Mallory's Super Sleepover (5 page)

Mary Ann (laughing): Great. Then get a good night’s sleep because you won’t get one tomorrow night.

Me (laughing too): Check. I guess we forgot to put sleeping on the checklist.

My best friend and I both laugh as we hang up. My sleepover is going to be so much fun. I’ve done everything to get ready. Today after school, I even went to the wish pond and made a wish. I wished that my sleepover will be the most super sleepover ever.

Now there’s only one thing left to do, and that’s wait for it to get here. And the good news is that I don’t have to wait much longer.

Today is Friday.

Actually, scratch that. Today was Friday. And it was the best Friday ever.

This morning, my family gave me a chocolate chip muffin with a candle in it for breakfast, even though it’s not my real birthday. And when I got home from school, everyone in my family helped me get ready for tonight. Mom set up the kitchen for cupcake decorating. Max made sure his friends are coming over for the water balloon fight. Mary Ann helped me make the snack trays for the party. And Dad made a pit in the backyard so we can roast marshmallows while we tell scary stories.

Now it’s Friday night, which means it is officially party time.

Even though it’s not my official birthday, I scoop up Cheeseburger and sing a little song to myself.

Happy birthday to me.

Happy birthday to me.

Happy birthday, dear Mallory.

Happy birthday to me!

I look at my reflection in the mirror. I don’t know if it’s my hairstyle or the pajamas Mom bought me for the sleepover, but I think I look older today than I did yesterday.

I smear some sparkly gloss on my lips. I feel older too. Well, I don’t know if I really feel older, but what I do feel is ready for my
Super Sleepover
to begin. I look at my watch—6:45. My friends should start arriving in fifteen minutes.

“Mallory, telephone!” I hear Mom calling my name from down the hall.

“Coming!” I yell. I skip down the hall and think about tonight. Just thinking about it makes me happy. I think if I blew my nose right now, the only thing that would come out would be happiness. It sounds gross, but thinking about it makes me laugh.

“Someone looks happy,” Mom says when I walk into the kitchen.

Dad plops a birthday hat on my head.

I stick my finger into a bowl of icing and lick it. Then I take the phone from Mom and say hello into the receiver.

I hear a familiar voice on the other end. “Happy birthday, Honey Bee! It’s Grandma.”

I giggle into the phone. “I know it’s you, Grandma. You’re the only one who calls me Honey Bee.”

“I wouldn’t miss the chance to wish you a happy tenth birthday.”

“You know it’s not really my birthday,” I say.

Grandma laughs like she knows and doesn’t care. “Your mom tells me you have a big birthday celebration planned for tonight.”

I tell Grandma all about my sleepover.

“It sounds like a lot of fun. I wish I could be one of the party guests.”

The thought of Grandma in her pj’s at my sleepover makes me laugh.

She laughs too. Then Grandma gets quiet for a minute. “Mallory, even though it’s not your real birthday, you’re celebrating tonight, and I want to tell you about something very important that my mother told me about celebrating a birthday. It’s something called birthday magic.”

I scratch my head. “It sounds good,” I say to Grandma. “But I’m not sure what birthday magic is. Is there a birthday fairy in charge of birthday magic?”

Grandma laughs again. “Birthday magic is something that we all get when we make a birthday wish,” she explains. “When you make a wish, birthday magic is what makes it come true.”

I scratch my head one more time. I’m not sure that makes much sense.

“Everyone knows that not all birthday wishes come true,” I say to Grandma.

“You’re right about that,” she says. “But here’s the secret: birthday magic only works when you wish for something that’s really, truly important to you.”

I think about the wish I made. I wished that my sleepover will be the most super sleepover ever. “I made my wish,” I tell Grandma. “It’s really, truly important to me, and I really, truly hope it comes true.”

“Honey Bee, I hope whatever it is that you really, truly want and wish for is what you get,” she says in the nice grandma voice she always uses when she talks to me.

I hear the doorbell ring. “I think my party guests are starting to arrive,” I tell Grandma.

Grandma says
good-bye
and
happy unofficial birthday
.

I hang up the phone and walk toward the door. I think about what Grandma told me about birthday magic. Maybe there is such a thing. There must be, because my party hasn’t even started, and I already feel like my wish is coming true.

When I open the front door, there are two things standing on the other side of it that I never expected to see.

Thing #1: Arielle

Thing #2: Danielle

They both have on pj’s, and they’re carrying sleeping bags and pillows. “We heard everyone talking about your sleepover so we figured you must have forgotten to give us our invitations.”

Even though today is my birthday and I don’t like doing math, I do some anyway. Mallory, Mary Ann, Pamela, April, Emma, and Zoe make six. Now Arielle and Danielle make eight. The last thing I expected at my party was crashers. I know it was the last thing Mom and Dad expected.

They push past me while I’m busy counting. “We’ll put our things in your room,” says Arielle.

Max shakes his head as they walk down the hall. “Mom’s going to kill you,” he says.

“Your mom would never kill you, especially not on your birthday,” says Mary Ann as she walks inside with her things. She’s wearing her cupcake pajamas. Just like I am. She’s also wearing a confused look. “What are they doing here?” she asks pointing down the hall.

I quickly explain. “Mom is going to kill me!” I whisper.

Mary Ann pulls my arms out to the sides of my body and puts my thumbs and forefingers together like I’m in a yoga pose. “Breathe deep,” she tells me in a calm voice. “Your mom will understand. Just explain to her that they showed up uninvited.”

Mary Ann pushes me toward the kitchen like now is as good a time as any to explain things to Mom. When I walk into the kitchen, Mom is arranging bowls of icing and sprinkles.

She smiles when she sees me. “I heard the doorbell. It’s party time!” she says like she’s excited for me.

I try to swallow, but I feel like there’s a bowl of icing stuck in my throat. Mom and Dad were already so nice about letting me invite so many guests. I don’t think they’re going to be happy about having two more.

When I finish explaining, Mom purses her lips together like she needs a minute to think before she responds. “There’s nothing we can do about it now,” she says. “Just make sure they all behave themselves and enjoy your party.” Mom puts her arm around me. “It’s your party, and I want you to have fun.”

I throw my arms around Mom. “Thanks, Mom! You’ve been so understanding about everything,” I tell her.

The doorbell rings again. “Go!” she says. “You’re the party girl!”

I run to get the door. This time Pamela and April are on the other side. “Happy birthday, Mallory!” they say.

Zoe and Emma are walking up the sidewalk right behind them. “Happy birthday!” they say too. They all model their pajamas and shove gifts into my arms.

Even though it’s not my real birthday, I feel like it is.

“Follow me!” I tell them.

My bedroom looks like a sea of sleeping bags, pillows, stuffed animals, and gifts.

Mom and Dad stick their heads into my room. “Can we come in? We want pictures of all of you in your pajamas.”

We all smile and pose while Mom takes pictures. She takes pictures of me with my friends, one of Mary Ann and me in our matching pajamas, and one of me holding Cheeseburger.

“Time for presents!” Mary Ann announces.

Everyone squeals and plops down on my floor and bed as I start opening boxes.

I get a game from Pamela. “It’s my favorite,” she says.

I get a gift certificate to the mall from April.

Zoe gives me a bunch of bracelets. “I made them myself,” she tells me.

Mary Ann gives me a set of ten colors of nail polish. “We can always match, and we have lots of colors to choose from,” she says like the present is for both of us.

Mom takes more pictures while I open my presents.

I get some perfume and lip gloss from Emma.

Even Arielle and Danielle give me something. Some really cool, dangly earrings.

“Thanks so much for everything!” I tell my friends.

Mary Ann stands up on my desk chair. “Attention everyone!”

She takes a piece of paper out of her pajama pocket. “We have a busy night ahead of us. First, cupcake decorating in the kitchen. Then we’re going to change into our bathing suits for a water balloon fight vs. Max and his friends. After that, scary stories and roasted marshmallows around the fire. Then movies and midnight snacks.”

Everyone claps and cheers like the plans sound great.

And I agree completely. Everything sounds like so much fun. I squeeze Cheeseburger, who is lying beside me.
Mallory’s Super Sleepover
has officially begun, and I feel like the wish I made is already coming true. I can’t think of one thing that could mess up the most super sleepover ever.