The Cat Ate My Gymsuit (6 page)

That’s just like Nancy to change the spelling of her name and to dot the i with a big dumb circle. I guess it’s a stage people go through, but I’m never going to do it. The dot looks too much like a blimp. When I looked up, I smiled at Nancy, who was pretending to solve an algebra equation.

Finally the bell rang, announcements were made, and I headed for my locker. Joel was standing there.

“How did it go with Mr. Stone?”

I just shook my head.

“He called me in too.”

“Did he tell you about his daughter?”

“No. He said that I was a troublemaker and that I was a bad influence on you.”

That was amazing. Why did everybody keep trying to team Joel and me up? I mean, we’d just started talking to each other.

I just stood there and blushed. I blush a lot. That’s really embarrassing. So, rather than just standing there, I opened my locker. When I did, some of the books fell out. My locker cleanliness would never get
Good Housekeeping’
s Seal of Approval. Joel just laughed and helped me pick up the books.

Then he said, “We’d better hurry up. Nancy’s expecting us, and I want to get there to make sure that things are done.”

We walked over to Nancy’s house and talked. It was getting easier to talk to him. But I still felt like a blimp. I mean, I was fat. That hadn’t changed. Although I had stopped eating a lot of junk, I still hadn’t lost much weight.

When we got to Nancy’s house, I offered to help her get the food ready. Joel went downstairs, and Nancy and I worked in the kitchen.

“Marcy, how come you never take gym?”

“I don’t like volleyball.”

“But you never play when we do anything else.”

“I’m not coordinated.”

“A lot of kids aren’t.”

“Nancy, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But, Marcy, you should. Ms. Finney always said it’s better to talk about things that bother you instead of keeping them inside.”

I thought about that. Maybe I should tell her. But I was afraid that she would laugh or tell someone.

“Promise not to tell.”

“Yeah.”

“I hate getting into a gymsuit. I’m too fat and ugly and I hate dressing and undressing and showering in front of everybody.”

Then I started to cry.

“Marcy. Come on. You’re not ugly. You
are
too fat, but you have good points too. It’s just that kids think you’re stuck-up because you won’t play and because you’re smart.”

“Do they care?”

“Sure. You can be fun to be with, and you say good things when you’re not scared.”

“Nancy, are you friends with me just because your mother makes you do that?”

Nancy thought about that and said, “It sort of started out that way, but then I really got to like you.”

I didn’t know what to say about that, so I said, “I guess we should bring the food downstairs now.”

We brought the stuff downstairs. There were a lot of kids there. I sat down next to Joel because he asked me to.

“Marcy, what took you so long?”

“Do you think I’m stuck-up?”

“No. Who told you that? Nancy?”

“Yeah. She said some other kids thought I was.”

“People always say that about other people who are quiet, because they are harder to know and more mysterious. But look at you lately. You’ve been talking a lot.”

“That’s because you’re a bad influence on me. That’s what Mr. Stone says, so it must be true.”

We both laughed at that. I was proud of myself for that line. For a minute, I almost forgot that I was a blimp.

Nancy passed around cookies, but I refused to have any. She smiled at me when I did that, but didn’t make a big deal about it. Then she said that we should all get down to business.

Everyone started making suggestions. The meeting
got pretty wild, so rather than trying to explain it, here are the secretary’s notes of the meeting:

Needless to say, we decided not to do most of those things. What we planned to do was get petitions signed, try to get our parents to help, and refuse to leave homeroom until we could talk to Mr. Stone. We thought that if we could organize and get at least ten kids from each homeroom to refuse to leave, we would mess everything up, and then Mr. Stone would have to listen to our representatives. They voted and elected four of us, Joel, Nancy, Robert Alexander, and me. They said that we were the logical choices because Joel and I had nerve enough to talk up in class, and Nancy did some nutty things but had sense, and Robert knew how to speak Mr. Stone’s language. Another first for Marcy, the kid who was afraid of being chosen last for gym teams.

Mrs. Sheridan came down to the recreation room and told us that it was time to be heading home for dinner. I said good-bye to Nancy, and she said she’d call me later.

Joel walked me home. We talked about what would
happen when our families found out that we were leading what was happening. I said that my father would probably yell and threaten to cut off my allowance and tell me how stupid I was, and then my mother would try to calm him down. After that, I wasn’t sure what would happen. Joel said that he thought his father would approve, but even if he didn’t he’d still allow Joel to go ahead with it. I asked what his mother would say and he said, “That’s a long story. We’ll talk about it at Nancy’s party, if you can go.”

I said, “O.K. I’ll ask my parents tonight.” Then we were at my door, and I said good-bye and went inside.

M
y mother immediately came up and said, “Marcy, did you have a nice day? Who was that young man? Is he the same one who called? Where did you go? What did you do?”

I waited to make sure that she was all done asking questions. Then I answered.

“Yes, I had a nice day. His name is Joel Anderson, and he called last night. I went over to Nancy Sheridan’s to talk about school. And Joel asked me to go to a party at Nancy’s on Saturday night. Can I go?”

My mother just stood there and beamed.

“Oh, yes, of course, dear. What are you going to wear? Do you know anything about his family? Is his mother in the PTA?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that his father is on the Board of Education. And I’ll probably wear blue-jeans and a sweatshirt.”

“Oh, Marcy, you can’t. We’ll have to go out Saturday afternoon and buy a nice new dress. What will everyone be wearing?”

I was so happy that she said yes that I didn’t say I didn’t care what everyone would be wearing.

“Look, Mom, I have to go do homework,” I said, and headed up to my room.

While I was sitting at my desk, trying to study and thinking about Joel, Stuart walked in.

“Marcy, play with me.”

“What do you want to play?”

“Play teacher.”

I took out paper and a felt-tip marker and printed the alphabet in large and small letters.

“Here, Stuart, practice your letters.” Stuart sat on the floor and went to work. He was really getting good at it. I continued to do my homework.

Mother called us down for dinner. My father had
a late business meeting, so it was just Mom, Stuart, and me. We laughed a lot. It was really fun.

After dinner, Stuart and I went upstairs and I read to him. In the middle of a story, Stuart asked, “Who’s Finney?”

“Do you mean Ms. Finney?”

“Yeah. Mommy and Daddy fight about her.”

“Oh, Stuart, she’s this really great teacher. She talks about good things, like feelings and people and good books and lots of stuff you should like.”

“Will she be my teacher when I grow up?”

I thought about that and sighed. “I don’t know. I really hope so. I don’t know anything anymore.”

Then I kissed him good night and watched him shuffle out with Wolf, leaving a trail of orange pits.

Once in bed, I immediately fell asleep and had very strange dreams about my being caught in a bowl of jello.

When I got up in the morning, I dressed quickly and ran down to breakfast. The rest of the family was already there.

My father said, “I hear that you are going to a little party Saturday night with a young man. I’m not sure that I like the fact that my little girl is growing up, but I suppose that I’ve got to get used to it.”

Then he smiled. I smiled back. He continued, stirring his coffee very slowly.

“His father is a radical on the school board. Goes for busing and progressive education. I don’t want my daughter involved. You understand, don’t you?”

My cornflakes got caught in my throat.

“You know, Marcy, I really don’t understand you anymore. You used to be such a good child. Now I just don’t know you.”

My mother interrupted, “Martin, please don’t start. Marcy is a good child. She’s just going out. All the girls do at her age. Why, lots of them have been going out for much longer. And I’m sure that Joel is a nice boy.”

I just sat there.

Stuart smiled at me across the table. I really loved the weird little kid at that moment. I smiled back and said, “Stuart, tonight I’ll read you and Wolf another story.”

My father just grunted and said, “That kid and his teddy bear! Stuart, you’d better start growing up.”

First he complains that I’m growing up too fast and then he complains that Stuart isn’t growing up fast enough.

I asked to be excused, and got my books and went
to school. Joel met me outside the building. It felt really good seeing him. A bunch of kids, the same ones who had been at Nancy’s, gathered and we made plans. All of us were supposed to spend the day rounding up anyone who would be willing to remain in homeroom after the bell rang. The plan was to organize and be prepared to do it the next day. We settled things pretty quickly, and the day went on.

It was a strange day. Everyone was walking around very quietly. Even while passing between classes, it was almost too silent. People walked around whispering, trying to figure out who was in on it and who wasn’t. Nancy, Robert, Joel, and I knew, because we were given the lists, but no one else was positive.

Then it happened. We were sitting in English class, still diagramming sentences, when the room phone buzzed. The sub went to it, and stared around the room while she was listening. She kept shaking her head, and then said, “All right. I’ll send them right down.”

Then she put down the phone, paused, and said, “Robert Alexander, Joel Anderson, Marcy Lewis, and Nancy Sheridan are wanted in the principal’s
office immediately. Take your books with you. I don’t think you’ll be coming back here today.”

Everyone turned and looked around. Then all of a sudden someone said, “Uh oh, you guys are gonna get it.” The four of us got up, grabbed our books, and left the room. The sub closed the door after us.

We all stood outside the door to the classroom. “What now?” Nancy asked.

“Maybe Stone wants us to audition for the talent show” was Robert’s answer. “Perhaps my fame as a harmonica player has spread.”

Nancy laughed and said, “I can always do my imitation of an electric toothbrush.”

Joel said that he could play his guitar, and I started to tap dance. All the money my parents had put into my lessons finally paid off. We all stood there laughing.

Then I said, “Listen, I’m really scared.”

Nancy looked down and said, “Me too.”

Joel said, “We’re all scared, but we’ve got to go . . .unless we all plan to run off to Alaska, and that doesn’t seem too sensible. We knew what we were getting into, so let’s go through with it. At least we’ll get our chance to talk to Stone.”

We got to the office and went to the front desk. The secretary had the look on her face that she always had whenever a kid was going to get it. I bet when she was a kid she always told on others.

We filed into Mr. Stone’s office. It was filled. My mother was there. So was Nancy’s. And there was another woman and a man that I didn’t know. I glanced to my right and saw Stuart sitting there, clutching Wolf and sucking his thumb.

Mr. Stone said, “I have called your parents here to discuss your plot to undermine my school.”

We all stood there. Then Joel said, “There has been no plot to undermine your school. We just want to make ourselves heard in
our
school.”

Then the man who was with the women said, “See here, Mr. Stone. I’m not sure what you’re trying to accomplish. I’ve already told you that I trust my son and approve of him.”

I looked at Joel, and he nodded his head. “Dad, I would like to introduce Marcy Lewis, Nancy Sheridan, and Robert Alexander—”