yet,” said Mrs. Walter.

“Maybe the Edwardses can come over this evening,” added Mr. Walter. “We can talk to them then.”

Olivia clasped her hands together. “I hope so,” she said.

 

At seven-thirty that evening, when the Walters' doorbell rang, Olivia, already in a great state of excitement over the successful opening of Sincerely Yours, shrieked, “It's Robby! I'll get it! I'll get it!”

“No, me!” shouted Henry and Jack.

Olivia and her brothers ran to the front hall from three different directions, reached it at the same moment, and fought briefly over the doorknob. In the end, Henry was the one who turned it, and he flung open the door.

There stood Robby and his parents.

“Robby!” cried Jack, and Olivia nudged him, a not very subtle reminder that the news of Robby's job was still a secret.

“Hi,” said Robby, and he and his parents stepped through the doorway.

Mr. and Mrs. Walter ushered everyone into the living room. When the Edwardses were seated, Mrs. Walter said, “Robby, as you know, our store opened today.”

“Yes. I ate a number three,” said Robby.

Mrs. Walter smiled. “We haven't forgotten about your job search,” she said. “And now we'd like to offer you a position at Sincerely Yours.”

Robby turned to his parents in amazement. Then he leaped off the couch and jumped up and down in the middle of the living room, hands flapping. “A position!” he exclaimed. “A position at Sincerely Yours! It's my dream come true! I can do anything. I can stock shelves. I can talk politely to customers. I can make change.” Robby dropped onto the couch again, clapped his hands for a moment, then thrust his fist in the air.

Mr. and Mrs. Edwards were grinning. “Can you wait until school lets out before Robby begins work?” asked his father.

“Of course,” said Mrs. Walter.

“We have a number of details to figure out,” added Olivia's father. “Robby's hours, his duties. Maybe we'll think about a little training first. But we wanted Robby to know that if he's still interested in the job, it's his. What do you think, Robby?”

“I accept!”

Olivia looked at her smiling friend and at his parents, whose eyes were bright with tears. Then she glanced out the window and saw a car pull up in front of Flora and Ruby's house.

Annika, thought Olivia.

Annika had arrived.

When the doorbell rang at Min's house, it caused as much commotion as the Edwardses' ring had caused at Olivia's. Flora and Ruby jostled each other down the stairs and crashed into the door, just as Daisy Dear scrabbled around the corner like a cartoon dog, barking at top volume, hackles raised.

“Land sakes,” murmured Min.

“Annika! It's Annika!” cried Flora, and she opened the door with a flourish. For a moment she viewed Annika and her parents as if they were a tableau, posed on the front stoop like a scene from her past. Annika's grin, which she had flashed at countless long-ago birthday parties and soccer games and sleepovers, now spread across her freckled face. Her parents stood behind her, hands on her shoulders, but what Flora saw was the Lindgrens watching from their front porch as Flora and Annika wobbled along the sidewalk on new two-wheelers; the Lindgrens welcoming Annika's guests to her eighth birthday party; and Mrs. Lindgren rushing into the hospital the night Flora's parents were killed.

Flora swallowed an unexpected sob, then pulled Annika to her and hugged her fiercely.

Ruby elbowed in for a group hug, and soon everyone was hugging.

“I'm so glad you could come,” said Min finally.

“We've been waiting forever and ever,” exclaimed Annika.

“Come upstairs and see our rooms,” said Flora. Her tears had vanished and excitement was taking hold.

“We have to show her downstairs first,” said Ruby. “We have a butler's pantry! But no butler.”

“We have to show her the whole house,” said Flora.

“But we have to do it quietly,” whispered Ruby, “on account of Aunt Allie.”

“Olivia is right next door,” announced Flora.

“Olivia, who's your new best friend?” said Annika.

“Yes. Olivia Walter,” Ruby replied. “Her bedroom is on the other side of mine.”

“Girls, let Annika and her parents settle in first,” said Min. “Have you eaten dinner?”

“We ate at McDonald's!” said Annika. “It was great.”

 

That night, when Mr. and Mrs. Lindgren had settled into the remaining guest room on the third floor, and Annika was nestled on a cot in Flora's room, Annika whispered into the dark, “This is so different.”

“What is?” asked Flora.

“Everything. Your house — what do you call it?”

“The Row House?”

“Yes. The Row House. It's like you live in an apartment building.”

“I guess,” said Flora. “But it's still a house.”

“And Camden Falls is so … so … Was that the whole town? What we saw when we drove down that little street with the stores?”

“Pretty much,” said Flora. “I mean, there are houses scattered around, and there's our school and the high school and stuff.”

“Do you
really
like living here?”

“I really do,” said Flora. “Wait until you meet our friends. I e-mailed you about Nikki —”

“Your other new best friend?”

“Yeah. She lives out in the country. And then here at the Row Houses are the Fongs. They just had a baby. And next door on the other side of us live these two teenage girls. One of them is nice. Well, I guess the other one is okay. And the Morrises have four kids. And then there's Mr. Pennington and Mr. Willet. Oh, and here's a cool thing — Olivia says the attics of the Row Houses are connected, but the doorways are hidden and no one has ever found them.

“And wait until tomorrow,” Flora went on, beginning to feel sleepy. “You are so lucky to be here for the celebration. The first thing will be the parade. That's in the morning. Then will come the judging of the contests. On Sunday the fair starts —”

“Flora,” Annika interrupted, “don't you miss your old life?”

“I miss it every day,” said Flora drowsily. She thought she heard Annika mutter, “You'd never know it,” but she might have been dreaming.

 

In the morning, Annika seemed to be in a better mood. Flora awoke to hear her friend exclaim, “Look out your window! I can see a fire engine and a float of some kind. Oh, and a horse. I see a horse!”

Flora leaped out of bed and stood next to Annika at the window. “Gosh, they're lining up for the parade already. What time is it?” She peered at her watch.

“Eight-thirty! Annika, we have to get going. The parade starts at ten, and I'm supposed to help Min and Gigi with the float at nine.” Flora glanced out her window one more time. “Good. It's sunny,” she added. “Perfect festival weather.”

“Are you going to ride on the float?” asked Annika.

“No!” Flora yelped. “I haven't changed that much. But Min and Ruby are going to be on it, and I promised to help them get everything set up.”

Flora and Annika dressed in a flash and ran downstairs to the kitchen. They found Annika's parents, Min, Aunt Allie, and Ruby eating a hasty meal of toast and cereal.

“There you are, girls,” said Min. “I was wondering when you were going to join us. You must have stayed up late last night.”

“Kind of,” admitted Flora.

“Well, grab something to eat, and then, I'm sorry,” said Min, turning to address the Lindgrens, “but Flora and Ruby and I will have to hustle. You're welcome to join us, or you can come later with Allie.”

“I want to go with you,” said Annika. “I want to help with the float.”

Fifteen minutes later, Min, Flora, Ruby, and Annika hurried out the door and down Aiken Avenue. They passed the fire engine. They passed the horse (his mane splendidly braided). They passed a troop of Girl Scouts. They passed the Turbo Tappers from Ruby's dance school and the Central High marching band before reaching the Needle and Thread float. There were Gigi, Olivia, Mrs. Morris, and Lacey.

“Olivia!” called Flora. “Come meet Annika.”

Olivia had been climbing onto the float. Now, with great deliberation, she slid back down to the sidewalk. She was wearing her colonial dress, a baseball cap, and sneakers. Flora smiled at the sight of her friend, but when she looked from Olivia to Annika, she saw passive, unmoving faces.

“Olivia,” said Flora, “this is Annika. Annika, this is Olivia.”

“Hi,” said Olivia, addressing the sidewalk.

“Hi,” said Annika, addressing a hedge.

After that, nobody said a word. Flora marveled at how long five silent seconds could seem. “Um,” she said uncertainly.

“Olivia!” called Gigi from the float. “Please come up here. I need your help. And you must take off that cap and put on your proper shoes.”

Olivia cast a dark glance at Annika, then turned and resumed climbing onto the float.

“What do you want me to do, Min?” asked Flora.

“Help me with the bunting,” was Min's prompt reply. “You, too, Annika, if you don't mind. It's supposed to be draped around the float, but it's coming off for some reason.”

Flora and Annika joined Min, and Flora tried to put Olivia and Annika out of her mind. It wasn't hard. There were all sorts of distractions. She saw Bud with his hot dog cart. She saw a man holding an enormous bunch of balloons and wearing a sandwich board that read
BIRTHDAY BALLOONS — $2.00!
Each red, white, and blue balloon was attached to a stick and bore the number 350. Presently, Sonny rolled into view, his wheelchair decorated with streamers and crepe paper flowers. On the tray of the chair, and in bags attached to the arms and back of the chair, were Camden Falls souvenirs for sale — whistles and bumper stickers and baseball caps and toys and postcards.

Flora forgot about her friends' testy meeting. “This is so exciting, Min!” she said as she held up a length of bunting, which Min attacked with a staple gun.

“It is, isn't it, honey?”

“Look, Annika,” said Flora. “There's Bud. He owns the hot dog cart. And that's Sonny over there. Oh, and here comes the Good Humor truck! Hey, did you know that after the parade Ruby is going to perform with the Children's Chorus? They're going to sing on the square in town. And we'll have refreshments —”

Flora was in the middle of this sentence when she and everybody else on the float realized that Lacey was crying.

“What's the matter, sweetie?” asked Lacey's mother.

“I want to watch the parade,” said Lacey tearfully.

“But you're going to be
in
the parade.”

“I know. But now I want to watch it. If I'm in it, I'll miss everything.”

“Lacey,” said her mother, a warning note in her voice, “it's a little late for this.”

“But I really, really want to watch the parade.” Lacey looked down at Alyssa, Travis, Mathias, and her father, who were on their way to Main Street, where, Lacey knew, her brothers and sister were going to sit on the curb with their friends and cheer and clap as the parade passed by. Lacey wanted to be with them. She wanted to gaze down the street for the first glimpse of the first float. She wanted to feel the drums pounding in her stomach before she even saw the marching band.

Slowly, Lacey began to remove her costume.

Mrs. Morris looked helplessly at Min and Gigi.

“I guess we could do without her,” said Min.

“But it's a waste of a perfectly good costume,” said Gigi. “And it was made just for her.”

“I wonder if someone else could fit in it,” said Mrs. Morris.

Min, Gigi, and Mrs. Morris all turned to Flora.

“No!” shrieked Flora. “Not me.”

“Please, honey,” said Min. “The costume will only be a bit too small, and you'll only have to wear it for half an hour or so.”

Flora thought of all those eyes trained on her. She winced. But she said bravely to Min, “Okay.”

“Excellent,” cried Olivia. “Now you're going to ride up here with me.”

“Annika?” said Flora. “You can watch the parade with your parents and Aunt Allie, okay?”

Annika's response was a rather Grinch-like face. “Fine,” she said, and she turned and headed back to the Row House.

“Fourth from the left!” Flora called after her.

“Here's my costume,” said Lacey gaily as she jumped off the float. She handed a wad of clothes to Flora.

And that was how Flora Marie Northrop, the shyest person in the sixth grade at CFE, wound up riding down Main Street in front of hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of eyes. Later, whenever she thought back on this momentous weekend, she found that she had only the vaguest images from her time on the float — Mr. Pennington waving to her from the sidewalk in front of Frank's Beans, the lighted window of Stuff 'n' Nonsense, the sound of Nikki's surprised voice calling to her (although she couldn't pick her out of the crowd).

What Flora remembered much more clearly was the Needle and Thread float coming to a halt at the south end of Main Street an instant before she shed her costume and said to Min, “Meet you at the square in time for Ruby's concert.” Then she grabbed Olivia by the hand and said, “Come on. Let's go find Annika. We have to show her our town.”